The Laura Johnson Years

C hapter 2
The Laura Johnson Years
Laura Johnson, Third Dean (1943-58) and
First President (1958-76) of Hartford College for Women

Hartford College for Women came into being in the 1930s but hit its stride with the appointment of Laura Johnson as dean in 1943. Although it would be 1958 before Johnson was granted the title of president, she began to set the tone for the college immediately. Her tenure at the college lasted for more than 30 years.

On Nov. 9, 1964, Linda Case described Johnson in an article published in The Hartford Courant. According to Case, “Laura A. Johnson presides over the school with the finesse of a hostess, the insight of a teacher, and the practicality of a Yankee farmer.” Johnson was never simply a “career woman.” She never made a distinction between the role of gracious homemaker and that of a professional administrator, a state of mind perhaps influenced by her modest upbringing.

Johnson was born in 1911 in Wallingford, Vt. She earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees from the University of Vermont and a second master’s degree from Radcliffe. Her experience before coming to Hartford included teaching assignments at Concord Academy and at Bancroft School, both in Massachusetts. She had also served as a resident head at Simmons College.

Johnson lived in the main administrative building of the college during the academic year, retreating in the summer to a much-loved house in Clarendon, Vt. She presided over the campus as she might have presided over her own private grounds. The college community became her family. She welcomed informal visits to her office from students, faculty, and staff. Her commitment to service was demonstrated not just in her attention to the Hartford College community. Her energies also carried over into her service to the greater Hartford community.

Johnson was the first woman to be elected to The Hartford Courant board of directors. In 1972 she was became a director of Phoenix Mutual Life Insurance Company, the first woman to serve as a director in a Hartford-based insurance company. She also served as a trustee of many colleges, schools, and other nonprofit organizations.

Johnson’s contributions to HCW were manifold. Among the most important achievements of her era were the relocation of the college in the 1950s from the Highland Street house to the former Seaverns estate on Asylum Avenue; the development of programs for mature women, including the creation of the Counseling Center, now the Career Development Center; and the emergence of the Consortium of Higher Education and its housing on the HCW campus.

In 1945 Hillyer College once again tried to build bridges with Hartford College. At this point, HCW hoped to join the New England Association of College and Secondary Schools, but lacked a sufficient number of full-time faculty and adequate facilities. One solution was to join forces with another institution such as Hillyer. However, despite the temptation of the proposed marriage of convenience with Hillyer, HCW stood fast in its desire for independence and self-reliance. HCW improved its strength by finding a new campus, expanding its programs to include services for nontraditional students, and cooperating with other local colleges and universities.

Johnson’s own independence of spirit paralleled that of the college. Her authority soon outstripped that of her two predecessors, and it eventually became unnecessary for her to defer to a male superior. The dominant force of the college’s early years, Howell Cheney, served as a trustee until his death in 1957. A year later Johnson was promoted from dean to president.

By the 1950s the college was overcrowded at the Highland Street house. Although a number of new locatons were considered, the former Seaverns estate on the corner of Elizabeth and Asylum Streets proved to be the most desirable. The grounds of this estate were originally designed by Frederick Law Olmsted II, the son of the designer of Hartford’s Bushnell Park; Central Park in New York City; Smith College in Northampton, Mass; and many other projects. On the idyllic Asylum Street campus, Johnson established her own office just inside the front door of the main administrative building, the former Seaverns house.

Like the Highland Street house, the Seaverns building, (now Butterworth Hall) was a family residence before becoming part of the college. As the years went by, HCW grew by acquiring other houses in the neighborhood. When new buildings were erected, they were planned on an intimate scale. Thus, HCW retained a domestic feel throughout its history. This family-like atmosphere helped create an informal, nurturing environment for the faculty and staff as well as for the students. Johnson both fostered and flourished in this conclave of domesticity. Her sensitivity to traditionally feminine concerns helped her to reach out to women of all ages.

During HCW’s early years, the college focused primarily on the needs of young undergraduate students, preparing them for transfer to four-year colleges. During Johnson’s tenure, the college expanded its mission to include programs for older women and those in transition. Johnson believed that by the time a woman completed her most demanding child-rearing years, she could be ready for as many as 30 more years of productive service. Johnson also recognized that after even a few years out of the workforce, a woman might need to refresh her skills and acquire new ones. Her convictions contributed to the development of programs for displaced homemakers and programs for working women who were blocked in their careers due to a lack of training and confidence. Although unmarried herself, Johnson was acutely aware of the challenges of combining career and family.

The 1960s saw the creation of the Hartford College for Women’s Counseling Center, one of the college’s most abiding legacies. The center initially provided support to female college graduates entering or reentering the job force. During the 1970s and 1980s, the center expanded its programs, providing workshops, career counseling, and training programs for women from many walks of life. In 2005 the center’s name was changed to the Career Development Center.

In 1972 the Consortium for Higher Education was launched through a partnership of four colleges: St. Joseph College, the University of Hartford, Hartford College for Women, and Trinity College. The consortium developed a program allowing undergraduates to take courses at the other colleges without paying additional fees. The four colleges created joint graduate programs in the late 1970s. Students were allowed access to library sources at all four of the colleges. For the time being, the consortium would satisfy HCW’s need for wider course offerings and give its students a taste of coeducation.

Cooperation between colleges and universities was very much in vogue at the time. The Hartford consortium was modeled on the Four College Community of western Massachusetts. The four-college program, established in 1965 to promote the broad educational and cultural objectives of its original four member institutions, included two women’s colleges: Smith and Mount Holyoke; Amherst (at that time an all-men’s college); and the University of Massachusetts at Amherst. Eventually the four colleges sponsored the creation of Hampshire, an experimental college located in Amherst. The whole group is now known as the Five College Community. For many years the Hartford consortium was housed on the Hartford College for Women Campus. By 2007, the consortium included Capital Community College, Central Connecticut State University, Charter Oak State College, Connecticut Public Televison and Radio, Goodwin College, Hartford Seminiary, Rensselaer at Hartford, St. Thomas Seminary, St. Joseph College, Trinity College, the University of Connecticut and the University of Hartford.

Clearly, Laura Johnson had taken HCW from a modest “noble experiment” to an established presence in Hartford educational circles. She and her supporters could take great pride in their mutual achievements. After retiring from HCW in 1976, Johnson moved to Farmington Woods in Avon. During her last years, she pursued her love of nature through her involvement in the Connecticut Horticultural Society, of which she was President, and the Bee and Botanical Society in Vermont. She died in 1980 at the age of 69.

Joan Davis succeeded Laura Johnson as president on June 1, 1976, and she had a tough act to follow. Laura Johnson had presided over the college for many years, knew its ins and outs, and always welcomed a casual visit from faculty, staff, and students. By contrast, Davis was a more modern administrator. She helped introduce a more formal management style to HCW.


Sources

University of Hartford Archives.