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April 7th 1902
It was a clear April afternoon, but instead of studying Nature or reading in the library as she might have preferred—Callie was stuck doing her Arithmetic homework. It wasn’t as tedious as it could have been—her best friend Lula Gates had agreed to come over after school so the two girls could work on the assignment together.
Callie had long since learned her lesson about inviting Lula over to work on Domestic Arts together. Her best friend was a far better sewer (and knitter) than Callie was, and every time Mother saw her stitches, it only made her double down on her efforts to turn Callie into a proper young lady. Since Callie loathed sewing herself, she tried to not draw Mother’s attention to it if she could help it.
Luckily working on a math assignment—while tedious in its own right—was not as risky as working on a sewing project. The two girls were currently sitting in Callie’s bedroom. In a house full of boys, her bedroom was sometimes the only bit of solitude she could get. “Callie,” Lula began as she finished writing down another problem. “Have you finished your Sewing assignments yet?”
The newest assignment in their Sewing Class was to sew an article of clothing. After much dilly dallying, Callie had reluctantly chosen to do a skirt. She had finally started working on it yesterday—due to Mother's insistence—and already the stitches were wobbly. “I haven’t finished it yet,” Callie replied. “I’ll get to it.”
“Well—remember we have to have it done soon,” Lula reminded her. Callie knew she wasn’t saying it to be pushy, but it still had the unintended effect of souring her mood. Her mood fell and she frowned a bit. “Are you okay Callie?” Lula asked a second later and her face creased slightly in concern.
“It’s just—I don’t like Sewing the way you do,” Callie said. This was not a secret, but it was also something that the two girls didn’t talk about very much. They had been best friends ever since they were little, but Lula was much more proper and ladylike. While Callie would prefer to be reading books or collecting specimens with Granddaddy, Lula preferred sewing and knitting and often won prizes for both. She still enjoyed the other girl’s company of course, but sometimes it felt like there was a distance there.
“Well, we have to do it for school,” Lula said. “And it is not so bad Callie. You just need to practice more.”
“I know, but I just don’t enjoy it,” Callie explained. “I’d rather be studying Science or at least be able to go outside or read a book.”
“It’s just—are girls even able to study Science? I don’t think I’ve ever really heard of it happening.”
“There are plenty of lady scientists,” Callie said. “My grandfather told me about them. And they’ve able to go to universities. I…would like to do it too.” It was not the first time Callie had mentioned the idea of college to someone, but she was starting to be more open about it. Unfortunately, her parents did not yet seem willing to consider this wish, and so Callie was trying to find more ways to show them how important it was to her. She had told Lula a bit about wanting to go to college (back on her twelfth birthday), but she hadn’t mentioned it in a while.
“I thought the ladies at the University of Austin were only able to study Music, English, or Latin,” Lula said slowly.
“Well yes,” Callie admitted. “But there are other colleges too.”
“Would your mother and father even let you go?” Lula wondered, “It’s just—I don’t know what my parents would say if I wanted to go to college.”
“I don’t know if they would or not,” Callie said truthfully. At the moment they did not seem inclined to do so, but she could only hope that one day they might change their minds. Either way, she had started to secretly take her own future into her hands. Ever since Dr. Pritzker ,the town veterinarian, had arrived as a refuge from the Galveston Storm, Callie had been able to start working for him. Most of her days working with him were spent typing letters and labels for him, but sometimes she got a chance to help him doctor animals too. The typing could get a bit tedious, but she was earning her own money. Most of it was currently sitting in her own Savings account and Callie hoped to earn enough one day to afford to go to college. Perhaps by then her parents would see fit to support her dream, or at least they wouldn’t be able to hinder her from going. Her parents seemed content to allow her brothers to go to college (if that’s what they wished), but for Callie it looked like she would have to pave her own way.
Lula nodded and then she asked Callie about one of the questions on their Arithmetic homework. The conversation meandered off to other things, but the original topic of conversation still lingered in the back of Callie’s mind. It had been her dream to be a true Scientist like Granddaddy ever since the two had discovered each other during that sweltering summer in 1899. She knew that there were other women scientists out there, but sometimes she felt that she needed more reassurance. Another talk with her grandfather seemed to be in order.
Lula left shortly after the homework was finished and Callie went to find Granddaddy before it was time for dinner. She managed to locate him in the library where he was sitting at his desk and reading Dantes Inferno.
“Good afternoon, Granddaddy,” Callie said, taking a seat in the huge leather armchair by the window.
“Good afternoon, Calpurnia,” Granddaddy said as he put down his book and turned to look at her. Are you keeping well?”
“Yes sir,” Callie said slowly, “But I—I wanted to talk to you about something.”
He inclined his head slightly as if granting her permission to speak and Callie blurted out, “I want to go to college. I mean I know I’ve mentioned it before, but it is becoming something I’m truly serious about.” Unlike her parents, Granddaddy was probably the only adult in her family who approved of Callie’s plans. Of course, he did have a limited say in her life, being only her grandfather.
“I see,” Granddaddy said. “Have you spoken more to your parents about this at all?”
“I’m not sure if I can,” Callie admitted. She thought back to the times she had broached the topic with her parents. The first time was one of her most embarrassing moments. She’d suggested that she and her younger brother Travis could go to veterinary college together and the response had been rather lackluster. Mother and Father had essentially shut her down, her older brother Lamar (in typical fashion) had insulted her, and much to her consternation—she had ended up in tears. Yup—it had been completely humiliating. It was even more awful, because only a few short minutes ago—Father had been extremely supportive about Travis becoming an animal doctor one day. The second time was less tearful thankfully, but she’d still ended up being dismissed by her parents. Both instances reeked of unfairness but also made Callie more determined than ever to get a higher education. “Father says maybe we can discuss it more when I turn sixteen, but I’m not sure I can wait that long.”
“Gaining a greater understanding of the world is one of the most important things any gentleman or lady can do in this world,” Granddaddy said carefully. “It’s something I wish Alfred and Margaret understood more.”
“So do I,” Callie said softly. As much as she loved her parents—and she did truly love them—she didn’t love their rigid expectations for her. A few seconds of silence passed before she added, “I’ve been saving up money. I’ve been able to make money working for Dr. Pritzker and I’ve figured that maybe if I get more money—it’ll help show Mother and Father how serious I am about college.”
Her grandfather peered at her through his spectacles, “I see,” he said. “An ingenious plan.”
“I don’t have enough money saved yet. Last time I checked it was around thirty dollars, and I know college costs more than that, but it’s a start, right?”
“Indeed, it is,” Granddaddy replied. “Taking the first step is more than most people will do in their entire lifetime. It is important to always try new things even if you may be afraid of failure.”
“Yes sir. I’ll remember that.” The two of them sat in companionable silence for a minute—only broken from some pots and pans clattering in the kitchen. It was a vague reminder that it would be time for dinner soon.
“Calpurnia- do you remember when I told you about other women scientists?” Granddaddy asked her.
“Of course I do, sir,” She replied. Hearing about other women who shared the same dreams as her was one of the first signs that made her feel like her hopes weren’t completely out there.
“One thing I did not stress upon you is that it was not always easy for those women to get their start in Science either. They faced many of the same difficulties that you have faced—whether it be financial struggles or the lack of access to education,” Granddaddy said. “One of the reasons why these women were able to pursue their Scientific endeavors is because they continued to try and persevere. Is that something you are willing to do as well?”
“Yes, it is sir,” she said firmly, and Granddaddy nodded in approval.
“In that case, it will be prudent to continue your studies whenever you can. You are lucky to have realized this in your youth. I believe for your next round of studies; we shall focus on other women scientists. We will talk about what they did, but we will also work on studying their contributions to science too. We should start by discussing Mrs. Curie’s discoveries first and her contributions to the worlds of Chemistry and Physics. Does that sound agreeable to you?”
“Yessir, it does,” Callie replied eagerly. At this moment she felt like she would grab onto whatever scrap of hope she could get.
For the next several minutes, Granddaddy told her more incredible things about Marie Curie. He told her about how she struggled to gain access to higher education due to her status as a woman and how she often had to help educate herself while she worked to eventually gain the funds to attend university. He told her about how she attended the “Flying University”—which was really an underground institution—and how she was eventually able to receive not one but two degrees from the University of Paris. He told how she was able to discover the element polonium and how her husband Pierre was often right by her side. So many people in Calpurnia’s life had always made it seem like women had to be expected to give up their dreams in return for a husband and children. But it looked like Marie Curie had been able to do both. She made a mental note of this in her head and decided that perhaps she should tell Mother and Father about it the next time the “college question” came up.
She could have listened forever about Mrs. Curie and her discoveries, but unfortunately Viola took that time to sound the gong for dinner. “May we keep talking about Mrs. Curie after dinner?” she asked, standing up from the armchair.
“Certainly,” Granddaddy replied. “Limiting a discussion about her would only be a disservice, I should think.”
She smiled at him. “Thank you, Granddaddy.”
Later that night as she prepared for bed, Callie thought more about her conversation with Granddaddy. That had been the first time she had shared exactly why she spent so much time working for Dr. Pritzker and she was glad that Granddaddy understood the value of that. Working for Dr. Pritzker wasn’t just a way for her to learn more about doctoring animals—although that was a huge part of it—but it was also a way for her to earn money so she could work to put her Science dreams to reality. It always helped Callie to know that there were some people out there who supported her dreams. Granddaddy and Travis were her biggest supporters so far, but she had managed to earn Dr. Pritzker's respect too and even Lula didn’t seem completely put off by Callie’s pursuits.
Convincing her parents of all this—especially Mother—would be a much harder process. It’d been a hard process for years actually, but she was determined to get them to finally listen one day. In the meantime, however, she would continue to learn as much as she could and take whatever other steps necessary to secure the future she wanted.
It was like Granddaddy said—she had taken the first steps and that alone was one of the most important parts of attaining her dreams.