Photo courtesy of Lois Liebeskind Levine

A “Superb” Issue

I so enjoyed the winter ’20 issue, particularly the Olivia Hood Parker ’63 piece (“Beauty in the Unexpected”) and of course, the article (and photos, wow!) on women journalists (“The Broadcast Pioneers”). I especially liked the segment on Linda Cozby Wertheimer ’65, whom I met the summer after my first year of law school, when I interned for NPR legal affairs correspondent Nina Totenberg in Washington, D.C. Like Linda, I was a big fan of Pauline Frederick when I was a girl.

A superb issue all around!

Lynne Spigelmire Viti, Senior Lecturer Emerita in the Writing Program, Westwood, Mass.

Connected

I got my winter ’20 magazine via office mail last week, and I absolutely love this issue! Though I work at Wellesley, it made me feel especially connected. Thank you.

Jülide Iye ’18, Natick, Mass.

A Cappella Wars?

The winter ’20 magazine came with a shock! Imagine the Tupelo’s being given a full page with a story claiming to be the College’s oldest a cappella group (“A Home in Singing”). Harmonizing since 1947? There weren’t any a cappella groups until the Widows!!! The Widows started in 1949 when Ruth Bettman Kassel ’52 and I were sophomores who wanted to start an octet such as a friend had started at Vassar. No one in the music department would sponsor us, but a woman in Biblical History offered to help us. We sang not only at Wellesley, but at many other colleges over the years. We were invited back to the College in 1999 for a 50th reunion of all former Widows, and it was a gala event. I flew in from California. I am enclosing a picture of us in flapper dresses that should be published with apologies in the next magazine.

Lois Liebeskind Levine ’52, Pleasanton, Calif.

Editor’s Note: At the risk of starting an a cappella war here, research in the Wellesley College Archives shows that Lois is correct. We apologize to the Widows and are eating appropriate amounts of crow. The original singers in all their flapperly glory are shown above.

Cover to Cover

The magazine gets better and better. I have always read it cover to cover; still do.

Muriel Tennis Asbornsen ’53, Albany, N.Y.

Bigger Type, Please!

I am writing to ask you to make the type bigger—big enough to read! I just threw out the fall ’19 issue, reading only my class notes—with a magnifying glass! Everyone’s eyes go in their 40s, which means that most of your readers are affected. You would increase alumnae support of Wellesley by enlarging your type.

Paula Rosenfeld Glatzer ’61, New York