![Jessie Eldridge Southwick from the Lycumite & Talent, March 1909](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/c6/Jessie_Eldridge_Southwick_from_the_Lycumite_%26_Talent%2C_March_1909.png)
Jessie Eldridge Southwick (1865 – 1957) was an American
elocutionist, teacher, author and poet. She was active in the
Chautauqua
Chautauqua ( ) was an adult education and social movement in the United States, highly popular in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Chautauqua assemblies expanded and spread throughout rural America until the mid-1920s. The Chautauqua br ...
and
Lyceum movement
The lyceum movement in the United States refers to a loose collection of adult education programs named for the classical Lyceum which flourished in the mid-19th century, particularly in the Northeast and Midwest. Some of these organizations ...
s of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, performing around the United States as well as internationally. She influenced oratory through active involvement in emerging organizations, writing textbooks and teaching expressive voice culture and platform performance at
Emerson College and elsewhere.
Early life
Jessie Eldridge was born 1865 in
Wilmington, Delaware
Wilmington (Lenape: ''Paxahakink /'' ''Pakehakink)'' is the largest city in the U.S. state of Delaware. The city was built on the site of Fort Christina, the first Swedish settlement in North America. It lies at the confluence of the Christina ...
, the daughter of Issachar Hoopes Eldridge of Philadelphia and Martha Gause of Chester County, Pennsylvania.
[Obituary,'' Mrs. Jessie Southwick Professor-Emeritus, Widow of Emerson College Head'' Boston Globe June 7, 1957.]
At age five, she moved with her family to Van Wert, Ohio, where she was
home schooled by her mother. Southwick attended high school as well as Glendale Female College, near Cincinnati, followed by study with a private tutor, preparing to enter
Vassar College
Vassar College ( ) is a private liberal arts college in Poughkeepsie, New York, United States. Founded in 1861 by Matthew Vassar, it was the second degree-granting institution of higher education for women in the United States, closely foll ...
.
["Representative Women of New England." (1904) Compiled by Mary Elvira Elliot, Mary A. Stimpson, Martha Seavey Hoyt, and Others. Under the Editorial Supervision of Juila Ward Howe, assisted by Mary H. Graves. Boston, New England Historical Publishing Company.] In 1880, however, she changed plans and enrolled in the
New England Conservatory of Music
The New England Conservatory of Music (NEC) is a private music school in Boston, Massachusetts. It is the oldest independent music conservatory in the United States and among the most prestigious in the world. The conservatory is located on H ...
, graduating from the oratory department in 1883. Concurrently, she attended Miss Johnson's private school,
Newbury Street
Newbury Street is located in the Back Bay area of Boston, Massachusetts, in the United States. It runs roughly east–west, from the Boston Public Garden to Brookline Avenue. The road crosses many major arteries along its path, with an entran ...
, Boston. Following graduation, she studied at Monroe Conservatory (now Emerson College of Oratory) graduating in 1885, and then took a two-year post-graduate course at the college and assisted teaching courses.
She was awarded a master of oratory in 1886.
Personal life
Jessie Eldridge married
Henry Lawrence Southwick, in 1889, in Philadelphia. Southwick was a professor at Emerson College of Oratory (now Emerson College). He became a partner with
Charles Wesley Emerson
Charles Wesley Emerson (1837–1908) was the founder, namesake and first president of Emerson College in Boston, Massachusetts. Charles Emerson was also the author of a number of books dealing with oratory and a minister with the Unitarian Churc ...
in 1890. In 1908, Southwick became president of the college, holding that position until his death in 1932.
The Southwicks had three daughters: Ruth (Maxfield) b. 1893, who also taught at Emerson College and was head of the English department;
Mildred (Mrs. James E. Potter of Palm Springs, CA), 1895; and Jessie (Ross) 1897.
Jessie lived in Brookline, Massachusetts, in the early 1900s. In the mid-1930s, they lived at 128 Beacon, on a property owned by Emerson College. She died while living at 100 Massachusetts Ave. in Cambridge.
Career
Teaching
Southwick taught at Emerson College of Oratory where she had studied. Starting as an assistant to the teacher in 1885, she became full-time faculty, teaching classes in Voice Culture, Dramatic Interpretation, Ethics and
Shakespeare
William Shakespeare ( 26 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's natio ...
. She held other teaching positions, including assistant to Mary A. Currier in the oratory department at
Wellesley College. On her own, as well as with her husband, she led courses at locations around Boston, in addition to programs across the country.
She retired in 1935.
Professional affiliations
Southwick was active in early associations for the promotion of the field of
elocution and oratory. In 1892 she was listed as a member attending the First National Convention of Public Readers and Teachers of Elocution.
[Proceedings of the First National Convention of Public Readers and Teachers of Elocution, Columbia College, NY, June 27 - July 2, 1892, Official Report (1893).] This organization changed its name to The National Association of Elocutionists, and eventually the National Association for the Advancement of Speech Arts. She held offices, presented topics at conferences, performed at sessions and joined discussions.
In 1909, ''The Lyceumite & Talent'' listed her as a member of the International Lyceum Association of America. Southwick's book ''Expressive Voice Culture'' is reviewed in the same issue.
In "1900, Henry and Jessie Southwick had joined with William H. Kenney to purchase the school from Charles Emerson"
to become part owner of the college. In 1938, she was the first women to be named to the board of Emerson College.
Southwick was a member of the New England Women's Press Association, the
Delphian Society (president of the Alpha Chapter), the
Boston Browning Society (executive committee), Music Lovers' Club, Professional Women's Club (charter and life member),
Twentieth Century Club, the
Boston Theosophical Society.
Performer
At the First National Convention of Public Readers and Teachers of Elocution held at
Columbia College from June 27 - July 2, 1892, Southwick attended as a member and recited "Nydia the Blind Girl of Pompeii" by
Bulwer-Lytton Bulwer-Lytton is a surname, and may refer to:
* Edward Bulwer-Lytton, 1st Baron Lytton (1803–1873), novelist and politician
* Rosina Bulwer Lytton (1802–1882), feminist writer and wife of Edward Bulwer-Lytton
* Robert Bulwer-Lytton, 1st Earl of ...
at the close of the June 28 session.
Jessie Southwick performed around the country as a platform reader and received high praise for her work including reviews from the ''
Boston Transcript
The ''Boston Evening Transcript'' was a daily afternoon newspaper in Boston, Massachusetts, published from July 24, 1830, to April 30, 1941.
Beginnings
''The Transcript'' was founded in 1830 by Henry Dutton and James Wentworth of the firm of D ...
'' as well as the ''Boston Times''.
Her appearances included schools and colleges such as Wellesley and as far as Nebraska and Canada, with outstanding response:
''On Monday the citizens of Alberton enjoyed one of the choicest of literary treats, when Mrs Jessie Eldridge Southwick, the wife of the president of Emerson College of Oratory, Boston, interpreted Mackaye's historic and romantic drama, "Jeanne D'Arc." Mrs. Southwick was unassisted by other talent; but so many and varied were the characters and the emotions depicted that the interspersing of musical numbers, etc, would have been not only inartistic, but superfluous. Mrs. Southwick has a voice that is thoroughly trained to express every shade of thought and emotion; and this, together with her wonderful facial expressions, held the audience spellbound-- sometimes almost moved to tears, at other's thrilled with that enthusiasm which the battlefield alone can inspire.'' (Charlottestown (P.E.I.) Guardian, p 48)
Platform performances were considered literary events and not traditional theater and, as such, were often presented at club meetings, church halls, and for other private audiences. "In the regular professional engagements of Mrs. Southwick she never appears for less than $150 and $200 one of the finest impersonators
elocutionist
Elocution is the study of formal speaking in pronunciation, grammar, style, and tone as well as the idea and practice of effective speech and its forms. It stems from the idea that while communication is symbolic, sounds are final and compelli ...
, reader, reciter, performer - each used interchangeably for this art] in this country."
[''The Waxahachie Daily Light'' number 298 Waxahachie, TX, · Tuesday, March 17, 1903, P. 1.] Because of this distinction, performance reviews were not plentiful in regular newspapers or theatrical pages. However, the society columns often included comments on upcoming calendar events as well as other mentions of recitations.
Jessie Southwick's popular repertoire included:
* "Jeanne D'Arc" (MacKay)
* ''
The Merchant of Venice
''The Merchant of Venice'' is a play by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written between 1596 and 1598. A merchant in Venice named Antonio defaults on a large loan provided by a Jewish moneylender, Shylock.
Although classified as ...
'', ''
Macbeth'' (Shakespeare)
* ''
Faust
Faust is the protagonist of a classic German legend based on the historical Johann Georg Faust ( 1480–1540).
The erudite Faust is highly successful yet dissatisfied with his life, which leads him to make a pact with the Devil at a crossroa ...
'' (
Goethe
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (28 August 1749 – 22 March 1832) was a German poet, playwright, novelist, scientist, statesman, theatre director, and critic. His works include plays, poetry, literature, and aesthetic criticism, as well as tr ...
)
* Various pieces (
Browning)
Bibliography
*''Expressive Voice Culture Including the Emerson System'' (1908)
*''Meditations in Verse''" (1913)
*''The Emerson Philosophy of Expression An Application to Character Education''" (1930)
Sources
*"Representative Women of New England." (1904) Compiled by Mary Elvira Elliot, Mary A. Stimpson, Martha Seavey Hoyt, and Others. Under the Editorial Supervision of
Juila Ward Howe, assisted by Mary H. Graves. Boston, New England Historical Publishing Company.
*Southwick, Jessie Eldridge. ''Expressive Voice Culture Including the Emerson System,'' Boston, 1908.
*Southwick, Jessie Eldridge, ''The Emerson Philosophy of Expression An Application to Character Education,'' Boston Expression Co., 1930.
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Southwick, Jessie
1865 births
1957 deaths
20th-century American poets
American women poets
Emerson College faculty
20th-century American women writers
American women academics