Meredith's "Living" History
By Erin Hege '04

Each spring, Dot Goodwin, '47, can be found dusting dresses, combing wigs and cleaning cases on the third floor of Johnson Hall. For more than 30 years, she has taken on the care of Meredith's prized doll gallery as her personal project.

The doll gallery represents more than 100 years of Meredith history. It is a piece of campus pride that far surpasses pretty dolls and changing hemlines.

The dolls do more than just display different dresses and hairstyles; they carry the legacies of our alumnae. There are many hidden historical features that make our class dolls special. They hold memories of war times, embrace women's liberation, celebrate sports teams, honor former classmates and represent the secrets and spirit of all of Meredith's graduating classes.

The doll gallery is named in honor of Margaret Bright, '07, who cared for the dolls and attended every commencement from her own in 1907 until 1963 then once more in 1969 shortly before her death one month later.

The history of Meredith's students comes alive when one walks through the gallery. Trends of the changing times evolve from the class day dresses of the early 1900s to the every day casual wear of the more recent dolls.

Goodwin recalls stories of each doll that cannot be found in any history book. She said, "Only one photograph can be found in the entire gallery, and that is of my mother (Sallie Beal Loftin) who was class of 1921." Loftin's picture sits right beside the doll of 1921 because the doll's dress is the same dress Loftin wears in the picture.

In those times the graduating class all wore the same dress so their doll's dress matched those of the class. In the 1930s that tradition continued with colored dresses, making that decade one of the few times when class day was not celebrated in white dresses. That continued until WWII when materials became harder to obtain so students began to make their own different dresses in all white.

The dolls display many different themes throughout the gallery, including the many different wars Meredith classes lived through.

The red tie that 1918 wears is symbolic of the military theme of their class day honoring the service men of WWI. The classes who graduated during WWII have a different look to their dolls because they were not able to order their dolls from France where the manufacturer of the previous dolls was located. Instead, the classes had to find new dolls out of local department stores.

More recently, the class of 2002 included an American flag in their doll's time capsule to represent the events of September 11, which took place during the fall of their senior year.

Another common theme starting with the class of 1989 was for each class to name their doll. The doll for 1989 is named Jennifer because it was the most popular name in their class. Other classes have named their doll after their class advisers, classmates who passed away and famous women who made an impact on the world during a class' time at Meredith.

The Class of 1991 named their doll Beverly Clark in honor of the first woman killed in Operation Desert Storm. The 2000 doll is partially named in honor of Dr. Maureen Hartford, our college's first female president.

There are many hidden meanings in the dolls wardrobes. The doll of 1974 displays their class' passion for the women's movement of the 1970s with "Ms." Embroidered on her shirt. The doll of 1952 wears a formal white dress to honor the May Queen of 1952 rather than the class day dress. The 1969 doll has a secret athletic passion since no one can see the red "NCSU" embroidered on her undergarments.

The class of 1964's doll reads "AIPOTU" which is "Utopia" spelled backwards because they deemed themselves the perfect class since they won all four of their Cornhuskin's and Stunts. The class of 1965 holds a flag saying, "Never Say Die" - not because of the uproar of the 60s, but because they never won a stunt or Cornhuskin', but they never gave up.

Many of the dolls were courageous enough to start a new tradition like 1970 who was the first to wear a pants outfit and 1976 was the first to have pierced ears. The only Madame Alexander doll in the collection is 1960 and 1981 is the only doll with French braided hair. The Meredith ring first showed up on the doll of 1982 and the class charm on the doll of 1998.

In less than two months a new doll will join this collection. The doll of 2004 will leave the legacy of her class, possibly start a new trend and carry on one of Meredith's finest traditions like so many dolls before her.

Nutshell Notes

• Doug Spero, assistant professor of communication, discussed indecency in the media, on WPTF Radio on March 1. Spero also served as a convocation speaker at Lenoir-Rhyne College in February. His speech was titled "The Brave Reporters Who Covered the Brave Civil Rights Leaders of the 1960s."

• Clyde Frazier, professor of politics, appeared on the WRAZ-Fox 50 Morning News on Wednesday, March 3 to discuss the Democratic presidential primaries and the upcoming general election.

• Mary-Kathryn Pate, a senior at Meredith College, was awarded the Pre-professional/Graduate Student of the Year Award by the North Carolina Association of Family and Consumer Sciences on March 6. This award was presented at the Annual Meeting of NCAFCS, which was held in Hickory, NC. Her leadership as chair of the Student Section of NCAFCS and president of MAFCS, her enthusiasm for the profession and her commitment to involving students from all colleges and universities in North Carolina made her an excellent recipient for this award, according to Shannon Baynor Braxton, chair of the Awards Committee.

• Allen Page, professor of religion and philosophy, was the subject of a Q&A in The News & Observer's March 8 university news section. Page discussed the topic of the depiction of Jesus in the movies, including in Mel Gibson's The Passion of the Christ. Page also was the guest on Tom Kearney's WPTF radio show, Open Line, on Wednesday, March 31. Page discussed his career at Meredith, his recent lecture on the many faces of Jesus, and the image of Jesus in films such as The Passion of the Christ.

• Ann Gleason, dean of students, was quoted in an article titled "Local Schools Revise Systems," on ways colleges help protect students from identity theft, in the March 15 issue of The News & Observer.

• Diane Ellis, professor of human environmental sciences, was interviewed for a News 14 story on the Meredith Fashion Association's Cinderella Project. The story, about the effort to collect and distribute gently used prom dresses to local high school students, ran numerous times on Monday, March 15.

• Anne York, assistant professor of business, was quoted in "New Jobs Calling," in The News & Observer's March 22 issue. The article discussed the positive and negative impact on North Carolinaís economy resulting from the opening of new calling centers.

• Pianists Kent Lyman and Frank Pittman, both music faculty members, will perform with the Raleigh Civic Symphony on April 18 and with the Raleigh Civic Chamber Orchestra on April 25. Both concerts, which are titled "Voices of Asia and the Pacific," will be held at 4 p.m. in Talley Student Center on the NC State University campus. Call 515-1100 for more information.

In the next issue…
Look for articles in the May 2004 In A Nutshell on:
• Medieval and Renaissance Studies Minor
• Celebrating Student Achievement
• Kenyatta University's Talanta puppet troupe's visit to Meredith
• Profile on Betty Webb, director of study abroad and professor of English

SEND US YOUR NEWS…In A Nutshell invites you to send us your news! Please forward story ideas or news to Melyssa Allen, co-editor of In A Nutshell (allenme@meredith.edu).

Newsletter Staff
Editors - Kristi Eaves-McLennan, Melyssa Allen
Contributing Writers - Andrea Weaver,
Erin Hege, '04, Kristen Scott, '05
Web Designer - David Timberlake
Photographer - David Timberlake
Production Assistant - Kaye Rains
Interns - Erin Hege, '04, Kristen Scott, '05

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