Helen Briggs Miller, '29
"I chose Lesley way back and I made a wonderful choice. I loved Lesley."
In September 1926 Helen left home for the first time in her life and traveled by sleeper train all the way from Caribou, Maine to Cambridge, Massachusetts to begin her first year at the Lesley School. Although she was received very well by founder "Miss Lesley" and principal "Miss Malloch," Helen was homesick. All that would quickly change as Helen settled into her new life. She loved studying, living in the dorms, playing tennis at Harvard's courts across the street, organizing parties, and writing poetry. She thinks back fondly on those years: "It was a great time."
As graduation approached, Helen participated in a well-loved Lesley tradition. She threw a penny into the campus' wishing well. Helen's wish was "to graduate with honors." After graduation, Helen got a job teaching Kindergarten in Port Jervis, New York. She then took a job in a teacher training school in Glen Ridge, New Jersey. Throughout her career, Helen never had difficulty putting her teaching talent to great use. She taught in elementary schools from California to Maine." I always had a good job and every time I moved I would get a better job," explains Helen." Something I attribute to Lesley." Helen, who passed away in February 2009, gave back to the institution that supported her intellectual growth by establishing an endowed scholarship to be awarded annually to students pursing a teaching career in elementary education.
Helen Briggs Miller, '29Helen Briggs Miller as pictured in her yearbook, The Lesleyan 1929.