Virginia Mary McComb

Miss Virginia Mary McComb, a member of the faculty of Wilson College from 1913 to 1919, was on the staff of the college during the tenures of three presidents: M.H. Reaser, Dr. Anna J. McKeag, and Dr. Ethelbert Warfield. Therefore, she had many and varied experiences. Before her arrival at Wilson, she had earned an A.B. degree from the University of Indianapolis, an A.M. degree from Hanover College, and during her time at Wilson earned an A.M. degree from Radcliffe College. She had studied in Germany in Hannover, Berlin, and Munich. Before she came to Wilson as a German teacher, she had taught in the Westminster Seminary and College and in a public high school in Indianapolis. 

On August 3, 1903, Miss McComb, writing from Brussels, wrote to Mr. Reaser (1903-1911) and said that she would accept the position of teacher of German at a salary of $600.00 plus room and board. In a letter dated August 12 from Paris, she reiterated her willingness to teach German at Wilson and stated that she would take pleasure in working "in a school where an oldtime [sic] friend of my father is the President."

She taught German from 1903 until 1918 with a leave of absence in 1905-1906 for study and in 1908-1909 served as Field Agent. The Wilson files do not contain any letters from her ealiest years of teaching German and only one from her year of leave of absence in which she studied at Radcliffe. In this letter, writing to Mr. Reaser from Cambridge, Massachusetts, she said: "My housekeeper (my sister) says if I do not write and ask Wilson College for some pay she will. The Yankees have gotten my last dollar from me so if it is convenient for you I shall be glad to have some money...I can use $200 without any trouble." She added that she wanted to buy a new pair of shoes. In 1908, she accepted the position of Field Agent for the college with the purpose of raising funds for endowment. Before she accepted this new responsibility beginning in September 1908, she noted four conditions of her acceptance. First, she asked for a salary of $1000 from September through Commencement. Also, in a letter written from Norway, she stated her second condition that she receive $4.00 each day for expenses. Additionally, she stated that if she were not a success, this weakness would not reflect upon her teaching of German, and finally that she retain her room in Fletcher. She began this new work immediately with plans to make lists of alumnae, to determine levels of giving, to learn the financial status of individual alumnae, and to note names of people, including residents of Chambersburg, who should be asked to give money. She was particularly critical of those living in Chambersburg and stated that before she began her work, she thought that her office should have "--a complete and itemized and estimated account of all the money Chambersburg has ever put into the College and on the other hand how many Wilson has educated and made independent for them." In this letter, she began giving instructions to Mr. Reaser and continued to do so throughout her work as Field Secretary.

During 1908-1909, in her letters to Mr. Reaser, she was demanding. She told him what materials to send her, what actions he should take to increase endowmentm and whom he should see or contact about monetary gifts. By the spring of 1909, she seemed to be getting little satisfaction from her work. In February, she was concerned about the lack of advertising about Wilson in the newspapers and in the church papers, especially information about the new building on campus, and suggested that Mr. Reaser should appoint a person to publicize the college. Also, in that month, she wrote to Mr. Reaser to learn that "exact income and expenditure of Wilson last year." (A note in pencil at the top of the page lists the income as $112,804.54 and the expenditures as $112, 238. 57). Evidentally, at this time, someone or some group had suggested that the college be moved from Chambersburg, and an offer to affect this move had been made. Miss McComb suggested that a place "east of Harrisburg might be a good choice," a place, however, not near Philadelphia. She added that a threatened move might be beneficial "for then Chambersburg might rouse itself and raise a good big sum to meet that offer or let the College go to accept the outside offer." In the same letter, she stated: "I find this to be true, that the sooner the Board raise Professors' salaries, and have a good Dean, whom you would select, no matter what she costs, the sooner Wilson is going to stand in the light of good standard institutions, and for that reason receive more attention and more money." In April, she expressed her dismay at the college's having a male Dean, stating that having a male Dean was detrimental in raising money. She suggested two possible women for that position. By the end of April, she expressed her wish to return to teaching German. In a letter written to Mr. Reaser on April 30, she stated: "I have also had ample opportunity to size up my own ability, nerve and power, and I must say that 'swapping horses in the middle of the stream' is well worth while if the second horse can get the burden across in better shape. I am not all set up over my ability, in fact I hate the work as much as I knew I would, but on the other hand I feel that it is the only thing which can possibly save Wilson to the larger and better field of usefulness, as a college..." In that same letter, she expressed her concerns over the state of the German department and stressed that she wanted to return to teaching German.

During the tenure of Dr. McKeag (1911-1915), she taught only German and, therefore, seemed less pressured. However, as she was dissatisfied with requirements for foreign languages in Wilson's curriculum, in a thorough letter to Dr. McKeag, she outlined her suggestions for a revision of those requirements but was unsuccessful in her efforts. In addition, she still considered herself underpaid and overworked. In January 1912, at the beginning of Dr. McKeag's presidency, Miss McComb wrote to Dr. McKeag to say that she had been offered a position elsewhere with a higher salary than that which she was being paid at Wilson, and she felt that with her experience and training she should receive more than $800.00. In 1914, she asked for a higher salary, but Dr. McKeag responded that the committee of the Board of Trustees had not granted her an increase. In a note accepting her salary of $800.00 and home for the academic year 1914-1915, she ended with the question: "Am I correct in understanding that you did not recommend to the committee that my salary be increased?" In 1915, she again asked for an increase in salary and was successful as her salary was increased to $900.00 plus housing. In a letter dated September 28 to Miss Nancy Criswell, Acting Dean, she enumerated the various courses given in the German department and added that because of her class load and her work as department chairman she wished to have someone to correct student work and to assist her and suggested a former student to do those tasks. During this time, probably in 1914, she began taking people on tours to Europe and in her correspondence started to use stationary with the heading MCCOMB TOURS and, with the exception of the years of World War I, led these tours for many years. Despite her requests and the rebuffs she had received, when she learned of Dr. McKeag's resignation from Wilson in 1915, she wrote a gracious letter beginning, "It was a real disappointment to me not to see you before leaving for the was, altho [sic] a 'goodbye' is a trying thing under these circumstances - we shall all miss you more than even we think now, but we will do out best to carry out some of your ideals..." She ended with, "Hoping to have the pleasure of seeing you, sometime in the not so distant future..."

During the tenure of Dr. Ethelbert Warfield (1915-1936), Miss McComb continued to teach German but also in later 1916 or early 1917 became the Secretary of the Committee of Public Safety of Franklin County, chaired by Moorhead C. Kennedy, president of the Cumberland Valley Railroad. This latter position led her to a disagreement with Dr. Warfield and her request for a leave of absence. In early January of 1917, she wrote to Dr. Warfield and noted that he had been unwilling for her to continue this work for the war effort, but that he had said that he would be willing for her to have a leave of absence. In that letter, she noted that she now had an opportunity to work in Philadelphia with Howard Heinz, Federal and State Food Administrator of Pennsylvania. In December of that year, she seems to have been in Chambersburg and wrote to Dr. Warfield to protest his stance and stated: "Everyone is anxious to do his or her bit, and I am better fitted to do this work than knitting or Red Cross work, and I know I am not exceeding in hours a number of faculty who work, either for themselves or for war work." She added: "I have, of course, cut all town social functions, fiction reading and hours of gossip around tea tables, in order to do war work, and I feel that my time is better spent than is often the case in community life similar to ours. It is so easy to waste time, in such useless ways." At the end of December, Dr. Warfield acknowledged a letter from Tomas Kennedy, Vice-chairman of the Committee of Public Safety of Franklin County, and a few days later wrote to Miss McComb to reiterate his response: "I am sorry to feel it necessary to insist that the engagement of any one as a full member of the Faculty and head of a department is inconsistent with regular employment on a stated salary in any other occupation without the previous approval of College authorities." On the same day, he wrote again to Thomas Kennedy to say that he would grant Miss McComb a leave until the end of the current semester in February. On January 3, 1918, Howard Heinz wrote to Dr. J. Ritchie Smith, president of the Board of Trustees of Wilson College, to "exercise your influence to secure for Miss McComb a leave of absence" as she was to become Executive Manager of the Department for Home Economics and Thrift of the Woman's Council of National Defense of Pennsylvania. Consequently, Dr. Warfield granted her the leave. In April 1918, Mr. Heinz wrote to Dr. Warfield and asked that Miss McComb's leave be extended through 1918-1919.

As most students ceased taking German, a teach of German became unnecessary. In an effort to retain her faculty status at Wilson, Miss McComb on February 28, 1918, wrote a long letter to Dr. Warfield to state that she could teach French, Italian, or Spanish and that some of her former German students were looking forward to her return. He request was to no avail as Dr. Warfield wrote to her on February 12, 1919: "I am sorry to inform you that the Board of Trustees yesterday voted that in view of the nation wide [sic] attitude to the study of German and the small demand for it in College this year, with no probability that entering students will wish to take German, the College should not continue to maintain a professorship of German. I was further directed to communicate to you that this action will have the effect of terminating at the end of the College year your appointment as professor [sic] German." He ended the letter with extending his gratitude to her for her many services to the college. She remained combative. On November 8, 1919, the Executive Committee of the Alumnae Association wrote to her to say it had received a letter from her and a copy of a letter she had written to the Board of Trustees but after "serious consideration" had unanimously decided to uphold "the action of the Board of Trustees in support of the present Administration."

After she had left Wilson, she took people on many tours of Europe. Having been born on April 17, 1876, in Louisiana, Missouri, she passed away in March 1969 in Chambersburg with burial in Cedar Hill Cemetery, Greencastle.