More room was needed to meet the demand for admission, and
during the vacation the old buildings were enlarged and new ones
built.
"It was a special day of rejoicing, January 1, 1855, when Miss Atkins
assumed the sole management of the school. As I was the oldest pupil,
she often asked me to come to her room to discuss private matters with
her. Although I was only seventeen years old, I fully understood the
great task of establishing an institution of learning in those rough
days. The needs of all kinds were so great and the only way of getting
ahead was to work and wait. Later she had her reward in sending out
into California some of the best educated women to be found in any
land. It is with sincere pride I look back and see those splendid
girls who were, with but a very few exceptions, an honor and credit to
the school, to society and their homes, as wives of some of our most
distinguished statesmen, lawyers and merchants. In my graduating year
I was called home by the death of my oldest sister and was requested
to take up her labors in a private school of sixty pupils,
consequently my diploma was never received. However, at the last
reunion of the graduates, held in the year 1883, I, being the first of
her early pupils to gain a public reputation as a teacher and
vocalist, was unanimously voted honorary member of the Alumnae, having
attended all of the meetings except those that took place during my
residence in Boston, Mass.
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