Mary Lyon founded Mount Holyoke College in 1837 as Mount Holyoke Female Seminary. Unlike some colleges, the religious connection never permeated, or at least it didn’t in the kind of way that I had heard of, or the kind of way that I was used to religion seeping into my life growing up in Georgia. The Mount Holyoke College seal depicts palm trees, mountainous terrain, and a small building. The image is encircled with the words “Mount Holyoke College PS CXLIV.XII 1837.” The tropical scene depicts not South Hadley, Massachusetts, but Psalm 144:12. The verse, and the way that the words might resonate with the students and alumnae of MHC is an issue of translation, particularly as it reflects values across time and women’s changing roles in society and, of course, the timeless issue of translating and interpreting the Bible.
On Mount Holyoke’s Alumnae Association website, in the explanation of the MHC ring on which the emblem is imprinted, Psalm 144:12 is quoted: “That our daughters may be as corner stones, polished after the similitude of a palace.” More recently, a page that explains the palm trees as depicting “a fruitful oasis of learning,” leaving out the explanation of Psalms entirely. It is interesting that this newer explanation of the seal doesn’t reference the verse from Psalms and instead only the palm trees. Mary Lyon certainly was creating an oasis of learning, however, she was doing this religiously. I wonder if this is one way to leave tradition behind: keep the image and supply a new meaning. This college is steeped in tradition that is beautiful and which celebrates the unique community and the individuals that make it up.
When I looked up the Psalm, having forgotten the meaning after more than a decade since graduating, I was startled to find a website that provided a list of different translations featured in different versions of the Bible, many more versions than I even realized existed. These different translations reflect different interpretations of the original text and even differing values within society.
The quote on the Alumnae Association website most closely resembles the King James Version: “That our daughters may be as corner stones, polished after the similitude of a palace.” Then there’s the English Standard Version: “our daughters like corner pillars, cut for the structure of a palace.” The New International Version: “…and our daughters will be like pillars carved to adorn a palace.” The New Living Translation: “May our daughters be like graceful pillars, carved to beautify a palace.” The New Revised Standard Version: “…our daughters like corner pillars, cut for the building of a palace.”
The New Revised Standard Version of the Bible seems to have the translation that echoes the sentiments that perhaps Mary Lyon hoped to covey: “… our daughters like corner pillars, cut for the building of a palace.” The metaphor contained here draws the connection between daughters and their role as corner pillars, whose job it is to uphold a palace. In this translation, the simplicity of language helps to explain – and show – that the daughters themselves act as corner pillars of a structure, they do not merely adorn, decorate, or beautify, are not just “polished after the similitude of a palace,” where the passive suggests that it is not the actions of the daughters, but of someone else. Even the word “polished” suggests adornment and decoration.
These small symbols contain meaning within them, and it makes me wonder how much my alma mater thought about this issue of translation and the different meanings contained in this one phrase. Are women corner stones – supporting the foundations of palaces? Or are they mere adornments, decorations, meant to beautify a place? Adornments, decorations, beautifying agents – these all contain the passive nature of women’s roles in society, meant to be seen, not heard, meant to be silent.
Sources
“Psalm 144:12.” https://biblia.com/bible/esv/psalm/144/12. Accessed 29 Nov. 2021. “The Official Mount Holyoke Ring.” https://alumnae.mtholyoke.edu/blog/the-official-mount-holyoke-ring/. Accessed 30 Nov. 2021.
“Mount Holyoke: An oasis of learning.” https://www.mtholyoke.edu/studentlife/living-here/oasis-of-learning. Accessed 29 Nov. 2021.
Alexandra Sladky 