by Ashleigh Bonina
I chose to focus on Caroline Pardee’s education in this week’s blog post and Instragram postings. Aside from her education while at the elementary, middle and high school level, she went on to graduate from The University of Akron and complete courses at Radcliffe and Harvard. I wanted to share her educational accomplishments because they led her to her long career as the secretary to the president of The University of Akron. She was the secretary to both Mark and Norm Auburn, totaling over 30 years of service.
I also included in my Instagram posts many educational documents that she acquired throughout time in school. This document, from The University of Akron Archival Services, for example, is a stenographic key that was one Pardee’s assignments, showing the sorts of knowledge required for those in secretarial training.
Another reason I think Pardee’s education is interesting and worth mentioning, is because she attended more than one university. She didn’t spend much time at Radcliffe, but completed several semesters at Harvard. She was working through a series of courses that would allow her to graduate in a secretarial science related field. However, she was unable to afford to continue going, which is a common problem, especially back then, and that forced her to discontinue her courses there. That is when she returned to Akron, OH and became the secretary to the president. Caroline Pardee’s career is what sparked my initial interest into her life.