Harriet Elizabeth “Hattie” Jenness Biography

Birth Date:       November 10, 1856

Birth Place:      Maine

Father:             William B. Jenness (Born 1828, New Hampshire;  Died 1915, Alton, NH)

Mother:           Amanda Bailey Jenness (ne Hood) (Born 1833, Massachusetts; Died 1902, Alton, NH)

Education:       Harris Teachers College, St. Louis (1878)

Career / Teaching:

                        1878-1889       Public Schools, St. Louis, MO (Residence, 1880 U.S. Census, Age 23)

                        1890-1892       La Plata Normal School, Republic of Argentina

                        1893-1895       University of New Mexico (UNM), Albuquerque, New Mexico[1]

Married:          None

Died:                February 28, 1895  Albuquerque, New Mexico[2]

                        Burial:  Walnut Grove Cemetery, Danvers, Essex County. MA

 

Comments:

  • Professor Jenness’s position at UNM was from its initial instruction in 1892.
  • “Apparently, the school colors in the early 1890s were black and gold. Miss Harriet Jenness, a faculty member who taught drawing, Delsarte (drama), penmanship and music, suggested a change in school colors because black and gold did not give a true feeling of New Mexico. She suggested the crimson evening glow of the majestic Sandia mountains to the east. The silver came from when students and faculty took picnics in the Sandias and noted the Rio Grande looked like a silver ribbon winding through the valley below. Her ideas were enthusiastically adopted by the faculty and staff. The crimson was later changed to cherry, the color of a Sandia sunset. Miss Jenness died in 1895, two years before the colors were adopted as “official.” (“UNM Traditions – Cherry & Silver”; UNM Website)
  • “In the art of music, she most certainly excelled. Her power for remembering songs, both words and music, was extraordinary. Among her many gifts, good-will and merriment held no small place. In the schoolroom, as in the world, she was light-hearted and gentle, thus winning a place in the hearts of all.” (In Memoriam: Harriet E. Jenness; University of New Mexico, “The Mirage”, 1898)

[1]  Professor of Drawing, Delsarte (oratory movement/drama/dance), Penmanship & Music

[2]  No death certificate has been found.  Services were held at St. John’s Episcopal Church in Albuquerque (University of New Mexico, The Mirage, 1898)