Margaret C. Waites Explained

Margaret C. Waites
Birth Date:	October 7, 1883
Birth Place:	Worcester, Massachusetts, U.S.
Death Date:	March 15, 1923 (aged 39)
Death Place:	South Hadley, Massachusetts, U.S.
Education:	Radcliffe College
Occupation:	Classical scholar, college professor

Margaret Coleman Waites (October 7, 1883 – March 15, 1923) was an American classical scholar who was the head of the Latin department at Rockford College from 1909 to 1914 and head of the Latin Language and Literature department at Mount Holyoke College at the time of her death in 1923.

Early life and education

Waites was born in Worcester, Massachusetts, the daughter of Alfred Waites and Kate Sanderson Waites. Her father was born in England. She graduated from Worcester Classical High School in 1902 and Radcliffe College in 1905.^[1] She completed a master's degree at Radcliffe in 1906, and her Ph.D. in 1910. Her thesis was "The Dramatic Art of Euripides" (1905).^[2] She was a member of Phi Beta Kappa.

Career

Waites was head of the department of Latin at Rockford College from 1909 to 1914. She spent the 1912–1913 academic year at the American School of Classical Studies in Rome, supported by a fellowship from the American Association of Collegiate Alumnae.^[3] She began teaching at Mount Holyoke College in 1914, and was head of the Latin Language and Literature department there for about one year.^{[4] [5]} In 1921 she wrote the Latin lyrics of a commemoration ode, sung at the twentieth anniversary of Mary E. Woolley's installation as president of Mount Holyoke.^[6] In that same year she attended the Classical Association conference in England, and reported on it for the Boston Transcript.^[7]

Publications

Waites's work was published in Harvard Studies in Classical Philology, Classical Philology, The Classical Weekly, American Journal of Archaeology, the American Journal of Philology, and other publications.

• "Some Features of the Allegorical Debate in Greek Literature" (1912)^[8]
• "The Form of the Early Etruscan and Roman House" (1914)^[9]
• "The Performance of the Phormio, in Latin, at Mount Holyoke College" (1917)^[10]
• "The Meaning of the 'Dokana'" (1919)^[11]
• "Satura Redivivia" (1919)^[12]
• "The Nature of the Lares and their Representation in Roman Art" (1920)^[13]
• "The Deities of the Sacred Axe" (1923)^[14]
• "Latin an End in Itself" (1923)^[15]

Personal life and legacy

Waites's mother died in 1923, and Waites herself died of pneumonia a month later, aged 39.^[16] Said Woolley at her memorial:

Waites bequeathed $1000 to the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children^[17] and left her library, her personal effects, and $27,000 to Radcliffe College.^[18] According to Harvard campus legend (Radcliffe College and Harvard College having merged in the late 20th century), Waites's ghost supposedly haunts a suite of undergraduate rooms in Cabot Houserooms which used to be part of the house librarywhere her books are shelved.^{[19] [20] [21]}

Notes and References

1. Radcliffe College, Class of 1905 (1905 yearbook): 58.
2. Waites, Margaret Coleman. "The Dramatic Art of Euripides: With Special Reference to the Plays Discussed by Dr. AW Verrall in 'Euripides the Rationalist'" (1905).
3. News: March 16, 1912 . The College Women . October 4, 2024 . Syracuse Herald-Journal . 5 . Newspapers.com.
4. Mount Holyoke College, "Department of Latin", Llamarada (1918 yearbook): 40, 72.
5. Web site: Collection: Classics Department records . October 4, 2024 . Mount Holyoke and Hampshire College archives.
6. 1921 . Phi Beta Kappa News and Notes . The Phi Beta Kappa Key . 4 . 9 . 537–538 . 42913234 . 2373-0331.
7. News: November 9, 1921 . Dr. Margaret C. Waites Writes of When Good Classicists Get Together . October 4, 2024 . Transcript-Telegram . 18 . Newspapers.com.
8. Waites . M. C. . 1912 . Some Features of the Allegorical Debate in Greek Literature . Harvard Studies in Classical Philology . 23 . 1–46 . 10.2307/310446 . 310446 . 0073-0688.
9. The Form of the Early Etruscan and Roman House . 10.1086/359861 . 1914 . Waites . Margaret C. . Classical Philology . 9 . 2 . 113–133 .
10. Waites . Margaret C. . 1917 . The Performance of the Phormio, in Latin, at Mount Holyoke College . The Classical Weekly . 10 . 13 . 104 . 4387401 . 1940-641X.
11. The Meaning of the "Dokana" . 10.2307/497365 . 497365 . Waites . Margaret C. . American Journal of Archaeology . 1919 . 23 . 1 . 1–18 .
12. Waites . M. C. . 1919 . Satura Rediviva . The American Journal of Philology . 40 . 3 . 308–316 . 10.2307/289271 . 289271 . 0002-9475.
13. Waites . Margaret C. . 1920 . The Nature of the Lares and Their Representation in Roman Art . American Journal of Archaeology . 24 . 3 . 241–261 . 10.2307/497689 . 497689 . 0002-9114.
14. The Deities of the Sacred Axe . 10.2307/497531 . 497531 . Waites . Margaret C. . American Journal of Archaeology . 1923 . 27 . 1 . 25–56 .
15. Waites . Margaret C. . 1923 . Latin an End in Itself . The Classical Weekly . 16 . 17 . 134 . 10.2307/4388472 . 4388472 . 1940-641X.
16. April 1923 . College News . Mount Holyoke Alumnae Quarterly . 46.
17. News: March 28, 1923 . S. P. C. C. District Recipient of $1000 . October 4, 2024 . The Morning Union . 4 . Newspapers.com.
18. News: June 19, 1924 . 'Harvard Women' at Radcliffe Commencement . October 4, 2024 . Transcript-Telegram . 2 . Newspapers.com.
19. News: Molly E. Egan . Emily T. Schwartz. FM's Campus Ghost Tour . October 29, 2023. The Harvard Crimson.
20. News: Harvard's Haunted Houses. Sarah Sweeney. October 29, 2014. Harvard Gazette.
21. News: Room With A Crew. October 23, 2003. The Harvard Crimson. Meghan M. Dolan . Cornelia L. Griggs.