Schooling and Teaching : Overview

Born in 1899 to a small farming family in Fairfield, Vermont, Consuelo Bentina Northrop Bailey (CNB) expressed a strong interest in politics and law. Her father, Peter Bent Brigham Northrop, and her mother, Katherine Fletcher Northrop, encouraged their three daughters to get an education and CNB moved with her mother and sisters to St. Albans to attend the local schools. In the fall of 1917, CNB began her studies at the University of Vermont; she graduated with Phi Beta Kappa honors in 1921. Her early interest in politics and law is illustrated in this section by the report regarding prohibition and her diary. Also included are documents regarding the one year she worked as a teacher. Bailey’s report on prohibition shows her unwavering stance in favor of prohibition laws. The diary CNB kept from 1914 to 1918 reflects her struggles as a young, female college student and her life at home. CNB wrote in her diary for most of her life, and it provides a record of both personal and professional events. CNB’s one-year tenure, from 1921 until 1922, as a teacher at the Shelburne High School is the beginning point of her professional career. The teaching contract shows how overqualified she was for her profession as an educator. After just a year teaching, CNB moved to Boston to pursue a more significant career path: she entered Boston University Law School. Also included in this section is a letter from First Lady Grace Coolidge who, like CNB, attended the University of Vermont.