Vol. XX, No. 8
CABRINI COLLEGE , RADNOR , PA.
Cabrini Yesterday By Lo rrain e Os trows k i A few rooms on the first floor of the Mansion have been converted into offices. What we know as the Office of Graduate Studies was the telephone room . Across the hall, Cabrini's telephone operator works in the former ladies' powder room. So that's what those huge mirrors are for! Beyond this area, The VicePresident for Business and Finance and other Business Office Personnel labor in the now par titioned library. The library originally was made up of two sections : the present Business Office and a raised area, now Mr. Axler 's office. A large living room with a fireplace was located in the area of the Development Offices and the Conference Room. Beyond that was, and still is a porch facing the tennis coo.rt. The Mansion dining room has changed little. The original tables and other furniture remain . Mrs . E . Fromm , whos e husband was
Home for most of us is an apart ment in the city or a comfortable home in the suburbs . Until 1957, home for the John T . Dorrance family was a mansion in Radnor, with a gatehouse at the foot of the driveway and a stable nestled among the trees on a hill. Home was the present Cabrini College campus. A granddaughter of Mr. and Mrs. John T . Dorrance , Sr . remembers the estate as it was years ago . She notes that the buildings have changed little since John T . Dorrance , Jr. sold the estate to the Missionary Sisters of the Sacred Heart seventeen years ago. The Gatehouse, now Father Rudy Rooyman's home, still stands at the main entrance off King of Prussia Road, although the gates which guarded the entrance have been removed . Traveling along the driveway of the Dorrance estate, we would pass acres of trees and lawns until we reached the Mansion on the left.
second butler for the Dorrances, recalls that a butler and waitress would stand near the family members as they dined . Any requests from the table were immediately taken care of. Beyond the dining room stands an enclosed porch. Now a lounge area for Mansion residents, it was at one time a breakfast room. The Paul family, who preceded the Dorrances in ownership, kept the porch as an open patio with bamboo shades replacing the present walls . As you walk back into the dining room, to the right you'll notice two doors which now lead into the sisters' area of the building. Twenty years ago, these doors led to the servants' wing. The Dorrances had several servants : three butlers , a cook , a kitchen maid, a houseman (for heavy work) , a waitre ss, a personal maid , a laundress, a gardener and up-
(Continued on page 4) tapestry covered the fireplace in the foyer of the Mansion.
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R-S-V-P By Mary Lyn n Carone
Grace Hall: Eight horses called it home.
Middle Ages Music By Bo nni e Ad les tei n On April 2, 1974, the Cabrini community was transported back into time through the magical music from the Middle Ages and the Renaissance . This was done by The Philadelphia Madrigal Choir . The choir was organized in 1972 for the purpose of performing music written before 1600, much of which has not been heard in the United States before . The choir is a semi-professional group which appears often in the Delaware Valley. Joseph Norris, the musical director of the choir, feels that "to most of us engaged in the re-creation of early music there is a never -ending satisfaction in learn-
ing the background, the social peculiarities and idiosyncrasies of the time in which it was written." Mr. Norris added, "so much of our pleasure comes from seeing how early musicians solved their problems and broke their own rules that we must, by cruel circumstances, enjoy our own concerts more than the audience." There are thirteen members of the choir and they were accompanied by three extremely talented persons. Twenty-one brief selections were performed followed by two encores . Dowland, Handel, Passereau, Bryd W eelkes, and Wilson were a few of the composers which were revived that
evening. Just by watching their faces and glowing eyes, anyone could detect just how much they enjoyed what they were doing. Simplicity must be a word they gear their style to because their performance could not have been simpler or more beautiful. These artists take their work seriously but there is also the simple pleasure of hearing a beautiful tune , and that is what was heard by anyone who attended their performance. It is a commentary on the unchanging soul of man. We can reach back over five hundred years and still feel the heartbeat of yesterday's creative imagination.
Who says that after 60 your life is over? Anyone who takes a quick tour of Cabrini will soon discover that that's not the case. For sprinkled throughout the campus are quite a few "over-60'ers" who are anything but "over-the-hill". These amiable senior citizens are volunteers in the many offices and other locations at Cabrini. Where did they come from? RSVP. RSVP stands for Retired Senior Volunteer Program. A division of the larger government agency , ACT! ON, RSVP 1s the fastest growing volunteer program in the United States. It is based on the idea that, as President Nixon tells retired citizens, " . .. the entire Nation has a high stake in a better life for its older citizens simply because we need you. We need the resources which you, alone can offer." Senior citizens do have a lot to offer. After all, they are the ones who have all the experience. Being a retired senior volunteer can be just what the doctor ordered for an older American - the chance to live a purposeful, dignified , and active life. Because RSVP programs are community spimsored, volunteers can use their skills to help their fellow-citizens . Cabrini's volunteers are part of the Delaware County unit of RSVP. Besides serving the college, volunteers from this unit work at Haverford State
Hospital, Radnor Library, and St . Edmund's Home for Crippled Children , to name just a few. Volunteers are kept within their neighborhoods if possible . Som e are even within walking distance
of their jobs. Otherwise thes e volunteers are reimbursed for transportation or provided with a ride . Other benefits include insurance while they are working, and even lunch expenses. The money for this comes from the Federal Government , which appropriated $15 million for the program. Here at Cabrini, RSVP volunteers are actively helping out in the Magic Peddler, busin ~·-·· - cc: _registrar ' s office , th ,
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