Mt. Angel College had its beginnings as early as 1888, when teacher training was included as a part of or addition to the academy high school program. In 1896 it was granted state accreditation as Mt. Angel Normal School. From the start, the school had and continued for 80 years, to have a reputation for preparing excellent teachers. Since all of you here have memories of the characters and events among the students, I will concentrate on the characters among the faculty.

I came to know the normal school when I enrolled as a freshman in 1938. Classes were held on the third floor of the academy, later known as Howard Hall. I have vivid and fond memories of some of these characters. One was Sister Ida Annen, who was still around for some of you to have known. She taught Oregon School Law and gave all kinds of helpful advice beyond the pale of law. "When you start to teach, get yourself a good corset, but take it off and relax when you get home at the end of the day. If you are inclined to be plump, wear stripes that go up and down, to create an optical illusion. And get yourself a good pair of shoes, even if you have to pay five dollars for them."

Sister Thomas Gibson was librarian and devoted her life to see that every overdue book was returned. Students who had overdue books were known to hide in lockers when they saw her coming. Madge Massey would check out books to Pearl Button, just to observe Sister Thomas accosting students in the halls to inquire if they had seen that pearl button. Augusta Wind was another fictional character who kept books too long.

Sister Gemma Piennett, with a fresh degree in biology, took us tramping around the campus identifying every bird and plant in sight, and confusing us with names of genus and species.

Our one lay teacher was Evelyn Pickens, none other than the mother of Evelyn Kirby Schwab. Miss Pickens was tall and straight and always wore her white, starched, nurse's uniform when she taught us health and personal hygiene, also how to walk and dress correctly.

The 1940's were the war years, and I was away much of the time, teaching primary grades in Silverton and Mt. Angel, then going to school in St. Louis. I returned from St. Louis in 1949, and you can decide for yourselves if I was one of the characters.

The 1940's were the war years. Can you believe, there was a dire shortage of teachers. Women who had taught in earlier years returned to teach on emergency certificates, which required that they update their education. Summer school and night classes burgeoned with what we called the retreads. These were wonderful women, Noma McClure, Beulah Thayer, Violet Dick, and many others who brought a new dimension to classes that had usually included only girls just out of high school.

Sister Ursula was prioress in the 1940's and 50's and she believed strongly in the importance of education for the sisters as well as for lay teachers. She was instrumental in moving college classes out of the academy and into the new administration building. She encouraged expansion of the curriculum to meet new requirements. In 1954 we were accredited by the Northwest Association of Higher Education as a four-year liberal arts college. The meeting that year, where we presented our case was in Salt Lake City. I attended with Sister Ida. We took the train to Salt Lake City a day early because Sister Ida liked to do the town. We went to Temple Square, took the tour, attended a concert in the tabernacle. Sister Ida was determined to see the inside of the temple, and expressed that desire to the man in the information booth. He looked us up and down, all ten yards of black serge, and said, "Look lady, you've got to lead a good life to get into the temple."

So we changed the name to Mt. Angel Women’s College. That title was short lived because a man, Charles Wilkens, asked to enroll in classes. I remember that Sister Gemma, then prioress, and I went to see Father Thomas Brockhaus, that wise and experienced canon lawyer, to see if we could accept him. (I think we already had). Father said that according to canon law, if an action was not prohibited it was admissible. So we accepted Mr. Wilkens, and many more of you, so we became Mt. Angel College and it was never the same again.

An increase of students also meant an increase in faculty, both lay and sisters. Many of you remember Sister Bernice as the energetic trainer of teachers and supervisor of student teaching. She decided that students should have more realistic experience that just the small lab school on campus, so she arranged for supervised teaching in the public schools. She also learned to drive and managed to get a car to go to observe them. That was no small feat. You might also remember that she and Sister Annella taught folk dancing and square dancing.

And who could forget Sister Anne Ryan? I remember overhearing a conversation between two students. One asked, "Who is Sister Anne?" The other answered, "She's the one that's off on literature the way Sister Alberta is off on history." Need I say more?

With the expansion of programs, there was also an expansion of lay faculty. Carl Ritchie came to teach speech and started a drama department. Remember those wonderful Shakespearean plays that included most of the student body in one way or another. It was the drama department that gave birth to - or invented - our very own Mt. Angel College ghost. She came to drama practices, sometimes accompanied people up the stairs. Somebody suggested that she might be Sister Beatrice, who used to direct the academy plays. Students went down to the cemetery to visit with her. Did you know that the Mt. Angel College ghost is immortalized in a book called Ghosts of Oregon? Carl Ritchie brought in Martha Wynd, who not only taught dancing, but also taught the basketball players, how to leap high and gracefully.

Speaking of basketball players, do you remember how, after the academy building became Howard Hall, John Beck shook up the place, literally, by having the players run up and down the stairs? This included the wide Sunday stairs that had always been reserved for special guests, like the archbishop.

Genevieve Wilson was another significant addition to the faculty, as the current on-going Alluminati Art Show can testify. This tiny, quiet lady not only produced and taught good art, but could wield a hammer or a forge with the best of them. She helped to convert the old Bernt house across the street and the annex into Studio San Benito, with an office and desk to fit her size. Genevieve brought in Jim Shull, Pat Love, Bruce West and a host of others who are well-known in art circles. Besides the art studio across the street, Bruce built his own residence. Remember the tree house that the local housing authorities didn't exactly know what to do about?

Then there were the wonderful art shows on the second floor of the ad building. Part of that floor was unfinished, so Genevieve and Jim created a very respectable art gallery out of it. We had many wonderful shows. Once some viewer complained to the abbey that we were having an indecent show, one that included a nude. So a monk who taught biology was sent to check it out. He said he couldn't decide which was the nude, so it was OK. There was one show I didn't like. Fortunately, I've forgotten the name of the artist. The show included a jar full of screams and a big plastic walk-through "belly of a whale." After a few days a new piece appeared in the show, entitled "A Coat of Arms." Remember the old coat with numerous stuffed arms attached? I think the Fennimore twins were the culprits. The artist was not amused.

Geraldine Pearson was our first real effort at a PR program. She brought Ann Morton who insisted, along with Pat Love and Sister Anne, that all of you should write good English. Sister Paulette (Ruth Schmerber) and Sister John Mary were also on the English and Language faculty. Gerry Pearson and Mother Gemma obtained a special grant to develop a program in gerontology in connection with the nursing home. This was the first academic program of its kind in the state, and launched some of you into life-time work with the elderly population. With this was an expansion of the psychology and sociology programs. And that brings to mind Dr. Mickey, Gary Hansen, Lynn Smith, Eric Stewart, Arvand Bhavsar and others.

Along with Sister Gemma, Marian Wood, and Dr. Beth Farrell joined the science faculty. Then there was the music with Sister Annette Murphy (otherwise known as China Doll), Sister Regina Kust, Frank Lebold, and Terry Kuhn.

Tom Sullivan, Doc to most of you, came as a Spanish teacher and eventually became dean of men. You all have your own Doc stories, I'm sure. Possibly some of you participated in the work at migrant camps and night classes. This was long before ESL programs were popular or even accepted.

Speaking of languages, Juaquin Galvan came as a math teacher. He was truly a renaissance man who wrote poetry in both English and Spanish and walked about whistling Beethoven and Mozart. He also like his food generously peppered. His soup would be black with pepper, so another faculty member decided to get Juaquin. He mixed red pepper with the black in the shaker, and watched to see Juaquin cough or choke on he. He peppered his soup as usual, took a taste, and remarked, "Superb, where did we get this heavenly pepper?"

We can't forget the history faculty, Dave Cunningham, Jane Fields, and the legendary Bob Ward. How many of you participated in the Vietnam protests? I understand that Bob continued his war protests when he left here for Virginia and later in Idaho, right until his untimely death, canoeing in a swollen river. So typical of Bob.

There were many others, great characters, all of them, who made a great school, and influenced so many lives, all of us here in this room, and so many more that each one of you has touched .

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