RUTHless Letters

REFERENCES

TRANSCRIPT

(intro music)

Cecily: Welcome to “kNOw women in philosophy”, the podcast which dispels the myth that there are no women in philosophy. This is Season 2: Students and mistresses of Philosophy. In this season, we turn to women who studied or taught philosophy at Smith from the 1880s to the 1980s.

In this specific episode, RUTHless Letters, we’ll be talking about a woman who both studied and taught philosophy at Smith.

Lily: In today’s episode, we’ll be looking at two letters from former Smith student and philosophy professor, Ruth Clark Metcalf, born in 1887 and death date unknown. I’m Lily Bouler.

Nellie: And I’m Nellie Alexandre. Clark Metcalf graduated from Smith in 1909 and she worked at Smith from 1913-1919, and then from 1922-1934. While we were searching through the Smith College archives, we were taken aback by the amount of material under Clark Metcalf’s file.

Lily: We ended up settling on two pieces, with letters attached, from Clark Metcalf which she sent to high-profile news outlets– the Atlantic and the Washington Post, respectively. What do her letters tell us about Smith College and more specifically, Clark Metcalf herself?

Nellie: Part of the first letter, attached to the piece “Fight Evils, not Peoples” dated January 31, 1944, reads:

Enclosed you will find a manuscript that I am sending for your consideration. It presents a program for a non-political world council and will probably arouse criticism from all sides.

Lily: This suggests that Clark Metcalf did not shy away from criticism, as she was prepared to share a manuscript, even when she suspected others might meet her ideas with resistance. 

Nellie: In her manuscript itself, written during World War Two, she says:

Our leaders have ably expressed in the Atlantic Charter what the Allied Nations are fighting for: freedom from want, freedom from fear, liberty of religion and liberty of speech. In other words, they have identified the enemies of men as fear, want, and slavery. Ignorance and disease might be similarly classified, for they are the outstanding causes of fear. Such evils as disease, ignorance, poverty and slavery represent formidable foes of all people for all time. Men should not only defend themselves against them, but attack them and reduce them to their lowest terms, in order to secure an adequate existence. 

Lily: She then outlines her solution to these “evils”– a “World Council.” The manuscript reads:

When men turn their attention to fighting such common enemies, the formation of a World Council is imperative. It is expected that the four great Allied Nations will form such a council. Each of these allies is a federation of countries, states, provinces, or soviets. Let small countries all over the world have what local governments their people desire, and boundaries that seem fair, but let them federate with neighboring countries, so that their representative federal governments may apply for membership in the council founded by the four Allied Nations. Such a World Council will then become, not a League of Nations, but an Interfederation Council, dealing only with matters of interfederation concern. Politicians with their interests must give way to the leadership of trained and experienced specialists who are to fight the common enemies of man: disease, ignorance, poverty, and slavery. The Council must therefore have such departments as Health, Education, Labor and Justice.

Nellie: When I first read this, I noticed that what Clark Metcalf is describing sounds a lot like the United Nations (UN) as we know it today. Although she definitely didn’t come up with these ideas, it still appears that she felt very strongly about them because she was willing to send them to a well-known publication. 

Lily: Yeah! The UN was created in 1945, replacing the League of Nations formed in 1919, so this letter was written prior to its creation. However, the UN website states its four main purposes as 

1. To keep peace throughout the world
2. To develop friendly relations among nations
3. To help nations work together to improve the lives of poor people, to conquer hunger, disease and illiteracy, and to encourage respect for each other’s rights and freedoms
4. To be a centre for harmonizing the actions of nations to achieve these goals

Nellie: Yes– especially the third point has many similarities to Clark Metcalf’s proposal, as it states the UN wants to respect rights and freedoms, improve the lives of poor people, and to conquer hunger, disease, and illiteracy. This is similar to Clark Metcalf who wants to address diseases, ignorance, poverty, and slavery.

Nellie: The other piece we found, called “Women’s Part in the Peace,” also reveals some things about Clark Metcalf: her ambition and her feminist point of views.

Lily: Part of the letter, which is attached to the manuscript, to the Washington Post, dated November 20, 1945, reads: 

The Associated Press Reports that General Marshall, in Kansas City on November 18th, stated that he placed the responsibility of world peace squarely on the “mothers and grandmothers of this and the coming generation.” Enclosed you will find an outline of the point of view of one mother who is ready to do her utmost in assuming such a responsibility.

Nellie: As Clark Metcalf says, she is willing to contribute a lot to the cause of peace and she believes women should be at the forefront of solving the problems of the world. In the manuscript itself, she argues for an increased role for women.

The role of women has been greatly extended and varied during the past decades. But what is expected of women is still quite clear in the minds of most people. Wherever they are and whatever they do, women usually concern themselves with people and their welfare. They are disposed to co-operate with others and to try to establish and maintain friendly relationships. 

Lily: And later, she says

If women are more versed in co-operation which breeds friendliness and neighborliness, it may be that women should assume more responsibility for world peace in the days to come. As a group, they welcome the establishment of the General International Organization where principles of co-operation are to be discussed. They realize the necessity of an International Court of Justice. 

Nellie: It’s somewhat disappointing that Clark Metcalf uses stereotypes to form her argument– I, for one, believe that women should be involved in peace discussions regardless of whether they are allegedly better at cooperation.

Lily: Yeah, but it also seems that her ambition from the previous piece holds through to this one– she volunteers herself, and women in general, but she specifically says she is willing to “do her utmost”,  to work for world peace. She also could’ve been using stereotypes not because she believed them, but because she believed they’d help convince her audience.

Nellie: Clark Metcalf’s writing speaks to Smith and the Smith philosophy department specifically- that just because you have a career or major in philosophy, doesn’t mean you are limited to philosophy in your actions, especially as a woman.

Lily: Yeah, Bertrand Russell did this as a man, and Clark Metcalf showed that it can also be done as a woman. 

Nellie: Yeah, he was involved in anti-war activities during the first world war and ran unsuccessfully for parliament a few times.

Lily: The fact that a Smith philosophy professor is able to advocate for international change through the creation of a multi-government organization speaks to the interdisciplinary nature of Smith and philosophy in general. 

Nellie: Yeah– and she is also advocating for women to have a greater role in peacemaking– reflecting Smith’s feminist tradition from older alumnae like Gloria Steinem to present students. 

Lily: For example, Angela Davis has a philosophy degree but is also an author and political activist in the present day. 

Nellie: For sure– and as Mary Ellen Waithe says, “All over the world, philosophy continues to be presented as more or less as a male genre.” This makes Clark Metcalf quite revolutionary– not only was she a feminist in general, but she was also a woman in philosophy– pretty groundbreaking. 

(outro music)

Cecily: This podcast was created by Cecily Kolko, Lily Bouler, Shira Goldman, and Nellie Alexandre in collaboration with the Smith College Archives and FYS 104, Podcasts and Archives.