A Time to Remember

101-Year-Old Helen Moses Regenstein '39 has fond memories of the college

—By Sara Baxter

In 1939, Franklin Roosevelt was president and World War II was just getting underway. People went to the movies to see “Wuthering Heights” and “The Wizard of Oz,” which premiered that year. Bandleader Glenn Miller released “Moonlight Serenade” and “In the Mood,” two of his biggest hits. And also that year, Helen Moses Regenstein ’39 graduated from Agnes Scott College.

Regenstein celebrated her 101st birthday in October 2019 and is certainly one of the oldest living Scotties.

She came to Agnes Scott from Sumter, South Carolina, mostly because her parents wanted her to experience a city like Atlanta. She majored in history, but she says she probably could have worked a little harder while she was a student.

“I was too busy enjoying myself and having fun,” she says. “Dance and theater were really what I loved.”

Regenstein took as many of those classes as she could and also starred in dance performances and theater productions on campus. In fact, she considers these the highlight of her time at the college. While a student, she met her husband, Louis Regenstein Jr., a young attorney. She married him right after graduation, and they enjoyed 55 years together until his death in 1994. They had two sons, Lewis “Reg” and Kent, and she is the doting grandmother of four grandchildren and six great-grandchildren.

Helen Moses Regenstein ’39, photographed at celebration of 75th year in Daughters of the American Revolution, October 2014, photo courtesy of Lewis “Reg” Regenstein.

Today, she still lives in Atlanta, drives and regularly attends yoga and Pilates classes as well as a monthly Agnes Scott book group for alumnae.

She still remembers the faculty at Agnes Scott who had an impact on her: Elizabeth Fuller Jackson, her history professor; Ellen Douglass Leyburn, her English professor; and Carrie Scandrett, the then-dean of students, who “watched over every student.” Many Agnes Scott alumnae share this sentiment about faculty making a difference for them, and Regenstein says she is grateful for her time at the college.

“I thoroughly enjoyed my time at Agnes Scott,” she says. “It was a wonderful experience.”

On the left in photo, Helen Moses Regenstein ’39 playing the role of Eurydice in a Blackfriars production, Silhouette 1939.

Helen Moses Regenstein ’39, second from left in photo, first-year hockey team, Silhouette 1936.

Header Photo: Helen Moses Regenstein ’39, senior year class photo, Silhouette 1939