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ALUMNAE SUPPLEMENT TO THE TWIG
NEWSETTES
The Alumnae Secretary's Column
The mail is always interesting
but especially so just before
special occasions, such as
Founders’ Day. But before let
ting you in on some mail recent
ly recived, I want to tell you
about a visitor.
The other day an alumna,
graduate of 1934, came to the
alumnae office highly elated be
cause on the way she had
bumped into some people who
knew her here in her college
days. She said, “I met four of
my professors, each of whom
called me by name! Think of
their remebering me! Wasn’t
that wonderful!” Yes, the pro
fessors do remember you and
are glad to see you, so don’t
stay away thinking you’ll know
no one because you don’t know
everyone.
Now the mail—a “special”
came the day before Founders’
Day containing a check for
$80 and this note: “I can think
of no better way to greet my
Alma Mater on her birthday
than by paying in full my pledge
of $100.00 on the Expansion Pro
gram and pledging $100.00 again
to be paid by next Founders’
Day.” An excellent greeting—I
should say!
Another piece of mail which
came just before Founders’ Day
contained an enclosure with this
explanation: “Here’s another
small bond that I’m turning in
for Meredith. Credit it to 1907
if credits are given to classes.”
You agree with me that the mes
sage was quite acceptable, don’t
you?
Note from Dora E. Cox of
Winterville reads: “—here goes
my check for Life Membership
in our Alumnae Association. I
dare say this will mean more to
my Alma Mater on her forthcom
ing birthday than any greeting
that I could possibly pen. Rest
assured, however, that next Fri
day I shall depart from my usual
beaten path sufficiently long to
Tollow the trail of memory to
Meredith days.’ Thus may both
of us be blessed!” You agree that
“special-occasion” mail is inter
esting, don’t you?
Emily Boyd Garrison of
Florida believes in “say it with
flowers.” Here’s an excerpt from
her letter: “Tomorrow I am
hoping to find enough gladioli
, which are just right to cut now
for mailing. I will send these
to you to bear my Alma Mater
greetings on her birthday.” The
flowers came in good time and
our college community was very
delighted to receive them.
Many alumnae have written
me that they enjoy “The Presi
dent Speaks,” which appears in
each Supplement. Recently an
alumna of Asheville wrote to
Mrs. Wilkins: “Please allow me
to congratulate you upon the fine
article you have in the January
21 Twig. . . . The things you say
need to be said over and over
and acted upon by more and
more people. The matter is
urgent and vital. . . . You ex
pressed my own thoughts so
much better than I ever could.
. . . I’m going to ask the news
paper here to publish your
article.” Aren’t we proud of
President Marguerite Mason
Wilkins, though!
Likewise many alumnae have
written me that they read with
interest “Fund Chairman Re-
ports” in each Supplement.
Several weeks ago Jennie
Yancey Fleming Severance sent
directly to our Fund Chairman
a check for a Life Membership
along with a letter in which she
said she was much interested in
Mrs. Martin’s picture—that she
hadn’t seen her since she was a
baby but could still recognize
the favor! Remarkable, and
aren’t we proud of Fund Chair-
,man Margaret Craig Martin,
though!
Those of you who type can
well understand the terror that
seized the alumna who found
that a misspelled word had es
caped her correction before mail
ing her typed Founders’ Day
message (she must have had a
carbon copy). Let me tell you
what the word is—escalator.
Anyhow she sent posthaste a
message asking that the word be
corrected before consigning it to
the special Founders’ Day
“Alumnae Greeting” bulletin
board. How well we know that
typists have a much harder time
concealing misspelled words
than “long-handers,” for an “i”
can’t be mistaken for an “e,” an
“a” for an “o,” and so on.
The “Baby Alumnae” class
has, so far, the highest percent
age of “active” members of any
class numbering as many as fifty
or more—to date, 37 per cent
(85 in class).
ALUMNAE LUNCHEON
The annual Meredith
Alumnae Luncheon will be
held in High Point, on
March 13, at 1 o’clock, at
the Wesley Memorial
Church. Alumnae and
friends are cordially invited
to attend. Please send in
reservation by March 9 to
Mrs. D. A. Rawley (Sarah
Cook), 1209 Johnson St.,
High Point.
LETTER TO ALUMNAE
New Chairman of Friends
of the Library Committee
TO MEREDITH
(Tune: “Memories”)
By Marguerite Mason Wilkins
Memories, memories.
Dreams of love so true.
On the sea of memories
I’m drifting back to you,
Meredith days, Meredith
Love and laughter, too.
We left you long ago.
But still you’re our own
In our beautiful memories.
ways.
Louise MacMillan
The Early Days of the Astro and Phi Soeieties
By Mary Lynch Johnson
Three names, two locations,
and numerous smaller changes
have marked the forty-seven
years of Meredith’s life. Degrees
and courses have been added and
dropped since the first year. The
Missionary Society of 1899 gave
way to the Y.W.C.A., and then
to the B.S.U. The Athletic As
sociation was not dreamed of
that first year; neither was Stu
dent Government. For two years
there was not even a Lady Prin
cipal; the President of the Uni
versity gave all the permissions.
Between that past and this
present the literary societies, the
Philaretian and the Astrotekton,
form the strongest link. Both
were organized the first month
of school, with the same mottoes
and colors which they now have.
An older alumna, by the way,
told me that the colors were
chosen because the college colors
were first purple and gold,
rather than maroon. The
alumnae of the early years feel
quite at home in the one or the
other of the long lines that march
down the aisles in friendly
rivalry on Society night, even
though those who graduated be
fore 1917 had to learn a new
society song, since the Astros
had used the tune of The Watch
on the Rhine, matching the Phis’
use of the Marsellaise. The
earlier graduates know the socie
ties as they are now; so perhaps
they will pardon this reminis
cence for the sake of more recent
alumnae, who may possibly like
a glimpse of the societies as they
used to be.
The two organizations took
themselves quite seriously in
those first years, and the school
recognized their importance.
The written permission of the
president, to be obtained three
weeks after the opening of the
session, was necessary before one
joined either society. The lack
of a graduation class at the first
two commencements did not at
all disconcert the authorities, for
a commencement lasted from
Sunday night till Wednesday
night. The important day was
Tuesday, when the “Literary
Address” was made to the two
societies, which in turn gave an
entertainment and a reception in
the evening.
For years the societies met
every Saturday night, an incred
ible time for anything in a col
lege to meet now, but in those
dim, distant days college had
not yet become “a spring board
for week-ends.” With the Mon
day holiday as the only day on
which students either went to
town or received callers, with
Tuesday’s lessons still a comfort
able distance away on Saturday
night, attendance at Society
meetings was no problem at all.
All the programs were re
ported in detail in the news sec
tion of the Acorn, “Glimpses
from Within,” and these ac
counts antedate and supplement
my memory. The programs were
well balanced, and evidently
well carried out. For several
years one or both of the societies
each month devoted an evening
to literature, to music, to art,
and to current events. A thread
of unity usually ran through the
year’s program; classic myths,
Italian art, German opera,
American drama, European
cities, governments of Europe,
Victorian writers, American
poets. Southern literature, and
women novelists were some of
the subjects which furnished
each a series of programs.
Apropos of women novelists,
there is a satirical comment on
an, address made at the first joint
celebration of the anniversaries
of the two societies. “We are
indebted to 'Professor Sledd of
Wake Forest for an address be
fore us. This was on ‘Women
in Fiction,’ and we feel now that
woman’s path lies not in the
glowing fields of literature, but
in some congenial spot, where
she may move and spread her
sunshine about those with
whom she comes in contact, in
spiring the men to enter the
arena of literary skill and pro
duction.” I still remember the
indignation which boiled over
in the student body after that
speech!
There were, of course, special
programs. The Phis every few
years devoted one to Words
worth, as his verse gave them
their motto. It is perhaps
understandable why the Astros
never so honored the author of
Night Thoughts. North Carolina
was the basis of several pro
grams, one such being given by
the Astros in February, with the
members of the legislature as
their special guests. Before the
election in 1912, Roosevelt, Taft,
and Wilson, convincing in dress
and mannerisms, made fiery
campaign speeches. The major
production of the Dramatic Club
was usually preceded by a dis
cussion in each society of the
play to be presented. With
Spanish, Japanese, and colonial
programs there were appropriate
decorations, costumes, and re
freshments. One program was
made up of “Favorite Books, and
Why.” The choices varied from
Peck’s Bad Boy to Paradise
Lost.
Some of the names appearing
on the program are familiar to
more than one college genera
tion. Mae Grimmer’s music
was an addition to several pro
grams. Bernice Kelley (now
Bernice Kelley Harris, a win
ner of the Mayflower Cup) was
a standby. Ellen Brewer took
various parts also; once she gave
the entire evening’s entertain
ment—the reading of the roll
and of the constitution and the
by-laws. “Little Elizabeth
Vann,” who went from the first
grade through college at Mere
dith, began at six to appear on
the Astro programs; she was
even borrowed once for a Phi
play. Sorosis, an organization
sponsored by both societies, with
a membership limited to thirty
select girls, took even more
seriously than did the societies
its duty in uplifting womanhood.
At intervals it gave very practi
cal programs, such as the one
which took up the finer points
of sewing, when Bessie Lane (a
Latin major, as was Ellen
Brewer) discussed “collars,
yokes, ornaments, color, press
ing, cleaning, and repairing.”
Debates both intra- and inter
society, were frequent. Compul
sory education in North Carolina
(remember there was then no
public school system in this
state), child labor, the elective
system in high schools, co-educa
tion, capital punishment, and the
ever recurrent question of
woman suffrage were among the
subjects discussed. One debate
was held at seven instead of
eight, so that afterwards there
would be time enough to attend
a reception held at A. and M.
(State College).
Impromptu debates were a
favorite diversion in both socie
ties. Ought examintaions in
women’s colleges be abolished?
Is the work of the students or
the teachers harder? Is it more
beneficial to go to the state fair
or to stay at home and study?
(Three guesses as to which
won!) Is Wake Forest Anniver
sary or Valentine’s a greater aid
to Cupid? As the Acorn said
of one such debate, “Arguments
of weight, wit, and humor were
advanced on both sides.”
One of the early reports in the
Acorn of Philaretian activities
gives a characterization of so
ciety spirit which—in spite of
the slightly sentimental turn of
phrase to be expected in a
generation that symbolized its
societies by the violet and the
narcissus instead of Phido and
Billy Astro—is an admirable
ideal for 1946.
°Dear Friends of the Meredith
Library:
Alma Stone Skaggs (Mrs.
Marvin) of Greensboro and Jean
Simpson of Thomasville met
with me informally on Sunday
afternoon, January 20, to talk
about the broad objectives of
the Friends of the Library move
ment and the best means of
achieving those objectives. Like
sirnilar groups elsewhere, the
Friends of the Meredith Lilirary
is a voluntary association whose
purpose it is to focus attention
on the needs of the library and
to improve its resources by all
possible means.
The committee believes that
many people both within and
without the Alumnae Associa
tion would be glad to help if
they knew what was needed.
Proof of this fact is seen in the
growing number of gifts to the
library by college classes and
alumnae chapters since the in
auguration of the Friends of the
Library movement in 1941. We
therefore recommend that in
formation regarding the continu
ing needs of the library be
brought regularly to the atten
tion of the alumnae and other
friends through the alumnae
Supplement to the Twig or
through a library news letter,
should the interest seem great
enough to warrant such a
service.
We further recommend that
gifts by classes, alumnae chap
ters, and other groups be en
couraged and gratefully ac
knowledged.
We believe that memorials in
the form of funds for books or
other library purposes offer a
striking opportunity to carry on
the life interest of an individual
or a group, and we therefore
recommend that every en
couragement be given to the es
tablishment of such memorials.
While soliciting gifts to . the
library by chapters and other
groups, we recommend that in
dividual, active membership in
the Friends of the Library group
be based on an annual cash dona
tion to the library of not less
than one dollar. On that basis
the invitation is now open to all
persons who are interested in
the Meredith library and who
want to have a part in its con
tinuing growth.
The committee submits these
recommendations, not as a com
plete program, but merely as
preliminary suggestions for put
ting the Friends of the Library
association on a functioning
basis.
Remember that the library is
not an independent institution;
it is merely one of the tools, a
highly essential tool, with which
the college seeks to realize its
objective.
Sincerely yours,
Louise MacMillan,
Chairman, Friends of the
Library Committee.
BOOKS ON THE ALUMNAE SHELF
White Echoes, by Annie Dove Denmark.
Mrs. Maynard’s House, by Foy Johnson Farmer.
Publishing Glad Tidings, by Foy Johnson Farmer.
History of Rice Production in Louisiana to 1896, by Annie
Mildred Kelly Ginn.
Folk Plays of Eastern Carolina, by Bernice Kelly Harris.
Portulaca, by Bernice Kelly Harris.
Purslane, by Bernice Kelly Harris.
Sage Quarter, by Bernice Kelly Harris.
Sweet Beulah Land, by Bernice Kelly Harris.
Shakespeare and the Troy Story, by French Haynes.
Part-time Farming in the Southeast, by Harriet Laura Herring
and others.
Southern Industry and Regional Development, by Harriet Laura
Herring.
Welfare Work in Mill Villages; the Story of Extra Mill Activities
in N. C., by Harriet Laura Herring.
Collection of Plays, by Mary Sullivan Kelley.
Teaching Mouth Health in North Carolina, by Carolyn Mercer.
Guide for Students in the Use of Books and Libraries, by Mildred
Oliver and others.
History of Taxation in North Carolina During the Colonial
Period, by Coralie Parker.
Self-directing Notebook for English History, Based on Cheyney’s
A Short History of the English People, by Esther Frances Royster.
Serials Currently Received in Southern Libraries; A Union List,
edited by Alma Stone Skaggs.
Plays and Masques at Court During the Reigns of Elizabeth,
James and Charles, by Mary Susan Steele.
Driftwood Fires, by Irene Wilde.
Red Turban, by Irene Wilde.
Collection of Plays, by Beulah Bailey Woolard.