ticner, harvard's first professor of modern languages, and anna elliott ticner, the sister of charles william elliott. many women with both harvard and civic connections including elizabeth kerry agassi became associated with the society as such porters, 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 scholarly ambitions and social needs. each teacher provided assignments and corresponded monthly with students. this society began small, but within two years had 20 -- had 213 students from 24 states and canada. at its peak, in the early 1880s, over 1,000 students were enrolled. the reading came from harvard courses and the work required monthly written reports that included memory notes, abstracts, and essays. alice james was one of the students, the sister of william and henry. at the very same time, a group of women, including elizabeth agassi, began to push back against harvard's exclusion of women. in 1872, the wome