Page 9 - 1942 Hartridge

The Board of Trustees are saddened by the death of Elizabeth Mapelsden. For thirty-six years a member of the staff of the school and for twenty of these years its assistant principal, she was, quietly, such a source of the energy of the school that it became in many ways a reflection of her.
She came to the school in 1904 as secretary and treasurer. Later she became the head of the residence department, the director of dramatics and chairman of the English department, and, when the school was reorganized in 1933, the secretary of the Board of Trustees. One thought of her as the embodiment of grace and leisure, but she did the work of many persons and did it with swiftness, finish and perfection. Never hurried or confused, she always had a singular hold on masses of detail. Day by day she attended steadily and unobtru sively to a multiplicity of things, and with penetration and tact and humor she straightened out many of the complications attendant on institutional living. People always felt that she had time for them. She was sensitive, but never sentimental, about their feelings, unfail ingly considerate of them, and quickly understanding of their interests and problems. One counted on her judgment, for it was the result of
a beautiful balance of mind and heart.
A lover of all beauty, of poetry and music and nature, of all color and light and form, she consciously showed her students that this beauty was everywhere around them; and, unconsciously, by her own exquisite taste and the grace of her personality, she set them high standards of fineness. One will remember always her exquisiteness and graciousness,
her friendliness and humor, and the devotion with which she worked with Miss Hartridge in the service of the school.
The Hartridge School records its loss; the Board of Trustees ask that a copy of this appreciation be spread upon their minutes and that copies be sent to the members of her family and to Miss Hartridge, with whose personal sorrow they feel deep sympathy.
THE TRUSTEES OF THE HARTRIDGE SCHOOL.