Wesley Balla, PhD, Cultural Historian and former curator of the New Hampshire Historical Society, on the world in which Sara Richman Harris matured as a young woman during the 1930s and 1940s.
“It was period very different from today. From my perspective it was a world experiencing great social, economic and political change, but certain avenues of life and experience were only beginning to open to young women. She was born a year after women first exercised voting right through the passage of the 19th Amendment to the U. S. Constitution. I am assuming that Sara’s family valued education and enrolled her in the Girls Latin School, one of the best resources available to middle class in Boston and providing young women with a good/broad liberal arts education.
“I found an interesting and probably relevant passage discussing education at the school during the 1930s, posted on the “Girls’ High School of Boston Alumnae” website
https://ghsalumnaeboston.org/history “Along with changes in activities in student life, curriculum changes were taking place.
“In the mid-1930s adaptations of older courses occurred such as, foreign languages including cultural history; a course in mathematics stressed budgeting and other forms of finance forms of finance of the homemaker; more use of contemporary books encouraged reading (and thought); a new emphasis in art on history and and cultural significance meant not only art appreciation but also visits to the Art Museum and private galleries and studios of Boston…”
“It is perhaps significant as a force in her exposure to art and culture and progressive notions of the roles of women in society was the fact that the Girls Latin School was located in a building on Huntington Avenue in the Fenway with the Boston Normal School (Teachers College) from 1907 to 1955. The Boston Normal School, which eventually became the Massachusetts College of Arts and Design and School of the Museum Of Fine Arts, Boston were part of her life and opened new worlds of art and culture to her.
“They no doubt gave her a launching pad into the World of the Arts Students League, NYC.”
–Wesley Balla, Phd