Caroline Hazard, educator and author, was born in Peace Dale, Rhode Island, to Rowland and Margaret (Rood) Hazard on June 10, 1856. She was educated by private tutors at Mary A. Shaw's School in Providence and through private study in Europe. She subsequently assisted her father in his various business interests, in addition to maintaining a welfare center in Peace Dale where she taught sewing and other domestic skills.
In 1899 Hazard was elected to the presidency of Wellesley College, where she remained until her resignation for health reasons in 1910. As president of Wellesley, Hazard introduced household economics into the curriculum, placed the department on an academic basis, established a department of hygiene and physical education, founded the college choir, and had built with her own funds the home subsequently occupied by Wellesley College presidents. She presented the college library with 284 letters of Robert and Elizabeth Barrett Browning and, in her will, left the college a water color by John Ruskin.
In 1926 Hazard donated twenty thousand dollars to the Yale Divinity School for the Two Brothers Fellowship for biblical study abroad. The gift was made in memory of her two brothers, Frederick Rowland and Rowland Gibson Hazard.
In addition to her accomplishments in education, Hazard was also a prolific writer. During her long career, she authored The Memoirs of J.L. Diman (1886), Thomas Hazard, Son of Robert, Called College Tom (1893), Narragansett Ballads (1894), The Narragansett Friends Meeting (3 vols. 1899), Some Ideals in the Education of Women (1900), Scallop Shell of Quiet (1908), A Brief Pilgrimage in the Holy Land (1909), The College Year (1910), The Yosemite and Other Verse (1917), Anchors of Tradition (1924), From College Gates (1925), Songs in the Sun (1927), Transplanted Puritan (a novel, 1927), Homing (verse, 1929), A Precious Heritage (1929), Shards and Scarabs (verse, 1931), Threads From the Distaff (1934), The Golden State (verse, 1939), and Introduction to an Academic Courtship (1940). She also edited The Works of Rowland Gibson Hazard (4 vols.,1899), Esther B. Carpenter's South County Studies (1924), John Saffin, His Book,1664-1707 (1928), and Nailer Tom's Diary, 1778-1840 (1930). In addition, she was a frequent contributor of articles, essays, and verse to magazines and newspapers, including a column entitled "The Distaff" for the Providence Evening Bulletin.
As well as being an educator and author, Hazard was an active member of many philanthropic and cultural organizations. Her activities included the Gilbert Stuart Memorial, Inc. (president), the Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History (honorary president), Rhode Island Historical Society (life member), American Academy of Political and Social Sciences, American Historical Association, American Political Science Association, Archaeological Institute of America, New England Historic Genealogical Society, Religious Educational Association, Daughters of the American Revolution (corporate member), Colonial Dames of Rhode Island, American Board of "Commissioners for Foreign Missions of the Congregational Church," and the Hall of Fame of New York University (elector).
During her life, Hazard was the recipient of honorary degrees from the University of Michigan and Brown University in 1899, Tufts College in 1905, Wellesley College in 1925, Mills College in 1931, and Rhode Island State College in 1942. Caroline Hazard died in Santa Barbara, California on March 19, 1945.
Open for research.
Terms governing use and reproduction: Photocopying and scanning of materials is a fee based service available in the repository and is allowed at the discretion of the Archivist when in compliance to the Unit's policy on copyright and publication.
Caroline Hazard Papers, 1871-1939, Mss. Gr. 7, University of Rhode Island Library.
The Caroline Hazard Papers held by the University of Rhode Island include an assortment of private and professional papers spanning the period 1871 to 1939. Many of the papers deal with publications and poems by Caroline Hazard, particularly College Tom, The Memoirs of J.L. Diman, The Narragansett Ballads, and South County Studies. Others relate to Hazard's involvement with organizations such as the New York University Hall of Fame, the Society of Colonial Dames, the Gilbert Stuart Memorial, and the Rhode Island Tercentennial Committee. Still others relate to her presidency of Wellesley College, though Wellesley has the bulk of her papers from that period. Included in the papers are correspondence, draft manuscripts, printed and published material, pamphlets, bound volumes, scrapbooks, newspaper clippings, and miscellaneous memorabilia.
The papers are arranged in six series:
The University of Rhode Island also holds the papers of Rowland Hazard, Thomas Arnold Hazard and Rowland G. Hazard, forming a unique glimpse at this Rhode Island family of note. See also the Hazard Family Papers collection at the Rhode Island Historical Society Library.
This series includes the bulk of the correspondence found in the collection, excluding that relating to the subjects of Series IV, V, and VI. Much of the correspondence is between Caroline Hazard and members of her family and relates to family genealogy and other matters of concern to members of the Hazard family. Notable non-family correspondents include U.S. Supreme Court Justices Oliver Wendell Holmes and Charles Evans Hughes and sculptor Daniel French, who created "The Weaver," dedicated to Caroline Hazard's father and brothers.
The series is arranged alphabetically by the name of the correspondent and chronologically by date within folders. Miscellaneous correspondence has been placed in two folders at the end of the series with an alphabetical listing of the contents of each folder.
This series consists of a number of scrapbooks compiled by Caroline Hazard documenting various activities during her life. They include clippings of her column, "The Distaff," which appeared in the Providence Evening Bulletin, programs, postcards, photographs, brochures, and passenger lists, from cruises to Europe in 1904 and 1905, programs from concerts and symphonies, hand-copied scores and verses, copies of her reviews of her books, and miscellaneous newspaper clippings.
The series is arranged alphabetically by the topic of the scrapbook. Miscellaneous scrapbooks have been placed at the end of the collection and arranged chronologically by date. Some of the scrapbooks have been divided and placed in separate folders for ease of handling.
The Subject Series consists of an alphabetical arrangement of addresses, manuscripts, organizations, events, people, and miscellaneous topics. There are published addresses by Hazard, as well as manuscripts of other addresses by her. The addresses were delivered to organizations or at dedication ceremonies.
Works of Caroline Hazard are represented by handwritten copies of poems, including a commonplace book. There are also a variety of short pamphlets, many written by members of the Hazard family. Letters to Esther Bernon Carpenter from Oliver Wendell Holmes appear in typed manuscript form, as well as in a photocopy of an annotated edition of the letters edited by an English author. There is also included in the series a 1929 New Year's Greeting from the famed Merrymount Press, a pilgrim scrip given to Hazard, a brochure from the Georgia Normal and Agricultural College, a black college, which lists Hazard as a member of its Board of Trustees, and materials relating to the Gilbert Stuart Memorial.
Other materials of interest include those relating to the Rhode Island Tercentennial, and the dedication of the sculpture of "The Weaver" to the memory of Hazard's father and brothers. The Weaver Dedication material includes an issue of the American Magazine of Art containing an article on the monument and autographed by Daniel C. French, sculptor of "The Weaver."
Also included in the series are materials relating to the history of the Hazard family, including copies of deeds, wills, and trusts.
The series is arranged alphabetically by subject and chronologically by date within folders.
The Wellesley College Series contains material relating to Caroline Hazard's association with Wellesley College as president from 1899 to 1910 and as president emeritus thereafter. The bulk of the papers dealing with her presidency are held by Wellesley College.
In this series can be found printed and handwritten speeches and addresses by Caroline Hazard, by her successor at Wellesley, Ellen Fitz Pendleton, and by some members of the faculty. Also included are correspondence, programs for events at Wellesley, brochures, and newspaper accounts of the destruction by fire of the rambling College Hall on March 17, 1914.
The series is arranged alphabetically by topic and chronologically by date within folders.
The Publication Series contains correspondence and criticism pertaining to the publication of some of Hazard's writings, especially The Memoirs of J.L. Diman, South County Studies, and The Works of Rowland Gibson Hazard. Included is correspondence with the publishing houses of Houghton-Mifflin, Merrymount Press, and D. Appleton Company, as well as correspondence with many individuals concerning the publications. Also included in the series is a proof copy of a poem by Caroline Hazard, The Illuminator.
The series is arranged alphabetically by the title of the publication and chronologically by date within folders.
Caroline Hazard was an elector for the New York University Hall of Fame from 1900 to 1935. Started in 1900, the Hall of Fame, through its distinguished panel of electors, every five years elected noteworthy Americans from a variety of endeavors to its membership. Those so honored had bronze tablets in their names placed in the Hall of Fame. This series contains correspondence concerning Hazard's involvement with the Hall of Fame, as well as biographical sketches of proposed candidates. Election results for the quintennial elections from 1900 to 1935 are also included.
The series is arranged alphabetically by subject and chronologically by date within folders.