Reflections of Havergal: 1994-2019

C O N C L U S I O N

Past and Future “Education is an art, honed by science. Havergal is a work of art. In 2008 and beyond, we can paint our picture, envision our future, in many ways, and our enduring values will guide and sustain us. Our purpose is to inspire young women and inspire in the world. ” —SUE DITCHBURN, TORCH , SPRING 2008

Miss Knox decided to write that book herself: “The thought of that girl on her lonely farm recurred to me time and again till at length I decided to write down practically as spoken … one after another of my talks with my girls.” The result was The Girl of the New Day 35 . As the “Table of Contents” of her book suggests, the ideas and language are rooted in a particular time and place. However, there is great wisdom in observations and ideas that stand the test of time. The book as a whole is informed by values that she did her formidable best to help her students cultivate. She knew those values would fortify them as they faced an always- uncertain future. As she wrote in Ludemus as far back as 1905: What the future will be, who can say? It lies with each one who belongs to the school ... Will you take up the best of what you find and pass it on with all the strength and life added that you can throw into it? Will you keep those first essentials of the common life, the feeling of mutual responsibility, hard work and loyalty to the whole and to one another? And to you who are leaving, will you … remember that you have your part to play there also, that your responsibility there is as great though you do not see the effect of it as directly as now whilst you are in Havergal? Will you make your mark for good and remember that everywhere and every day you are building up or pulling down the walls of right and wrong

The Girl of the New Day.

In 1919, 25 years after the founding of the school, Ellen Knox undertook a formidable task, prompted by the pleas of a concerned father living at a great distance from Havergal. “Tell me of a book,” he wrote, “which will give my girl a wider outlook, which will open her eyes to her chances in life.” Touched by his request,

182  HAVERGAL COLLEGE