May Genevieve PRESTON

Other Events and Attributes:

• Education: 1880; Graduated from Cornell University
• Census: 1900, Living with husband in Laramie, Albany Co., Wyoming
• Census: 1910, Living with husband in Manhattan, New York Co., New York
• Census: 1920, Living with husband in Manhattan, New York Co., New York

Notes:

Excerpts from "Graduate and Professional Education":

The first woman to earn a Ph.D. at Cornell was Mary (May) G. Preston. As described by Charlotte Conable,
In 1880, Cornell University awarded to may Preston a Ph.D. degree, the first such degree granted to a woman at this institution. After serving as professor of Greek and English, May Preston Slosson moved to Laramie, Wyoming, where she was appointed by the governor to serve as chaplain of the State Penitentiary for Men, reputedly one of the first women to hold such a position.

May's graduate work was in philosophy and her thesis was entitled "Different Theories of Beauty." She was interviewed by Florence Hazzard many years later and observed that the four faculty who examined her for her degree in 1880 "compromised" on a harder cours for her than was required for male candidates at the time. As May noted, female students at Cornell in that era were "a picked lot," having a deep sense of responsibility. Their conduct had to be "impecable - couldn't be frivolous- were conscious of being pioneers." The examination by this committee was grueling, lasting one week and taking 8 hours per day.

Name:
THE LADY CHAPLAIN

CONVICTS IN A PENITENTIARY PETITIONED THE GOVERNOR TO APPOINT MRS. SLOSSON,
By a Special Contributor.

Mrs. May Preston Slosson, wife of Prof Slosson of Platt University, has recently been appointed chaplain to the Wyoming State Penitentiary at Laramie.

Before her formal appointment as chaplain, Mrs. Slosson devoted several hours each week to teaching the convicts. When the Governor of the State decided that the welfare of the prisoners called for the appointment of a chaplain, he naturally turned to the clergy, and it was expected that some popular preacher of the day would receive the appointment, and with one voice petitioned the Governor that Mrs Slosson be made State chaplain.

Mrs. Slosson is a native of New York State, and studied at Cornell University, where she was one of the first women enrolled; she was also the first woman to receive from the university the degree of Ph.D. In her undergraduate days she attracted the notice of President White and the late H.H. Boyesen, and was distinguished in her college course for her knowledge of literature and her readiness in composition, in both prose and verse.

"The chaplain's work is still in the experimental stage," Mrs. Slosson says, in speaking of her appointment, "and marked results cannot yet be looked for. What I am trying to do for the prisoners is to awaken hoe in their hearts, to reiterate words of encouragement, to give them a desire to cultivate their higher natures. Hope is the best ally a chaplain can have in persuading men to reform, aided by a realization of the truth that those men are not unlike others--
save these chains' of untoward circumstances. I try to make my afternoon sermons at the penitentiary as practical as can be; one series of talks on the ideal man took some manly quality for the text, each Sunday for instance, courage, honesty, industry, and so on. Sometimes I read to the men, sometimes I simply talk. I get the best music I can, and if some distinguished orator comes to Laramie I beg a talk for my boys.

"How much I am doing for their reformation I cannot tell; they do love me, and that gives me courage to go on, and a certain leverage. The men are visited when sick, and their personal letters to the chaplain receive careful attention and an earl answer. They are urged to visit the chaplain when released, and many do so, and assure me of their determination to live a better life. many things encourage me, however, in my work; for one thing, the warden's report that cases of insubordination have deceased 50 per cent, since my appointment."

Upon occasions Mrs. Slosson has been asked to preach at different churches. "Whether I preach a really sermon or only deliver a lecture, I cannot say."

May married Edwin Emery SLOSSON on 12 Aug 1891 in Centralia, Kansas. Edwin (son of William Butler SLOSSON and Achsah Louise LILLY) was born on 07 Jun 1865 in Albany, Kansas; died on 15 Oct 1929 in Washington, District of Columbia. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• Census: 1900, Living with parents in laramie, Albany Co., Wyoming
• Census: 1910, Living with parents in Manhattan, New York Co., New York
• Census: 1920, Living with parents in Manhattan, New York Co., New York
• Census: 1930, Living in Ann Harbor, Washtenaw County, Michigan
• Occupation: 1930; Teacher - University

Notes:

Democratic candidate for U.S. Representative from Michigan 2nd District, 1948. Professor of History at the University of Michigan, author of history textbooks. body donated to the University of Michigan.

From "Who's Who in America":
SLOSSON, Preston William, authro; b. Loramie, Wyo., Sept. 2, 1892; s. Edwin Emery and May (Preston) S.; B.S., Columbia, 1912, M.A., 1913, Ph.D., 1916; unmarried. Asst. in history, Columbia, 1913-17; editorial staff New York Independent, 1917; with Dept. of State, 1917-18;asst. librarian Am. Commn. to Negotiate Peace, 1918-19; lit. editor New York Independent, 1920-21; Instr. history, 1921-23; asst. prof., 1923- U. of Mich., Mem. Phi Beta Kappa. "Wilson Democrat". Unitarian, Club; Aughros (New York). Author: Fated or Free, 1914; The Decline of the Chartit Movement, 1916. Home: Ann Arbor, Michigan.

Preston married Lucy Chase DENNY on 21 Jun 1927 in Richmind, Virginia. Lucy (daughter of Bishop Collins DENNY and Lucy Chase CHAPMAN) was born on 21 Jan 1893; died in Aug 1974 in Ann Arbor, Washtenaw County, Michigan. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• Census: 1900, Living with parents in laramie, Albany Co., Wyoming