Mills Quarterly fall 2002

Mills QuarterlyFall 2002 Alumnae Magazine

“More Highways and Fewer Trees”

“More Highways and Fewer Trees”

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Diana O’Hehir

Iranian Painting

CONTENTS FALL 2002

ABOUT THE COVER: Although the MacArthur Freeway, constructed in the early 1960s, did not take much acreage from the Mills campus, its pres-ence has degraded campus life by the constant noise and the effect on air quality. Since her student days, Stephanie Mills has been concernedwith issues of overpopulation and its effect on the environment. Please see article on page 16. Cover photo by HJW Geospatial, Inc.

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Mills Quarterly

10 Diana O’Hehir: Range and Depth of Imagination Josephine Carson

12 Three Views of Mills Diana O’Hehir, Professor Emerita

16 Is the Future Still a Hoax? Stephanie Mills May Have New Answers David M. Brin, MA ’75

19 Looking Eastward: An Art Historian Considers Iranian Painting Eleanor Sims, ’64, PhD

D E P A R T M E N T S

3 Letters

4 Inside Mills

8 Mills Matters

9 Alumnae Action

14 Annual Report

15 Calendar

23 Passages

Facing page: “The Birds Assemble Before the Hoopoe,” folio 11r of the Mantiq al-Tayr(The Concourse of the Birds) by Farid al-Din ’Attar, painted in Safavid Isfahan before1609 by Habiballah of Mashhad. New York, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, FletcherFund, 63.210.11, colors and gold on paper, painting 18.5 (21.5 maximum) x 11.5 cm. For the accompanying article by Eleanor Sims, ’64, PhD, see page 19. Photo by Ernst J. Grube.

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Volume XCI Number 2(USPS 349-900)

Fall 2002

Alumnae DirectorAnne Gillespie Brown, ’68

EditorDavid M. Brin, MA ’75

[email protected]

Design and Art DirectionBenjamin Piekut, MA ’01

Summer InternCara Johnson, MFA ‘03

Quarterly Advisory BoardRobyn Fisher, ’90, Marian Hirsch, ’75

Jane Cudlip King, ’42, Jane Redmond Mueller, ’68Ruth Okimoto ’78, Cathy Chew Smith, ’84

Ramona Lisa Smith, ’01, MBA, ’02, Sharon K. Tatai, ’80Heidi Wachter, ’01

Class Notes WritersBarb Barry, ’94, Laura Compton, ’93

Barbara Bennion Friedlich, ’49, Sally Mayock Hartley, ’48Heather Hanley, ’00, Cathy Chew Smith, ’84

Special Thanks toJane Cudlip King, ’42

Board of GovernorsPresident

Karen May, ’86

Vice PresidentsJudy Greenwood Jones, ’60

Jane Cudlip King, ’42

TreasurerBevo Zellick, ’49

Alumnae TrusteesJudy Greenwood Jones, ’60

Sara Ellen McClure, ’81Sharon K. Tatai, ’80

Faculty Representative: Ruth Saxton, MA ’72Student Representative: Erin Mandeson, ’03

GovernorsLynne Bantle, ’74, Micheline Beam, ‘72

Harriet Fong Chan, ‘98, Leone Evans, MA ’45 Lynn Eve Fortin, ’87, Linda Jaquez-Fissori, ’92Leah Mac Neil, MA ’51, Rachael E. Meny, ‘92

Patricia Lee Mok, ’81, Nangee Warner Morrison, ‘63Jennifer E. Moxley, ’93, Toni Renee Vierra, ‘98

Sarah Washington-Robinson, ’72, Sheryl Wooldridge, ‘77

Regional GovernorsJoyce Menter Wallace, ’50, Eastern Great Lakes

Joan Alper, ’62, Middle AtlanticAlbertina Padilla, ’78, Middle California

Adrienne Bronstein, ’86, Middle CaliforniaJudith Smrha, ’87, Midwest

Linda Cohen Turner, ’68, North Central Brandy Tuzon Boyd, ’91, Northern California

Katie Dudley Chase, ’61, NortheastGayle Rothrock, ’68, Northwest

Louise Hurlbut, ’75, Rocky MountainsColleen Almeida Smith, ’92, South Central

Julia Almazan, ’92, Southern CaliforniaDr. Candace Brand Kaspers, ’70, Southeast

Ann Markewitz, ’60, Southwest

The Mills Quarterly (USPS 349-900) is published quarterly in April, July, October, and January by the

Alumnae Association of Mills College, Reinhardt AlumnaeHouse, 5000 MacArthur Boulevard, Oakland, CA 94613.

Periodicals postage paid at Oakland, CA and at additional mailing office(s). Postmaster: Send addresschanges to the Mills Quarterly, Alumnae Association ofMills College, P.O. Box 9998, Oakland, CA 94613-0998.

Statement of PurposeThe purpose of the Mills Quarterly is to report

the activities of the Alumnae Association and itsbranches; to reflect the quality, dignity, and academic

achievement of the College family; to communicatethe exuberance and vitality of student life; and to

demonstrate the world-wide-ranging interests, occupations, and achievements of alumnae.

Mills Quarterly

Letters to the EditorBetty Jane Narver and Public PolicyI’ve been interested and pleased bynews about Mills initiating the Institutefor Civic Leadership and the MBA program. These are excellent and welcome programs, but I hasten toobserve that civic leadership had beenMills’ hallmark for a very long time.Nearly half a century ago, when I wasat Mills, the college was fostering thatunique blend of insight, intellect, ener-gy, and fortitude that has served somany communities around the world.This has been brought forcefully to mymind by the passing of Betty JaneLogan Narver ’56, reported in yourspring issue. The death of my verygood friend prompted me to searchmy personal records to share with herfamily. I found information there thatalso relates to Mills.

At Mills, Betty Jane, known then asBJ, was editor of the Mills Weekly. Shealso took her degree in that old-fash-ioned discipline, philosophy. Her interestin ideas, ethics, and logic were not far,however, from the public policy issuesthat framed her career. Immediatelyafter college, she spent a year as ateacher at the Pennsylvania TrainingSchool (for delinquent youth). There, shecalled on her own Mills experience tointroduce change in that institution’srigid and counterproductive policies.She started a school newspaper. In a let-ter to me in 1956, she described howworking on the newspaper gave theboys and girls, who were housed sepa-rately, a chance to work together for thefirst time, in a formal productive atmos-phere that everyone found remarkablysoothing. While studying Chinese at theUniversity of Washington a few yearslater, and with two young children, shealso began working on behalf of schoolsand libraries in Seattle. With that sameintelligence, energy, and commitment,she went on to become a dynamo ofgood public policy in Seattle and,indeed, in Washington State and the

entire Northwest, as head of the SeattleLibrary Board and director of theUniversity of Washington’s Public PolicyInstitute.

Betty Jane’s sudden death remindsme again of how critical good, soundeducation is to the quality of life weenjoy and how grateful I am to Mills fornurturing Betty Jane’s unique abilities.Barbara Sweetland Smith ’58

(For an additional note on Betty JaneNarver, please see Class Notes, 1956.)

Eucalyptus—Friend or Foe?I read with great pleasure JaneMueller’s article, “Before Mills Hall.” I noted her description of the naturalstate dotted with live oaks. Then I readthe Audubon Society January ’02 mag-azine calling the imported eucalyptus apredatory weed and worse. Hasthought been given to restoring a nat-ural native planting rather than tryingto save the virus stricken eucalyptus?

When I smell eucalyptus, I do evokeMills, but a destructive icon, I can dowithout.Mary Sellers, ’45 (member of theMissouri Native Plant Society)

Letter to her NieceSarah F. Drew, ’84, is administrativeofficer at the U.S. Embassy inCopenhagen, Denmark. This fall, herniece, Alicia Byer, entered Mills as afreshwoman. Sarah’s sister asked her towrite Alicia a letter about her experi-ences at Mills, and here it is.

Dear Alicia,I’m so excited that you will be

going to Mills! Your mom asked me totell you about what Mills was like whenI went there, so I thought I’d sharesome of my experiences with you.

Like you, I was not interested ingoing to Mills at first. I applied thereand to U.C. Berkeley. I didn’t get intoBerkeley, but I did get into Mills, so I

MILLS QUARTERLY FALL 2002 3

went there as the “second best” place.I planned on transferring in my sopho-more year to Berkeley.

The day I went to Mills, in August1980, I brought with me a bunch ofsuitcases and a big army footlocker. Ithought I was very cool in jeans, T-shirt,and a big gangster hat. I took a taxifrom the Oakland airport (my first timein a taxi and all alone!) and when wepulled up in front of my dorm, EgeHall, the driver left me at the bottomof the hill with this huge pile of lug-gage. I had no idea how I was evergoing to get it and me to my room!

At that moment three wonderfulwomen, Marian Murphy, LindaTreffinger, and Elisa Cafferata appearedout of nowhere and helped me lug mystuff up. They have remained goodfriends to this day. We did everythingtogether. Linda and I decided to join thecrew team. We got up at 5:30 fourmornings a week and drove to LakeMerritt for crew practice, then back tothe dorm by 8 a.m. to shower, change,and eat breakfast before classes at 9:00.

I took acting, calculus, biology,Western history, and French that firstsemester. I had an electric typewriter todo my reports on (very advanced)! I wasterrible at calculus, and barely managedto get a B. I liked my other courses, espe-cially history. The second week of classthe teacher invited me out to lunch andtold me she thought I was a great studentand wanted to hear all about my life!

My friends and I liked best goingover to Berkeley to get pizza, seemovies, or buy something from themany street vendors. The Rocky HorrorPicture Show, shown at midnight inBerkeley, was a big favorite.

I had applied and was accepted toBerkeley as a transfer student mysophomore year, but by the time theacceptance letter came, I laughed andthought “who would leave this for aschool of 20,000?!”

Instead, I decided to participate in

an exchange with Mills’ sister school,Mount Holyoke College in South Hadley,Massachusetts. I enjoyed the new expe-rience of living on the east coast andsaw my first snow fall that winter. I alsomet Jim, whom as you know, I later mar-ried. Although I loved my teachers andclasses at Mt. Holyoke, I missed Mills’relaxed and friendly atmosphere.

I came back for my junior year anddecided to major in political science. Ibecame a lifeguard at the pool to earnsome money and took a lot of seminarclasses with only five or six other stu-dents. I really wanted to go overseas,so I concentrated on my French.

That year my buddies and I wentaround campus wearing baggy armysurplus pants and florescent coloredsweatshirts (they were really hideousand I have no idea why we did this).One weekend we all Henna’ed our hair,and since mine was already red, Ilooked like a stoplight coming from adistance until the color washed outabout a month later. We also continuedthe long and revered tradition ofsneaking into the pool late at night togo skinny-dipping. (At that time the

pool was right next to the Tea Shopwith only a low fence around it.)

My senior year I was the photo edi-tor of the newspaper, while Elisa wasthe editor. I spent hours in the darkroom developing film and helping editthe paper and writing articles. I also gotup the guts to take Calculus 2. (I wantedto prove that I could do it after my hor-rible experience my freshman year.) Ifound it ridiculously easy and enjoyedthe teacher a lot. Everyone else in theclass was freaking out and hated it. Atfirst I couldn’t understand—had I some-how become a math whiz? Then I fig-ured out that that I had changed. In mytime at Mills I had lost my fear of mathand gained self-confidence in my abili-ties to do anything I wanted to. I creditMills, and my mom, with giving me theskills and confidence in my own abilities.It was a wonderful time.

I hope you make good friends like Idid and have many wonderful adven-tures at Mills! I can’t wait to come visitand hear your experiences and see allthe changes that have gone on at Mills.

Love, Sarah

On this IssueThroughout the years Mills College has been graced by great teachers; today that tradition is as strong as ever. In this issue, Stephanie Mills remembers some of her inspira-tional teachers, as does Eleanor Sims in her article on Iranian painting. Josephine Carsonwrites about Professor Emerita Diana O’Hehir, whose many students remember herfondly, and who, in turn, are remembered fondly by Professor O’Hehir in her article. We will continue this theme of great teachers in the winter 2003 issue; several studentswill express their memories of professors who made significant differences in their lives.Because of Mills’ small size, students can learn from faculty in deep, intimate ways thatresult in an education of quality and in life-long connections that change lives, and ulti-mately, change our society as well.

4 MILLS QUARTERLY FALL 2002

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MESSAGE FROM THE PRESIDENT

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Professor Marianne Sheldon, deanof graduate studies, (left), PresidentJanet L. Holmgren, and Dean ofAdmission Avis Hinkson at the welcome ceremony for new studentson August 21, 2002.

Fittingly, in our sesquicentennial year we have the largest enrollment in recent history.Adding up new and returning undergraduate and graduate students we have enrolled1204 students this year. Congratulations to the Alumnae Admission Representatives, tothe Office of Admission, and the Graduate Studies Office for their great work.

At opening ceremony for new students on August 21, 2002, Avis Hinkson, dean of under-graduate admission, welcomed entering undergraduate students with information abouttheir class. There are 138 freshwomen, 106 transfer students, and seven Network students(working women who take their classes during evenings and weekends). The new studentscome from the length and breadth of California and from 26 states and three other coun-tries: 14 from Washington state, nine from Oregon, seven from Texas, six from Minnesota,three from Hawaii, one each from Alaska, Utah, New York City, Taiwan, France, and Japan.Their academic qualifications are impressive, including membership in national honor soci-eties, dean’s lists, National Merit Scholars, AP Scholars, Golden State Award winners, andmore. They are creative, athletic, active volunteers, and diverse. Their ages range from 17to 72! More than 37 percent identify themselves as women of color, at least 14 are moms,and 15 are Bent Twigs, including one following in her daughter’s footsteps at Mills. Theyspeak 21 different languages including Cantonese, German, Persian, three different Africanlanguages, Polish, and Spanish. Among their previous professional positions are paramedic,associate film producer, licensed hypnotherapist, flight attendant, sushi chef, televisionnews reporter, and two military officers. There are also accomplished scholar athletes whohave played soccer, lacrosse, rugby, tennis, volleyball, run cross country and track, swum,and participated in kick-boxing and polo. One of our new students holds titles for surfkayaking—first in the United States and second in the world. Six students from other insti-tutions join eight Mills students to participate in the second year of the Institute for CivicLeadership. Two are from U.C. Berkeley, one each from Vanderbilt, Rutgers, Occidental,and one from the University of Zagreb in Croatia.

Professor Marianne Sheldon, dean of graduate studies, welcomed entering graduate stu-dents with information about their class. The 219 new graduate students are a selectgroup, many with already established careers as performers, artists, writers, teachers, andcomposers. Twelve are in the art department, seven in computer science, ten in dance, 90in education, 35 in English, 12 in the MBA program, 14 in music, and 35 in the post-bac-calaureate pre-medical program. Some are at Mills to embark in new directions. For exam-ple, one of the students in the post-bac pre-med program is a tenor who studied operabefore coming to Mills. An entering education student completed medical school anddecided to become a teacher. The entering class is 78 percent women and 22 percentmen; 11 percent Asian, seven percent African American, three percent Latino, one percentNative American, and seven percent multi-racial. While 184 are from California, the rest ofthe students come from 20 states and seven countries. This class includes what may be afirst in the history of the College: one of the entering post-bac pre-med students is thefather of a current Mills undergraduate and of a member of the Mills class of 1997.

Finally, I wish to send personal thanks to all the donors who are listed in the Annual GivingReport found in this issue of the Quarterly.


S E S Q U I C E N T E N N I A L C A M PA I G N N E W S

The Mills Major Gifts Committee,chaired by Trustee PaulineLangsley, ’49, met in May 2002 to

review progress of solicitations for theMills Sesquicentennial Campaign. Aguest speaker, Andrea Kaminski, formerexecutive director of the Women’sPhilanthropy Institute and mother ofMills student Alice Kaminski, ’03,engaged the group in a lively discussionof women as philanthropists. In her pre-sentation, Andrea reviewed “six C’s ofWomen’s Philanthropy,” adapted fromReinventing Fundraising: Realizing thePotential of Women’s Philanthropy bySondra Shaw-Hardy and Martha A.Taylor, published by Jossey BassPublishers, Inc. Shaw-Hardy and Taylor’swork is based on their research involv-ing focus groups, discussions, and inter-views with women donors to education-al, civic, and religious organizations.Major Gift Committee members agreedwith many of the points. Do you?

CREATE� Women want to create new solu-

tions to old problems.� Women may create a whole new

organization or a new program with-in an existing institution.

� Women regard their giving like abirth—it takes time and it’s noteasy. “I don’t have children so inphilanthropy I am looking for a wayto give something to the future theway parents give through their children.”

CHANGE� Women use their financial power to

effect change rather than to pre-serve the status quo.

� Many women have felt injustice,inequity, and prejudice and want to

make things better for future generations.

� Women give to support missionand vision more than out of asense of gratitude or loyalty. “Ireally want to see social change. Iwant to see the systems changewith my money.”

CONNECT� Women first connect with a cause

and an organization, and having thisconnection then commit financiallyto it.

� Giving may solidify the relationshipbetween donor and institution orcause.

� Women want to feel needed. Theywant to see the human face theirgift affects. “It’s like a child and youhave a lifelong commitment andresponsibility to that child.”

COLLABORATE� Women, through their giving,

become collaborators with providersand recipients.

� Women prefer to work with othersas part of a larger effort.

� Women feel that collaboration canavoid duplication, competition, andwaste.

� “It feels better giving with otherwomen, because we have control ofwhere the money goes.”

COMMIT� Women demonstrate their willing-

ness and capacity for commitmentthrough both voluntary service andfinancial gifts.

� Women often give to the organiza-tions they already have volunteerexperience with. “I’ve been involvedfor a long time…. I’ve given time….

and we’re always trying to figure outhow to raise money.”

CELEBRATE� Women like to celebrate their

accomplishments. Events make giving fun.

� Use events to recognize leaders andcelebrate, not just to raise money.

� “Giving money is fun when you canmake things happen with it!”

WOMEN’S PHILANTHROPY DISCUSSED ATMILLS MAJOR GIFTS COMMITTEE MEETING

An important “C” of Mills philanthropy isPersis Coleman, Mills Seminary Class of ’97,who is shown here (on the right) with RosalindKeep, ’03. Miss Coleman was a Trustee of theCollege and a mainstay of the AlumnaeAssociation. Today she is celebrated andremembered through the Persis ColemanLounge in the Student Union, a gatheringplace for commuting students. Rosalind Keepis best known as the founder of the EucalyptusPress at Mills. The photo was taken in 1937.Miss Coleman was wearing her mother’s wed-ding dress from 1852, the year of the foundingof the Young Ladies Seminary in Benicia, whichbecame Mills College.


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As of June 30, 2002, theSesquicentennial Campaign totalsurpassed $72 million, an

increase of $12 million since May 31,2001. Of the total received, $49.7 million has been applied toward our$52 million goal for current funds andendowments. Facilities and technologyaccounts for $19.6 million, with a goalof $48 million.

These results are remarkable giventhe difficult social and economic climateexperienced in 2001–2002. Here aresome highlights of gifts and pledgesreceived last year. We have writtenabout some of them in previous issuesof the Quarterly.

Endowment for Faculty:� Completion of funding for the

Rhoda Goldman Professorship inEnvironmental Science.

� The John and Martha DavidsonProfessorship, which can be appoint-ed in any subject area.

� The Lauren Speeth Lectureship inEthics, Leadership, andEntrepreneurship, one of the fivesubject areas in the MBA curriculum.

Endowment For Students:� The Frank and Margaret Lucas

Scholarship Fund—$1 million forundergraduate financial aid.

For the curriculum:� Multicultural Engagement: Mills and

Oakland (MEMO), an $800,000 multiyear grant from the IrvineFoundation.

For campus buildings:� $1,200,000 in new commitments for

the new science building. We stillneed $11.6 million to achieve our$15 million goal.

� $407,577 from the Class of 1951 forMusic Building renovation, namingthe Ensemble Room and Courtyard.We still need $15.7 million toachieve our $18 million goal.

� $1 million in new commitments forthe social science renovation, bring-ing the total already in hand to $1.6million toward our $3.3 million goal.

Some wonderful gifts have come infor special purposes, such as:� $50,000 to be used for landscaping

improvements around El Campanil� $3,000 to provide a discretionary

fund for the PsychologicalCounseling Center in the Office ofStudent Life

� $60,000 from the Barrett Foundationto support undergraduate researchawards, especially for topics relatedto women’s empowerment

� $5,000 from the LEF Foundation tosupport the Mills Art Museum exhi-bition by Korean artist Inwan Oh

� A bronze sculpture by AugusteRodin for the Mills Art Museum, val-ued at $175,000

� $10,000 for the Art Departmentequipment fund.

A special thank you to the morethan 9,000 donors and 90 estates thathave given to Mills since the beginningof the Sesquicentennial Campaign!

Endowment and Current Funds Facilities Total

$32.6$40.4

$49.7 $52.0

$13.8 $15.2$19.6

$50.5

$61.0

$72.0

$100

$48.0

August 2000August 2001June 2002Goal

Mills Sesquicentennial Campaign Progress Since 2000 (in millions)

SESQUICENTENNIAL CAMPAIGN ROUNDUP


Orchard Meadow Hall reopened to returning students in August of 2002after a year of renovations costing $2.75 million. Improvements include anew fully accessible front entrance, an elevator, updated bathrooms andelectrical service—not to mention new paint. This fall, 57 percent of under-graduates and 10 percent of graduate students live on campus. First-year

students live together in Warren Olney Hall. Four nights a week, residents of Olney and Orchard Meadow are served dinner in the residence hall. All students with meal plans may eat lunch in Founders’ Common and theTea Shop. Architect for the Orchard Meadow renovation was Karen Fiene,AIA, who has worked on many other Mills projects.

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MILLS MATTERS N E W S O F T H E C O L L E G E

New Faculty

Fifty-Fourth Japan-America Student ConferenceMarina Li, ’02, (left), Gretchen Donaldson (left back), Jane Cassedy,’37 (center), Professor Ruth Saxton, MA ’72, and Deepa Madhavan,MA ’99 (right) at a luncheon honoring the 68-year old Mills-Japan-America Student Conference relationship. Li organized the event topromote development of international affairs at Mills, recognizinghow such international experiences deepened her interest in workingin community both locally and globally. Li was sponsored by EleanorHadley, ’38, who attended JASC in 1936 and ’37 and Jane Cassedy,who participated in JASC in 1938. Li is helping lead the 55th JASC inJapan where delegates will explore the theme Civic Participation in aGlobalizing Society.

Amanda Davis joins the Millsfaculty as assistant professor ofcreative writing. She is theauthor of Circling the Drain, acollection of stories that theNew York Times called “a well-guided tour of scarred soulswho’ve witnessed terrible things,and surprisingly, found odd bitsof beauty in them,” and theCenter for Book Culture dubbed“one of the best works of litera-ture published in 2000.” A novel,Wonder When You’ll Miss Me,will be published by HarperCollins/Wm. Morrow in March of2003. Davis is the recipient of aTara Fellowship for the ShortStory from the Heekin Foun-dation, a Shane Stevens FictionFellowship from the Bread LoafWriters Conference, a TeachingFellowship from the Wesleyan

Writers’ Conference, and resi-dency fellowships from the BlueMountain Center, the DjerassiResident Artist Program, theTyrone Guthrie Center, theMacDowell Colony, and theCorporation of Yaddo. Her shortfiction has appeared in Story,Seventeen, McSweeney’s, andmost recently in Best NewAmerican Voices 2001. Her non-fiction and book reviews haveappeared in Esquire, Bookforum,BlackBook and Poets andWriters. Before joining the facul-ty at Mills, Davis taught writingat the 92nd Street Y in NewYork, at Brooklyn College, and atYale University.

Anne Westwick (right), newassistant professor of dance,holds a BA in dramatic art anddance from the University of

California, Berkeley, and an MFAin choreography from Mills. Shehas danced in various theatricalvenues including solo work forthe Martha Graham Ensembleand the San Antonio Ballet. Shehas toured internationally with aproduction of The King and Iand has worked on numerous

choreographic projects with herhusband, Christopher Dolder.The two recently co-choreo-graphed an adaptation of CarlOrff’s Carmina Burana in collabo-ration with the U.C. BerkeleyChoral Ensemble and theUniversity Symphony. In the pastyear, Westwick choreographed a25-minute dance for U.C.Berkeley’s University DanceTheater, accompanied by theU.C. Symphony, as well as thesecond act of the full-lengthdrama The Timestealers for theWing and a Prayer Inter-genera-tional Dance Company in Reno,Nevada. Westwick has been onthe dance faculties of the 92ndStreet Y in New York, SolanoCommunity College, and theUniversity of California, Berkeley.

Women’s Leadership Institute HonorsEdna Mitchell and Gets New HeadLast May, the 2001–02 Visiting Scholars of the Women’s LeadershipInstitute paid tribute to outgoing WLI director Dr. Edna Mitchell byestablishing the Edna Mitchell Collection at the Olin Library.Alumnae of the WLI program have been invited to contribute books,monographs, articles, films, and other works that were developedduring their residence at Mills.

At a farewell luncheon on May 1, attended by WLI alumnae from1995 to the present, visiting scholars honored Dr. Mitchell’s tirelessefforts in guiding the development of the WLI and in support of women’sscholarship, creativity, and leadership. After seven years at the helm ofthe WLI, Dr. Mitchell is now on a year-long sabbatical. When she returnsto Mills, she plans to teach full-time in the education department.

Margo Okazawa-Rey has replaced Edna Mitchell as director ofthe Women’s Leadership Institute. She holds a master’s degree fromBoston University’s School of Social Work and an EdD from HarvardUniversity’s Graduate School of Education. Before coming to Mills, Dr.Okazawa-Rey was a professor of social work at California StateUniversity, San Francisco. In addition to serving as WLI director, Dr.Okazawa-Rey will teach two courses a year in our women’s studiesprogram. She has published extensively in a number of areas includ-ing militarism and violence against women, multicultural education,and mixed race identity development. We are pleased to be able torely on Dr. Okazawa-Rey’s scholarly interests, as well as her personaldedication to the advancement of women in society, to establish newconnections between the WLI and curricular offerings in our women’sstudies program.


A L U M N A E A C T I O N NEWS OF THE ALUMNAE ASSOCIATION

MILLS “POST-IT” NOTESThese note pads show a eucalyptusbranch and the motto “Rememberwho you are & what you represent.”The lettering is green on yellow paper,and they come in pads of 50 at $2.00each plus $1.00 shipping and handlingfor each order. Mail your check,payable to PAAMCC, to BarbaraHunter, 316 Laurel Avenue, MenloPark, CA 94025-2819.

AAMC Gives MillsCollege $955,000 GiftThe Alumnae Association of Mills Collegeis proud to report that the fiscal year2001–2002 gift to Mills College was$955,000. Last year was a year of suc-cesses and challenges, both in terms ofsupport for Mills College and in terms ofredefining philanthropy across the coun-try. Some of our loyal donors have facedlarge financial losses in the stock marketand/or lost their jobs, yet many contin-ued to make their gift to the AlumnaeFund even during these difficult times.Our sincerest thanks to each donor whohelped us to reach 41 percent participa-tion this year—two percent over lastyear’s 39 percent. This increase was a realaccomplishment!

This is Mills’ sesquicentennial yearand the last year of the participationbonus challenge. We are working hard toincrease our participation from 41 per-cent to 43 percent. When we accomplishthis goal, we will have raised the under-graduate participation percentage from36 percent to 43 percent in just threeyears. Quite a leap! Please continue yoursupport and participation with a gift tothe Alumnae Fund.

Free Email for Life for Mills AlumsWe are pleased to offer all alumnae and alumni of Mills College the following freeemail services:� A login name at Mills that stays with you wherever you go� A Web-based email program accessible from any computer with a Web browser� A mailbox (inbox) with additional folders for filing your email. � Ten megabytes of email storage� An address directory of Mills alumnae who have signed up for this service.

You will be able to choose an address based on yourname with an “@alumnae.mills.edu” suffix. Your name andemail address will be viewable by other Mills alumnae whohave signed up for this service, but not by the public.

If you are interested in signing up for this service, savethis copy of your Quarterly! When you sign up, you willbe asked to enter the identification code at the upperright of your mailing label (starts with an A or B followedby eight numbers). You will also be asked to enter yourname, which must match the name we have for you in ourdatabase. (If you wish to use your preferred first name[“nickname”], please contact us in advance at <[email protected]> and we will add that name to our database.) To register for this serviceplease visit the “Connections” page on the “Alumnae” section of the Mills Collegewebsite <www.mills.edu/INTRO/AAMC/mills.aamc.connections.html>.

Welcome BarbecueFor the second year in a row, the AAMC hosted a Welcome Barbecue for the enter-ing freshwomen and transfer students, sponsored by the Alumnae StudentRelations Committee and the Diversity Committee. Part of the Office of StudentLife’s Orientation Week activities for new students, the event was held at ReinhardtAlumnae House on August 23 and drew approximately 150 students, many morethan last year. The new students enjoyed hotdogs, hamburgers, vegieburgers, sal-ads, and drinks in the living room and patio at Reinhardt House and took the timeto meet each other and alumnae before moving on to a pool party at the TrefethenAquatic Center. Vegieburgers were more popular with last year’s entering class.

NEW ALUMNA TRUSTEESharon K. Tatai, ’80, was elected alumna trustee for a three-year term.The three alumnae trustees serve asliaisons between the Board ofGovernors of the AAMC and theBoard of Trustees of Mills College.Sharon recently served as president ofthe AAMC and has served Mills andthe Alumnae Association in many vol-unteer capacities.

CorrectionsThe Quarterly regrets the misspelling ofLee Turner-Muecke’s name in the lastissue. Dr. Turner-Muecke was one of thefirst four women to receive the EdDdegree from Mills. Her dissertationexamined mentoring relationships andtheir reciprocal benefits.

In last issue’s announcement of retir-ing faculty, the Quarterly incorrectlyreported that Professor Emerita ChanaBloch will be teaching one course atMills. She will be teaching two coursesper year at Mills for the next three years.


Diana O’Hehir is the author of five books of poetry. Themost recent—Spells for Not Dying Again—was pub-

lished in 1996 by Eastern Washington University Press. Sheis also author of two novels—I Wish This War Were Overand The Bride Who Ran Away, both published byAtheneum in the 1980s.

Her honors, which are legion, include a GuggenheimAward in fiction, an NEA fiction award, and the PoetrySociety of America’s Di Castagnola Award for Home Free,her third collection of poetry.

Her PhD is from Johns Hopkins University, where shetaught briefly in the 1940s. Much later, having moved toBerkeley, Diana established, in 1961, the first creative writingcourses at Mills, where she taught for 32 years as head of theEnglish department and the creative writing program, retir-ing in 1990, though continuing to teach part-time for twomore years.

However, lists of these achievements, and there havebeen many others, don’t define the radical, exciting, andthoroughly American life of this essentially 20th centurywoman.

Living in the Baltimore and Washington, D.C. area dur-ing World War II, Diana slowly evolved the radical politicalconsciousness that led her to work in the labor movement.The women friends she made who interested her mostwere all leftists, intellectually alive. She kept exciting com-pany. It was in the CIO, (Congress of Industrial Organizations),that she met at last her fate—in the form of Melvin Fiske,who, following his return from duty with the Marines in theSouth Pacific in World War II, had begun writing for TheDaily Worker. In 1947, they married and began a politicallycommitted life together. This was during the McCarthy erain the United States, with its purges and trials, threats, andviolence.

Diana became pregnant with her first child, Michael,during this period, never ceasing, nor did Mel, to work forthe unions through the CIO. But within a few years thepolitical tensions that led to the McCarthy inquisitionsbegan and intensified. With the birth of their first child,these became intolerable. Ultimately, fearing they might bein danger of violence or arrest, or their child taken fromthem, Diana and Mel separated. Diana moved out of theWashington area, taking their son with her. Finally theywere divorced. Mel Fiske always lamented his helplessnessto protect them.

Later both of them remarried and left the East Coast.Diana settled with her new husband, Brendan O’Hehir, inBerkeley. Ultimately, Mel made Los Angeles his newhome. Each of them had children in these new marriages.Although they shared custody of Michael, they saw oneanother only once over a 30-year period. Diana continuedto write and publish her work in a variety of periodicals,and from 1976 through 1996, her five books of poetrywere published.

Before the publication of her first book of poems, in1962, Diana began her long tenure at Mills. For 32 yearsshe lived in the Bay Area, raised her sons, and gave birth toan astonishing amount of work, ultimately, in the 1980s,writing her first novel—I Wish This War Were Over—whichwas published in 1984, and brought her great acclaim. Thisis a war novel, conjuring up much of what Diana had livedwith Mel in Washington.

Mel read it. It moved and deeply impressed him. Hehad separated from his second wife not long before that.He was struck again with Diana’s originality and her poeticgifts. He wrote her a congratulatory letter that began a newcorrespondence between them. Diana had also separatedfrom her spouse around that time, though never ceasingher creative work or her teaching.

Mel came to visit her. They knew what they knew withinhours of his arrival. His presence at a faculty dinner on theMills campus that first week was radiant with this helplessknowledge between them that their lives were inseparablylinked. Diana defined it as idyllic, even too much so.

Mel moved to the Bay Area and soon they bought ahouse in Bolinas. Diana had begun her second novel, TheBride Who Ran Away. Its protagonist is a young Americanwoman who escapes a romantic affair. Diana claims thatthough it doesn’t define their lives together or apart, still itmight not have been written if they hadn’t found oneanother again.

Friends find themselves grinning with delight even now,at the thought and the sight of these two. Even more dra-matic, perhaps, is the fact that much of Diana’s work pub-lished in the past decade has been dedicated to or inlament for Brendan O’Hehir, who died soon after their sep-aration. To enter as a reader the complex labyrinth of herpoetry, that of the ’90s especially, is to glimpse in wonderat the immense range and depth of her imaginative experi-ence as well as the originality of chosen metaphor. This is

DIANA O’HEHIR:Range and Depth of Imagination

by Josephine Carson


especially impressive in Spells For Not Dying Again, the latestof her books of poetry. Inspired by a visit to the BritishMuseum’s Egyptian printed material, and subsequently byreading The Egyptian Book of the Dead, she chose, intuitively,the voices of soul and body, living within death, over against it,lamenting, pleading, passing through, rising at last and antici-pating the end with

“Recovery Spells: The Ordinary Run of Things”

If we get old enough, we get bored with death, justPart of the everyday story, like sunburn orWriting checks or the humFrom the electric transformer . . . .

I love you, I tell my new Adventurer, I love your mouth, pro-file, the fur on your chest,

The hum inside it. That’s the soul in there,Strumming its sturdy message, making its energetic graph.

While death, old crouching dynamo, buzzes its differentdesign.

Today’s an early day. Firm, bright, yellow.

And finally ending with a “Dialogue Between Body and Soul”

Body! Listen!As you love life,So must you hate death.. . .Remember now the dances and dinners of marriage,Remember wine, remember the sprint to the finish line,And love . . . .

These are only touches of this wonderful poetry, meant to entice.Find Diana in all her work and let her spells anoint you. �

Josephine Carson has taught creative writing at Mills,Bennington College, and the University of California, Berkeley.Her writings include a recent collection of short stories, DogStar (Santa Barbara Review Press), three novels, includingWhere You Goin, Girlie? (Dial Press), poetry, and nonfiction.

Poems in this article are reprinted from Spells For Not DyingAgain, © 1997 by Eastern Washington University Press, 705 W.1st Ave., Spokane, WA 99201. Phone: (800) 508-9095 Fax:(509) 623-4283. <http://ewupress.ewu.edu>.


Itaught at Mills College from 1961 to1992, thirty-one years during whichthe college changed enormously.Students became interested in a vastseries of new topics, attitudes and

causes. And the institution around themalso evolved, partly in response to its stu-dents, partly in an effort to lead them.

I’m going to dip into a few of thesechanges. They’re diffuse enough to needtheir own book rather than a short arti-cle, but I’ll try to handle this by scatter-shot; beginning with a description of myfirst Mills class in 1961, then moving for-ward to other years during my tenure,stopping to examine the groups of stu-dents in those years, their ideas, their dif-ferences from my first students.

So. It’s 1961, August, and I am meet-ing my first Mills class. They stand,attired fairly unanimously in pastelsweaters and skirts, holding on to thebacks of their chairs; they are scared ofme and I am amazed by them. Whatthey’ve done to amaze me is to stand upwhen I enter the room. (I’ve taughtbefore and have never been stood-up-for.) I tell them to sit and then announce,with false camaraderie, “And now let’sget to know each other.” They settle inwarily; they know I’m being phony.

Quite quickly I learn that they want meto be authoritarian and notretreat into false coziness, theywant me to be A Teacher.

This group is used to rulesand appears to like them. Theylive on campus, in a dorm. Thedorm has schedules and hours.Students must eat on time, signin or out when they’re leavingcampus, entertain any male visi-tors in a reception alcove openacross the front and containinga couple of innocent littlecouches facing each other. The dorm hasa house mother, a maternal-looking ladyin late middle age. If a male visitor isbrought upstairs in the dorm (perhaps abrother enlisted to carry a trunk) a resi-

dent must precede him along the hallcalling out, “Man on second!”

In my classroom this 1961 class wantsme to be precise and definite, to impartinformation in manageable bites, to askquestions clearly. All of this is good train-ing for me. Quite recently I was an undis-ciplined graduate student, wallowing inargument and exploration.

It seems to me that the members ofthis 1961 class all look alike. (They don’t;that’s just my take on their difference fromgraduate students or night school ones.) Ithink of them as tall, scrubbed, blonde,eighteen years old, and cheerful. And I’msure they see me as alien in some way.“We don’t know what you WANT,” one ofthem says. If they knew what I wanted,she implies, they would do it.

Our first semester together is difficult.Undoubtedly it’s worse for them than forme, but I remember that semester as oneduring which I write enormously longnotes on their term papers, and nobodyseems to understand what I’m saying.

But by the second semester we havebegun to like each other and I am invitedto dinner. I’m flattered to be asked to din-ner, but horrified by the songs (“I don’twant a PhD; just give me an MRS”)Probably I’m too solemn and inclined totake everything at face-value. Not every-

body singing that song means it.However, there is also the candle-

passing ceremony, in which a candle-adorned cake circles the table until some-one blows out the fires amid squeals and

laughter. She is the most recent of thenewly-engaged and this is her way ofannouncing it. Marriage stands high onthe list of this group’s aspirations.

They are polite, and say, “Please,”“May I?” and “Thank you.” In retrospectI think of them as the ones with the disci-pline and application, the ones who werealways on time to class, who (almostalways) got papers in on the day, who(almost never) understood my jokes.Who were earnest and sincere, and kindto each other. They are, for Heavens’sake, in their fifties now; they haveturned out to be very nice women.

Fifteen years later, in 1976, I am facing an entirely different group of stu-dents. The class this time is a sophomoregroup instead of a first-year one,although in 1961 that wouldn’t havemade much difference in the way the student looked or behaved.

This crowd is diverse in a number ofways. First of all, they are ethnicallydiverse. The Mills population is still not asmixed as say, San Francisco State’s, but weare getting there. My class of 20 includestwo black students, one Latina, severalAsian women. Most of these students arehighly conscious of their ethnic back-grounds and verbal about them, conscien-tious in raising issues of discrimination per-

ceived either against their owngroups or against others. Theywatch this in the literature weread. (An energetic class argu-ment: is Dorothea, inMiddlemarch prevented frommarrying Will because he’s partJewish? Do people in the storyknow that he’s Jewish? Whatdoes being a Jew mean in theworld of Middlemarch?)

One young womanremarks, as a side-comment

on Daisy’s plight in The Great Gatsby,“She’s afraid of divorce. Big deal. Backhome in Birmingham we used to whisperabout how she-had-left-him, and now I’min California and everyone is divorced.”

THREE VIEWS OF MILLSby Diana O’Hehir, Professor Emerita

MOST OF THESE STUDENTSARE HIGHLY CONSCIOUS

OF THEIR ETHNIC BACKGROUNDSAND VERBAL ABOUT THEM,CONSCIENTIOUS IN RAISINGISSUES OF DISCRIMINATIONPERCEIVED EITHER AGAINST

THEIR OWN GROUPS ORAGAINST OTHERS.


The class now has a heated argumentabout what Daisy ought to have done toclaim her personhood. This group likes toargue.

They love the books we’re reading;they like to get serious about the issues

raised in the books. They’re willing todo a lot of research, though they don’tparticularly enjoy having research methods or directions supplied by theteacher. “Well, yeah, but I had anotheridea on how to go on that,” is a predictable response.

They’re surrounded by a world vigor-ously filled with issues demanding a partic-ipation which they welcome. They go onmarches; they strike; they sign petitions.They support newly-emerging programs inwomen’s studies and ethnic studies.

Unlikely though it seems, quite a fewof my 20 students from this year still liveon campus. But the dorm is a differentplace from the one in 1961, much lessrule-clad and with student administrators

supplanting the middle-aged house-mothers. There is even a housing unit—anapartment complex—open to the motherswith small children, and both of the youngmothers in my class live there.

This group is great fun to work with,but exhausting. I fin-ish each school-yeardesperately needingmy upcoming vaca-tion. I’ve startedwriting a lot of poet-ry, and that’s a goodsounding board.

My final view ofmy classes at Mills isof the students inthat epochal event,the Mills strike.

By the time ofthe strike I amteaching severalcreative writingclasses and the students in thoseclasses are the onesI’ll be seeingtonight in this late-evening visit to theembattled Millscampus. The writingstudents have setup an encampmenton the streetcornerbehind our class-room building. It’s9:00 at night; I haveloaded up my carwith doughnuts anddiet cokes, foods

that I think will be especially welcometo the ones who are spending thewhole night here.

The group, about ten of them, areestablished in a semi-circle with a moundof sleeping bags, blankets, pillows, acouple of folding chairs, and severalhigh-powered camping lanterns. They arehaving an extension of their class, read-ing their work aloud to each other.

They have not only been camping onthis corner for three days, attending non-stop meetings about the purpose of thestrike, about feminism’s next frontier,about methods of persuasion and resist-ing coercion, but they also have beenwriting. They’ll offer each other criticism;they’re intense about perfecting their

craft. They’re good critics who like clean,unobvious writing.

They’re glad to see me but not over-whelmingly so. This is their show andthey want to run it themselves. It’s fine iftheir teachers support them, but thatisn’t the real point of anything.

The diet cokes are welcomed and thedoughnuts set aside as possibilities. “Mostof us,” they remind me, “are on diets.”

I look at them, arranged cross-leggedon the asphalt or on the edge of thestreet coping or on their folding chairs.This will be one of my last Mills classes;I’m retiring as soon as we get the semes-ter declared over. And briefly, sentimen-tally, I think about the long years I’vespent here and I even flirt with the ideaof comparing this group to that firstclass, back in 1961. And then abandonthe thought. It’s a no-go. The two groupssimply aren’t comparable.

These students are a mixed crowd ofgraduates and undergrads, all of themolder than that 1961 group. (One classmember, not here tonight, is older than Iam.) They have complicated historieswhich involve careers, marriages,divorces. Two of those sitting on theground in front of me are married andhave husbands who support the strike;one husband drives up in his truck now;he’s been delivering supplies.

They’re devoted to what they’relearning because the class is self-select-ing; there’s competition to get into it.

For strike purposes they are callingthemselves The Writer’s Block. I ask howthat’s spelled and they look blank. “Hey,great to see you,” they say. They put in arequest that if I’m coming by tomorrow—will I bring a salad? With a lemon juicedressing?

They speed me on my way cheerfully.As I’ve said, I’m peripheral to their pro-ject, which is theirs.

I look at them, Goyaesquely lightedfrom below by their camping lanterns. Idon’t exclaim to myself about how thingsare changing and will continue to do so;mostly I have a sense of powers at work,of a force like electricity, and also a kindof wariness. Look what’s happening. Thisis important. Now, what comes next?

That’s the feeling I drive off with asI leave my Mills class encamped on theasphalt, reading their work to eachother. �


Karen May, ’86, concluded the firstyear of her three year term as presi-

dent of the Alumnae Association ofMills College at the end of fiscal year2001–2002. At the Association’s Annualmeeting on May 11, 2002, Karen notedthat volunteers and staff of the AAMChave worked hard to create successafter success. She reviewed the work ofthe Board over the past year in devel-oping the implementation steps for theAAMC’s Strategic Plan. The StrategicPlan goals number eight, and includeprograms, outreach, governance andleadership, Mills College, fundraising,finance, human resources, and facilitiesand technology. Karen also talked aboutthe importance of the Board ofGovernor’s work the past year on valu-ing and respecting diversity.

Alumna Trustee Judy GreenwoodJones, ’60, gave the Alumnae Trusteereport. She reported on the recommen-dation of the College’s Committee onStrategic Planning that Mills expand itsstrategic direction to become known as“an institution of higher educationdevoted to the education and advance-ment of women in leadership in thecommunity and in the professions, withan undergraduate women’s liberal artscollege at its core and an expandedprofile of graduate and other pro-grams.” Judy also reported on the

adoption of the Campus Master Plan,the study for the renovation of LisserHall, the renovation of the old children’sschool/infirmary for use by the socialscience division, as well as the status ofthe College’s financial health and theSesquicentennial Campaign.

Vice-President for Alumnae RelationsJane Cudlip King, ’42, reported on theAAMC’s alumnae relations activities ofthe past year. Most notable was theimpact of the tragedy of September 11,2001, on Reunion, which preventedsome one-third of those planning toattend from actually getting to theCollege. Those who were able toattend were comforted by the opportu-nity to be with long-time friends atMills. Jane spoke about the successfulnew Welcome Barbecue for the incom-ing freshwomen sponsored by theAlumnae Student Relations Committee,as well as their successful reinstatementof the tradition of the LanternProcession at the Alumnae-Pearl MDinner. She reported on the new initia-tives of the Graduate Committee toreach out to graduate students, and theon-going success of the activities of the Diversity and Class SecretaryCommittees.

Co-chair of the Alumnae Fund, LynnEve Fortin, ’87, reported on thechanges and challenges which faced

the Alumnae Fund the last year.Suzanne Tye, the new director ofannua l g iv ing , began work onSeptember 12, three months into thefund year. Her first priority was toincrease the efficiencies in the giftacknowledgement process. Other goalsincluded personalizing the solicitationsthat went to Reunioning classes as wellas the direct mai l appeals forCampanile-level ($500–$1199) donorsand above. The Phonathon Programmanaged to exceed the budgeted revenue set at the beginning of theyear. We were pleased that the Reunion Giving Program continued togain momentum throughout the year.Suzanne has also worked on improvingthe Personal Solicitation Program. Achallenge for next year will be to fine-tunethe Class Agent Program.

The primary initiative of the AnnualFund for the year, however, has been onraising the participation rate of alumnaedonors from 39 percent to 42 percent,which would make the Alumnae Fundeligible for a $105,000 bonus from sevenspecial alumnae and friends. With thefiscal year-end extended an extra month(to follow suit with the College), AAMCstaff and Board members were workingextra hard to have a successful year endfor the Annual Fund—in both number ofdonors and dollars.

Treasurer Beverly Zellick, ’49, MA ’50,reported that the AAMC’s books were ingood order: the auditors made no rec-ommendations for changes in the finan-cial operations of the Association duringthe prior year. Bevo spoke about the chal-lenges of handling the expenses for the13th month. She also reported that thevalue of the Investment Fund was (at thattime) $1.2 million. Plans for the expansionof Reinhardt Alumnae House were beingdrawn. Finally, Bevo gave credit to theAAMC staff for keeping operations effi-cient and productive, and to the mem-bers of the Finance Committee for theirexperience and expertise.

Alumnae Association ANNUAL REPORT

A L U M N A E A S S O C I AT I O N E X P E N S E S , F Y 2 0 0 1 – 2 0 0 2 *

GIFT TO THE COLLEGE 49%

ALUMNAE RELATIONS PROGRAMS 6%

REUNION 6%

ALUMNAE FUND 28%

QUARTERLY 11%

*Because of a change in the fiscal year, these figures reflect 13 months of expenses.


FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 1, 5:00 PMSwim Team vs. ChapmanUniversityChapman University, Orange,CA. (510) 430-3384

FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 1, 7:30 PMVolleyball Team vs. BethanyCollegeHaas Pavilion. (510) 430-3283

SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 9,9:00 AMCross Country Team: FarWest Region II ChampionshipPrado Park, Fresno. (510) 430-3282

MONDAY, NOVEMBER 4,MONDAY, NOVEMBER 25,6:00-7:00 PMWorks in Progress: Informalreadings from English stu-dents and faculty. Café Suzie, Rothwell Center.(510) 430-2236.

TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 5-SUNDAY NOVEMBER 17Rendering: Jeannette Louie.Large drawings inspired bythe architecture of FrankLloyd Wright and the writ-ings of Da Vinci. Art Museum. (510) 430-2252

WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 6,7:30 PMLectures on ContemporaryArt: Shahzia Sikander.Lucie Stern 100. (510) 430-2117.

SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 10–MONDAY, NOVEMBER 11,8:00 PMOakland Public Theater pre-sents: April 10, 1535Lisser Hall Studio Theater.(510) 430-2327

MONDAY, NOVEMBER 18,5:30–7:00 PMContemporary WritersSeries: Karen Tei Yamashita.Yamashita is the author ofThrough the Arc of theRainforest and Brazil Maru.Faculty Lounge. (510) 430-2236.

TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 19–SUNDAY, DECEMBER 1Other Anissas: Anissa Mack.Art Museum. (510) 430-2252

FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 22,7:30 PMOut Here—Alternative Rockfrom the Bay Area, featuringDeerhoof, Live Human, AmyX Neuberg & Men, VictorKrummenacher and Bruce

Kaphan. Concert Hall. (510)430-2296.

FRIDAY, NOV. 22– SATURDAY,NOV. 23, SATURDAY, NOV.30, THURSDAY, DEC.5–SATURDAY, DEC. 7, 7:30PM; SUNDAY, NOV. 24,SUNDAY, DEC. 1, 2:00 PMA Christmas Carol. The DramaDepartment will display cos-tume designs by RichardBattle and Taisia Nikonish-chenko for next year’s (2003)Christmas Carol in the lobbyof Lisser Theatre, prior to thisyear’s productions. Patrons areinvited to sponsor a costume.Lisser Hall, Main Stage. (510) 430-2327

MONDAY, DECEMBER 2,5:30–7:30 PMEnglish Department presentsBarbara GuestFaculty Lounge. (510) 430-2252

TUESDAY, DECEMBER 3,8:00 PMJoelle Leandre. Bassist,improviser, and composer,Leandre is one of the mostactive performers on theEuropean contemporarymusic scene. Concert Hall. (510) 430-2296.

TUESDAY, DECEMBER 3–SUNDAY, DECEMBER 15First Sight, Encyclopedia ofChildhood: Dale Kistemaker.Photographs from a seriesthat document objects fromKistemaker’s childhood. Art Museum. (510) 430-2252

WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 4,7:00 PM Dance Department: StudioOne Night. Haas Pavilion. (510) 430-2175.

FRIDAY, DECEMBER 6,6:00–8:00 PMKwanzaa Celebration.Sponsored by the AAMC’sDiversity Committee.Faculty Dining Room andLounge. (510) 430-2111

SUNDAY, DECEMBER 8,4:00–6:00 PMGraduation Reception. Comecelebrate the accomplish-ments of January, 2003 MillsCollege graduates. StudentUnion. (510) 430-2111

Events are subject tochange. Please call ahead orcheck the Mills College web-site at <www.mills.edu>.

C A L E N D A RThe Mills Repertory DanceCompany celebrates its 20thanniversary with performanceson November 14, 15, and 16 at8:00 p.m. in Haas Pavilion witha restaging of Paul Taylor’s mas-terwork Aureole by facultymember and former Taylor prin-cipal Mary Cochran and a pre-miere by Bay Area choreogra-pher Kim Epifano. The programwill also include original worksby faculty members KathleenMcClintock, Mary Cochran, andAnne Westwick.


EVERY YEAR HUNDREDS of college seniors give com-mencement speeches and enjoy an afternoon of appreciation.But in 1969, the speech that graduating senior Stephanie Millsgave before an audience at Mills College catapulted her tonational fame. She declared “the rosy future” to be a hoax. Shewent on to say, “The most humane thing for me to do is tohave no children,” and explained, “Because you see, if thepopulation continues to grow, the facilities to accommodatethat population must grow, too. Thus we have more highwaysand fewer trees, more electricity and fewer undammed rivers,more cities and less clean air.” Stephanie Mills seized theopportunity that national attention brought her and becameprominent in the environmental movement, editing publica-tions, writing books, and speaking before large audiencesacross the country. She continues to advocate solutions tosome of the more complicated problems of our times throughher lectures, articles, and books, which include In the Service ofthe Wild, (Beacon Press) In Praise of Nature (Island Press) andWhatever Happened to Ecology? (Sierra Club Nature andNatural Philosophy Library).

Her 1969 speech was prophetic in many ways—overpopula-tion continues to threaten humankind and the planet, resourcescontinue to dwindle as we waste them, species become irre-trievably extinct, and new threats such as global warming havearisen. Still, in her most recent book, Epicurean Simplicity,(Island Press) Stephanie Mills seems to voice a quiet optimism,and during a recent conversation at Mills she told me, “I’vebeen surprised that there’s been as much of a future as therehas—at least the future from 1969 to 2002.” She has kept hervow to remain childless, and has worked tirelessly for the caus-es she believes in.

“One of the themes I wanted to explore in EpicureanSimplicity was apocalyptism—but there was no way I could doit justice. Many of us grew up with this idea that the world isgoing to come to a screeching, catastrophic halt. I think it’s acultural inheritance from the Book of John. . . . Another thingthat probably conditioned that view was growing up in thenuclear age when there was a very real possibility of total anni-hilation. Because I’ve lived 30 years of some kind of futuresince 1969, I know a little better now, and in my work I’m finallylearning that scaring people is not a very great way to motivatethem to do good things—you can get people’s attention with adire tale, but to sustain positive, creative work takes somethingelse.”

And Stephanie Mills has provided something else to thereaders of her books: a view of the beauty of nature that is somagnificent that the desire to preserve the trees and the openspaces and to do everything necessary to stop the destructionof the Earth is kindled in the mind of her readers. In EpicureanSimplicity, Mills not only outlines a way of life that is gentle onthe earth and is satisfying to those who lead it, but shedescribes nature’s delicate beauties in a way that convinced thisreader that leading such a life is worth the effort. She tells herown story of leaving hectic San Francisco in the mid-’80s to finda quieter life in rural Michigan. Her frankness and honesty inrelating this story are among the most attractive qualities of her book.

One of the questions that motivated her move, a questionthat “may be the most serious ethical question we now face,” is“How are we to live—not merely survive?” Mills finds an answerin the early Greek philosopher Epicurus, who “propoundedpleasure, simplicity, and friendship as the means and ends ofthe good life.” The ability to savor the simple pleasures andcultivate gratitude for them is part of this philosophy.

Is the Future StillS T E P H A N I E M I L L S M AY H AV E N E W A N S W E R Sby David M. Brin, MA ’75

JOHN ROBERT WILLIAMS


“Simplicity is not self-abnegation—it’s a way to live far morerichly and meaningfully,” she explains. And, I might add, a wayto live consciously. As she describes her daily routine and yearlycycle of activities, Mills is constantly aware of the impact heractions have on the Earth, locally and globally.

In addition to Mills’ interest in philosophy and nature, herlove of the humanities informs her writing. She credits her edu-cation at Mills to helping develop this appreciation. “I arrivedat Mills with the gift of intelligence, an ability to articulate, andan appetite for reading; but it was here that I was exposed tothe life of the mind, and I loved it,” she told me. “I think Iwould have just got lost in the shuffle if I had been at a largecoed institution and I hadn’t had the opportunity to participatein the student activities that I did—and in the classroom theprofs had no choice but to call on the women!

“There have been times in my life when my Mills educationreally saved my soul. Specifically, shortly after I was married, mythen-husband and I were in a head-on automobile accident andboth pretty mangled up. I was hospitalized for a month and ahalf. It was a tough time and I’m not a religious person—lots ofpeople brought spiritual readings to me to try to buck me up,but what really sustained me was a gift of excerpts fromHandel’s Messiah that a friend from Mills sent me. It was thehumanities—in those works of art that I had learned to appreci-ate—that I found what I needed as a reason for being. I wrote abig long thank you letter to my mother and father for givingme this great education.

“The character of Mills then was so blessed—it was such abeautiful place to be and learn—I was a youthful hothead forsure, and not as appreciative as I am now, but I look back onmy time here as a lovely banquet. I think the best of me wasnurtured here. At the same time Mills was like a leafy island in asea of turmoil, so there was an incongruity. I remember sittinghere with the troop helicopters going over to People’s Park,and I had a boyfriend in Berkeley at the time, so I would leavethe ‘cloister’ and go over to the ‘war zone.’ It was quite a con-trast between the two campuses.”

In Whatever Happened to Ecology? as well as throughoutEpicurean Simplicity, Mills tells her personal story and express-es her philosophical, scientific, and ecological concerns. As aresult, this reader felt a close personal connection to her andwas convinced of the importance of her concerns. Fortunately,her vision of the future includes practical steps that we can taketo make meaningful changes that will benefit the regions we

live in and the planet we live on. In Whatever Happened toEcology? she writes, “I have come to believe that the most lov-ing way to prompt change is through sharing our experience,strength, and hope with one another, each striving, above all,for integrity.”

a Hoax?

From Epicurean Simplicity by Stephanie MillsIn college I was the beneficiary of some superlative teaching ofliterature. The professors were so good that for a while, after Igraduated, I didn’t see how, unaided, I could fully appreciate agreat book. All American high school kids are exposed tothem, but my adolescent readings of Jane Austen, HermanMelville, and George Eliot didn’t awaken me to profound inter-est and pleasure in the novel. It wasn’t until Diana O’Hehir’sJames Joyce seminar and Hunter Hannum’s course “The Mindof Modern Germany,” in which we read works in translation byFriedrich Nietzsche, Thomas Mann, Franz Kafka, Rainer MariaRilke, and Hermann Hesse, among others, that literature camefully alive for me and began to matter very much.

Although she was entirely capable of explaining all ofJoyce’s puns and allusions, Diana O’Hehir approached Ulyssesas a real novel, not just a mother lode for exegetes. JamesJoyce changed my life, or the life of my mind; he gave mepermission to take inventive liberties with language and toexperience interior monologue—that everyday life of aneveryman’s or—woman’s mind—as being as worthy of artistictreatment as the matter of myth. For years thereafter, everysolitary walk I took was accompanied by Joyce’s kindly heroLeopold Bloom and so was heightened with quotidian sym-bolism and echoing phrases.

The zenith of the undergraduate literary fest came in mysenior year, when as part of an individual study culminating ina thesis on time and transcendence in Ulysses and The MagicMountain, Hunter Hannum taught The Magic Mountain, light-ing his students’ way through Mann’s masterpiece. The love ofliterature, in which Hunter and his wife, Hildegarde continue—there’s no trash on their reading tables—became the founda-tion of a lasting friendship, and the friendship an inspiration tolead the life of the mind.

Excerpted from Epicurean Simplicity, by Stephanie Mills.Copyright © 2002 by Stepahnie Mills. Reprinted by permis-sion of Island Press/Shearwater Books, Washington, D.C. andCovelo, California. All rights reserved.

Ellen Tornell, Class of 2000Substitute TeacherI give to the AAMC for several reasons: I am thankful for the education that I receivedand Mills made a strong impact on my life. Part of the reason that I was able to attendwas because I received a scholarship from the College. I completely believe that my rightand privilege as an alumna is to make that opportunity available to others.

SLynette P. Williamson, Class of 1972, MA 1974Director of Marketing AdministrationI give to the Alumnae Fund because Mills was one of the most important experiences ofmy life. It was life changing. I have never felt more special and important in my life thanthe time I was at Mills. As a black student, that meant the world to me.

SPatsy Peng, Class of 1951RetiredI greatly benefited from my experience at Mills. I received financial aid when I attendedMills and I am very grateful for all that Mills gave me. My donations are my way of thank-ing Mills and offering the same opportunity to other young women.

SDavid Brin, MA 1975Director of CommunicationsIf it hadn’t been for the wonderful scholarship I received, I would not have been able tostudy at Mills. Since 1975, when I received my master’s degree, I’ve contributed every yearto the Alumnae Fund in hopes of repaying Mills for the gift of education I received, and sothat others may enjoy the same opportunity I did.

S

SMILLS ALUMNAE/I VOICE THEIR APPRECIATION

BY GIVING TO THE ALUMNAE FUND…

…during Mills’ Sesquicentennial Year, won’t you express yourappreciation of what Mills helped you to accomplish?

Participate in the next 150 years — Give a gift today!


MY MILLS COLLEGE EDUCATION

CONTRIBUTED IN FUNDAMENTAL WAYS

TO MY FIRST BOOK, PEERLESS IMAGES:

PERSIAN PAINTING AND ITS SOURCES

(WITH BORIS I. MARSHAK AND ERNST J.

GRUBE, YALE UNIVERSITY PRESS, 2002).

READING THROUGH PROOFS, I HEAR

SO VIVIDLY THE VOICES OF ELIZABETH

POPE, IMOGENE WALKER, AND ANNE

HUMMELL SHERRILL; THE STANDARDS

AND PRACTICES INSTILLED IN CLASSES

WITH ALL THREE OF THESE REMARK-

ABLE WOMEN NOW SEEM OBVIOUS IN

ALL I WRITE. MILLS ALSO STANDS

BEHIND MY ATTEMPTS AT EXPLORING

AN ASPECT OF ONE OF THE WORLD’S

GREAT VISUAL EXPRESSIONS, IRANIAN

PAINTING.

I was an English major at Mills, but Ihad three years of classes in art historywith Alfred Neumeyer, and at somepoint in my junior year I knew that I wasgoing to turn my attention to the visualarts. In one semester during thoseyears—when Dr. Neumeyer was guest-teaching at the Freie Universität in Berlin and his classes were taught by someone froma very different background—I came to appreciate that his approach to the teaching ofart history was a particular one with distinguished antecedents. This daughter of a Millsgraduate still hears her mother (Deborah Shwayder, BA ’38, MA, ’40) saying that whatshe most wished in her children’s education was inspiring teachers—and I always knewshe had in mind Margaret Prall, who had taught her and overseen her MA thesis in thehistory of music.

In my senior year, the question of graduate school arose, and naturally Dr. Neumeyeradvised me about where to apply, for study beginning after the year I was intending tospend traveling in Europe and looking—in person—at what I had only seen in slides andbooks. At that point the notion of anything non-Western simply did not occur to me. If I hadany idea of what I might concentrate on, it seemed to be illuminated European manuscripts.And although in my first year of graduate school I did not take many courses devoted tothem, somehow I had acquired a modicum of the knowledge needed to deal with the com-bination of words and images on vellum pages, including a certain familiarity with the litera-

Looking Eastward: An Art Historian Considers Iranian Paintingby Eleanor Sims, ’64, PhD

RO

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20 MILLS QUARTERLY SUMMER 2002

ture of the field. If I had a favored period, it was the 15th century; I also found I was moredrawn to art made in northern, as opposed to southern, Europe. This meant, then, essential-ly, French and Flemish illuminated manuscripts. What I truly never did was look eastward,even though on a June day in 1965, exactly a year after I had graduated from Mills and Ifound myself traveling on the western coast of Turkey heading for Istanbul, I do recall think-ing how very far I had traveled in a year. I never dreamed how soon it might be that Istanbulwould loom large in my professional life.

Toward the end of my second year of graduate school, I was offered an internship at theMetropolitan Museum of Art in the department of Islamic art. The offer was in part basedon my presumed familiarity with European illuminated manuscripts. I could spend the yearworking with a file of illustrated Persian manuscripts of the 15th century, accumulating thephotographs, measurements, and bibliography that would eventually form the basis for abook on the subject; if I didn’t take to the subject, I could look elsewhere in the museum fora position, with the promise of the curator’s assistance in finding it.

The Concourse of the BirdsThe file had grown out of the Museum’s acquisition, in 1963, of an illustrated manuscriptof importance and beauty: a great work of Iranian mystical literature, The Concourse ofthe Birds, or Mantiq al-Tayr, as it is called in Arabic, composed by the 12th-century Sufipoet Farid al-Din ‘Attar. It had eight illustrations. Four were painted late in the 15th cen-tury in the city of Herat (in what is modern western Afghanistan). However inconsequen-tial Herat may be today, in the eastern Muslim world in the 15th century it was the equiv-alent of Paris, Oxford, and Cambridge, all rolled into one small but enchanting city. For itwas the seat of the dynasty that sprang from Timur—Tamerlane, “the Scourge of God,”as he is sometimes known in European literature of the 15th and 16th centuries. Heratwas the capital from which the Timurids ruled Iran. Throughout the 15th century, Timuridprinces demonstrated how thoroughly they understood the uses of patronage, sponsor-ing endeavors that would reshape the city and its environs for the next 300 years.Throughout the century in which they were in power, Timur’s sons and their heirs builtmosques, palaces, and schools in the city, and in its suburbs they restored shrines andplanted wonderful gardens. In Timurid Herat, poets, historians, and other literary figureswere as important as princes and viziers; all often gathered in these princely gardens forliterary events.

It was almost surely at the command of the last Timurid prince to govern Herat thatthe marvelous manuscript in the Metropolitan Museum was begun. The poem, inPersian, was beautifully copied in Arabic script by a renowned calligrapher, and spacewas laid out for eight pictures, although various events permitted the completion ofonly four by the end of the 1480s. Great political turmoil then intervened, but the man-uscript itself must have remained safely in Iran, an unfinished treasure in a collectionthat eventually came to the attention of one of the greatest princes in the next rulingdynasty of Iran, the Safavid Shah ‘Abbas I. This was at some time late in the 16th orearly 17th century. In May of 1967 Ernst J. Grube, the curator who had acquired themanuscript for the museum, summarized the next stages in a Metropolitan Museum ofArt Bulletin issue entirely devoted to the manuscript: “The later miniatures were paint-ed in Isfahan [then the capital of Iran] at the order of the Safavid Shah ‘Abbas, who hadthe pages of the manuscript remounted and given brilliantly colored, gold-flecked mar-gins [see illustration on inside front cover]. New, illuminated opening pages were alsoadded, and the whole was rebound.” The refurbished volume was presented to theSafavid family shrine in the eastern Iranian town of Ardabil in 1609; how it came to besold at auction in London in 1963 is but the most recent event in its complicated histo-ry, engendering much speculation but no certain scenario. Its presence, and the manyfascinating aspects of its production, had spurred Dr. Grube into considering a moreserious investigation into Timurid painting, and this file on which I was to spend theyear of my internship was its raw material.

ERNST J. GRUBE


The Invitation to Look EastwardAs the offer came with the possibility of support in continuing graduate study that mightlead to a doctorate, and because I found myself intrigued with the material, I accepted theinternship. In doing so, I knew I was also accepting an invitation to continue looking east-ward. I had much to learn: languages, history, the overall outline and the materials, as wellas the literature, of an art that had been the subject of serious study for barely a century, ifthat long. I did wonder whether it was too late to begin to immerse myself in Islamic art,only to learn that practically all of its practitioners, both past and present, had come fromother backgrounds: they were European medievalists, classicists, historians of the ancientNear East, East Asia and South Asia, and more; yet all might bring something of value andinterest to the study of one of the younger of major cultural expressions.

So I started to take classes in Islamic art; I made the decision—probably wrongly buttime somehow seemed to demand it—not to begin to study Arabic, but Persian instead,and I decided to continue graduate study and work toward a doctorate. In the year I tookmy doctoral examinations I had also applied for a Fulbright Scholarship for thesis studyabroad and was awarded a grant that in 1971 took me to libraries and museums and collec-tions from London and Portugal to Iran and Afghanistan, and back to London again for along period of work in its many libraries and collections.

Looking back, I realize how crucial that year was to what I have since been doing: in it Isaw for the first time most of the major illustrated Iranian manuscripts on which my work ofthe past 30 years has been based. In London, Oxford and Cambridge, Dublin andEdinburgh, in Paris, Lisbon, Munich, Berlin, and Cairo, but especially in Istanbul, I saw forthe first time these extraordinary Islamic treasures, and I also made my earliest acquaintancewith those who cared for them and studied them. I still count many of these experts amongmy most valuable colleagues.

Istanbul is a superb treasury of Iranian manuscripts, even more so than is the GulistanPalace Library. Istanbul is the capital city of one of the longest-lived Muslim dynasties(indeed, of any ruling dynasty ever), that of the Ottoman Turks, and was never subjected tothe damage inflicted by war, siege, and the inevitable consequences of plunder and destruc-tion. Thus, its palaces and mosque-libraries remained relatively safe and undisturbed. TheTopkapı Sarayı, or palace, in Istanbul was the residence of the Ottoman sultans from late inthe 15th century to very late in the 19th. To the Sublime Porte (as the Ottoman court wasknown) flowed princely gifts and the booty acquired in its success at establishing Ottomansovereignty over the Eastern Mediterranean and much of the Eastern Muslim world, especial-ly in the 16th century. The accumulated treasure was vast, and it included many preciousmanuscripts. After the dynasty came to an end in 1924, and a new Turkish capital was estab-lished in Ankara, the Topkapı Palace in the former capital became not only a museum(toward which I was traveling in that June of 1965) but also a central gathering place for themanuscripts and other materials originally kept in its various pavilions, as well as manuscriptsfrom mosque-libraries elsewhere in the city. Another major collection of manuscripts inIstanbul is in the Museum of Turkish and Islamic Art. In it are gathered together all theobjects, including many volumes, that had been offered as waqf—a specifically Islamic formof inalienable gift—to religious foundations of many kinds during the past five centuries. Thusit is that untold numbers of important manuscripts in Persian, as well as in Turkish and Arabic,are today to be found in Istanbul libraries. Like the library in Istanbul, the Gulistan PalaceLibrary in Tehran is housed in a palace of its former dynastic rulers (the Qajars) that has alsobeen turned into a museum and library. Unfortunately, after the death of a talented and wel-coming librarian in 1968, it had become extremely difficult of access, and, unlike in Istanbul,in the early 1970s one could not necessarily count on uninterrupted days of research.

The Journey Between 1973 and 1978, I was lucky enough to travel to Iran once a year, working on pro-jects that have borne both professional as well as personal fruit. I completed, and defended,my doctoral dissertation in late 1973 and almost immediately went to Iran to start workingon a project sponsored by the Italian Institute for the study of the Middle East and Asia(IsMEO). Italian restorers working under its auspices had been engaged to work on cleaning


and repairing buildings in Isfahan that had been painted in the 17th-century. Recall thatIsfahan was the seat of Shah ‘Abbas I, the Safavid ruler who in 1609 had offered—as waqf—the manuscript of the Mantiq al-Tayr that had come to rest in the Metropolitan Museum ofArt. Palaces, private houses, and even the monumental gateway of the royal bazaar in thiscity had originally been decorated with monumental figural paintings, both inside and out;and who better than Italian restorers to clean and consolidate them, returning them tosomething of their 17th-century brilliance? An art historian’s eye was also deemed neces-sary, as the cleaning proceeded; my former boss at the Museum was part of the team andasked me to join him in this task. Spending a month each year for the next five years, withour noses close to these murals and photographing them in the course of restoration, wasnot only a privilege at the time but has since yielded invaluable documentation, especiallygiven the hiatus of access imposed by the events of 1979 and since. I should also say thatwhile documentary sources of many kinds have always noted the existence of figural wall-paintings in Islamic Iran, most of them do not survive, and even those from relatively lateperiods are not always in good condition. So the five years of access to these 17th-centurywall-paintings, and the notes and photographs accumulated in that period and since, havecontributed enormously to understanding the similarities between Iranian monumental and“miniature” painting. As it happens, the 17th-century murals, and some related large-scaleindependent paintings, are subjects that much engage me at the moment. And in early1996, when I was asked to conceive a plan for a new book on the subject of Iranian paint-ing, it was not difficult to include in it both the arts of the book and examples of 16th and17th-century monumental images decorating the walls of Iranian palaces and dwellings.

There are other novelties of approach in the book that came to be called PeerlessImages: Persian Painting and Its Sources. Indeed, I was asked to consider the entire subjectfrom a new point of view. What I have done is to organize the material by theme and also bypictorial type and setting, rather than present it as a historical survey of Iranian painting.Included are images of fighting and feasting, receptions and ceremonies of various kinds, andset-types of persons: kings and heroes, the beautiful youth and the bearded sage, lovers,and even angels and demons. Moreover, the subject is not limited to painting of the Islamicperiod alone but considers the entire sweep of Iranian figural imagery, from the earliest kindof painted pottery—superbly painted vessels with delicate walls that date from the 4th mil-lennium BC, through the Achaemenid and Sasanian periods, through what I have come tocall the “Golden Age” of Iranian painting, from the 14th to the 17th centuries, to the intense-ly figural 19th century and the oil-paintings on canvas, very much in the European manner,that were being done in Qajar Tehran in the early years of the 20th century.

In assembling and writing Peerless Images: Persian Painting and Its Sources, I have hadthe pleasure of collaborating with a Russian colleague, Boris Marshak, a noted expert in thearts of the Iranian ancient Near East, who has also been excavating for over half a century inSogdia (east of Iran proper), in a city called Panjikent. There, he and his colleagues havebeen finding the most extensive body anywhere of early medieval Iranian wall-paintings tohave survived the “ravages of time, weather, and the Mongol invasions” of the 13th century.And lastly, in working on this project and so much more, I have also had the constant assis-tance of my former boss at the Metropolitan Museum and colleague (from the days ofrecording the wall-paintings in Isfahan and elsewhere in Iran), Ernst Grube. He has been myhusband since 1988. There, too, lies a Mills connection that returns us to the beginning ofthis account, since Ernst also studied art history with Alfred Neumeyer, in Berlin, on perhapsthe first of his guest-professorships at the Freie Universität in 1954 or 1955. We certainly didnot know that when we first met nor would it have made any difference in our lives togeth-er. But when I reflect on the various ways that Mills has affected my life, it is a pleasure toadd still one more thread to the many-colored fabric Mills has woven into my life. �

Eleanor Sims, ’64, earned her PhD from New York University’s Institute of Fine Arts. Herpublications include more than 50 articles, chapters in books, and contributions to theEncyclopedia Iranica and the MacMillan Dictionary of Art. She worked in the Islamic ArtDepartment of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and in 1975 she reinstalled the Islamic galleries at the Minneapolis Institute of Art. She is editor of Islamic Art.

TO THE SUBLIME PORTE (AS

THE OTTOMAN COURT WAS

KNOWN) FLOWED PRINCELY

GIFTS AND THE BOOTY

ACQUIRED IN ITS SUCCESS AT

ESTABLISHING OTTOMAN

SOVEREIGNTY OVER THE

EASTERN MEDITERRANEAN AND

MUCH OF THE EASTERN MUSLIM

WORLD. THE ACCUMULATED

TREASURE WAS VAST, AND IT

INCLUDED MANY PRECIOUS

MANUSCRIPTS.


Gifts in Honor ofSena Bergerud, ’02,

by Peggy Weber, ’65Enrico and Jane Van

Rysselberghe Bernasconi, ’53by Barbara Hunter, ’57

Anne Gillespie Brown, ’68, by Peggy Weber, ’65

Claudia Jo “Dia” Calhoun, ’80, by Robina Royer, ’80

The Class of 1946 by Betsy Taves Whitman, ’46

The Class of 1950 by Barbara McCall Bryant, ’50

The Class of 1952—all of the living members by Jean Cosentino, ’52

The Class of 2002 by The Sacramento MillsAlumnae Branch

Terry Dickie Comacho, ’61,by Elizabeth Frederick, ’61, andConstance Gilbert Neiss, ’61

Caroline Jeruto Chumo, ’02, by Ashlin Mahood, ’00

Fred Taylor Clarke by MelodyClarke Teppola, ’64

Tracey Franklin Corbett, ’65, by Peggy Weber, ’65

Mary and Clifford Evans by Barbara Evans, ’63

Amy Franklin-Willis, ’94, by Marjorie Christensen, ’85

Katherine DeHart Hale, ’81, by Robina Royer, ’80

Heather Hamrick, ’00, by Peggy Weber, ’65

Karen Lee Hancock, ’02, by Heidi Wachter, ’01

Maurine Martin Harkness, ’71, by Geraldine Stevens Toms, ’44

Meredith Harkness, ’00, by Geraldine Stevens Toms, ’44

John Harris by Kiyomi Cohn, ’92Lorraine Hamilton Havens, ’30,

by Shirley Hambrook Jones, ’52The Heroes of September 11,

2001 by Mills College Club ofNew York

Mai-Oanh Phan Ho, ’99, by Ashlin Mahood, ’00

Barbara Hunter, ’57, by Carol Meyer Doyle, ’81

Whitney Jensen, ’00, by Ashlin Mahood, ’00

Christina Antoinette Kovach,’98, by Ashlin Mahood, ’00

Esther Rosenblatt Landa, ’33, by Paula Merrix Sporck, ’46

Patricia Taylor Lee, ’57, DMA, by Phyllis Cole Bader, ’35

Carol Lennox, ’61, by Lydia Mann, ’83

Cynthia Mahood Levin, ’95, by Ashlin Mahood, ’00

Los Angeles Mills CollegeAlumnae Board of Directorsby Elizabeth Agee Hancock, ’40

Katherine Elizabeth Mahood, ’93,by Ashlin Mahood, ’00

Florence Mann, by Louise Mann Tolle, ’52

Stephanie Walker McCoy, ’80, by Robina Royer, ’80

Marcia McElvain, ’61, by Ann Gordon Bigler, ’61

Mills College by Janice Shobert Peterson, ’52

Erin Brooke Mitchell, ’00, by Ashlin Mahood, ’00

Linda Moody by Maud Steyaert

Nangee Warner Morrison, ’63, by Bob Whitlock and PeggyWeber, ’65

Isabel Schemel Mulcahy, ’44, by Jane Cudlip King, ’42

Emily Nelson, ’02, by Peggy Weber, ’65

Megali Noth, ’98, by Marina Herrero, ’02

Alison Nowak, ’02, by Peggy Weber, ’65

Thoraya Obaid, ’66, by Paula Merrix Sporck, ’46

Melissa O’Meara, ’00, by Ashlin Mahood, ’00

Elizabeth Parker, ’85, by Paula Merrix Sporck, ’46

Erin Pehl, ’02, by Peggy Weber, 65

Tu Trinh Pham, ’99, by Ashlin Mahood, ’00

Margaret Dollar Powers, ’33, by Sheila Powers Converse, ’57

Henry Rappaport and JosephinePatrick Rappaport, ’65, by Peggy Weber, ’65

Joe Rensch and June BurleyRensch, ’52, by JacquelynJagger Parsons, ’52

Dale Robards, ’98, by Peggy Weber, ’65

Stori Robertson, ’02, by Dori Wechsler, ’00

Katherine Rybka, ’02, by Peggy Weber, ’65

Sue Bengston Steele, ’42, by Jane Cudlip King, ’42

Susan Steele by The Sacramento MillsAlumnae Branch

Maud Steyaert, ’88, by Heather Cox, ’88

Gillian Swanson, ’95, by Karilee Wirthlin, ’92

Koh Tatai—in honor of your80th birthday by Tomoye Tatai

Sarah Taylor, ’00, by Ashlin Mahood, ’00

Adrienne White by ElizabethBarry, ’94, Melissa StevensonDile, ’91, Paula Merrix Sporck,’46, and Peggy Weber, ’65

Susan Whitlock, ’03, by Peggy Weber, ’65

Reynold Wik by Kit Farrow Jorrens, ’57

Gifts in Memory ofBetty Lou Mathew Adams, ’52,

by Barbara Smith Brown, ’52Frances Rehfeld Ahlers

by Ann Rehfeld Fagan, ’52Mildred “Vicki” Alvarado, ’52,

by Anne Mero Adelmann, ’52James Anderson by Rubye

Campodonico Reade, ’33Pamela Nickerson Angwin, ’49,

by Sarah Cornew Durrum, ’49Nancy McCoy Armer, ’48,

by Annette Lee Park, ’55Francis-Ruth Armstrong, ’31,

by Joanne Gearey, ’52

Robert Arneson, MA ’58, by Findley Randolph Cotton, ’58

Roger and Ann Arnhart by Suzanne Arnhart, ’72

Carol Smith Brown, ’47, by Jennifer Gallison, ’97

John Buehler by Alice London Bishop, ’58

Anne Hillman Burton, ’42, by Billie Gardner Axel, ’42,Alice Gonnerman Mueller, ’42,and Norma GodfreyVermilion, ’41

Evelyn “Peg” Deane, ’41, by Mary Jane Hart Clark, ’42

The deceased members of theClass of ’52, by Jean Cosentino, ’52

Grace Searing Dhaemers, ’62, by Susan Farr Armstrong, ’62

Virginia Peterson DuMont, ’38, by Lorna DuMont Shinkle, ’79,Paula Merrix Sporck, ’46, andJulia Voorhies, ’66

Edward “Bob” Dunlop by Leah Hardcastle MacNeil, ’51

Mrs. P. Du Rousseau by JenellaDu Rousseau Placet, ’71

Anne Ritter Farr, ’30, by Susan Farr Armstrong, ’62

Frances Korbel Ferguson, ’44 by Ann O’Brien Hildebrand, ’61

Ann Noble Fiedler, ’69, by Patricia and David Burnell

Joel Ferris by Ellen Graue Ferris, ’46, andDorothy McVeigh Raney, ’45

Josephine Gibson Freeland, ’41,by Norma Godfrey Vermilion, ’41

Charlotte Frey by Laurel Burden, ’68, SusanStern Fineman, ’68, JudithGreenwood Jones, ’60,Linda Kay, ’73, Emma-JanePeck White, ’35, and NancyDreyer Blaugrund, ’68

Dora Herman Gates, ’23 by Phyllis Merrick Purdum,’52

William and Helen Gaw by Jane Farrell Gaw, ’52

George Goers

PASSAGES

Passages


by Ellen Graue Ferris, ’46Jane Ericksen Goul, ’50,

by Barbara McCall Bryant,’50Jean Miser Grant, ’40,

by Eleanore LundegaardNissen, ’42

Quentin Griffiths by Miriam Dyer-Bennet May, ’44

Catherine McClintock Haas, ’52,by Elizabeth Hoyt, ’52

Rev. George Hall by Yvonne Mero Baker, ’49,Sally Mayock Hartley, ’48, andLou Hale Smitheram, ’50

Elizabeth Rulison Harrington, ’40,by June Melchior, ’01, MaryKuzell Niznik, ’40, Helen Smithand Grace Sakata Sugiyama, ’40

Ruth Patterson Hart, ’33, by Melody Clarke Teppola, ’64

Madeleine Sharp Healy, ’39, by Elizabeth McCaughinMallory, ’48, John Taylor,Jacquelyn Walter, and NancyWhyte Work, ’52

Dr. George Hedley by Sally Mayock Hartley, ’48,and Maryvonne GellyMardaci, ’52

Dr. and Mrs. George P. Hedley by Reed Isbell, ’62

Dr. Francis Herrick by Sally Mayock Hartley, ’48

Elsa Hill by Maryvonne GellyMardaci, ’52

H. Howard Holmes by Mary Eleanor KingHolmes, ’43

Marion Rowcliffe Howard, ’44,by Miriam Dyer-Bennet May, ’44

Tomi Sakurai Ishii, ’32, by Kunio Okayasu

Ellen S. Johnson by Laura Johnson Grey, ’84

Nancy Brown Kitchen, ’47, by Suzanne Brund Lamon, ’47,and Katharine French Willi, ’47

Sarah Hughes Knox, ’33, by Molly Fairbank Grassi, ’59

Robert Langner by Joan Cummings Hobbs,’48, Sheila Morrow Joost, ’48,and Jane Cudlip King, ’42

Susan Long, ’56, by Sharon Heaton Kinney, ’56

Elizabeth Heller Mandell, ’52, by Alan Mandell, OliviaMandell, Peter Mandell, andNan Senior Robinson, ’52

Floyd Mann by Louise Mann Tolle, ’52

Grace Mary Manning by Mary Manning Graham, ’61

Barbara Pinnell McClelland, ’31,by Sue McClelland, ’56

Susan McClendon by Phyllis Cole Bader, ’35

Robert McCord by Ellen Graue Ferris, ’46

Howard McMinn by Elizabeth PetersonMacaulay, ’47

Clinton Monday by M.O.H.R.: Ann Bigler, ’61,Terry Camacho, ’61, BetsyFrederick, ’61, Connie Gilbert,’61, Mary Linda Luhring, ’61,Marcia McElvain, ’61, DonnaRiback, ’61, and StuartJohnson Sliter, ’61

Vincent Morgan by JacquelynJagger Parsons, ’52

Elizabeth Logan Narver, ’56, by Caroline Houser, ’56, andBarbara Sweetland Smith, ’58

The parents of Judith Nelson by Judith Roberts Nelson, ’52

Shirley Nelson, ’45, by IsabelleHagopian Arabian, ’45, andBeth Larson O’Donohoe, ’46

Patricia Hunt Nevin, ’50, by Barbara McCall Bryant, ’50

Patricia Timmer Newman, ’49, by Carol Blundell Miller, ’49

Mr. and Mrs. Lloyd Noble by Ann Noble Brown, ’52

Erica Dowie Noceti, ’42, by Billie Gardner Axel, ’42

Steven W. Nordblom by Catherine LaRoche, ’85

Franklin Ott by Ellen Graue Ferris, ’46, andDorothy McVeigh Raney, ’45

Elizabeth Penaat, ’55, by Irene Harville Hannaford,’54, and Elizabeth MacMahonWied, ’55

Dr. Helen Pillans by Janella DuRousseau Placet, ’71

Dr. J. G. Placet by Janella DuRousseau Placet, ’71

Jean MacKenzie Pool, ’43, by Ellen Graue Ferris, ’46

Libby Pope by Suzanne Arnhart, ’72

Thomas Lawrence Powers by Sheila Powers Converse, ’57

Elvis Presley by Ellen Akerlund Gonella, ’68

Donald Reay by Nina Zhito, ’81

Ginnie Rosekrans by Leone LaDuke Evans, ’45, MA

Edward Rosenfeld by Phyllis Cole Bader, ’35,Emma-Jane Peck White, ’35,Betty Brosinske Erickson, ’47,Suzanne Brund Lamon, ’47,Janet Clark McCoy, ’47,Melody Clarke Teppola, ’64,and Katharine French Willi, ’47

Virginia Stone Scheflin, ’34, by Billie Gardner Axel, ’42

Jean Dondero Schmidt, ’45, by Jean Schweers Burns, ’46,and Mary Martinelli

Cathaleene A. Scott by Carol Scott-Haworth, ’84

Emiko Hinoki Shimizu, ’41, by Patricia Cooper Niederauer,’69, and Paula Merrix Sporck, ’46

Eleanor Edgecomb Sinclaire, ’47,by Betty Brosinske Erickson,’47, and Suzanne BrundLamon, ’47

Kathy Sova by Jeannine Sova Jones, ’57

Joanne Farmer Suppes, ’43, by Alice Booth

Koh Tatai by Tomoye TataiJane Taylor, ’35,

by Terry Taylor Elwood, ’67Shirley Summy Taylor, ’41,

by Terry Taylor Elwood, ’67C. B. Tennis

by Jacquelyn JaggerParsons, ’52

Helen Bailey Thirion, ’28, by Billie Gardner Axel, ’42

Bayra Richards Thrasher, ’30, by Marian Wickline, ’35

Helen Odell Gilbert-Bushnell, ’43MRS. GILBERT-BUSHNELL died at the age of 80 at her home in Honolulu onApril 8, 2002. She had a distinguished career as a practicing artist and as profes-sor of art at the University of Hawaii, Manoa.

Before coming to Mills, she attended the Punahou School in Honolulu, andafter receiving a bachelor’s degree in art from Mills, she went on to earn an MFAdegree in art at the University of Hawaii, Manoa, where she taught for 30 years.She also held appointments as visiting professor of art at the Parsons School ofDesign and the Pratt Institute in New York.

Mrs. Gilbert-Bushnell gained a reputation as an innovative artist. Althoughpainting occupied most of her time, she also produced more than 100 editions ofprints and pioneered the use of polarized light in kinetic sculpture.

Her work is in numerous public and corporate collections including the Museum of Modern Art,the Whitney Museum of American Art, the Solomon Guggenheim Museum, the Metropolitan Museumin New York, and the Tate Gallery in London. Mrs. Gilbert-Bushnell is survived by her second husband,Kenneth W. Bushnell, two sisters, and her seven children by her first husband, Dr. Fred I. Gilbert,including Kristin Gilbert, ’68, and six grandchildren.

Passages


Michael Tielemans by Borgee Ng Chinn, ’41

Louise “Weezie” HayesVanderliet, ’53, by Suzanne Adams, ’48, JoanThompson Armstrong, ’51,Penelope Baird, Kay MillerBrowne, ’53, Yvonne SteeleByron, ’50, Kathryn DudleyChase, ’61, Anne SherwoodCopenhagen, ’44, Joan LewisDanforth, ’53, MelissaStevenson Dile, ’91, Leone LaDuke Evans, MA ’45, RuthGillard, ’36, Lucile PedlerGriffiths, ’46, Jean LoganHenderson, ’34, Barbara Hunter,’57, Muriel Johnston, ’42, MA’46, Judith Greenwood Jones,’60, Linda Kay, ’73, NancyKennedy, Jane Cudlip King, ’42,Lisa Kosiewicz, ’91, Janet ArmesKoupal, ’57, Liza Kuney, ’88,Leah Hardcastle MacNeil, MA’51, Eleanor McDonald Meyer,’36, Carol Blundell Miller, ’49,Diana Birtwistle Odermatt, ’60,Loadel Harter Piner, ’50, BarbaraBerger Pratt, ’53, Eleanor SteinRusnak, ’36, Carole JosephSilva, ’54, Paula Merrix Sporck,’46, Cynthia Taves, ’48, MuffyMcKinstry Thorne, ’48, AmyTurner, Joyce Turner, Toni ReneeVierra, ’98, Peggy Weber, ’65,and Carol Lu Leland Zischke, ’80

Muriel Van Hoosear by Joyce Van HoosearMoulton, ’53, and Marilyn VanHoosear Goode, ’53

Dr. Henry J. Vaux, Sr. by Melody Clarke Teppola, ’64

Jean Macduff Vaux, ’33, by Melody Clarke Teppola, ’64

Imogene and Franklin Walkerby Katherine Farrow Jorrens, ’57

Maude McArthur White by Alice Groch Sheppard, ’66

Helen Bryan Wik by Katherine Farrow Jorrens,’57, and Melody ClarkeTeppola, ’64

Robert Work by Shirley Hambrook Jones, ’52

Evaline Wright by FloraKirschner Isaacson, ’54

Ian Zellick, MA ’52, by JoaquinaBallard Howles, ’52

Charlene Nugent Zoller, ’52, by Patricia Heskins Gumbiner,’52, Elizabeth McCaughinMallory, ’48, Beatrice SarettTesch, ’52, and Nancy WhyteWork, ’52

Martha Tway Mills, ’45Martha’s interest in government came early and easily. At the age of 10

she spent many hours sitting in a gallery seat of the Arizona State Legislaturewhere her father was speaker of the house.

She majored in economics, philosophy, and politics at Mills, while beingeditor of the Weekly and then president of Olney Hall. Martha also spent twoyears studying international relations at Stanford. In 1947 she married DonaldClair Mills in Carmel. She served as her class secretary and as regional gover-nor for the mid-Atlantic states.

Martha spent time in Japan after World War II working on a project tohelp Japanese women accept the rights given them in the MacArthur-designed constitution. She and Don moved to Washington, D.C., and in 1952

Martha joined the League of Women Voters national staff. By l978 she was director of the educationfund. Her last four years with the League were spent as deputy executive director. When she retired in1989, the League’s official publication commented, “Her service is unlikely ever to be equaled,” and“There will be no replacing this legend.” The League also created The Martha T. Mills LifetimeAchievement Award in recognition of her contributions. She was the first recipient of the award, and asthe citation states, she “unfailingly offered the League her wisdom, warmth, optimism, and humor.”

She is survived by her husband, Donald Clair Mills, and her sister Jean Herridge.—Martha Wickland Stumpf, ’46

Who are they?� The three Alumnae Trustees serve on both the Board of

Trustees of Mills College and the Board of Governors of theAlumnae Association, and

� convey the majority view of the Board of Governors to theBoard of Trustees and

� serve as a liaison between the two Boards. One Alumna Trustee is elected each year.

What are the expectations of the Alumnae Trustees?Each year the Alumnae Trustees are expected to attend� three two-day meetings of the College’s Board of Trustees

(plus possible additional committee meetings) and� six evening meetings of the AAMC’s Board of Governors, as

well as a day-long Retreat and the Annual Meeting.The Alumnae Trustees serve a three-year term and may run fora second term.

How are the Alumnae Trustees nominated?� Nomination of candidates, or self-nominations, are mailed,

faxed, or emailed to the AAMC Nominating Committeebefore November 30, 2002.

� In January 2003, candidates who choose to be consideredcomplete and return to the Nominating Committee a question-naire that details their qualifications and position statements.

What background and experience are desired?The Nominating Committee is looking for individuals who havedemonstrated� participation in alumnae activites such as branch or regional

leadership or service as a class secretary or agent, or

� participation in college activities such as the AlumnaeAdmission Representative program, and

� fundraising/financial support of the AAMC or the College.

In order to be assured that there is at least one AlumnaTrustee who lives outside the Bay Area, the AAMC Board ofGovernors has restricted nominations every third year toalumnae who live outside the Middle California region. This year nominations are unrestricted.

How are the Alumnae Trustees elected?� Three final nominees, selected by the Nominating

Committee, will be featured in the spring 2003 Quarterly.� All alumnae are eligible to vote by mail-in ballots provided in

the Quarterly, and one Alumna Trustee is elected from thethree nominees. (The newly elected Trustee begins her termon June 1, 2003.)

For more detailed information...� Ask the AAMC to send you the complete Alumna Trustee

information packet.

Questions?Contact Anne Gillespie Brown at Reinhardt House at (510) 430-2112, or email her at <[email protected]>.

Current Alumnae Trustees Are:� Judy Greenwood Jones, ’60, � Sara Ellen McClure, ’81, and� Sharon K. Tatai, ’80.

Nominate Your Choice for Alumna Trustee TodayNow is the time for you, the alumnae of Mills College, to nominate the next candidates for Alumna Trustee.

NOMINAT ING FORM

NAME OF NOMINEE CLASS YEAR

ADDRESS OF NOMINEE

TELEPHONE OF NOMINEE

YOUR NAME CLASS YEAR

You may use the envelope at the center of this magazine to return your nomination form, or you may fax a copy to the AAMC at (510) 430-1401 or email it to <[email protected]>.

I’m delighted to be traveling to the Mojave Desert this springon this exciting trip organized by the Alumnae Association. Ifyou ask the average person to characterize a desert, he or sheis likely to include extreme heat, lack of rain, and extensivedunes in their description. Our trip to Death Valley and theMojave should go a long way toward correcting those stereo-typical impressions! If anything, desert climates can better becharacterized by their variability. We are likely to experiencetemperatures ranging from freezing to comfortable “short-sleeve” weather. The spectacular landscape will include someof the most scenic dunes in North America to be sure, but alsowill include majestic desert mountains, diverse shrub-dominat-ed communities, stream courses, and the remnants of Ice Agelakes. The chance to view the earth’s exposed history is one ofmy favorite features of desert travel: nearly 600 million years ofthe earth’s history are exposed to view in Death Valley. At thesame time, the evidence of the cooler climates and woodlandvegetation of just a few thousand years ago can be seen. It’shard to believe that today’s home of cacti and creosote bushhad camels and giant ground sloths not so long ago!

California has three distinctly different desert regions: theGreat Basin (Mono Lake and northeastern California), the

Colorado Desert (Anza Borrego State Park and SouthernCalifornia desert) and the Mojave Desert. Though our trip iscentered in the Mojave, we’ll have a chance to see plants andanimals representing the other desert regions when we visitthe Mojave National Preserve. As a preview to the trip, partici-pants might enjoy either of Edmund C. Jaeger’s books: TheCalifornia Deserts, and The North American Deserts.

Much of my career as a biologist has been spent study-ing small mammals in desert environments from Mono Laketo the southern San Joaquin Valley, to the western MojaveDesert. I’m particularly excited to have the opportunity toshare what I’ve learned about these wonderful animals andtheir adaptations for surviving in this variable and often dif-ficult environment. We’ll have the chance to capture andobserve small mammals at close hand at the Zzyzx SpringsDesert Studies Center. We should also see a variety ofdesert bird life and reptiles, including the endangereddesert tortoise. I would not want to predict wildflowers thisfar in advance, but the El Nino conditions that some clima-tologists have predicted for this winter should result in agood year for flowers. —John Harris, Professor of Biology

Visit Death Valley

Death Valley and the Mojave DesertMarch 28–April 5, 2003

Join us! . . . as we explore California’s desertparadise on a splendid spring vacation!Discover the lowest point in the U.S. andsnow-capped peaks which soar more than11,000 feet overhead. Learn about the historyof earth preserved in the astonishing cliffsand landscapes. Delight in the spring wild-flowers and wildlife of the desert—fromdesert pupfish to roadrunners and kangaroorats. Explore ancient lake beds, pine forests,rock salt pinnacles, and fabulous sanddunes. Relive the days of the 49’er goldseekers and the prospectors at historicMitchell Caverns, and explore immenseScotty’s Castle.

Join us, your host from Mills, Professor ofBiology John Harris, and naturalist DavidWimpfheimer, and discover the magic ofDeath Valley and the Mojave Desert thisspring!

Cost of tour is $2,290 per person twin share(from Las Vegas), single $350 additional.

For a detailed color brochure, please callthe AAMC at (510) 430-2110, fax (510) 430-1401, or email us at<[email protected]>.

PHOTOS BY ROBERT P. NANSEN

Alumnae Association of Mills CollegeReinhardt Alumnae House Mills CollegePO Box 9998Oakland, CA 94613-0998510 [email protected]

PERIODICALS POSTAGE PAID AT OAKLAND, CA AND AT ADDITIONAL MAILING OFFICE(S)

ADDRESS SERVICE REQUESTED

Mills Quarterly

Printed on recycled paper with soy-based inks.

Bowl, 1951, enamel on copper. Interior: coral-red and white enamel. Exterior:blue, black, and silver enamel. Photo courtesy of the Chinese HistoricalSociety of America.

Viewers have a rare opportunity to see ceramics and enamelware by JadeSnow Wong, ’42, in a retrospective of her work, running through December22, 2002, at the Chinese Historical Society of America, 965 Clay Street, SanFrancisco. For more information call (415) 391-1188 or see <www.chsa.org>.

Jade Snow Wong, ’42

Mills Quarterly fall 2002

Documents

Transcript of Mills Quarterly fall 2002