Elizabeth Roggy

Elizabeth Roggy
Full name	Elizabeth Roggy Lush
Alternative names	Lizzie Roggy, L. Roggy
Presence at Shimer	–1892
Presence on Earth	1870–1921
Role(s)	Seminary period alum

Elizabeth Lush, nee Elizabeth Roggy, was a student at Shimer College in the Seminary period, graduating in 1892. In 1891, she was president of the Seminary YWCA and vice-president of the Oread Society.[1]

She subsequently attended the University of Chicago, where she was a member of the Finance Committee of the YWCA.[2]

Around 1900, she became involved in the "Zion Home" cult which founded Zion, Illinois.[3] According to Annual Calendars from 1900 to 1912, she was living on Seminary Street in Bloomington, Illinois.[4][5]

She was buried in the Mount Olivet cemetery in Zion on May 31, 1920.

Mentioned

• in "Personals", Oread, August 1895:

  Miss Elizabeth Roggy, one of our alumnae, who has been in attendance upon the University of Chicago this year is to spend the summer, or a part of it at least, at Chautauqua. Miss Roggy has prepared herself especially as teacher of Latin.

• Leaves of Healing, vol. 7, 1900, p. 535:

  Miss Elizabeth Roggy, 16 East Sixteenth Street, Chicago, Illinois, said: "I thank God for His wonderful guidance since I turned to Him and asked Him to show me Himself. I praise Him most of all for what I have received through Zion. When I first read Leaves of Healing I did not see my way clearly, but, thank God, after reading that paper I received such peace. I am positive that God led me into Zion, and has helped me to stand firm when the testing time came."

Writings

• "Letter from Miss Elizabeth Roggy", Oread, August 1895, p. 30:

  (Miss Elizabeth Roggy (Class of '92) is one of the most loyal daughters of Mt. Carroll Seminary. It gives us pleasure to know that she is enjoying to the full the advantages of the Chicago University. At our request she sends us a brief description of University life as she finds it.)

  I will try to give you a glimpse, for I can do no more in a letter, of the University of Chicago and the varied and absorbing interests which engage the student there.

  The buildings in their present stage of completion number eleven, two Divinity Halls, Graduate and Cobb Halls, Kent Chemical Laboratory, Ryerson Physical Laboratory, Walker Museum, Snell Hall for men, Beecher Kelly and Nancy Foster Halls for women, each named in honor of the donor. Work for the building of the Haskell Oriental Museum is under way and another Hall for Women will soon be built.

  The life in and about these buildings is marked first and most noticeably by an earnest determination to work. Every student feels and is stirred by the great possibilities of the University. Pride in what has already been accomplished and hope for what is yet to be accomplished stimulate the ambition of the students to the highest degree and make the class-room the primary center of activity and interest. Work is the common bond which unites the one thousand students. Work, faithful and conscientious, is forming the atmosphere which shall prevail in the coming years. The best in every line is here offered the student and he strives to make the best use of what is offered.

  The center of the social life of the University is in the Women's Halls. These halls in the arrangement of their rooms and in the furnishings have all the equipments and artistic touches of a comfortable and elegant home. The term dormitory as it is commonly understood does not apply to the Women's Halls of the University of Chicago. A special social feature is the weekly reception given in turn by the Halls to the members of the Faculty, the students and their friends in the city. Private parties and teas are also given by many of the young ladies for special friends. Another pleasant social occasion is the informal dinner party given each week for members of the Faculty. In this way the students and instructors are brought together in delightful intercourse.

  Even in a glimpse of University life one cannot overlook athletics, which are beginning to take a prominent part. Care is taken, however, to prevent the abuses so common in college athletics.

  Tennis courts are numerous on the campus and tennis is a favorite athletic exercise. On certain days the women substitute this game for the regular gymnasium work.

  The religious life has its outlet through various organizations. the Y. M. C. A. and Y. W. C. A. and the Christian Union being most important. The University settlement is under the direction of the Christian Union. The Y. W. and Y. M. C. A.'s beside their work in the University are carrying on a mission in another part of the city.

  The Women's Halls and the care which has been taken to make them pleasant and home-like have already been mentioned. These, added to the free-dom ef opportunity and unqualified privileges which the women enjoy leave nothing to be desired by the women students. The question of Woman's Rights, as far as Chicago University is concerned, is settled. All without regard to sex on the basis of intellectual capacity only, may work for the same degrees and honors. The fact that there are eighteen women among the fellows and scholars shows their willingness and ability to improve the opportunities given them.

  For both men and women life at Chicago University contains the stimulus to noble ambition and the hope of a prosperous future. All feel the power to contribute to this future by forming such traditions and such a spirit as shall do honor to the University through all time.

  ELIZABETH ROGGY.

References

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