Social Service Activities

Gertrude Weil, 1879 – 1971

Many of the activities in which Weil took part while at Horace Mann reinforced the lessons about the importance of social service she had already absorbed from her family. In a letter written in the winter of her senior year, Weil described—with a characteristic combination of enthusiasm and humor—a particularly inspiring lecture she had recently heard:

The lecture on Tuesday was a talk by Mrs. Ballyngton Boothe. I never heard any one talk so beautifully. When she gets through you felt like joining the Volunteers first thing. She dwelt especially upon the prison work. She is certainly a wonderful woman, and since seeing and hearing her, I don't wonder that any body—prisoners or anybody else—confides everything to her. At the reception of the Social Club afterward I had the honor of being presented & shaking hands with her. I also had some burnt chocolate & some cold tea at the same reception.

In subsequent years, Weil herself would inspire many members of a younger generation to join in similar work for the public good.

Related Women of Valor article