Allan Mussehl '65  First Memory

    My absolutely first memory of Milton was as a high school student going to the campus for a tour early on in the summer of 1961 and being given the "walk around" by Perry O'Brien who was the Director of Admissions. We had completed Main Hall and were on our way to the Library and science labs which we were entering through the side entrance of Whitford Hall when we found the door locked so we started around toward the front (Library) entrance when Mr. O'Brien grabbed my arm and pulled me into the bushes next to the building....very friendly place, I thought!  This was followed by a terrible crash and a chair hitting the sidewalk where we had been walking. There was enough impact so that it broke into a half dozen pieces. As we pulled ourselves out from the shrubs he pointed up to the upper story window where a short, odd looking little man looked down and waved at us.  "That is the President (Percy Dunn) and you have just witnessed another top level academic decision being made," muttered Mr. O'Brien and we walked on into the Library and met Miss Bird!

Allan Mussehl '65  Dr. Zinn

    Another fond recollection: I was an English major and had the opportunity to work with absolutely incredible people at Milton.... At that time Dr. Phyllis Hogue Rose was there in the English Department. She was one of the most fabulous teachers I've ever encountered anywhere as was Leland Shaw.  I adored Miss Thomas as a Freshman in English Composition and was awed by Zea Zinn and that incredible head of snow white hair that, if let down, would probably have hung to her knees! Well into her 80's by the time I was a student, I thought this woman was one of the most stunningly beautiful creatures I'd ever laid eyes on! This awe for Dr. Zinn was not shared by a friend who tried to transfer from Alfred University to Madison (remember these were the unenlightened days of the early l960's) where he had heard that there was a wonderful instructor of Sanskrit that he wanted to study with.  Mark was told by the admissions office in Madison that since he'd been in school for about five years (with a 4.0 at Alfred, I might add) with no discernable major in site that he obviously wasn't a serious student. They suggested that he enroll "somewhere" and prove that he was aiming for a major "in something" and they'd reconsider his application in a year. He was closest to an English major and his girlfriend was in Madison and Milton was close....he came to Milton. We were in Miss Zinn's Chaucer class together and it was taught in a classroom on the first floor of Main Hall. We walked in the first day and were assigned seats, in alphabetical order.  His name coming after mine, he sat directly behind me and we were both next to the back window. Miss Zinn being from the "old school" called roll each class period and then proceeded to have us recite, in alphabetical order, from our lesson for the day.  We memorized Chaucer and recited in Middle English....about two weeks into this Mark had had enough. He came in one day and answered the roll and then proceeded to jump out the window and "escape".  Miss Zinn, being well past her prime, was a little deaf and couldn't see to well and didn't notice his departure.  Everyone recited in order and it came to Mark's turn and what was I going to do....I recited for him!  Let me say that Chaucer and especially Middle English was not my forte....but I got through my recitation and his.....and this went on for the rest of the semester! Come the end of the term we took our finals and, again, Miss Zinn being from the old school gave us our test the period before the last day of classes so that we could come in on the last day and discuss our bluebooks. Mark and I came in together and she handed me my corrected test and then gave him his and as she did, said to him, "Mr. xxxxx, I will never understand how someone who has recited so abysmally all semester long could write such a brilliant exam!"

    Ethel Rich was another of those totally unique personalities that seemed to thrive at Milton! She brought richness to her classes -- Theatre Appreciation, Actings, Play Production, etc. She also brought a lot of awareness and publicity to the campus because of
her friendship with Edward "Duke" Ellington. Ethel was responsible for the Duke's taking his first Honarary Doctorate at Milton -- something for which Howard University never forgave him! They had been "friends" for over thirty years when they died within about a year of each other. I was recently reminded of Ethel's retirement (in 1974) and her illness which ultimately killed her....but that year after she retired she went to Chicago with Ellington and spent ten days there with him while he was playing a gig. She was carried on stage each night on cymbals by members of the band and he played 3-6 songs dedicated to her at each performance. It was the type of thing she loved! Her trips to New York to hear him play his (for a few years, "annual") sacred concerts.....she brought an exotic flaire to Milton! For those of us lucky enough to have had her in our lives, we learned about Greek drama and Shakespeare in performance and Stanislavsky and Brecht and ....life!
    Was she always prepared? Life prepared her! She worked in the shoe factory in Edgerton during the depression to earn her way though college, got her MA at Madison with a group of friends who all went on to do wonderful things in the world of professional theatre, and who remained friends until the day they died! -- Fred Burkey (one of the great theatreatical lighting specialists of his day), Ordean Ness (who chaired the speech/theatre department for many years at the University of Wisconsin - Madison), John Dietrich (one of the foremost directors of his time).....Ann Ringling....Agnes Moorehead.....and  the list goes on.....and she brought them to Milton or Milton (in  the form of her students) to them! She was a founding member of the American
Educational Theatre Association and the Speech Association of America. She was one of those rich and colorful characters that made Milton the place we all remember and love! Her true legacy....the love of theatre and performance that she gave to so many of us!
    Ethel, I not only remember you in light, I remember you with a glass of scotch in one hand and a dramatic gesture in the other .... doing it the only way you knew how.... with flaire and with class!