Laura Woolsey Lord Scales (November 13, 1879 – June 12, 1990) was an American educator, college dean and supercentenarian who served as the Dean of Students of

Smith College Smith College is a Private university, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts Women's colleges in the United States, women's college in Northampton, Massachusetts, United States. It was chartered in 1871 by Sophia Smit ...

from 1922 to 1944.

Biography

Scales was the daughter of John King Lord (1848–1926), a historian who served as acting president of

Dartmouth College Dartmouth College ( ) is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Hanover, New Hampshire, United States. Established in 1769 by Eleazar Wheelock, Dartmouth is one of the nine colonial colleges chartered before the America ...

in 1892 and 1893; her two brothers became a professor of anatomy and a publisher. She graduated from

in 1901 and in 1908 married Robert Leighton Scales (1880–1912), a lawyer and former English instructor at Dartmouth who coauthored the debate book '' Argumentation and Debate''. In 1913, after Scales' death, she became an instructor at Boston's Museum of Fine Arts, before resigning in 1920 to become dean of women at the

Carnegie Institute of Technology Carnegie Mellon University (CMU) is a private research university in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States. The institution was established in 1900 by Andrew Carnegie as the Carnegie Technical Schools. In 1912, it became the Carnegie Institu ...

. She then returned to Smith, where she served as dean of students for 22 years (1922–1944). In order to create a sense of community spirit, Scales instituted a policy that all students live on the campus. Scales died in 1990 aged 110 years and 211 days, one of the oldest people in the world at the time. The Massachusetts legislature issued a resolution in honor of her 110th birthday in 1989. Her papers are archived at Smith College.

Awards and honors

Smith gave Scales an honorary doctorate of

humane letters Humanities are academic disciplines that study aspects of human society and culture, including certain fundamental questions asked by humans. During the Renaissance, the term "humanities" referred to the study of classical literature and language ...

in 1931, and

awarded her an honorary doctorate in literature eight years later. In 1936, Smith College named a newly built dormitory the Laura Scales House; notable residents have included

Gloria Steinem Gloria Marie Steinem ( ; born March 25, 1934) is an American journalist and social movement, social-political activist who emerged as a nationally recognized leader of second-wave feminism in the United States in the late 1960s and early 1970s. ...

Selected publications

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References

External links

Laura Scales Papers, 1879–1990
Smith College archives
Laura Scales photographed
in the house named in her honor, by

Alfred Eisenstaedt Alfred Eisenstaedt (December 6, 1898 – August 23, 1995) was a German-born American photographer and photojournalist. He began his career in Germany prior to World War II but achieved prominence as a staff photographer for ''Life'' magazine af ...

for ''Life'' magazine {{DEFAULTSORT:Scales, Laura Woolsey Lord 1879 births 1990 deaths American supercentenarians Smith College staff Women supercentenarians American university and college faculty deans Smith College alumni School of the Museum of Fine Arts at Tufts faculty Carnegie Mellon University people