Dear Lisa

Dear Lisa is a piece of historical fiction written in the form of letters sent from a teenage girl to her eldest sister. Let this story bring you to 1902 small-town Quebec.

This is part one of three. Click here to skip ahead to Part II or Part III.

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September 7th, 1902

Dear Lisa,

As usual, father has sent me off to school till December. If I’m lucky, he will come get me for the holidays, but I wouldn’t be surprised if he left me here till June like last year.

I’m in the Yellow Dormitory now, which you must still have nightmares from. However, things did get a little bit better than last year. Miss Smith deemed privacy to be important, so we now have curtains between each bed.

It’s nice to see my friends again—Julia, Helene, Catherine, Marie—but there are also some new girls from California. They have been keeping to themselves so far, but they just add to the feeling that everything is different this year. Oh, how I wish I could just come and live with you in Montreal! Any updates from the ASJBM? Have you met any more of the writers you had introduced me to over the summer?

Coming back to the feeling that everything is changing, did you know that Miss Smith changed the name of the school from “Compton’s Ladies College” to “King’s Hall?” What has the King ever done that merits his title being used? He’s never even visited the school…

I was complaining about this to Marie during our afternoon crocodile walk around the ring, and, in a moment of heated passion, I did not realize that Miss Smith was standing at the top of the steps to the main entrance. I believe she has overheard everything I said about her choice of name for the school and everything else she has changed. I fear she might have let this one go, but will be even more strict with me when I get in trouble next (as I usually tend to). But, do you not agree with me that it is ridiculous to choose a football song as our new school anthem? And everything else was also done in honour of the crown! Our new Crest, even our new school motto “Keep Troth” was chosen just because it is the king’s motto. If I remember correctly, we are in Canada, not Britain! All this to say, I would much prefer naming a women’s college after a woman.

Now I must learn to speak with my eyes wide open, in fear of Miss Smith overhearing my thoughts and reprimanding me. Or worse, Miss White overhearing me: she truly terrifies me.

I must go now, but please send me more of those articles you have read to me over the summer! I cannot stop thinking about how articulate some of them were, and I would love to have some to share with Julia and Helene.

Missing you dearly,

Felicity

PS. Miss Smith no longer allows us to receive letters from anyone but our parents, so please use father’s name and address when you send me letters. They don’t yet look at who I am addressing my letters to, so we should not have any trouble corresponding.

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October 19th, 1902

Dear Lisa,

I can’t believe that your using father’s address worked! I still do not understand why they do not want us writing letters to our siblings, but at least we found a way to keep doing so.

That is great news for the ASJBM! Nothing can stop you now! “The Association Saint-Jean-Baptiste de Montréal is now recognized as a legally autonomous association.” I still have trouble wrapping my head around it. It is incredible, and it gives me hope.

I have mentioned it to Helene at tea—her mother is an active member of the WCTU, but in Toronto—and she told me they are still hesitant about joining the Conseil National des Femmes. Is this true? What is making them hesitant? Would this not be a great step? I would love to know what you think.

Anyway, things have been going well here at the college, other than the fact that Miss Smith reported my attitude to father. To encourage me to change my behaviour, he is now forcing me to take German lessons, with Miss Smith, no less. It has been truly awful, so I have been trying to rectify my attitude, even though I do not believe there is anything wrong with questioning the curriculum. If Miss Smith is so set on following the McGill curriculum, why is she also obliging us to learn cooking and embroidery? Why not teach us finances? Will that knowledge not be useful to us in the future?

Talking about classes, the two new classrooms for seniors are finally finished and furnished. I must say, it is refreshing to be able to have long stretches of time where I do not hear the screams of the kindergarteners. If it were up to me, they would have a whole separate building to themselves. Still, the silence is welcomed, and this is possibly the only one of Miss Smith’s ideas that I am grateful for.

Getting back on track, one of the other reasons I got in trouble is because I spoke with one of the Bishop’s boys at Church on the last Sunday of September. I do not believe I broke the rule. Miss Smith said no fraternizing with boys, but if she looked more closely at her dictionary, that only means I cannot associate or become friends with him. Asking questions for educational purposes, to me, is not considered fraternizing.

I had simply asked him if he had any classes with women. I still have a few years left before I can attend university, let alone one in which I can learn the same things as men, but I wanted to ask him so many questions! Miss White pulled me away before I could get much out of him, however. I didn’t even catch his name.

But then, two weeks later, to my surprise, he handed me a letter! He sat in the pew behind me and made sure none of the school staff was looking before handing it to me. I slipped it under my coat so quickly I accidentally elbowed Helene. Her reaction caught Miss Smith’s attention, but because I was facing forward and the boy—his name is Timothy—was already in conversation with his peers, she did not question me.

And it was not even a letter from him, it was a letter from one of his female classmates! She told me about how the professors treat her differently from the men, about her studies of Canadian History, and how she is housed with a handful of other female students who would gladly answer any of my questions, in case Canadian History is not the field of study that interests me. I am so glad to have made this connection, but I must wait before writing back. If I get too many letters from “father,” Miss Smith will suspect me of more mischief. Which it technically is.

Speaking of Bishop’s, how are your classes going at the Medical Faculty? Is it as welcoming as here? I hate to admit it, but the apple trees, pond, and forest on the school grounds do give the building its charm…it at least makes my time here a bit more bearable. And you were right, finding refuge underneath the school’s front steps is quite satisfying. Thanks for the tip.

Anyway, back to talking about you: has father warmed up to the idea of you pursuing a career yet?

All things aside, please keep me posted on ASJBM. I cannot wait to know what you are planning next.

Avec amour,

Felicity

PS. I understand if you do not want to share your article clippings with me, but if you do put your hands on a second copy, I would be more than delighted to have them. I can also send them back to you immediately after having read them, if you would not mind having them further than arm’s reach for a couple of weeks. Think about it. I need more stimulating readings than German vocabulary and Shakespeare.

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Want to read on? Find the following letters in Part II.

Already read Part II? Find the last letters in Part III.

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