Alice Cogswell Bemis: A Sketch by a Friend

								

not to pauperize by giving as she was not to withhold where it was due,
and was entirely free from the bitterness common to a certain type of
persons who are wont to think that their generosity is being imposed
upon. She often afforded amusement to her friends by the way in which
she prefaced an offer of help with a seeming apology. She even seemed
at times to call those who were working in a good cause to account
because its pressing needs had not been met, and then met them herself.
A notable instance of this was her gift of the gymnasium to the Young
Women's Christian Association. When the present Association building was
erected she gave generously to the building fund. A gymnasium was
greatly needed then, but no money was available for it. A space was left
on the lot that had been purchased in the hope that a building might be
put there later. Very soon the growth of the work showed that no
gymnasium adequate even for the present demands could be built on that
limited space. The girls of the Association clamored for it and the
members of the board, who even more than they knew how much it was
needed, were heavy hearted. No one spoke of the situation to Mrs. Bemis
until she herself broached it to one of the board in a tone that, to one
who did not know her, might have seemed a reprimand. She prefaced what
was on her mind thus: "I do not approve at all of your putting up a
building on that small space. You ought to buy that lot to the north."
The board member could but agree. The protest was again made, and the
board member could only repeat her agreement, but knew from the manner
of approach to the subject that something was back in Mrs. Bemis's mind
that she would have to tell, though she wished it might be known without
her telling it! And then it came. She would like to see that lot when no
one would know that she was looking at it, and if it wasn't too much
trouble, could it be arranged for her to do this? It was planned that
she should go early one Sunday morning to the building, when very few
were in the lower rooms. She looked out on the vacant space and said,
"Don't you see it will not do at all?" Within twenty-four hours she
asked some one to negotiate for the purchase of the lot at the north and
gave it to the Association, adding a check that made possible the
present beautiful gymnasium. She dismissed with no mistaken emphasis the
proposal that this should bear her name. Her pleasure in the building
was great, and in expressing this pleasure she always seemed only to be
commending the Association for having it. Her part in it seemed nothing
to her. "Others have had to do all the work," she would say if her gift
was mentioned.
When Bemis Hall, the main residence for girls at Colorado College, was
being built, it was found that by excavating under the dining-room there
would be space for a theatre, in which the students could give plays and
various college meetings might be held. This was done, and the room was