Lilly Pearl Ponder Chamberlin: Pioneer Educator at Tarleton State University (1876–1943)

Lilly Pearl Ponder Chamberlin, educator and founding faculty member of what became Tarleton State University, was born in Mississippi to Amos Alexander Ponder and Julia A. (Shive) Ponder on November 24, 1876. As a young adult she attended Sam Houston Normal Institute (now Sam Houston State University) in Huntsville, Texas. In 1895 she attained her teaching certificate, and from 1895 to 1899 she taught in Fairy, Texas, in Hamilton County.Porter was hired by William H. Bruce, the first president of The John Tarleton College, to teach at the new Stephenville college.When Tarleton opened its doors on September 4, 1899, she was one of two female faculty members; the other, Clara Bartholomew, resigned the following year. Ponder taught a wide variety of courses, including Latin, arithmetic, algebra, English, spelling, and ancient history.In 1902 she assumed the position of “Lady Principle,” a job that entailed similar duties as a dean of women, though she received no increase in pay.Ponder remained at Tarleton until May 1907. Later that year, on September 12, she married Willard Chamberlin, Jr., whose Erath County farm had been part of a grant given to his father for service in the Texas Revolution.

Lily Chamberlin intended to be a full-time wife and mother to her husband’s children from his previous marriage, though her life away from education did not last long. A year-and-a-half after leaving Tarleton she accepted a temporary teaching job at Stephenville High School to help fill a teacher shortage. In 1909, after teaching English for six-months, she accepted a full-time position at the school. Chamberlin worked at the school until 1913 and rose to head the English department. During her time at Stephenville High School she petitioned the school board to develop a home economics class but was turned down for lack of funds.

In 1913 James F. Cox, a former student of Chamberlin, became president of Tarleton, and he convinced Chamberlin to return to the college in 1914. She resumed teaching English but maintained her desire to create a home economics program. In summer 1914 she began attending the College of Industrial Arts (now Texas Woman’s University) in Denton to obtain the professional training needed to lead such a program. President Cox approved of Chamberlin’s proposal, but the college’s budget would not allow her any additional salary or money for equipment. Cox and Chamberlin came to an agreement whereby she would teach two home economics courses without increased pay, and Cox would take over two of her English classes. Chamberlin personally solicited funds and contributions from the Stephenville community. She raised nearly $200 and persuaded local stores to sell her the equipment she needed, which included nine stoves, several tables, and four sewing machines, at wholesale prices. Chamberlin taught the college’s first home economics courses in fall 1915. She continued to attend summer courses in Denton and earned her bachelor’s degree in clothing in 1918.

In 1917 Tarleton joined the Texas A&M system and became a state affiliated institution. Cox used the new funding available due to the college’s state affiliation to create a home economics department. He hired an additional instructor and a department head. The next spring Cox named Chamberlin dean of women, but she still retained her regular teaching duties. By 1921 the clothing instructor and the home economics department head had both resigned, and Chamberlin assumed their roles. She taught the clothing and applied home arts courses while heading the department and serving as dean of women until her departure from Tarleton in 1928.

In 1928, in order to be closer to her stepchildren, Chamberlin accepted the position of head of the home economics department at North Texas Agricultural College (now the University of Texas at Arlington), where she worked until her retirement about 1939. That year she moved to Henderson, Texas, where she was active in women’s clubs and church work. She lived there until her death during the night of December 25, 1943, at the home of her stepdaughter, Emily Rachel Chamberlin. Her final rites were held at First Presbyterian Church in Henderson, and she was buried at Lakewood Memorial Park in Henderson. Chamberlin was the namesake for an annex to the women’s dormitory at Tarleton, completed in 1925. She was also the writer of the college’s “Founder’s Song,” composed for Tarleton’s first Founder’s Day celebration in 1902. Throughout her career, Chamberlin was an active lecturer and article writer. She was also active in the Red Cross and the Texas Congress of Mothers and Parent-Teacher Associations. See also TARLETON STATE UNIVERSITY.