ALS and AL (third-person) to Rev. Tuckwell
Lydia Becker Autograph letter signed and autograph letter, third person, to the Rev. Tuckwell British Association for the Advancement of Science, Exeter Meeting . . . 1869, Exeter, 23 August 1869 and Whalley Range, Manchester, 12 October 1870[?] BECKER, Lydia Ernestine (1827-1890, see DNB), advocate of womens suffrage, became editor and chief contributor to the Womens Suffrage Journal (founded 1870). Two letters, 4 pp. each, 8vo, some staining of one not affecting text, in good condition. Letter dated 1869: Miss Becker sends her compliments and thanks him for a prospectus for his lectures he has sent her. She is sure they will benefit the ladies who attend. "So long as the present system of excluding girls & women from the regular public <provisions?> for education exists, no doubt the plan of <?> lectures or schools for them is a necessary evil. It is better than nothing- But it does tend to perpetuate the evil it is meant to cure./ What is needed is the establishment of public or national classes and schools (not boarding [underlined} schools)- which shall be open to any boy or girl who deserves to be taught - and where they may exercise on each other that mutual influence which is highly beneficial to both sexes." She considers that, if boys and girls can play croquet together, why can't they have lessons together. In the second letter, 1870[?], she thanks him for the copies of his lecture on the teaching of science in schools: " . . . I have had a little fight on the question in the 'Scheme of Education Committee' of our School Board, but have not succeeded in obtaining its distinct recognition as a special subject - it only comes in as one that may "conveniently be added" to a list of others in my judgment far less important. She discusses other problems for the teaching of science including the lack of capable teachers ("I doubt if there is one schoolmistress in Manchester who knows anything of science - and I fear there are no institutions where she could learn"). She goes on to emphasise that "So long as their teachers are excluded from schools & colleges of science - how can girl <??> get taught these things?" The insistence on sewing lessons wastes time and damages "the intellectual tone of the school. "I half regret our compulsory <?> of sending children to school - crucially[?] the unsatisfactory charade of school teaching generally.
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