here i draw on the wonderful work of sally shwager, anna tickner was the daughter of privilege. she was the sister of charles william elliott. harvard's president beginning in 1869. anna tickner decided to act and in 1873 with her mother, called together a group of women to form the society to encourage study at home. many women with both harvard and civic connections including elizabeth agasy, were associated with the society, as supporters and teachers and division heads. the goal was to educate those girls unable to attend college due to a lack of money or to domestic duties. a secondary goal was to provide as shwager put it, an outlet for the instructors for their own goals and social needs. this society began small but within two years had 20 had 213 students. from 24 states and canada. at its peak, over 1,000 students were enrolled. the reading came from harvard courses and the work required monthly written reports. that included abstracts and essays, and memory notes. alice james was one of the students, the sister of william and henry. at the very same time, a group of w