Our 'Remember When' Stories

Dorm Life of Women

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Mac friends
By Carol (Pat) Perkins Bringgol

My best memories of Mac would include dorm life in both Wally and Bigelow and my roommate and good friend Bobbie Bradford.

Unofficial fieldtrips
By Beverly Moffet

How well I remember that, as a person living at home only a couple of miles away, I was the one with a car. I'd pick up friends and drive someplace, in the early years just across the state line to Wisconsin. Buying beer was the simple part. Racing back in time to get people into the dorms and then on to my home was sometimes more complicated.

There's always a party
By Jan Brokl Severud

One of my favorite memories at Mac is Dorm Life. There was always something going on, like playing "7-Up" on our beds.

 

Making friends at Mac
By Cecile Williamson Carey

I remember many conversations in the Off Campus Women's Lounge. I remember my senior year at Summit House and the remarkable women I met there.

 

The 105 of us in Bigelow
By Ann Timmerman Benteman

My favorite memory was 105 girls in Bigelow Hall trying to get along; trying to keep a 10:30 p.m. curfew and a general lock-down on weekends. Amazingly, most of us survived, only a bit scathed. The fact that we still like and admire each other is a testimony to a good school and education.

Fogging up the Fish Bowl
By Rosemary Degnan Gubrud

The Bigelow Hall Fish Bowl was a popular place. Any evening at 9:55 p.m. you could find all of your friends there, saying steamy goodnights to their dates and fogging up the windows in the process. By the time 10 p.m. rolled around, five minutes later, moisture dripped from the fish bowl windows and you couldn't even see through them to the outside. I should know. I spent my share of time in the fish bowl.

One day, Bob and I said our fond farewell in the middle of the afternoon. Studies called and we could not keep our evening coffee date. Instead, he popped over to Bigelow to say hello at 2 p.m., after which we proceeded to the fish bowl.

How were we to know that Mrs. Nelson, house mother, had chosen this particular afternoon to have tea with Mrs. Maxwell Adams, wife of the college chaplain? How were we to know that Mrs. Maxwell Adams would walk through the fish bowl just as we were in the midst of a passionate embrace? How can lowly students, not privy to the social calendars of college staff, know these things and plan accordingly? Embarrassing doesn't begin to cover it.

Did I get hauled into the house mother's apartment the next day? I did.
Did I get dressed down for my display of daytime romance? I did.
Did I offer my apologies? I did.
Did I promise never to do this again? I did not.
I enjoyed fogging up the windows in the fish bowl!

The epic Bigelow vs. Wally water fight
By Janet (Jan) Bollinger Hansen

Studying for finals in the spring of 1958, the need to release tension caused 2nd floor Wallace Hall to challenge Bigelow Hall to a water fight. Forming a chain line the Bigelow girls came through the tunnel carrying containers of water to generously douse Wally Hall residents. However, not to be outdone, Wally Hall had bathtubs full of water and wastebaskets at the ready returning the water in equal and greater amounts! Time passed, water levels on the floor deepened, laughter and screams got louder.

Mrs. Tift (our housemother) — always ready to end a crisis — appeared with policeman who quickly ended the fray! Later in the evening, Dr. Turck (in a tuxedo) spoke with the participants in Wallace Hall expressing his sadness that his "children" had behaved in this manner. He had no choice but to put us all on Social Probation for the following year, and send a letter to inform our parents! To this day, I don't know if Bigelow suffered the same fate.

Window of opportunity
By Valerie Hettenhausen Tellor

Climbing in the lower back window of Bigelow Hall dorm, not an easy thing to do, even at our very young age. I don't remember whose room it was, but I'd like to thank them once again (perhaps at the reunion?). We were saved from Mrs. Kleinschmidt’s definitely unforgettable, stern face and a trip to Mrs. Carlson’s quarters.

"Fall Back" is all in one's perspective
By Katharine (Kay) Cole Burke

On a beautiful fall evening a group was having a bonfire on the property of a fellow Macite. The weather was warm for October, the harvest moon was large and beautiful, and the fire blazing. Fun prevailed and it was difficult to leave. The host and one of the drivers had a brilliant idea. It was the Saturday before daylight savings and he figured if we got back at two o'clock it would only really be one. The rest of us were not as sure of his brilliance, but since he was our driver there were no other options. The host tried hard to get his point across to the housemother, but to no avail. She just did not "understand" the rationale. Oh well, who needed a one o'clock in November and December. Where were you Val when I needed to know about "the window”? (See Val Teller's Remember When.)

Playing bridge in Bigelow's basement
By Carol Holmquist Terry

There was always a group gathered together that you could join between classes or after dinner: cigarette smoke that you had to cut your way through; nobody caring about who your partner was or becoming upset if a mistake was made or whether or not you finessed for kings; and a place to pick up valuable tidbits of information and just plain relax!

Spotting President Rice from our dorm window
By Lynne Davis Osteraas

Rooms on second floor Grand Avenue side were prime locations for gazing across campus. In the fall of 1958 the new President, Harvey Rice, could be seen walking to his office. Part of his attire was dress slacks with tartan plaid sport coat and necktie. He was accompanied by his little dog, Fannie Mac, in matching tartan.

Conveniences of dorm living
By Lynne Davis Osteraas

Dorm living was very convenient: no commuting, meals served daily (except weekends), linens provided. Rooms were small and space limited, but wonderful friendships were made. Fun times were dorm parties and decorating rooms for open houses. After a long winter, sunbathing on the roof between Bigelow and Wally was a popular past time!

Sharing the floor phone
By Lynne Davis Osteraas

There were no telephones in the rooms. One phone in a tiny phone booth was on each end of the floor which meant about 25 girls sharing one phone! It was almost impossible to get an out-line in the evening hours. Media entertainment was limited with only one TV set (black & white) downstairs in the Rec. Room; seems hard to believe by today's standards.

Surviving curfew
By Lynne Davis Osteraas

Hours and curfews: Signing in and signing out. Failure to do so could result in a campus lockdown which meant no signing out at all! I recall spending evenings in the campus library studying in the stacks, then stopping by the union and hurrying back to the dorm before the 10:00 p.m. curfew. Further socializing with dorm friends took place in the Rec. Room until lights out; then on to the Fudge Kitchen. I don't ever remember making fudge there, only late night bridge games! Weekend curfew hours were more lenient: 12 o'clock and even 1 o'clock for upperclassmen. Grace minutes were allowed, but there were rules for their use. Housemothers, Mrs. Carlson and Mrs. Kleinschmidt and the dorm board had to monitor the rules and regulations. It was a lot to keep up with!

Memories of Summit House
By Elizabeth A. Weitkamp

I get to Minnesota now and then, and when I drive down Summit County I go past the house on Summit and Snelling which stands all alone on the corner, looking like it has seen a lot of events in its long lifetime. We gave it a run for the money when I lived at the all women dorm during my years at Mac. We had a good time. There were two houses then that were connected by a walkway. A lot of fun times were had there. I remember also spending a lot of time on the upper level studying, away from the commotion downstairs. The couples saying goodnight in the entryway before the 10 p.m. curfew was a common sight. Rules are rules. Hard to think of women and men in the same dorm with no curfews. We had lunch tickets for meals at the student union, and I always wondered what it was like to eat all meals at the dorm. The word was that the meals were very starchy and it was easy to gain weight. Maybe we at Summit House had the best deal.