Stuck-Up and Proud
The YWCA hired college women to work the conferences and summer camps, mostly as maids and waitresses. The first summer of 1913, some of these young women felt that the work they were required to do – menial jobs such as sweeping, laundry, and dishwashing – were chores that a modern, educated woman should not be required to do. Overhearing their complaints and protests, someone is said to have remarked, "You're just a bunch of stuck-ups." Apparently, the young women actually rose to the challenge and embraced the nickname, because the Stuck-ups became an institution that lasted for 22 years.
A 1924 employment announcement at the University of California at Berkeley stated: Stuck-ups will work 6 hours a day, seven days a week; this will be the work schedule of the time. There will be occasional time off for each employee. Remuneration is board and room and $26 a month. Much baggage is not desirable. A steamer trunk or two suitcases will prove better.
Among the many Stuck-ups at Asilomar was a young woman named Helen N. Brier, who lived – at least for a time – at Stuck-Up Inn. She returned to Asilomar over a period of several years, and worked in the Administration Building, describing herself as an "office dog." Ms. Brier took numerous photographs of Asilomar's grounds, other Stuck-ups, the Pirates, YWCA personnel and various conference attendees, and compiled them into an album which has since become a part of the Pat Hathaway Collection. Many of Ms. Brier's photos have been used to illustrate this website.
The Stuck-ups were enthusiastic about sports. They played baseball, basketball, croquet, and tennis, and they also participated in competitive swimming. Between Dodge Chapel Auditorium and the boardwalk path in the dunes there used to be a basketball court, and as you walked towards the beach there was a volleyball court, and beyond that and even closer to the beach was the baseball lot. The Stuck-ups played baseball against the Pirates in weekly games that began in May and ended in August, and that attracted citizens from Pacific Grove who came to watch them play.
Glory Days | The Stuck-Ups | The Pirates | End of an Era | Park Purchase