PHOTO BY PAUL SCHNAITTACHER
	Massachusetts Gov. Paul Cellucci receives the loan of Mary Lyon's portrait from MHC President Joanne V. Creighton.

Mary Lyon, Golden Dome Massachusetts Governor Paul Cellucci joined with President Joanne V. Creighton, trustee chair Eleanor Graham Claus '55, and other Mount Holyoke alumnae on January 31 to celebrate the hanging of a historic portrait of Mary Lyon in the governor's executive suite at the State House in Boston. The Boston Globe, Springfield Union News, Daily Hampshire Gazette, and WGGB-TV covered the ceremony.

The Mount Holyoke College Art Museum has loaned the 1844 portrait of the College's founder to the governor at his request, as part of his efforts to promote the accomplishments of Massachusetts women in a State House where the walls are covered with portraits of men.

"Not only did Mary Lyon found one of the Commonwealth's finest institutions of higher learning, she was a pioneer in the battle to expand academic opportunities for women," said Cellucci. "I am proud to have her portrait displayed prominently in my office and am grateful to everyone at Mount Holyoke for sharing this treasure with me."

"It is an honor for Mount Holyoke, for our 30,000 alumnae, and for South Hadley to see a portrait of Mary Lyon hanging in Governor Cellucci's office," said President Creighton. "Lyon set in motion a revolution in educational opportunities for American women. Her courage, dedication, and pioneering spirit make her a hero for the Commonwealth and the nation."

The portrait of Lyon, a native of Buckland, Massachusetts, who was born 203 years ago this month, was painted by South Hadley artist Joseph Goodhue Chandler. The governor has given the portrait a commanding place in his capacious inner office. Lyon--customarily stern in bearing--joins a portrait of former Governor John Volpe in looking look down on matters of state from positions of equal prominence.

According to Susan Greendyke, art collection manager at the State House, Governor Cellucci's request to find a portrait of a woman leader from the Bay State was quite a challenge. The permanent State House collection contains only one portrait of a woman, that of an early twentieth-century female member of the Governor's Council, and Greendyke had to look for two years, off and on, to find the Lyon.

"I quickly found out that while there are lots and lots of portraits of notable women, many of those women were notable because they married notable men," said Greendyke. "There are very few portraits of women who made a name for themselves. Getting a portrait of Mary Lyon was almost too good to be true."

Among alumnae present at the event were trustee Susan Bonneville Weatherbie '72, who chairs the Mount Holyoke Museum Art Advisory Board, and the cochairs of the Boston Alumnae Club, Julia Parrillo '88 and Margret Cooke '92.