Hettie Belle Ege

Hettie Belle Ege (March 31, 1861 – November 19, 1942) was an American professor of mathematics. From 1914 to 1916, she was the acting president of Mills College.

Hettie Belle Ege
A white woman, wearing pince-nez eyeglasses and a lace-collared dress.
Hettie Belle Ege, during her term as acting president of Mills College, from a 1915 publication
Born(1861-03-31)March 31, 1861
Erie, Illinois
DiedNovember 19, 1942(1942-11-19) (aged 81)
Oakland, California
Other namesHettie Ege, Hetty Ege, Hetty Belle Ege
Occupation(s)Mathematics professor, college dean

Early life

Ege was born in Erie, Illinois on March 31, 1861, the daughter of Joseph Arthur Ege and his second wife, Catherine Rebecca Reisch Ege. Her parents were both from Pennsylvania; her father died the year she was born, and her mother remarried in 1869.[1] She attended Western College in Oxford, Ohio, graduating in 1886; she later graduated from Mills College in 1903, with further studies at the University of Chicago, the University of Munich, and the University of California.[2]

Career

Ege taught school in Ohio and Colorado as a young woman. From 1895 to 1930,[3] she was a professor of mathematics and Dean of Women at Mills College.[4] She also coached the Mills College basketball team.[5][6] From 1914 to 1916, she was the college's acting president.[2][7] "Since Mills is to California what Wellesley is to the East," explained a California magazine in 1915, "it is most apparent that the leading spirit of the institution is a dominant figure in the educational activities of the state."[8]

In 1918, she chaperoned a unit of 28 Mills students in the Woman's Land Army, providing ranch labor during wartime shortages.[9] In 1920, the college marked her twenty-five years at Mills with a presentation and convocation.[10][11] At the festivities marking the school's founder's centennial in 1925, Ege received an honorary doctorate.[12]

After her retirement in 1930,[13] she spent some time in Cambridge, in England.[14] She was a regular guest at Mills College events[15] and alumnae gatherings: in 1933 she was honored as the college's dean emerita, alongside president Aurelia Henry Reinhardt and physician Mariana Bertola, at an annual breakfast of the Mills Club of San Francisco.[16]

Death

Ege died November 19, 1942, aged 81 years, in Oakland, California.[17][18] Her grave is on the campus of Mills College, and there is a dormitory named for Ege at Mills.[19][20]

References
  1. Ege, Thompson Prettyman (1911). History and genealogy of the Ege family in the United States, 1738-1911. Allen County Public Library Genealogy Center. Harrisburg, Pa., The Star Printing Company. pp. 98.
  2. College, Mills (1916). Catalogue ... Frank Eastman, book and job printer. pp. 11, 12.
  3. "Mills College Professor Dies". Santa Cruz Sentinel. November 21, 1942. p. 8. Retrieved September 21, 2019 – via California Digital Newspaper Collection.
  4. "War Work is Women's Mass Meeting Topic". Oakland Tribune. June 11, 1918. p. 4. Retrieved September 21, 2019 – via Newspapers.com.
  5. "Photograph of the Mills Seminary basketball team". Online Archive of California. Retrieved September 21, 2019.
  6. "Calisphere: Photograph of the Mills Seminary basketball team". Calisphere. Retrieved September 21, 2019.
  7. Gibbons, Vernette Lois (1929). "The Institution of the Zeta Chapter of California". The Phi Beta Kappa Key. 7 (4): 232–239. ISSN 2373-0331. JSTOR 42914185.
  8. Ege, Hettie B. (July 1915). "Education for Young Women in California". California's Magazine Quarterly. 1: 391–393, image 392.
  9. "Mills Girls Organize for Ranch Labor". Oakland Tribune. May 19, 1918. p. 44. Retrieved September 21, 2019 – via Newspapers.com.
  10. "Mills College Founders Day Rites Today". The San Francisco Examiner. October 8, 1920. p. 2. Retrieved September 21, 2019 – via Newspapers.com.
  11. "Mills College Celebrates Founders' Day, Honors Dean". Oakland Tribune. October 8, 1920. p. 11. Retrieved September 21, 2019 – via Newspapers.com.
  12. "Mills Observes its Centennial". Oakland Tribune. October 2, 1925. p. 1. Retrieved September 21, 2019 – via Newspapers.com.
  13. "Mills College Dean to Retire". Oakland Tribune. June 11, 1930. p. 16. Retrieved September 21, 2019 – via Newspapers.com.
  14. "Mills College Dean Aids Fund". Oakland Tribune. January 26, 1931. p. 5. Retrieved September 21, 2019 – via Newspapers.com.
  15. "Miss Ege Will Be Entertained". Oakland Tribune. November 15, 1936. p. 38. Retrieved September 21, 2019 – via Newspapers.com.
  16. "Untitled society item". Oakland Tribune. April 14, 1933. p. 21. Retrieved September 21, 2019 – via California Digital Newspaper Collection.
  17. "Hettie Belle Ege". The Dispatch. November 30, 1942. p. 17. Retrieved September 21, 2019 – via Newspapers.com.
  18. "Hettie Ege, Dean Emeritus of Mills, Dies in Sleep". Oakland Tribune. November 20, 1942. p. 25. Retrieved September 21, 2019 – via Newspapers.com.
  19. "Housing for UC Berkeley Students". Housing | Inside Mills. Retrieved September 21, 2019.
  20. "Mills Halls Dedication Rites Slated". Oakland Tribune. October 25, 1970. p. 17. Retrieved September 21, 2019 – via Newspapers.com.
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