matriarchal and her father as secretive. Beginning in 1909, White attended the Boston Girls' High School, where she was studious and performed well.. She participated in the Debating Club and became the editor-in-chief of her school paper, Distaff, in her senior year. She graduated in 1913 and received a Margaret A. Badger Scholarship and an Old South Historical Society prize. During this time, she was a member of the Massachusetts suffrage movement. White started at Radcliffe College later that year and graduated summa cum laude in three years with a bachelor's degree in English. White was awarded a Phi Beta Kappa key and the George B. Sohier bachelor's thesis prize at her 1916 graduation. She continued at Radcliffe and completed her master's degree in 1917, whereupon she sought teaching posts. In September, White became an Assistant in Smith College's English department, where she taught English for two years. Her friends suggested that she pursue her doctoral study "out West" in Madison, Wisconsin—a proposal White accepted. Madison White arrived for the 1919 fall semester. She was not familiar with Wisconsin, but quickly came to love Madison and its university, particularly for its people's open spirit and school pride. Her new apartment would become her longtime home. White worked as an instructor in the English department and university library while she worked on her doctorate. As a graduate student, she held office hours on Saturday mornings for anyone interested in her tutoring, often at the expense of her own work. White graduated in 1924 and became an assistant professor the next year. By 1936, she had become a full professor, the first woman to do so in Letters and Science at the university. She taught several classes, including freshman English, 17th century English literature, metaphysical poetry, and a graduate course in John Donne, George Herbert, Andrew Marvell, Richard Crashaw, and Henry Vaughan. Margaret Thoma of Demcourier described White's English 5 writing seminar as "now famous" in 1942. White taught two classes when the Wisconsin Writers' Institute opened in 1945. White's classes emphasized unambiguous writing and constructive, honest feedback. She was known to amiably reply to all of her mail. White used a four desk system in her apartment, where each desk served a specific function: personal letters, low-priority book notes, high-priority work, or typing. Some of her most notable students, such as August Derleth, Herbert Kubly, and Mark Schorer, continued to rely