Alice Wieber Fitzgerald

Wisdom from her article in The Crescent, 1942:

…Let me say to those of you who are still in college that I am keenly aware of the type of hardship this war is bringing to you because another war 25 years ago found me in college…That war of 1917 was little more than a rehearsal for 1942, but human nature has not changed in the intervening 25 years and, allowing for the expected variations of different generations, you are undergoing much the same experiences that we face then. I am sure your emotions are being harried as ours were, but somehow I believe that you have been conditioned to meet this type of problem better than we were. I am equally sure that many of you are confronted by the question of whether or not to marry at this time. I sincerely believe that the experience of some other persons will not help here because the human coefficient is such a major consideration that each case is unique. My hope is that you will think calmly before you act and that you will measure your chances for happiness in a marriage precipitated by the war with the same yardstick you would use under normal conditions. Our countries are at war and no small part of our duty is to follow orders and behave in a way that will prove our right to be useful citizens in a free world.

Alice Wieber Fitzgerald served as Grand President from 1940-46.