Plymouth Magazine-Fall26-DIGITAL - Flipbook - Page 12
entered in a coeducational institution,
graduates of Iowa college, Grinnell. Martha
Frisbie has never found time to ally herself
with the patriotic orders to which her
genealogy entitles her being eligible to the
Descendants of the Mayflower, ..and the
Daughters of the American Revolution.
She considers their existence as well
calculated to foster a fitting reverence for
heroic deeds of the past.”
Sanctuary of the 8th and Pleasant streets church.
Martha Frisbie was very active in the
Board of Missions of the Congregational
Church spending 17 years as president
of the Grinnell association and eleven
years as president of the Iowa association.
Martha was the leader of the Union
Temperance Meetings at the YMCA
each Saturday. She invited every Sunday
School teacher in “West Des Moines”
and all scholars who might be interested.
In addition, Martha was active in
the Des Moines Women’s Club from
1888 to1901 and 1919 to 1930. She
presented papers and lectures on
literature and religion from its earliest
years. Although she was active with the
group of founders from the beginning,
she chose not to be a founding member
according to club records: “She gladly
would have joined as a charter member
(in 1885) but for the criticism which she
knew would result.” (One wonders what
that criticism could have been.)
Both Frisbies actively supported Grinnell
College, then a Congregational college.
Alvah was a Grinnell trustee for many
years and Martha was a life-long educator.
The Congregational Student House in
Ames was named for the Frisbies. After her
experiences teaching in all-girls schools,
Martha recommended coeducation.
“In regard to systems of educations, having
been a graduate of Holyoke and a teacher
in girls’ seminaries, Martha Frisbie inclines
to the belief that extreme seclusion is
not for the best. Her own children were
Martha Frisbie (top row, third from right) as a teacher at Callanan College in 1884.
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“Mrs. Frisbie has made her reading
subservient to her work in teaching. She
ranks Tennyson and Longfellow as prime
favorites among the poets. She is fond
of magazines and finds the short story
a restful diversion. George Eliot, Mrs.
Humphry Ward and Marion Crawford are
her chosen friends in fiction.” (Des Moines
Register and Leader, January 2, 1910.)
Both the Adeline and the Frisbie clubs
were formed by former Sunday School
classes at Plymouth Church. The Adeline
Club was formed in 1900 and named for
their late teacher Adeline McFarland.
The Frisbie Clubs were formed in 1904
and named in honor of the Frisbies.
Both groups met fortnightly and later
combined. The Frisbie Club now known
as the Frisbie Fellowship remains a part
of Plymouth today.
In 1914, Frisbie School was opened
in Des Moines. It was a public school
named for Alvah Frisbie, but Martha’s
work in education should be included
in the name. After Alvah’s death Martha
visited the school.
