Wheaton College - Nike Yearbook (Norton, MA)

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atrived immediately afterward to advocate up-swept hair, posture classes, and the poise that would electrify men into sudden pro- posals. Recovering from the effects of mud packs and mild baths, we took time out to pass judgment on five convicts in a chain gang —the bars and stripes forever. . .Sentenced in court to a year’s hard labor as the new class officers were Mary Ann Hessentahler, Betsey Schadt, Virginia Ely, Alison Kimpton, and Marianna Rehling. Howard Mumford Jones, the Founders’ Day speaker, discussed ““The Weight of Our Humility,’’ which called forth much comment among the English majors. That evening the class presented ‘Grown Up’’ written by Beth Fiske, directed by Marion Hubbell, and enjoyed by everyone. One of the high lights of the fall was the junior-freshman bacon bat. We received regular letters from Ellen Bamberger and Luella Davis, studying in France, and from Mary Carpenter who spent the year at Exeter in England. Several juniors took part in the Dance Symposium, and our president did nobly at the Al Warner-Lovin Bloom “‘In- formation Please.’’ Juniors also appeared in Nativity Play during Christmas week. In January Ruth Warren received the gold Phi Beta Kappa key, which merited a special song all for herself. People went away for long week ends on the snow trains and came back on crutches. Hanya-Holm came and conquered Wheaton to such an extent that she made a return engagement for Vaudeville in the person of Helen Kingsley. ‘‘Hysteria Repeats Itself,’’ featuring Mrs. Korsch, Mrs. Potter-Potter and Prudence Olivia Ballantine, was a tremendous success with “‘This Is a Song, Without Any Words’’—as the piéce de resistance. At election time five juniors: Priscilla Howard, Ruth Darnell, Marion Hubbell, Jeanne Adams, and Betty Shaw took over the offices of C.G.A., Y.W.C.A., D.A., A.A., and News for better or for worse. One of the most violent room-choosings in history took place on a mild April evening. Junior-Senior Prom moved from the Gym to a Manhattan penthouse with skyscrapers, neon lights, and the Hudson river gleaming beyond the roof. There were triangular blue and silver lights, a chromium Brenda Frazier bar, and collapsible pine trees along the stage ....Names in the news included Beth Fiske who was chosen as Geneva scholar with Natalie Fairchild as alternate; with Betty Conant they sailed on the Volendam at the end of June. Marion Hubbell played the lead in the Harvard-Wheaton play ‘‘Arms and the Man,”’ and Harriot Gallagher was elected Head of the Dance Group. .. . Four (4) juniors won athletic honors in the form of a white blazer: Betty Conant, Bertinia Dickson, Barbara Lathrope, and Janet MacPherson. Hilde Richard was accepted as the recipient of the Refugee scholarship Fund, and the semester ended with the college excited about S.A.B. to be started during the sum- mer under the direction of Messrs. Horn- bostle and Bennett. Two decades after Versailles a European war was declared whose reverberations shake the foundations of the earth. The union of totalitarian Germany and the Soviet Union was a staggering blow to democracies every- where. In the time of the blackout of hopes of the peoples of a continent, the government has restated our neutrality, made great efforts toward defense at home. As seniors the class of 1940 have found a very real responsibility in equipping themselves to take their place in a world torn by strife. Affirmation has be- come the keyword in the new creed. The year began auspiciously at Birchmont, which set the tone for subsequent ‘‘game nights’’ in the Sem, and achieved new goals in the C.G.A. policy. At Chapel the senior officers: Betty Conant, Mary Ann Hessentah- ler, Julia Billings, Ruth Haslam, and Mari- anna Rehling, wearing caps and gowns and carrying white roses, led the class in the front door for the first time! We attended Founder’s Day to hear Mary Ellen Chase speak on “‘The Author and His Reader’’: we helped win Riding Meet for the fourth con- secutive time, and aided in lengthening the Christmas vacation by a day. We thought [ 28 ]

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Sophomore Hop brought the continental atmosphere of a sidewalk cafe with striped awnings, checked tablecloths, travel posters, flower pots, and the French waitresses of a Parisian boite. We next turned our attention to Mummers’ Play. Betsey Schadt, Master of Revels, led the Mummers through Emerson and Everett shrieking “‘Hail to Britannia’ which echoed down the nights and down the days of winter vacation. For weeks after Agna Enters appeared at Wheaton we made dramatic entrances into classrooms and dram- atic exits from C.G.A. cabinet meetings. The Seniors at work Parks returned from abroad and were serenad- ed on a snowy night by the entire student body. Vaudeville, ‘‘Yearning for Learning,’’ was produced in February with Dr. Lange and Miss Faries in conspicuous roles. “‘Gee, Must Be Love,”’ written by Dorothy Fisher and Janet McKenna, achieved an instant and lasting success. Our Pegasus rings were pre- sented to us during a lull in the Tacky party. When officers were announced we found mem- bers of our class in every organization, among them Eleanor Wells, Editor of Nixes. There was something particularly beautiful about that part of the year following Easter vacation:—the bittersweet quality of spring after a long severe winter, the nostalgic fra- grance of the baby’s breath and the spires of lilac behind Everett. We found it along the brook that runs through the pines, and in the white, white fields where we picked daisies for the Class Day daisy chain. But perhaps our spring centered about May Day, when Constance Anderson was crowned one of the loveliest May Queens Wheaton has yet seen; when members of the class walked in the Court and danced before the Queen’s throne in the Dimple. The most turbulent year since the Treaty of Versailles had brought Democracy face to face with Dictatorship. Nazi persecution and triumphs, the “‘peace’’ of Munich, reinforce- ment of the Maginot line, found complement here in the States in political purges, in the struggles for reform and recovery. Editorials in college newspapers asked for a united front against the forces of prejudice and propag- ganda. We were surer now of ourselves, more selective, less apt to rationalize. Just as geo- metric figures had become a philosophy and poetry had become an emotion, we began to be able to see through a glass darkly beyond the external order of things to their essential reality. We had no sooner arrived on campus as juniors than a hurricane passed through Nor- ton, taking with it part of Larcom roof and Dr. Park's weathervane, as well as completely destroying the college pines. Miss Osborne ear

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our Nativity Play the most beautiful ever presented, with Dorothy Sanborn an un- rivaled Madonna in a red velvet gown. The morning before vacation was quite unforget- table; shivering seniors wrapped sheets about them and formed a wavering line across campus clutching candles and singing off tune. This semester we helped Hebe Take a Holiday in Vaudeville, introduced Friday night sings at the Sem, and completely aced the college with ten engagements! (We have also applied for a marriage course.) Supper at Dr. Park’s, faculty teas, victorious swim- ming meets filled our days. Seniors personified the Virtues in the May Court, and danced their last dance in the Gym at Prom. At Last Chapel we relinquished, a little sadly, our CLASS last claim on undergraduate life, and looked forward to two days at Manomet before Com- mencement. Four years.... gradually the various things we have felt and have done in this time fall into place, like pieces of a Chinese puzzle. We have faith in ourselves and in our desire to do some part in the work of remaking the world. We find identity with the earth and the people walking the streets and the steel towers vaulting into the sky. We have faith that the natural order of the beautiful and good must eventually reassert itself in a doctrine of affirmation. “Believe America is promises to Take!”’ WILL HE Class of 1940 leaves, weather permitting, the Sem as always, and, convinced that who drinks shall thirst for more, dedicates its desire for a more abundant life to the juniors. To the rest of the student body the senior class bequeaths profound intelligence, its lack of intel- lectuality, and its supreme confidence in the faculty. We also leave the Administration to rest in peace. Betty Adams leaves the Hills of Brooklyn. Jeannie Adams leaves sporting her diploma. Connie Anderson leaves her vagueness to Ellen Greeley. Monnie Armstrong leaves leaping and running. Marge Bach leaves Mr. Cutler to walk campus alone. Enzie Bamberger leaves with Mut in her eye. Betty Barker leaves with designs on Macy’s. Ruth Bartlett leaves the library unreserved. Ellen Berney leaves Everett appalled. Barbara Bestor leaves Witter bounce. Julie Billings leaves her love of Spanish to Yvonne Bersia. Nat Blaisdell leaves her trips to Dartmouth to Billie Godfrey. Blodge leaves her hair to Fran Lawler for that social twirl. Kathe Bredow leaves her sweaters to the Finns. Anne Breeding leaves her conducting ability to Mr. Garabedian. Brillie leaves one institution for another. Helen Broadbent leaves philosophically. [ 29 ]