Hazard, Caroline (1856–1945)

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Hazard, Caroline (1856–1945)

American author and educator who was the fifth president of Wellesley College. Born on June 10, 1856, in Peace Dale, Rhode Island; died on March 19, 1945, in Santa Barbara, California; the second of five children and first of three daughters of Rowland Hazard (the superintendent and later owner and manager of the Peace Dale Woolen Mills) and Margaret Anna (Rood) Hazard; educated by governesses and tutors; attended Miss Mary A. Shaw's School, Providence, Rhode Island, and private study abroad; never married; no children.

Awards, honors:

University of Michigan, A.M. (1899), Brown University, honorary Litt.D. (1899), Tufts College, LL.D. (1905), Wellesley College, LL.D. (1925); Mills College, Litt.D. (1931).

Selected works:

Life of J.L. Diman (1886); (editor) Works of R.G. Hazard (4 vols., 1889); Thomas Hazard, Son of Robert (1893); (poetry) Narragansett Ballads (1894); The Narragansett Friends' Meeting (1899); Some Ideals in the Education of Women (1900); (poetry) A Scallop Shell of Quiet (1907); A Brief Pilgrimage in the Holy Land (1909); The College Year (1910); (poetry) The Yosemite and Other Verse (1917); Anchors of Tradition (1924); (editor) Esther Bernon Carpenter 's South County Studies (1924); From College Gates (1925); Songs in the Sun (1927); (editor) John Saffin: His Book, 1664–1707 (1928); A Precious Heritage (1929); (poetry) The Homing (1929); (editor) Nailer Tom's Diary (1930); (poetry) Schards and Scarabs (1931); (poetry) The Golden State (1939). Author of a bi-weekly column in the Providence Evening Bulletin.

Born in 1856, Caroline Hazard grew up in Peace Dale, Rhode Island, where her father was the superintendent, and later the owner and manager, of the prosperous Peace Dale Woolen Mills, a family enterprise founded by his grandfather. The five Hazard children enjoyed a cultured environment that included religion and literature along with music and the arts. Caroline's formal education consisted of tutoring and attendance at a private school in Providence, followed by the customary European tour. As a young woman, she remained at home, devoting much of her time to writing poetry; she published her first volume, Narragansett Ballads, in 1894. She also pursued an early interest in the history of Rhode Island and its forebears, producing a number of volumes of local history, eventually becoming an authority on the subject. Along with writing and research, Hazard was active in charity work, particularly on behalf of the children of workers in her father's mills.

Through the years, Hazard apparently gained a reputation in educational and philanthropic circles. In 1899, when Julia Josephine Irvine resigned as president of Wellesley College, a school for women in Wellesley, Massachusetts, Hazard was recommended to the position by her friend Alice Freeman Palmer . Since several of the college's trustees knew her, she was promptly elected the fifth president of the institution. Humbly accepting the position, the 45-year-old Hazard, who had neither a college degree nor administrative experience, promptly discovered that the 24-year-old college was deeply in debt, the result of the necessary but costly addition of elective studies instituted by her predecessor.

As the trustees had obviously known, Hazard had the right background and skills to bring the college back into solvency. Confident, energetic, with excellent writing and speaking skills, she also had access to the moneyed set in New York and New England. Making a large contribution to the college herself, as a gesture of good will, Hazard embarked on a development campaign. Over the next 11 years, she raised enough money for five dormitories, five academic buildings, a library, a gymnasium, an observatory, a botany building, a music hall, and several residence halls. During her tenure, enrollment doubled, four academic departments were added, and the number of full professorships increased, along with salaries and opportunities for sabbaticals. She also stabilized the budget and raised a million dollars in endowment funds.

Hazard also sought to enhance the quality of the Wellesley experience by encouraging the addition of courses and activities that she felt rounded out the standard academic offerings. A lover of music, she was influential in the creation of a choir and a solid music department. Her belief in health education gave rise to a graduate department of hygiene and physical education, and her strong Christian faith and commitment to social causes resulted in the addition of social work as an extracurricular activity. In facilitating change, however, Hazard was careful to consider the suggestions of her colleagues and always deferred to the faculty on academic matters. As a result, the spirit of the college community rose in direct proportion to the institution's material gains.

Poor health forced Hazard to resign from the college in 1910, and she spent the remaining years of her life in more leisurely pursuits. She wintered in the mild climate of Santa Barbara, California, where she painted, wrote, and contributed to the cultural and civic life of the city. She continued to publish poetry and essays until well into her 70s. Caroline Hazard died on March 19, 1945, at age 89.