Adele Hagner Stamp (1893-1974)
MSA SC 3520-13578
Dean of Women, University of Maryland, 1922-1960
Born Catonsville, Maryland 1893. Tulane University, Bachelor of Arts, 1921. University of Maryland, Masters in Sociology, 1924. Graduate work at Catholic and American Universities. Died October 17, 1974.
Brief Biography:
Social worker with the YMCA and the American Red Cross.
Emeritus
rank, University of Maryland, 1960. Student union at the
University
of Maryland named after Dean Stamp, 1983. Elected to Maryland
Women's
Hall of Fame, 1990. Founder, University of Maryland Chapter,
National
Association of Deans of Women. Founder, University of Maryland
Chapter,
American Association of University Women. Founder, University of
Maryland
Chapter, Mortar Board Society. Founder, University of Maryland
Chapter,
Delta Kappa Gamma Honor Society for Women Teachers. Founder,
University
of Maryland, Women's Student Government Organization. Founder,
University
of Maryland Campus Club. Founder, University of Maryland, Alpha
Lambda
Delta Women's Honor Society. Formed student branch of the
American
Red Cross. Three time Delegate to Democratic National Convention.
Member,
Maryland League of Women Voters. Member, League of Nations
Association
of Maryland. Member, National Democratic Women's Club.
Member,
Governor's Committee on Hospital Care. Member, Baltimore and
Washington
National Symphony Associations. Chair of Education and Library
Extension
Committees, State Federation of Women's Clubs. Chair,
Status
and Education of Women Committees, American Association of University
Professors,
Washington Chapter. Inducted into the University of Maryland
Alumni
Association Hall of Fame. The Adele Hagner Stamp Fellowship for
First
Year Student's awarded by Alpha Lambda Delta Honor Society.
Extended Biography:
Today, few universities employ a dean for women; however, during the
first
half of the twentieth century, the position was the highest-ranking one
available
to women at most universities and colleges. Originally designed
to
assuage parents' fears about sending their daughters to college for the
first
time, deans of women became important advocates for all women on
campuses.
At the University of Maryland, Dean Adele Hagner Stamp
transformed
her job from glorified housemother into a "wedge" career that opened
the
door for other women professors and administrators.1 Forty years after her retirement, Dean Stamp is
still
well remembered for her contribution to her profession, her university,
and
her community..
In 1893, Adele was born in Catonsville, Maryland, a suburb of
Baltimore.
After graduating from high school, Stamp began to work and attend
college.
From 1913 to 1915, she was an physical education instructor at
Catonsville
High School. She then enrolled in the Sophie Newcomb College, the
school
for women affiliated with Tulane University in New Orleans. The
college
was not one of the typical elite colleges of the South. While
some
wealthy women attended, most came from families impoverished by the
Civil
War and who expected they would have to work for a living. During
the summers,
Adele continued teaching physical education, first at the Alfred
University
summer school in western New York, and then at the University of
Maryland
summer school program.2 On the
eve
of World War I, Stamp was hired by the War Work Council of the YWCA.
For
two years, she was the director of recreation for the Old Hickory
Munitions
Plant in Jacksonville, Tennessee. She then was director of the
YWCA's Industrial
Service Center for women workers in New Orleans. There, she
gained
considerable administrative experience by developing a recreation
program
for five thousand women workers.3
The
war slowed down Adele's studies, but she finally graduated with a
degree
in sociology in 1921 at the age of 28. She went on to earn a
master's
degree in sociology at the University of Maryland in 1924 after
finishing her thesis
on community organization of welfare groups.
After graduation, Adele Stamp had already accepted a position with
the Red Cross
when she was asked to become dean of women at the University of
Maryland
for the 1922-23 school year. Expecting to stay for one term,
Stamp
remained for thirty-eight years. As the first dean of women for a
school
which had only admitted women six years before, Dean Stamp was in
charge
of ninety college women, and her job description was vague. Much
of
her career was spent demonstrating all that a dean of women could
accomplish.
She knew that the professionalization of the position was key to
being
treated seriously by the administration. Dean Stamp organized the
Maryland
State Association of Deans of Women in 1923; the organization prospered
and,
as deans from Delaware, Virginia, and the District of Columbia joined,
became
an important regional resource for professionals. Dean Stamp also
became
active in the National Association of Deans of Women and helped
identify
four important roles responsibilities for positions like hers:
academic,
administrative, advisory, and social.4
She took all four equally seriously and divided her time among
them.
One of Dean Stamp's main accomplishments was bringing an academic
honor
society for women to the campus. Early in her career, she
organized
honor societies for freshmen and senior women, but it took ten years to
bring
in a national organization. In 1934, Mortar Board, the national
academic honor society for women, came to campus. Soon after, the
freshmen
honor society became a chapter of the national Alpha Lambda Delta
honorary
scholastic sorority.5 Along
with
recognizing academics, Dean Stamp organized several other
organizations.
In her first year, she organized the Women's Student Government
Association
to provide leadership opportunities for her students.6 Then, in 1929, she founded the College Park
branch
of the American Association of University Women (AAUW), which is still
active
today. Her most memorable initiative was the May Day festival to
recognize
women students' artistic and academic achievements. The first ceremony,
in
1923, was an important ritual for the women of the university, helping
them
to connect to the mostly male campus. During the event, the
junior
class presented a play for the departing seniors and then the seniors
tapped
the women who would be initiated into the honor society for their
senior
year.7 Dean Stamp attended
every
May Day ceremony until 1959, thirty-six in all.8
The largest difficulty that Dean Stamp faced was the challenge of
finding
adequate housing for her women students. In her first year, she
and
some of the ninety women enrolled at the university all lived in an old
World
War I barrack on the campus. The building was designed as a
temporary
structure and did not meet the needs of the women living there.
The
issue was important to Dean Stamp because she felt that it was
impossible
to properly supervise and encourage the women students when they were
housed
all over College Park. She lobbied the administration for more
permanent
housing, but to no avail. Then, she gained the bully pulpit in
1930 when
she became president of the National Association of Deans of Women
University
Section. At the time, the housing for women on campus was
designed
for only fifty students while over three hundred female students
attended
the university. Her campaign was a success and, in 1931, the
first
dormitory for women - Margaret Brent Hall - opened. Dean Stamp
was
eager to celebrate the accomplishment and invited prominent members of
various
religious and civic groups for the opening. Members of the
Federation
of Jewish Women's Organizations, the International Federation of
Catholic
Alumnae, the General Federation of Women's Clubs, and deans of women
from
George Washington University and American University all attended.
Mrs.
Charles E. Elliott, president of the Maryland League of Women Voters,
spoke
and called the dorm: "an aggressive recognition of them [the women
students]
as an integral part of the University."9
While the first dormitory was a huge success, it was still not
adequate
for the increasing enrollment of women on campus. Housing
remained
a problem for Dean Stamp until she retired.
In addition to her duties as dean, Stamp was active in her
community.
She served on the board of the State Federation of Women's Clubs.
As
the chairman of education for the clubs, she gave speeches throughout
Maryland
on better schools, higher teacher salaries, and in support of important
education
legislation.10 Along with her
work
for women's clubs and the American Association of University Women,
Stamp
belonged to the League of Nations Association of Maryland, the League
of
Women Voters, and the Women's National Democratic Club. She
attended
the national conventions for the Democratic Party three times with the
Maryland
delegation.11
Dean Stamp's retirement in 1960 was a major event on the campus of the University of Maryland. The Board of Regents unanimously voted her "Dean of Women Emerita;" she was the first woman at the university to be honored with the "emeritus" status.12 Dean Stamp had served the campus exceptionally well for thirty-eight years. She had an amazing memory and recognized former students on her travels in such unlikely places as Paris, Salzburg, Oslo, and Carcassone.13 She never lost sight of the importance of her students and truly loved her work with them. In an interview at the time of her retirement, she commented: "The students are always one jump ahead of me - nobody ever catches up with them - and that's what I love about youth."14 She passed away in Silver Spring in 1974 at the age of 81, and has received numerous honors posthumously. Alpha Lambda Delta now awards an annual scholarship in her name and, in 1983, the university named the student union after her. She was inducted into the Prince George's Hall of Fame, the University of Maryland Hall of Fame, and, in 1990, the Maryland Women's Hall of Fame. The special citation Adele Stamp received from the National Association of Women Deans and Counselors accurately praises Stamp as "one of the most loved people in Maryland - a woman of grace and charm, beauty and remarkable achievement."15
Endnotes:
1. Bashaw, Carolyn Terry. "Stalwart
Women:"
A Historical Analysis of Deans of Women in the South. New
York:
Teachers College Press, 1999: 2. return to text
2. Bashaw 32. return to
text
3. "Maryland's
Woman Dean has World War Experience," The Baltimore Sun,
15
October 1939. return to text
4.
Bashaw
68. return to text
5. Hailey,
Jean R. "Adele Hagner Stamp, Emeritus Dean at Maryland U., Dies,"
The
Washington Post, 18 October 1974.
return to text
6. "Dean Stamp Retires Today; Ends 38 Years of Service," The Diamondback, 1 December 1960. return to text
7. Bashaw 76. return to
text
8. "Dean Stamp Retires Today; Ends 38 Years of Service," The Diamondback, 1 December 1960. return to text
9. qtd. in Bashaw 41. return
to text
10. Hailey. return to
text
11. Ibid. return to text
12. Bashaw 11. return to
text
13. "Dean Stamp Retires Today; Ends 38 Years
of
Service," The Diamondback, 1 December 1960. return
to text
14. McPherson, Bill. "She's Leaving Her
Old
Stamping Grounds," The Washington Post, 11 December 1960. return to text
15. "Dean Stamp Retires Today; Ends 38 Years
of
Service," The Diamondback, 1 December 1960. return
to text
Extended biography written by 2004 summer intern Amy Hobbs.
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