Bessie Leach Priddy

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

American educator (1871–1935)

BornJanuary 18, 1871

DiedMay 27, 1936(1936-05-27) (aged 65)

EducationAdrian College
University of Michigan, Ph.D.

DisciplineHistory and Political Science

Bessie Leach Priddy
Bessie Leach Priddy in 1916
Born	January 18, 1871 Belvidere, Illinois, US
Died	May 27, 1936(1936-05-27) (aged 65) St. Louis, Missouri, US

Academic background
Education	Adrian College University of Michigan, Ph.D.
Academic work
Discipline	History and Political Science
Institutions	Adrian College Michigan State Normal College University of Missouri

Elizabeth "Bessie" Leach Priddy (January 18, 1871 – May 27, 1935) was an American educator, social reformer, clubwoman, and leader of the Delta Delta Delta women's fraternity.

Priddy was born on January 18, 1871 in Belvidere, Illinois.^[1]^[2] She attended the Belvidere High School, graduating in 1887.^[1] She won a scholarship to Adrian College. While there, she was initiated as a founding member of the Gamma chapter of Delta Delta Delta.^[1]

After she graduated from Adrian College in 1891, Priddy was employed for two years as a school principal in Capron, Illinois.^[2] To support her family following her husbands death in 1909, she taught German at Adrian College alongside studying towards her State Teachers Certificate.^[2]

Career

Priddy taught history at the Michigan State Normal College (now Eastern Michigan University) in Ypsilanti, Michigan, from 1915 to 1918.^[3]^[1] Along with teaching, she contributed articles to teaching publications, such as writing recommendations on how to teach about World War I for the History Teacher's Magazine.^[4] The article was highly praised by G. Stanley Hall, president of Clark University, who called it "the best article he had seen on the subject in English."^[5]

Priddy was promoted to dean of women at Michigan State Normal College in 1918. Whilst in post, she and the University president Charles McKenney took disciplinary action against female students found smoking, with seventeen expelled.^[6] When one of the expelled students, Alice Tanton, sued the college, Priddy claimed that she had "no choice but to send Miss Tanton home" and that "she had repeated warnings."^[7] The expulsion was upheld by the Michigan Supreme Court and Priddy was praised for "maintaining certain ideals" and "upholding some of the old-fashioned ideals of young womanhood."^[6]^[8]^[9]

In 1921, the Michigan State Normal College senior class dedicated its yearbook to Priddy, with the inscription: "To Bessie Leach Priddy, Dean of Women and Mother to us all, this volume is lovingly dedicated."^[10] The Normal College News reported that "she has endeared herself to the girls of the college and has proved an efficient and wise administrator."^[11] In 1922, she gave a talk at the local YMCA on "What a College Man Can Do."^[12]

The Bessie Leach Priddy Scholarship Fund was launched in her honour in 1923, when she moved on to her next employer. Priddy was appointed the dean of women at the University of Missouri, in 1923.^[13] While in post, she expelled eleven students, including four female students, for drinking liquor.^[6]^[13]

Priddy retired in 1934.^[3]

Personal life

She married attorney and postmaster Frank E. Priddy on August 15, 1893.^[1] They had three children, Irene, Allan, and Frances.^[1] Frank Priddy died on February 25, 1909.^[1]

Priddy became chairwoman of the Civics Department of the General Federation of Women's Clubs and in 1918 presented the biannual meeting with a "resolution in favour of state censorship of motion pictures," which passed.^[14] In 1919, she was amongst the compilers of the Handbook for Women Voters of Michigan, described as "a practical guide in citizenship."^[15]

Priddy remained active in Delta Delta Delta. During her tenure as their national historian, she wrote A Detailed Record of Delta Delta Delta, 1888–1907, which was the first such publication by any women's organization.^[16]^[17]^[1] She also wrote A Detailed Record of Delta Delta Delta 1888-31.^[1] In 1931, she was elected Tri Deltas national president.^[1]

Priddy died of heart disease on May 27, 1935, in St. Louis, Missouri.^[18]^[19]^[20] She was awarded an honorary masters degree in education from Michigan State Normal College in 1935, which was granted posthumously.^[3]

References

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Becque, Fran (March 12, 2016). "#WHM – Bessie Leach Priddy, Dedicated ΔΔΔ and Dean of Women". Fraternity History & More. Archived from the original on January 23, 2025. Retrieved January 23, 2025.
1 2 3 "Celebrating: Bessie M. Leach Priddy". Tri Delta Digital Museum. Archived from the original on January 24, 2025. Retrieved January 23, 2025.
1 2 3 "Normal College Recognises Three Alumni with Honorary Degrees at Commencement". Normal College News. Vol. 32, no. 33. July 11, 1935. p. 1. Retrieved February 11, 2025.
↑ History Teacher's Magazine. McKinley Publishing Company. 1917. p. 358.
↑ "Dr Priddy is Highly Praised". Normal College News. Vol. 15, no. 20. March 1, 1918. p. 1. Archived from the original on July 21, 2024. Retrieved February 11, 2025.
1 2 3 Segrave, Kerry (July 26, 2005). Women and Smoking in America, 1880–1950. McFarland. pp. 102–103. ISBN 978-0-7864-2212-8.
↑ Renee Hill, Chrystie. (1999) Flaming youth: A cultural history of gender, class and the American cigarette. Dissertation, Sarah Lawrence College.
↑ Tate, Cassandra (2000). Cigarette Wars: The Triumph of "the Little White Slaver". Oxford University Press. p. 116. ISBN 978-0-19-514061-3.
↑ Carter, W. Burlette (2001). "Responding to the Perversion of In Loco Parentis: Using a Nonprofit Organization to Support Student-Athletes". Indiana Law Review. 35: 851. Retrieved February 11, 2025.
↑ Smith, Laurence N.; Heaton, Paul C. (1999). Eastern Michigan University: A Sesquicentennial Portrait. Eastern Michigan University. p. 139. ISBN 978-0-912042-88-6.
↑ "Board meets in Detroit". Normal College News. Vol. 16, no. 32. June 6, 1919. p. 1. Archived from the original on July 12, 2024. Retrieved February 11, 2025.
↑ "Y.M.C.A". Normal College News. Vol. 20, no. 9. November 17, 1922. p. 2. Archived from the original on August 27, 2024. Retrieved February 11, 2025.
1 2 Nelson, Lawrence J. (2003). Rumors of Indiscretion: The University of Missouri "sex Questionnaire" Scandal in the Jazz Age. University of Missouri Press. p. 1. ISBN 978-0-8262-6290-5.
↑ Fronc, Jennifer (November 15, 2017). Monitoring the Movies: The Fight over Film Censorship in Early Twentieth-Century Urban America. University of Texas Press. pp. 92–93. ISBN 978-1-4773-1393-0.
↑ "Handbook for Women Voters of Michigan" (PDF). Normal College News. Vol. 16, no. 21. March 7, 1919. p. 2. Retrieved February 11, 2025.
↑ Robson, John, ed. (1977). Baird's Manual of American College Fraternities (19th ed.). Menasha, Wisconsin: Baird's Manual Foundation, Inc. p. 17. OCLC 3551247.
↑ Turk, Diana B. (June 21, 2004). Bound by a Mighty Vow: Sisterhood and Women's Fraternities, 1870–1920. NYU Press. p. 170. ISBN 978-0-8147-8282-8.
↑ "Fraternity Presidents and Deans of Students: 100 Years Apart". Tri Delta. May 20, 2021. Archived from the original on January 23, 2025. Retrieved January 23, 2025.
↑ The Fraternity Month. Leland Publishing Incorporated. 1935. p. 36.
↑ O'Shea, Michael Vincent (1935). The Nation's Schools. Vol. 16. McGraw Hill. p. 70.

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