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When the bough breaks ... it's expensive--As many as twenty trees and dozens of shrubs received heavy damage in the first major winter storm of the season. About ten trees will have to be replaced at an estimated cost of $2,000, and cleanup of the downed limbs, boughs, and trees is likely to mean $6,000 in groundskeepers' costs. Damage was severe because the wet snow was extremely heavy. It was rumored to be the heaviest snow (by weight per cubic foot) in over one hundred years of record-keeping. So heavy, in fact, that shovelers had a hard time clearing walkways, plows popped off some trucks, and several B&G trucks burned out their hydraulics attempting to move the soggy snow. Even when equipment worked, it took two to three times as long to plow as after a normal snowfall.
'Twas the season--A week before Christmas, chemistry professors Sheila Browne and Mary Campbell and six science students brought holiday cheer to residents of the Meadowood Nursing Home in South Hadley. They met with residents--including one who had been a master's degree candidate here--and gave away roses, teddy bears, and other gifts to about forty people. Other MHC folks had donated the gifts and helped wrap them. Browne said they hope to turn this into an ongoing, year-round visiting program at Meadowood.
Try to remember--Four students working in assistant professor of psychology Barbara Chalfonte's research lab have had jointly written papers accepted for the 1997 meeting of the Eastern Psychological Association. Presenting papers in April will be: Chalfonte, Kysa Christie '98, and Angelica Escalona '97 ("Characteristics of True and False Memories"); Angela Grover '98 and Chalfonte ("True and False Memories for Perceived and Imagined Pictures"); and Kristen Bub '97 and Chalfonte ("Repetition and the Binding of Complex Memories").
Woman of (many) letters--The College archives receives many collections of letters, diaries, and journals, mostly written by MHC alumnae before and after graduation. Exactly what those documents contain might not be clear to researchers, however, without the work of Clara (Reggie) Ludwig '37. For the last fifteen years, since retiring as MHC's director of admissions, Ludwig has served as a volunteer in the archives. According to archives librarian Patricia Albright, "Ludwig has read and described almost 150 collections--ranging in size from one volume to more than 1,000 individual letters. Her summaries have helped countless researchers decide whether particular collections are relevant to their topic." Peter Carini, the head of archives and special collections, believes that no other archive in the country offers this service, and he plans to make Ludwig's summaries available on the World Wide Web.
MHC master planners help Holyoke--Mount Holyoke is well represented on the city of Holyoke's Master Plan Committee. Members include history professor Joseph Ellis, former trustee Joan Steiger '60, and Jill Hodnicki, research manager in the development office. Hodnicki also serves the city as chair of the Holyoke Historical Commission, the governing body of the Wistariahurst Museum. According to Hodnicki, the Master Plan Committee will "formulate goals and objectives for areas of concern in the city and will conduct citywide forums to present the goals and objectives to Holyoke citizens."
From our house to Hull House--Mount Holyoke's ties with nationally prominent spokespersons for social change go back a long way. Settlement house founder and social reformer Jane Addams was a good friend of President Mary E. Woolley, according to Lucy Knight, research associate at the Five College Women's Studies Research Center for the fall semester. Knight is writing a biography on Addams and, as part of her work, has been visiting the College archives to research links between Addams and the College.
"Addams and Woolley shared a passionate belief in the value of women's colleges as transformative places," Knight observes. Addams was, like Woolley, a member of the first generation of women to attend college. She graduated from Rockford Seminary, known as "the Mount Holyoke of the West," because of its similar curriculum and educational vision. Determined to pursue a career in social reform, Addams and her friend Ellen Gates Starr founded what became the world's most famous settlement house, Hull House. This community-based center offered social and educational opportunities to the working poor, and an education in the social issues of the day to the college graduates who lived and worked as volunteers there. Settlements could be found across the country. The women's colleges in the East, including Mount Holyoke, sent a few graduates each year on fellowships funded by alumnae to live and volunteer at women's settlements in Boston, New York, and Philadelphia. Several Mount Holyoke graduates, including Frances Perkins, found their way to Hull House.
In the MHC archives, Knight has found a newspaper article reporting on a commencement speech Addams gave at the College in 1907. In it she called on graduates to do justice to the education they had received by taking intelligent action to improve the world and stressed the importance of persistence, courage, and willingness to endure ridicule in that effort. Her words, Knight comments, are still relevant today.
Clio-Melpomene Prize increased--Professor of history Peter Viereck has made an additional contribution to the Clio-Melpomene Prize he endowed, bringing the total awarded annually to a graduating senior to $2,000. Winners may use the money for graduate study or travel abroad. Viereck has also dedicated to the prize fund all royalties from his latest book, Tide & Continuities: Last and First Poems 1995-1938. Viereck says he intends to teach Russian history again in the fall semester.
Third edition--Chemistry professor Mary Campbell is currently working on a third edition of her textbook Biochemistry. The text, published by Saunders College Publishing, has made an international impact. Translations are in progress into Chinese, Japanese, and Korean. There is also talk of a Polish translation. Campbell is also writing a new preface for the Korean text, in English, at the request of the Korean translator. The text, which first appeared in 1991, is especially designed to give nonbiochemistry majors a one-semester introduction to the subject.
What's new with you?--Send news for "New & Notable" to Emily Weir, Office of Communications, or email eweir@mtholyoke.edu.