Hirst, Gertrude Mary

Gertrude Mary Hirst was born Jan. 22, 1869 in Huddersfield, England. She studied classics at Newnham College at Cambridge, graduating in 1891. She came to the United States to teach at the Louisville (KY) Female Seminary. In 1900 she started graduate work at Columbia under Edward Delavan Perry and Mortimer Lamson Earle. Upon receipt of her Ph.D. in 1901, she embarked on what would be a 40 year career at Barnard, teaching Greek and Latin. She was known for her habits of bicycling down Broadway in long skirts and straw hats and for the table she kept in the Faculty Dining Room. During World War I, she was the Director of the Columbia Boat House Canteen where Barnard students entertained military personnel passing through New York. Throughout her years at Barnard, Miss Hirst developed a devoted group of colleagues and students. Although she officially retired in 1943, in 1959 she celebrated her 90th birthday among them. Her memoir "From a Yorkshire Town to Morningside Heights," published in 1957 documents life at Barnard at the turn of the 20th century.