Spiller, Mary

From Lane Co Oregon

Among the members of the first faculty at the UO, there was one woman. Mary Spiller (1831-1901), widowed mother of two, was the first professor of English and elocution, and physical director for women. There was no central living arrangement for female students at the university, so Mrs. Spiller traveled throughout the town, functioning as monitor, advisor, supporter and general mentor for her students.

Physical education for women in 1876 consisted largely of calisthenics performed on the top floor of Deady Hall — or sometimes outside, with the women clothed in “very discreet” black uniforms, recalled Frederic S. Dunn, UO alumnus and professor, writing in 1934. “To insure erect carriage, the women all had on their heads little oblong bags, filled with sand or beans,” he said. “They carried white wands, and were taught to execute some very pretty movements.”

Spiller’s elocution classes consisted of mainly repeating phrases in unison, but her sincerity made up for what the subject may have lacked. “Mrs. Spiller had such a unique way of making you feel a real pride when you had accomplished your task with credit, and, on the other hand, self-abasement if you had failed,” Dunn wrote. “She could say ‘Pshaw!’ or ‘Fiddlesticks!’ and mean it, too.”

The first women’s dormitory, built in the early 1900s, was named for her. The original was a wooden frame building, and Dunn pointed out that in time it must inevitably be razed. When a new building takes its place, he hoped, “may this bit of sincere eulogium aid in holding the university to its now-hallowed tradition and insure that the name of Mary Spiller ‘shall not perish’ from the campus.”

Mary Spiller Hall today is a brick building, part of the co-ed Hamilton Complex at East 13th and Agate streets. Students know it as “Spiller.”