Helen Kirby

Background

During her life, Helen Marr Kirby rose to considerable fame in the University of Texas community and within the greater sphere of women’s higher education in the early 20th century. Kirby served as the first Dean of Women at the University of Texas from 1903-1919, also making her the first woman to hold an administrative position at the university. Kirby was born in Mobile, Alabama to Dr. Richard J. Swearingen and Margaret M. (Conner) Swearingen in 1837. Kirby’s family had deep roots in education. Her father, founded Soule University (present day Southwestern University), and her mother educated her at home before she attended Wesleyan Female College in Macon, Georgia. At Wesleyan, Kirby earned her B.A. in 1855 and was later awarded an honorary M.A. in 1865. She returned to Texas where she married Jared E. Kirby in 1858. Striken by grief and poverty after her husbands death, Kirby turned their former plantation into a boarding school for yound women. Her life and impact, memorialized in the January 1922 edition of the Alcalde., was dedicated to educating young women both intellectually and morally. In her lifetime she received many honors and was remembered by her students and colleagues as near perfection. However, she was a complex figure: a pioneer in women's education yet not an advocate for equality of the sexes; a slave owner, yet a public servant. In recovering Kirby's story, it is necessary to contextualize her in both her achievements and her controversy. Kirby was a paradoxical figure in the history of UT Austin. She is remembered as “the woman who made coeducation a reality in Texas,” but in her capacity as Dean of Women she was never given any official responsibilities. The importance of Kirby in the university community is best described by former university president Leslie Waggener. Kirby approached Waggener because she feared there was not enough work to justify her position at the university. He responded, “Mrs. Kirby, you are not here so much for what you would do, as for who you are, and for what might be done if you were not here.”

Women’s Education

Chartered by the Constitution of the State of Texas, the University of Texas opened its doors to both men and women looking for a first-class education in September 1883. At this time, higher education opportunities for women were rare, and co-educational universities were rarer still. In the United States, women made up only 35% of the student population in 1890. However, by the 1920s women closed the gap comprising nearly half of the student population at colleges (Cott 1987). Despite being open to women since its inception, UT Austin found itself unprepared to accommodate women in the historically masculine environment. Women at the university had few resources to turn to, were far from home and their support networks, and were overseen by administrators who believed coeducation was still on trial as a means of educating women, referring to it as “the white elephant in the room.” Former mayor of Austin, A.P. Wooldride said that in 1883 “a need for a lady to counsel with the girls and encourage them” in their studies. University  president Leslie Waggener encouraged the board of regents to turn to Kirby to serve in an official capacity as a resource for the women at UT. Unanimously, it was decided that she was the woman for the job. Kirby became “the official keeper of the white elephant.”

The Paradox of Values

Paradoxically, the introduction of the office of Dean of Women can be seen as both a restrictive and promotive measure from university. Even as it introduced new opportunities for women to seek education, it was created in a large part to restrict the social liberties of women at university. In her own words, Kirby remembers the regents and the professors had “neither taste nor time for discipline,” and therefore the responsibility fell upon her to see that the female and male students maintained appropriate social boundaries. However conservative Kirby’s values may have been regarding the social relationship of men and women, Kirby perhaps more than anyone at the university recognized the importance of educating women. When reflecting on the decision to leave her boarding school and take on her role at the university, Kirby describes a sense of duty to serve where needed in order to promote women’s education. 

“I felt, when a higher grade of scholarship was offered to the young women of the State than I could give, that I must co-operate as far as I could.”

The paradox of values in Kirby can be observed in the story of Kirby’s encounter with “The Laws.” Due to rapid expansion the university ran out of space for undergraduate classes and the Board of Regents decided to move classes into the law school. Outraged that “the co-eds” would be infiltrating their territory, the law students vowed to be as obnoxious as possible to deter the women from attending class. On the first day of class, a formidable yet frail Kirby marched her women like ducklings to the law school only to meet a barricade of male students lined in front of the doors. Armed with her graces, and chin held high, Kirby graciously thanked the “gentlemen” for their warm welcome. The men, disarmed by her charm and her strength, were forced to admit the women without further trouble. 

Kirby both empowered the women under her supervision to seek higher education while maintaining traditional 

Kirby Remembered

The most telling evidence of Kirby’s impact on the lives of young women seeking higher education comes in the outpour of affectionate remembrances submitted to The Alcalde. upon Kirby’s death. The following quotes and poems demonstrate the role this woman played in the lives of students at The University of Texas at Austin.

We loved her with the adoration of young girls for our Lady Paramount.” 

-Mrs. Emma Smith Kendrick, Student of Kirby at Old Alta Vista

“Possessed of a high mind and brilliant literary attainments, she was also intensely human.”

-Mrs. Lulie Huey Lane, Student of Kirby at Alta Vista in Austin

“Artistic builder of children following the plan of the Great Architect.”

- R.W. Lowry, Teacher of Math and Latin at Alta Vista in Austin