By Thelma Morris ’54

Music educator Art Becknell  ’51 died in the 1990′s, after a distinguished career at the University of Wisconsin. I remember him as the large, amiable, headwaiter at May Cottage when I was a freshman there.  May Cottage was a rambling brick dormitory, its two wings connected by a central dining room. It’s long gone, replaced by the Adam Joseph Lewis Center for Environmental Studies.

Dinners at May, as in all the women’s dormitories, were, well, somewhat formal. The housemother, generally a widow with some pretension to serve “in loco parentis” was usually present.   Lou Di Lorenzo ’51 was our dining room Chaplain. Lou was an English major with dark, piercing eyes, one of the Senior Class Wags who had a way with words.  We stood behind our chairs while he centered our minds with pithy sayings:  “A kiss that speaks volumes is probably not a first edition,” is one I remember to this day. Then the housemother was formally seated, a signal that we could sit. The waiters, upperclassmen all, brought in bowls of steaming food on large silver trays balanced on their shoulders.

After lunch one day in mid December, Art Becknell took me aside, and explained that the waiters had  delegated him to ask me to take part in a holiday tradition sacred to dear old May Cottage.  Could I, as the smallest, lightest resident frosh, be counted on to keep a confidence?  And would I help out?   My self-esteem soared. I was thrilled. I liked Tradition. I could do it.

Came time for the festive Saturday night dinner before Oberlin’s Christmas holiday break.    Lou Di Lorenzo undoubtedly uttered a pithier-than-usual aphorism, then the housemother was seated and the  students followed suit.

The doors to the kitchen were flung open,  and through the darkened, expectant dining room paraded the waiters, in white serving jackets and ties, empty handed.  In the rear came Art Becknell, his two sturdy arms supporting a large silver tray on his shoulder, carrying the Christmas Roast Pig through the length of the room, and back out to the kitchen.

That was me, in pink slacks and rosy sweater, doubled over on arms and knees which were folded up into my scrawny chest, my hands protruding below scrunched shoulders, porcine-like.

In my mouth I bit firmly into a shiny red Delicious.

By June Swartwout

My years at Oberlin were from 1944 to 1948.  The most important influence at first was World War II, still in progress.  The Navy V-12 Unit was on campus, while many male students were drafted, interrupting their education.

I was a Conservatory student, and for the first three years we had no choir because of the lack of male singers.  This was a huge disappointment for a Voice Major.

The three main differences I remember between then and now are clothing, food service, and dorm rules.  Now, anything goes in clothing.  Then, women wore mostly sweaters, skirts, and saddle shoes.  If we wore shorts outside, we were required to wear a coat over them!  Jeans were never worn.  We ate in the women’s dorms, joined by the men.  We sat at tables set with tablecloths and napkins, were served by students doing their board jobs, and even had grace said before meals.  The food was cooked in each separate dorm kitchen, and generally it was excellent.  However, we had no choices.  We ate what was served including rationed meals once a week.  Now, the food service is casual, served cafeteria style, with many choices including vegetarian.  Which is better?  It’s hard to say.

Rules then were strict.  Girls had a curfew, and the reasoning was that if the girls had to be in the dorm at a certain time, that would also take care of the men, so they needed no curfew!  Men were not allowed upstairs to visit their girl friends except during planned open houses.  No alcohol was allowed, but smoking was permitted and was quite common.  Only married couples could have cars.  Even though grumbled about, the rules were mostly followed.

Academically, Oberlin was excellent then and continues to be so now.  The music was exceptional, and I received a fine education which led to my career as a voice teacher at the University level.  Now, the quality of music is even greater, far surpassing the 40s.

In my student days, we had none of the following: TVs, CDs, Stereo Components, VCRs, cell phones, digital cameras, calculators, computers, or iPods.  We had radios, typewriters, 78 speed record players, Brownie Kodak cameras, books, and shared phones down the hall.  Technology has developed so rapidly, I fear the students may be spending too much time with their ‘toys’ and may be losing out on personal contacts.  Do they ever just sit and talk after dinner?  Do they play bridge?  Do they really need to call their parents every day just because it’s convenient with cell phones?

The students I have met now are incredibly bright, eager to excel despite tough competition and still seem to be quite friendly.  I wish some of them would occasionally ‘dress up’ and comb their hair more often.  But as a group, the Obies continue to be unique, concerned, smart and creative as they were in my day as well.  I have no doubt they will be successful leaders in the future.

By Eileen Dettman

nailingjello.wordpress.com

Editor’s note:  Eileen sent us her story about her favorite birthday at Oberlin, featuring flying Jell-O.

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