Frances Cleveland and her Alma Mater (Wells College)

What an absolute thrill it was to spend the better part of this week at Wells College, in Aurora, New York. This beautiful campus, founded by the same man who started Wells Fargo Company, Henry Wells, sits on the shores of Cayuga Lake, in New York's Finger Lakes region. While it is a small school, Wells is rich in heritage, and it also has a little-known history of graduating young people with a far and significant reach.

Frances graduated from Wells in 1885. In 1887, the school named her as its first alumna trustee. She was one of the first two women named to the trustee board; the other being Wells's "Lady Principal," (what we would today call a dean), Helen Fairchild Smith.

Frances took her trustee responsibilities seriously, and she attended the meetings regularly and served her alma mater for forty years. During that time, she worked with the administration in the rebuilding of the school's Main Hall, which burned in 1888. She solicited a contribution from the philanthropist, Andrew Carnegie, to build a library on the campus, completed in 1911 and named in her honor. Frances was instrumental in handling a crisis in the school's leadership, in 1912, and she headed Wells's Million Dollar Campaign, in 1922. This campaign, which asked alumnae to give or solicit donations totaling $333 each, was successfully completed in 1924.

Education was a passion of Frances's that stayed with her throughout her life. She was one of the first of Wells's "girls" (the school went co-ed five years ago) to be notably influential in American life.

Time often dims the memory of contributions that individuals have made to the greater good of a community. To see the stately and well-maintained buildings that have been on the Wells campus for over a century, and to know that this school continues to prepare young people for successful lives, is a good reminder that one person's contribution can easily outlast that individual's lifetime. Such is the case with Frances Folsom Cleveland.

To see a photo of Wells College president, Lisa Ryerson, "Frances Folsom Cleveland," and me, alongside Frances' wedding portrait, click here: http://wellscollege.wordpress.com/2010/04/01/missed-charter-day/