Mills Quarterly, summer 2024

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Mills Quarterly Summer 2024

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Announcing a new pathway for your gifts to Mills!

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Visit our new page to explore funds that support legacy Mills programs!

All giving options direct your donations exclusively to programs and students on the Oakland campus.

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MILLS QUARTERLY • SUMMER 2024

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CONTENTS

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18 Commencement 2024

A momentous day for a momentous class.

12 The Hope of History by Dawn Cunningham ’85

Telling stories helps Professor Ashley Adams ensure that her family’s roots continue to grow.

18 Faculty Village: A Place They Called Home by Moya Stone, MFA ’03 Taking stock of a special place in Mills history.

32 A Real Pearl by Jill Robi

You can find a real treasure trove of Mills memorabilia in the possession of Amanda Page Harper ’09.

DEPARTMENTS 13 Opening Message 14 Mills Matters 22 AAMC News & Notes 24 Class Notes 29 In Memoriam

On the cover: The Class of 2024 takes in the moment at Commencement on Saturday, April 27. See more coverage on page 8. Photo by Greer Rivera.

Letters to the Editor

Associate Vice President for Institutional Advancement Nikole Hilgeman Adams

Thanks for the spring 2024 Quarterly with lots of updates and information.

However, with so many fine buildings and vistas on the Mills campus, why such an ugly cover? It hardly seems like the best way to encourage the continuing interest of the thousands of alumnae and friends. I treasure my memories of the campus more as I get older and wish I could be reminded of the special places there for which I have no photos.

With all the fine arts photographers who dearly loved the campus, why not have a series of formal portraits of the buildings— fine enough to be sold separately, as well as featured on the cover or in full-page reproductions in each Quarterly?

Please lift up my spirits and memories of happier days. Who knows? You might even inspire donations from folks who now want to share their financial gains from attending the distinguished Mills College.

–Anne Johnson Prichard ’59, Fayetteville, Arkansas

Managing Editor Allison Rost

Corrections

Volume CXIII, Number 4 (USPS 349-900) Summer 2024

Design and Art Direction Nancy Siller Wilson Editorial Assistant Danielle Collins ’24 Contributors Dawn Cunningham ’85 Greer Rivera Jill Robi Moya Stone, MFA ’03 Kieran Turan ’90 The Mills Quarterly (USPS 349-900) is published quarterly by Mills College at Northeastern University, 5000 MacArthur Blvd., Oakland, CA 94613. Periodicals postage paid at Oakland, California, and at additional mailing office(s).

Postmaster: Send address changes to Oakland University Advancement, 5000 MacArthur Blvd., Oakland, CA 94613.

Copyright © 2024, Mills College at Northeastern University Address correspondence to: Mills Quarterly 5000 MacArthur Blvd.

Oakland, CA 94613 Email: quarterly@mills.edu mills.quarterly@northeastern.edu Phone: 510.430.3312

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In the spring issue of the Quarterly, we misattributed a gift given in honor of Mary “Molly” Upton ’65 as a gift given in memory. Molly is still very much with us (as you can see on page 24)!

We also misidentified the graduation year of Nona Hungate ’62, and we were inconsistent on the spelling of Patricia Collins Gabbe ’64’s name in the Bookshelf item about her new release, Saving Babies: The Moms2B Story. We apologize for the errors and any confusion they might have caused!

SHARE YOUR THOUGHTS Submit your letter to the editor via email to mills.quarterly@northeastern.edu, online at quarterly.mills.edu, or by mail at: Mills Quarterly, 5000 MacArthur Blvd., Oakland, CA 94613.

The Quarterly reserves the right to edit letters for length and clarity.

Update Your Bookmarks!

Starting June 30, the online home for some alumnae services will change as systems continue to integrate with those operated by Northeastern.

• If you need to obtain official transcripts of your time at Mills, visit portal.mills.northeastern.edu. Replacement diplomas can be requested at millsrecords@northeastern.edu.

• Alumnae email accounts will be exclusively managed by Google Apps for Education. Rather than visiting email.alumnae.mills.edu, visit gmail.com and sign in using yourusername@alumnae.mills.edu as the account with your same password.

• An updated alumnae website, including information about Reunion and other events, alum resources, and volunteer opportunities will be available at millsalums.northeastern.edu.

A Message from the Assistant Vice Chancellor of Student Life We have just completed another graduation season here in Oakland, one that brought me so much pride and joy as a loud and proud Mills alum from the Class of 2009. I have had the immense privilege and honor to have been in a position to get to know many of these new graduates.

Strength, courage, determination, and fearlessness is what it took to get them here. It reminded me so much of the journey I took after I came to this campus in 2005 as a naive yet brave 17-year-old.

I stepped onto this campus as a dream for many of my immigrant family members. I encompassed both the immense joy and pride of my family, but also the pressure of being the first. I knew what it meant for my family, but at that point, I did not know what it would mean for me, let alone how it would shape my life. As defined by previous literature, the term “first generation” implies the possibility that a student may lack the critical cultural capital necessary for college success because their parents did not attend themselves. While first-generation students are often quite academically skilled and contribute in many ways to a campus community, navigating the web of college policies, procedures, jargon, and expectations can be a challenge.

This pervasive “hidden curriculum” can often hinder the confidence that many have, and lead to struggles of feeling like we don’t belong. The end result is that some of us may not even make it through college.

However, Mills taught me differently.

Instead, I learned the courage, resilience, power, and excellence that was within me as a person and a first-gen student. I remember wanting to hide that part of myself to fit in when I first arrived, more than 20 years ago. And how quickly people like my amazing biology professor Jared Young and previous Mills trustee and mentor Sabrina Kwist, MA ’11, EDD ’17, became significant anchors and mirrors who made me feel so proud to wear my first-gen status as a badge of honor.

Since a young age, I’ve been the family

member who’s called the phone company and the landlord. I would go in for parentteacher conferences so my family could navigate the language barrier. So maybe I didn’t know how to navigate the university campus, but wow, did I know how to navigate life. The incredible skills I learned as a first-gen student—advocating for my family, facilitating conversations, negotiating, translating—they not only made me who I am, they also made me able to handle pretty much anything. My resilience was my strength and my superpower.

Here at Mills, I met some of my most favorite superheroes. They often wore invisible capes, but I know now that they continue to save my life time and time again. And I too see superheroes in the newest members of our alum community.

I’ve had the honor to watch many of them grow and use their magic in ways that have not only benefited their peers, but the institution. They demonstrated outstanding leadership but also dedicated themselves to advocating for the well-being and advancement of everyone around them, fostering positive change in our community.

“Here at Mills, I met some of my most favorite superheroes.”

–Lilian Gonzalez ‘09 No matter the changes, no matter what, Mills is and will continue to be because of them. They are living proof that no matter where you come from, Mills graduates have the potential to go anywhere they choose.

When I spoke to gatherings of departing seniors at various times this year, I reminded them of the legacy they were graduating into, but also that they should go out into the world and shine—without breaking off pieces of themselves to make other people whole. Imposter syndrome is real, they will feel out of place, and yet I reminded them that they do belong.

There is profound impact in simply showing up, and as alums, we will be right there beside them.

Together, let us continue to champion the values of advocacy, empowerment, and cultivating community. Let us not forget what Mills taught us—the importance of leveraging our privilege and using our critical-thinking skills to become social change agents to make this world a better place. Congratulations and welcome to our newest members of the Class of 2024!

May we all be inspired to strive for a more inclusive and equitable future in which— one day—we’ll all be free.

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Mills Matters Fall academics gain further options

This fall, eight additional undergraduate and master’s programs will join existing Northeastern academic offerings in Oakland— as well as four revitalized post-graduate degrees in education.

Psychology, neuroscience, public health, and politics, philosophy, and economics (PPE) will become part of the undergraduate degree pathways open to first-year Northeastern students, adding on to last year’s debut of biology, computer science, health science, and business. Combined majors relating to these eight subject areas are also available to new undergraduates.

Newly arrived master’s programs will include a master of professional studies in analytics; a master of science in management; and a master of public administration (MPA) with courses taught

by Mills College at Northeastern faculty. Already established

master’s programs in Oakland are in computer science, information systems, and game science and design.

The inaugural Northeastern MPA class in Oakland will qualify for a 50% scholarship; alums of Mills College or Northeastern may also be eligible for an additional 25% scholarship, which can alternatively apply to those with previous service in organizations such as the Peace Corps or Teach for America.

And new to the catalog this coming year are four revitalized post-graduate degrees under the Mills College at Northeastern banner. They are master of arts degrees in educational leadership and early childhood education, and single- and multiplesubject teaching credentials.

For more information, visit oakland.northeastern.edu.

Impact Engine grows events and programs It’s been a year since Alli Chagi-Starr, MBA ’20, took on the new position of regional director for the Community to Community (C2C) Impact Engine, and she’s hit the ground running: This summer’s youth employment program on the Oakland campus has more than doubled from last year, and she planned and hosted the inaugural Policy Equity Conference in downtown Oakland on March 29 and 30.

Chagi-Starr had been employed with the City of Oakland, concentrating on workforce development, when her own Mills marketing professor—Carrie Maultsby-Lute, MBA ’11—got in touch.

She was transitioning into the role of director of partnerships for the Oakland campus but wanted to ensure the longevity of C2C, which she co-founded along with Dukakis Center for Urban & Regional Policy Research Director Alicia Modestino.

The project helps identify solutions to problems local to Boston and Oakland.

Chagi-Starr’s previous gig directly led to the March conference, which brought together more than 200 people—many of whom were CEOs and executive directors of various local nonprofits and agencies. She tapped into relationships she forged in her previous role with the city. “I believe in the power of working across sectors,” Chagi-Starr says. “The complexity of our societal challenges requires us to forge authentic and reciprocal collaborations.”

She concentrated specifically on curating panels that tackled intersectional topics with intersectional participants, such as “Housing + Employment,” and “Equity, Entrepreneurship + AI.” The keynote event was a fireside chat with Nwamaka Abgo, managing 4

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director of the Restorative Economies Fund, and Alfredo Mathews III, the co-founder of ESO Ventures. “Both leaders are focused on addressing economic disparities in underinvested communities, but they each use different frameworks,” Chagi-Starr explained.

On the second day of the conference—where childcare was available—participants engaged in roundtable discussions to dive deeper into solutions and develop actionable next steps.

Chagi-Starr has more in the hopper to kick off her second year: The second C2C scholar cohort is about to launch, with new research projects to showcase, and she will be partnering with Oakland and its Talking Transition engagement initiative to disseminate surveys to organizations across the city. “C2C will have the opportunity to take that data to the next level,” she says.

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Election results in for Mills alums

The Super Tuesday election on March 5 in California brought mixed results for the two Mills alumnae running for Congress.

The current holder of California’s 12th Congressional District, Barbara Lee ’73, placed fourth in the primary race to permanently replace Dianne Feinstein in the Senate. (Laphonza Butler is currently holding the seat in an interim capacity.) The top two finishers in the race, Adam Schiff and Steve Garvey, advanced to the November general election.

Also advancing was Lateefah Simon ’13, who placed first in the primary for the same Congressional seat Lee currently holds.

Simon and second-place finisher Jennifer Tran will face off on the November ballot. She spoke with The Imprint in April about her decades of work in community organizing and advocacy, including with Vice President Kamala Harris. Read the article at tinyurl.com/lateefah-simon.

But with Lee’s fourth-place finish in the March primary, her long career in Congress will come to an end in January 2025. In the days after the election, Simon acknowledged that legacy in a statement: “I’m beyond humbled to be one step closer to following in the outsized footsteps of Congresswoman Barbara Lee and representing this magnificent East Bay community in the halls of Congress.” She and Lee appeared together on election night, with Simon praising her former Mills professor and fellow alum for all the inroads she made in American politics, from her lone vote

On May 13, Congresswoman Barbara Lee ’73 and Christina Jackson, the actress who portrays her in the Netflix movie Shirley, visited the archives at F.W. Olin Library to examine items from Shirley Chisolm’s 1972 speech on the Mills campus. Photo by Greer Rivera.

against the Authorization for Use of Military Force in Iraq in 2003 to her fights for health care and reproductive freedom.

As for Lee’s future, the 77-year-old spoke with Spectrum News in late April and said that she and her team are making plans. She also responded to Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass’s comment that Lee should be the next permanent secretary for the Department of Housing and Urban Development by saying that all her options are open—but that she wants to finish her term.

Institute “Innovation Labs” lead to revived research program Over this past academic year, the Mills Institute has conducted three “Innovation Labs” that have brought together thinkers from across the university system to tackle questions about problems in diverse communities and how to contribute to solutions. At the last gathering of the year, held virtually on April 3, presenters included: • Visiting Curator Deirdre Visser ’94, who spoke about the origins of woodworking and its history of women and nonbinary individuals, and her book Joinery, Joist, and Gender: A History of Woodworking for the 21st Century.

• Margaret Burnham, a professor and director of Reparations and Restorative Justice Initiatives in Boston (among many other positions), who addressed the Civil Rights and Restorative Justice Project, its Burnham-Nobles Digital Archive, and work with the City of Boston’s Reparations Task Force.

• Jane Yamashiro, the author of Redefining Japaneseness: Japanese American in the Ancestral Homeland as well as the co-director of Research Justice at the Intersections (RJI), a legacy Mills program established by former Provost Chinyere Oparah that had grown inactive since the Northeastern merger.

The session concluded with an announcement that RJI would make a comeback under the Institute starting this summer,

with a cohort of scholars who will pursue projects that further the Institute’s mission of gender and racial justice. They will also collaborate within one of several research streams identified through the discussion during the past year’s Innovation Labs: Age as a Factor of Intersectional Analysis, Arts and Social Transformation, Embracing Technology, Global Cultures, Queer Histories, and Reproductive Justice.

(For example, here’s the question posed by the Global Cultures stream: How can we conduct research on globalization, transnationalism, migration, and culture in ways that center the perspectives and knowledges of marginalized communities?)

As of press time, the window to apply for this first research group had just closed. Those who are chosen to participate will share their findings during the Innovation Labs set to take place in the 2024-25 academic year. To learn more, visit oakland.northeastern.edu/mills-institute.

Another program finding a new home with the Institute is the Hellman Experimental Science Program. Mentors for this next cohort of first-gen and underrepresented students in STEM include Quintin Bailey ’16, a clinical psychologist, and Frishta Sharifi ’08, a family counselor for the City of Fremont.

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Prof studies Supreme Court patterns Sahar Abi-Hassan’s friends and family think she can predict the future. As an assistant professor in the Lorry I. Lokey School of Business and Public Policy, she conducts research into the United States Supreme Court and the organizations that file amicus briefs. These legal documents can be filed by anyone with the nation’s highest court, and they often lobby for one decision over another.

But even in this highly politicized era in the judicial branch, Abi-Hassan’s work is painstaking, and it can’t be reduced to a simple rubric that points the way any particular decision will go.

“It’s a story that’s full of nuances,” she says. “We’re trying to identify general patterns of behavior, but these are nine individuals with a lot of discretion.

And with that comes countless factors that drive their behavior.”

Abi-Hassan’s research started when she was a graduate student at Boston University. She was taking a class on advanced techniques in statistical analysis where an assignment directed her to her advisor’s own work on the 2012 ruling on the Affordable Care Act and how it shaped public views on the legitimacy of the court. That led her to developing her own research path, using the data he had already collected and building upon them.

“Those data were only from 1945 until 2012, so I did all the data collection for pre-1945 back to the beginnings of the Supreme Court, and then post2012,” she says.

That work uncovered interesting facts, including that the NAACP was the first organization to file an amicus brief with the Supreme Court.

Organizations that have followed include everything from interest groups like the American Jewish Committee to Apple, Amazon, and oil companies.

That information has been added to a database that Abi-Hassan maintains along with two other professors. They were both her advisors at Boston University, and the three joined their similar projects together. They all continue to add data, and each also uses the information differently depending on their lines of research.

One finding so far is that amicus briefs co-signed by liberal and conservative groups or advocates tend to be decided in favor of the more liberal litigant. “I call them heterogenous briefs,” she says. “One of my suspicions, is that if briefs are too ideological, they make the justices less likely to listen to that argument.”

At this juncture, she’s also examining representation in the cases that are submitted to the Supreme Court versus those that the court takes up: “We want to see if the advocacy on behalf of those cases represents how the general public feels about the issue. Does it match the arguments that interest groups make?”

View the publicly available datasets online at amicinetworks.com.

In another single-authored project, Abi-Hassan examines the individuals and groups that finance the litigation that comes before the Supreme Court, and she recently received a Tier 1 grant from Northeastern. “I call it ‘The Hidden Plaintiffs Project’ because we’re tracing the money, finding out who these individuals and groups are,” she says. “Are people out there manipulating the ropes of litigation without anyone knowing, or is it not as sinister as we think it is?”

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▲ A unique furniture set belonging to the late March Fong Yoo, ME ’47, who was the California secretary of state from 1975 to 1994, has found new life: It has been restored and moved from its previous home in a Mills Hall office to the administrative suite in the Lorry I. Lokey School of Business and Public Policy. ▼ In Mills Hall, new furniture crafted by Visiting Curator Deidre Visser ’94 and Emma Doven ’20 now decorates the offices of the Mills Institute in Room 128.

Campus kudos A selection of recent achievements by faculty, staff, and students Lead by Learning Interim Executive Director Jennifer Ahn wrote an article, “Equity-Centered Evaluation Brings Up Emotions. That’s OK,” which was featured in the February 2024 edition of Learning Forward, Learning Professional. Her piece included the details on the framework developed by Lead by Learning’s BIPOC Leaders Network.

Luther Brusie Marchant Endowed Professor of Music James Fei served as a juror for Bay Beats, a collection of streaming music hosted by the San Francisco Public Library, in its 2024 search for local artists to feature.

Professor Emerita of Dance Molissa Fenley ’75 received an extensive career review in the April 20 edition of The New York Review of Books. “The Company She Keeps” was written by dance critic Erica Getto and did a deep dive into Fenley’s performance and choreographic history.

Provost Emerita and Professor of Chemistry Sandra Greer has written a new book, Chemistry for Cooks: An Introduction to the Science of Cooking, which was released by MIT Press in 2023. She told The University of Chicago Magazine, the publication of her alma mater, that she compiled the book using notes from The Chemistry of Cooking class she taught at Mills.

I Would Know You Anywhere, the memoir released in 2023 by Associate Adjunct Professor of Ethnic Studies Susan Ito, MFA ’94, has been named to the shortlist for the 2024 William Saroyan International Prize for Writing.

Adjunct Professor of English Kim Magowan ▶ wrote a hybrid essay, “Index of Body Parts,” that was published in the January issue of CRAFT literary magazine,

and a short story, “Wigging,” that was posted on Fictive Dream on February 20.

Professor of Ethnic Studies and English Ajuan Mance has released a new graphic novel, Gender Studies: The Confessions of an Accidental Outlaw, that touches upon the intersection of “race, gender, and geekiness” in her life.

Mance’s art also went on display at the First Unitarian Church in Providence, Rhode Island—where she attended Brown University—in the exhibition Living While Black, which was celebrated at an opening reception on May 4.

Professor of English Tom Strychacz’s solo art exhibition, Twixt: Soulscapes in Oil, was held at the Marilyn Citron O’Rourke Art Gallery at the Benicia Public Library from February 27 to April 5.

New arboretum status for Oakland trees With the completion of a recent inventory, the Oakland campus and its many trees are now officially included in the official arboretum designation already attached to Northeastern’s Boston campus.

According to Andrew Gonzales, campus sustainability manager, the status of Level II arboretum means that the

campus canopy now has more formal management policies and criteria that govern when and how trees are removed, added, or relocated on campus.

This inventory process was the third in recent history; Mills underwent similar projects in 1967 and 2004. Recordkeeping is a key qualification for arboreta, which

are officially certified by the ArbNet Arboretum Accreditation Program as part of The Morton Arboretum in Illinois.

This latest cataloguing project, completed by Bartlett Tree Experts, assigned individual ID numbers to more than 4,000 trees, and identified more than six micro ecosystems on campus with more than 120 species.

Level II certification is a step above Level I, specific to collections with more than 100 “species, varieties, or cultivars or trees or woody plants,” policies that follow the Saint Louis Declaration regarding invasive species, one or more arboretum employees, and educational programming. The Boston campus has a director of horticulture; he, Gonzales, and the Oakland grounds manager have formed an arboretum management board, with more developments to come.

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Commencement 2024 Photos by Greer Rivera

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OR MANY MEMBERS OF THE CLASS OF 2024, they hadn’t even experienced a traditional graduation ceremony before their Commencement on Saturday, April 27— those who were high-school seniors in the spring of 2020 saw those celebratory final days disappear as the world sank into the COVID pandemic. Between that and the roller-coaster ride of their years at Mills and on the Oakland campus, they were ready to party.

And the weather cooperated; after several chilly days that saw pre-Commencement activities such as affinity graduation events get pushed inside because of raindrops, a cloudy morning burned away into a beautiful sunny day for the occasion.

After a welcome from Interim Dean Beth Kochly and an invocation and land acknowledgement by Chaplain and Elder-in-Residence Patricia St. Onge, student speaker Samantha “Sam” Onate (graduating with a degree in health science) took to the stage—where she proceeded to lead the crowd in a deep breath to calm her own shaky nerves.

Onate’s tearful speech, delivered in English and Spanish, paid tribute to the village that helped her make it through her four years in college—the supervisors at various on-campus jobs; her friends (and fellow Mills

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“I’ve been working tirelessly to make the department and campus everything that it could be. I have seen myself participate in activities I never would have done in high school. And that just shows how much my time here has changed me. I hope you all had similar experiences.”

–Samantha Onate ’24 legacy students); and especially her parents, who immigrated to the United States from Mexico to give their children brighter futures. Which she has so far accomplished— she was awarded Northeastern’s Huntington 100 honor this year. Onate also recounted how she started a Division III tennis team at Mills and then transitioned it into a club tennis team for Northeastern in Oakland, and she worked for campus sports and recreation as a program assistant supervisor.

“I’ve been working tirelessly to make the department and campus everything that it could be. I have seen myself participate in activities I never would have done in high school,” she said. “And that just shows how much my time here has changed me. I hope you all had similar experiences.”

Her sentiments were echoed by Miriam Warren ’02, chief diversity officer at Yelp and a first-gen college student herself, who was this year’s Commencement speaker.

She encouraged graduates to look around to remind themselves of the community they grew during their time in college and the support system that helped propel them through—and she left the audience with the exhortation to simply show up.

“Nearly three years ago, my closest friend from my time at Mills experienced a devastating loss. In the days and weeks that followed, I learned when the worst things imaginable happen, there are no words to fix them, and as a result, we are often silent,” she said. “What I learned and continue to feel deep in my bones is that we must show

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“What I learned and continue to feel deep in my bones is that we must show up.

Sure, to events we’ve RSVP’d for, but much more importantly, in situations that make us feel uncomfortable, where we aren’t sure what to say or what to do.”

–Miriam Warren ’02

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up. Sure, to events we’ve RSVP’d for, but much more importantly, in situations that make us feel uncomfortable, where we aren’t sure what to say or what to do.”

That charge extended beyond personal relationships to causes, which is something familiar to her—Warren spoke to The New York Times in 2020 about the importance of the corporate world taking a stand in the wake of Roe vs. Wade’s overturning, and she brought up how South Carolina women’s basketball coach Dawn Staley had just answered questions about trans women playing college sports in a way that could have endangered her career, especially as a Black woman in a red state.

“As soon-to-be graduates of Mills College at Northeastern University, you carry a unique privilege: You’ve been part of an institution dedicated to women’s education, a special experience that many will never know.

This privilege grants you a perspective that can make spaces for women and others who are marginalized,” she said. “Remember the lessons here and use them to challenge and change the environments you’re poised to enter.” Warren herself majored in ethnic studies at Mills, and she mentioned the late Professor Emerita Melinda Micco as a particular inspiration as she built her experience in higher education on a childhood spent delivering speeches on racism and founding her high school’s multicultural student union.

The day before the ceremony, an essay Warren wrote about the worth of women’s colleges appeared in the San Francisco Chronicle with the headline “I’m speaking at Mills College graduation this year. Here’s why it’ll be bittersweet.” As legacy Mills students continue to graduate out, Commencement continues to contract—about 70 degrees were conferred this year, with 50 new graduates walking. Approximately 35 more rising seniors are due to graduate in 2025. •

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A small but mighty group of Mills alums (just a portion of whom are pictured here!) robed up to walk into the Commencement ceremony and welcome the new graduates into the fold.

A BENT TWIG is a MILLS STUDENT or ALUMNA whose family tree includes ANOTHER MILLS ALUMNA.

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Bent Twigs 2024

’Tis education forms the common mind: Just as the twig is bent, the tree’s inclined.

–Alexander Pope, 1734

Eloni Bickham ’24 and sister Charis Johnson ’09 SU MM E R 2 0 2 4

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The Hopeof History Professor Ashley Adams seeks to save the legacies of Black settlements and encourage healing through ancestral storytelling.

By Dawn Cunningham ’85

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Previous page and above: Archive images of Nicodemus, Kansas, the historically Black town where Associate Adjunct Professor Ashley Adams traces her ancestry.

Opposite: Adams’s paternal great-grandfather, George Dennie Jr., who was a survivor of the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre

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T’S A CONUNDRUM faced by many historic African American communities, especially those whose descendants no longer live in their historic home.

Ashley Adams, associate adjunct professor of public policy for Mills College at Northeastern University, grapples in her personal and professional life with preserving the histories and futures of such communities. Adams is a fourth-generation descendant of homesteaders in Nicodemus, Kansas, established in 1877—the oldest and only remaining Black settlement west of the Mississippi River—and is board president of the Nicodemus Historical Society.

Her scholarship focuses on policies affecting the historic preservation of Nicodemus and of Allensworth, California, which was founded by African Americans in 1908—the only such town in the state.

“After the Civil War,” Adams says, “communities like Nicodemus served as a symbol of hope and wealth for Black settlers.” Nicodemus’s settlers were formerly enslaved African Americans who relocated from Kentucky to farm their own land and build a place to live in peace. “Land ownership was regarded as an emblem of expanded freedom and independence for African Americans,” she says.

And in California, “Allensworth has its own unique history but was also founded as a site of Black hope,” she observes. “Many of the settlers were military men”—including the town’s namesake, Colonel Allen Allensworth—“who intended to build an industrial school that would become the Tuskegee Institute of the West.”

Both towns experienced prosperity for a time, followed by a population decline that was in part precipitated by lack of access to crucial railroads.

Today, there are fewer than 50 residents left in Nicodemus, and none in the original townsite of Allensworth. (However, about 500 people, mostly Latinx, live in an unincorporated community called Allensworth just south of the original site.) Because of their past significance, the towns are included in the National Register of Historic Places. In 1974, Allensworth became the Colonel Allensworth State Historic Park, and in 1996 Nicodemus was designated a National Historic Site, managed by the National Park Service (NPS) in partnership with the Nicodemus Historical Society.

Such prominent recognition for sites of African American history is rare: The New Yorker magazine reported in 2020 that only 2% of the more than

How can a community preserve its history, culture, and the bonds that hold it together when its history is at risk of being forgotten or erased?

95,000 entries on the National Register of Historic Places focus on the experiences of Black Americans.

Biases written into criteria for historical preservation and funding have tended to exclude African American homes, histories, and communities from preservation efforts. And Black people are underrepresented in professions that decide what history is preserved. According to The New Yorker, African Americans comprise less than 4% of academic archeologists, 5% of licensed architects and engineers, and 1% of professional preservationists.

“There’s a big equity problem in historic preservation, and the way I’ve approached it is to be very vocal about it,” Adams states.

Storytelling for change As a Nicodemus descendant, Adams brings unique and transformative perspectives to the preservation policy field—perspectives she shares through storytelling as well as policy analysis. “One thing I’ve learned over the years is that the stories of our ancestors are what impact people the most,” she says. “When I tell those stories, it helps people remember and understand the value in the place.”

She leverages the stories she has inherited to advocate for increased resources for maintaining and promoting Black historic sites. “I do this work with my ancestors at the forefront, acknowledging that this is spiritual for me,” she says.

Adams began learning about her ancestral roots as a child growing up in Kansas City. Her maternal grandmother, Leota Buford, moved there from

Nicodemus and opened a popular dress shop. “She would tell stories about Nicodemus to anyone who listened,” Adams recalls. “She always made us feel like we were famous because of Nicodemus.”

For example, Buford would tell the story of how Adams’s great-great-great-grandfather John Samuels and great-great-great-grandmother Lee Anna Samuels were separated during slavery. Owned by related slave masters who lived near each other in Kentucky, John and Lee Anna started a family together. When Lee Anna’s mistress was widowed and decided to move from Kentucky to Missouri, Lee Anna was forced to move as well, taking the children with her. Three years later, seeking to reunite the family, John’s master sold him to another in the same area where Lee Anna was living. John and Lee Anna were eventually emancipated and managed to acquire a small farm. In 1879, they migrated together in a covered wagon to Nicodemus.

Adams says that Buford knew the family’s migration story because it had been collected by Buford’s cousin (and John and Lee Anna’s granddaughter) Lula Craig, who was Nicodemus’s first historian. As a young woman, Craig interviewed the town’s elders and took handwritten notes, which were typed up by her grandchildren years later. Buford had one copy of Craig’s manuscript, which is now in Adams’s possession; another is held at the Kenneth Spencer Research Library at the University of Kansas.

The manuscript also contains the story of how John Samuels learned to read as an enslaved worker in a hemp factory. He and other enslaved laborers encountered a fugitive slave—whom they called Tenn after the state he had run away from—hiding in the nearby woods. They fed him, and Tenn reciprocated by teaching them the alphabet, drawing letters in the factory’s dirt floor. John also had a Bible that a family friend had found in the woods, and he used it to teach himself to read in secret. He later became an ordained minister and one of Nicodemus’s pioneering leaders. “I was very motivated by this story, which I learned when I was working on my dissertation,” Adams remembers.

In addition to hearing stories about her ancestors, Adams grew up attending annual homecoming celebrations in Nicodemus. These summertime gatherings still draw descendants of the settlers from around SU MM E R 2 0 2 4

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Recommended readings from Ashley Adams For those seeking deeper insight into the histories of Nicodemus and Allensworth: ► Promised Land on the Solomon: Black Settlement at Nicodemus, Kansas. United States: U.S. Department of the Interior, National Park Service, Rocky Mountain Region, 1986. ► Richard Edwards and Jacob K. Friefeld. The First Migrants: How Black Homesteaders’ Quest for Land and Freedom Heralded America’s Great Migration.

University of Nebraska Press, 2023. ► Lynn M. Hudson. West of Jim Crow: The Fight against California’s Color Line.

University of Illinois Press, 2020. ► Evelyn Radcliffe. Out of Darkness: The Story of Allen Allensworth. United States: Inkling Press, 1998. ► Alice C. Royal and Mickey Ellinger. Allensworth, the Freedom Colony: A California African American Township. United States: Heyday, 2016.

the world to reconnect with their roots and commemorate emancipation. “There’s lots of food, lots of games, lots of fun. There’s a parade,” says Adams.

“Some of the families have their reunions at the same time.”

Adams was drawn to ancestral history even as a 13-year-old, when she photographed her predecessors’ graves at one homecoming. But it would be many years before she realized this history could provide a path to her own future.

After her undergraduate years at the University of Kansas, she worked at a domestic violence shelter and with foster care youth. These experiences, as well as an earlier internship at the Children’s Defense Fund Freedom Schools, led her to pursue graduate studies in public policy.

She didn’t focus on historic preservation until late in her PhD program at Walden University in Minneapolis, when she needed to choose a dissertation subject. Her cousin Angela Bates, the founder and executive director of the Nicodemus Historical Society, suggested that Adams study Nicodemus preservation policy.

“I immediately went to work and decided that I was going to investigate how the legislation making Nicodemus a National Historic Site had impacted the community, culture, and legacy of the town, and do an evaluation of the policy outcomes,” she recalls.

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Her dissertation, “Examining the Cultural and Historical Impact of the National Historic Site Designation in Nicodemus, Kansas,” identified several policy concerns, including NPS hiring policies that overlooked the storytelling abilities of Nicodemus descendants and residents, inadequate promotion of Nicodemus and its importance in American history, and limited resources for maintenance, improving the visitor center, and other needs.

Since completing the dissertation in 2016, “I’ve worked very closely with the National Park Service to implement improvements and changes that address preservation disparities,” Adams says. “We have their attention now, and that’s a major milestone.”

A growing research agenda Adams joined the faculty of the Lokey School of Business and Public Policy in 2018, where she found colleagues and students who were excited about her approach to preservation policy. Professor of Public Policy Mark Henderson “really helped me to advance my career. He introduced me to Allensworth,” she says. “That was the next level of my research: I started to look at Allensworth and other Black towns.”

Adams is currently writing a paper on Allensworth for California State Parks. “This paper is going to be a foundational document for them to develop a new interpretation plan for Allensworth,” she says. “It’s focusing on content that has historically been left out of the stories and the interpretation there, like the role of the Black town movement, the pursuit of Black self-sufficiency, civic engagement, interaction with nature and the environment, and how the Allensworth State Historic Park was established.”

She’s also authored papers comparing the challenges faced by Nicodemus and Allensworth. Unlike Nicodemus, Allensworth does not have a highly engaged network of descendants that keep its traditions alive, but it has attracted a number of Black volunteers with other connections to the town. “When I met the people who are doing the preservation work there, it felt like home,” Adams recalls. “They were very welcoming.”

Meanwhile, Adams has opened a new line of inquiry in her own research on the Nicodemus community. With a Northeastern grant, she and the Nicodemus Historical Society board of directors are conducting a survey of the community’s descendants to learn about family connections and genealogical

interests. “We have a long-term goal of establishing a genealogy database and making it accessible from anywhere in the world,” she says. The survey will also help strengthen the descendant network and identify people who can help carry out preservation work.

Adams’s interest in establishing a Nicodemus genealogy database dovetails with another policy area she has been researching while at Mills: She is the founding director of the College’s Black Reparations Project (BRP), a collaboration with faculty and students at UC Berkeley’s Goldman School of Public Policy that seeks to promote education and research on Black reparations policies and initiatives.

Under policies proposed by California’s Reparations Task Force, Adams notes, “In order for folks to be able to receive reparation benefits, they would have to provide some type of evidence that they are a descendant of an enslaved African American person.”

Genealogical databases like the one the Nicodemus Historical Society aims to create could provide that evidence.

Even if reparations proposals never become law, Adams points out: “One thing we know is that learning about your ancestral roots can be a healing and beneficial experience regardless of reparations. To learn about your ancestral roots, no matter your race or ethnicity, helps you to be more grounded as an individual.”

To enable people of all races in the Mills community to explore the power of ancestral storytelling for reparations and healing, the BRP plans to host a series of workshops later this year on African American genealogy. Adams invites alums to join the workshops; the dates have yet to be determined but will be publicized in Mills communications.

Teaching critical ancestral history Even now, Adams continues to learn new facts about her own roots. Through a DNA test two years ago, she discovered that her paternal great-grandfather, George Dennie Jr., was a survivor of the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre, in which an armed white mob killed hundreds of residents in the historic “Black Wall Street” district and set buildings ablaze. Dennie, then a teenager, was badly burned in the fires.

Adams’s father never met him or knew his story.

“Learning about that was so impactful for me.

It makes you a different person,” Adams says. She wants others—especially those in the public policy field—to have this experience of discovery, too. “Let’s say you learn you have this connection to Tulsa, so you learn about the history of Tulsa, about the social

context, about what your ancestors may have been experiencing. What systems impacted them? What resources did they have and not have access to?

“This is your critical ancestral history, and it’s important to know this about yourself to be rooted on a personal level,” she adds. “On a professional level, as a policy analyst, it means you are able to go into any policy problem and situate yourself so that you can check your own biases.”

Adams teaches students through Mills at Northeastern to use this approach through courses like Race, Policy, and Storytelling, which she also teaches at UC Berkeley. “Traditionally, policy analysis and public policy have been taught in ways that say we are supposed to be objective. I teach it the exact opposite way,” she explains. “I encourage students to think about themselves as individuals and to take the time to learn about their ancestral roots.”

In addition to teaching, Adams has also held a special appointment in the Office of the Dean for more than a year. She works closely with students on academic concerns and conflict resolution and helps coordinate student orientation.

When students and others express interest in helping to preserve historic sites important to Black or other underrepresented communities, “I always tell them, no matter where they live, to learn about the history of that place. I encourage them to learn about their own cultural history within that place, where they live, where they go to school, where they work,” she says. “And once they learn about that, they can also learn about any issues or needs or disparities connected with local preservation there. I suggest starting locally—there’s always a local historical society where you can learn more about a place.” •

Above: Adams (center) with her aunt and mother at a Nicodemus family reunion.

Below: Adams at the New Frontiers in Black Placemaking event at the University of Virginia in September 2023.

(Photo by Tom Daly.)

Opposite: Reverend Allen Allensworth, the namesake of the historically Black town of Allensworth, California

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Faculty Village: A Place They Called

HOME

By Moya Stone, MFA ’03

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F

or nearly 100 years, Faculty Village has been a special place on campus that many Mills faculty members called home—and where many others found community. Nestled among rows of aromatic eucalyptus trees on the west side of campus is the cluster of residences that has housed such artistic and academic luminaries as French composer Darius Milhaud, ceramic artist Antonio Prieto, and novelist Amanda Davis. But it has also served as a gathering spot for professors, staff, students, and families alike, the unique mix of which has made for something characteristically Mills over the decades.

Construction From the start, Mills faculty lived on campus as space was available—in locations such as Spring Cottage (now the President’s House)—but by the 1920s, as the number of professors grew alongside the student population, many of them were arriving from outside the area and posing a housing crunch for the College. Rosalind A. Keep says in her book Fourscore and Ten Years: A History of Mills College: “Not many houses were available in the vicinity, and not many teachers could afford either to buy or to build.” To address the issue, the Board of Trustees voted in December 1927 on a “plan for faculty housing on the campus.” The College would offer loans at 6% per annum to those faculty members who wished to build a house on Mills property. The construction had to be approved by the College architect and cost between $7,500 and $15,000.

Since Mills held the deed to the land, when faculty decided to sell, the College had first option to purchase.

That was the beginning of what is now called Faculty Village. According to Keep’s book, four houses were initially built, including one by faculty members Howard and Anna Brinton, wellknown authors on Quaker theology, and another by then-Director of the Music Department Luther Marchant and his wife, Marian. Later, from 1937 to 1941, Mills built five duplexes designed by then-College architect Walter Ratcliff, Jr., who was also the man behind the Art Museum and the Music Building, among other campus structures.

Eventually, the area would include five duplexes and, after one last house was added in 1950, five single-family houses. All but that last one were constructed in the same Spanish Eclectic style seen elsewhere on campus, with signature tile –David Bernstein roofs. Each was a little different inside, with charming touches such as built-in wood bookcases and picture windows. Former Mills College architect Karen Fiene describes the homes as “lovely” with “beamed ceilings and Spanish tile details, fireplaces, balconies, and gracious living spaces.”

“The Village, as we called it, was an extraordinary community.”

Residents On an autumn day in 1988, Tom Strychacz and his wife, Young Adult novelist Kathryn Reiss, drove into Faculty Village with their four-year-old son, Nicholas. New to Mills and the Bay Area, the family was excited to see their home; when they entered House #3, they were struck by how big it was. “So much storage,” Reiss reflects. “A huge basement with two rooms, plus a giant great room lined with bookshelves and lift-up benches. It’s the only place we’ve ever lived that had more bookshelves than we could use.” (An impressive statement for two English professors.)

Theirs was one of the larger houses in the Village with four bedrooms, two bathrooms, laundry room, fireplace, and window seat and balcony.

Reiss and Strychacz would call the Village home for the next nine years. They had two more children while living there and say they enjoyed the sense of community—as well as an easy commute. “We could be out of bed and into our classrooms within 10 minutes,” Reiss says.

The couple’s children enjoyed the expansive outside environment. Nicholas Strychacz, who now works for the World Bank in Washington, DC, attended the Children’s School and spent time roaming around the area. “I have very fond memories of exploring the woods ringing SU MM E R 2 0 2 4

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Faculty Village,” he shares. “Fallen trees where we could sword fight and climb, and ‘Racoon Village,’ which was a tangle of eucalyptus bark, although we never saw a racoon there that I can remember.”

His dad also recalls the lure of the outdoors. “I remember the grassy field outside the door; throwing the ball for our dog, Abby, to chase and collect for hours, day after day. That field was also great for playing pick-up games of baseball with our plastic bat and wiffle ball,” Tom Strychacz says.

History professor Bert Gordon had been teaching at Mills for more than a decade when, in 1983, he decided to move into the Village for the convenience of his daughter, Karen Gordon ’88 (now Karen Gordon Goldfarb), who had enrolled at Mills. They lived in #12, which included a large living room where Gordon sometimes hosted his seminar classes. His neighbors included Fred Lawson, professor of government, and Jim Wright, head of the drama department. “It was always fun to walk back home from Kimball House, where my office was, and run into neighbors who were also colleagues,” Gordon recalls.

Reiss and Strychacz also enjoyed living near colleagues. “We loved our neighbors and had a vibrant social community with them,” Reiss says. “There was a core group with children who, along with ours, were always out in the grassy circle, playing on the swings.” Among those neighbors was David Bernstein.

Bernstein, professor of music, moved into the Village in 1989.

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“After driving cross-country with my 120-pound Akita,” he explains. “I’ll never forget the day of the 1989 earthquake.” His neighbors initially thought nothing of the quake until the news came out about the partial collapse of the Bay Bridge. “For my part,” Bernstein says, “it all seemed like an NYC subway running under the house.”

Despite that early bump in the road, the experience turned into a great one. “The Village, as we called it, was an extraordinary community,” says Bernstein, who was particularly close to neighbor Jerry Clegg from the philosophy department. The two families often dined together; and Clegg joined Bernstein’s young son as “partners in crime,” climbing some of the buildings on campus.

The Bernsteins moved into #14, the “legendary” Milhaud House, during their second year at Mills. A bigger duplex with a rich history, it had been the home of French composer Darius Milhaud, who taught music, and his wife, Madeleine, who taught French, along with their son. Escaping World War II, they had come to Mills at the invitation of then-President Aurelia Reinhardt in 1940 and remained until 1971; in the later years, the couple split their time between Paris and Mills. When they returned to campus, they might have relocated to any one of the open residences in the Village.

“The Milhauds were prominent members of the extraordinary Parisian community of musicians, artists, writers, and dancers,” Bernstein explains. “Their presence on the Mills campus attracted

members of this community to Mills.” Among their friends who visited were American singer Marian Anderson, Russian composer Igor Stravinsky, and French artist Jean Cocteau. The couple often invited groups of students into their home to practice speaking French, compose a musical piece, or play the piano.

Not long after the Bernsteins moved in, Mme. Milhaud visited Mills to attend a concert. “When she first walked into her former home, she looked across the room at my 4-year-old son and threw a toy to him, which he caught,” Bernstein shares. “It was an electric and—as I learned later—a sentimental moment, since the Milhauds also had a young son when they lived in Faculty Village.”

A former tenant paid a visit to #3 as well. In the mid-1990s, Reiss saw an elderly woman outside their house taking pictures. When Reiss went to say hello, she learned that the woman was the daughter of Anna and Howard Brinton, the couple who first constructed that house in 1929. The woman said that the house was built to be the first Quaker meeting house in the Bay Area. “Hence the builtin benches all around the living room,” says Reiss, who invited the woman inside and apologized for the unfolded laundry and toys on the floor. “She laughed,” Reiss says, “and said, ‘My dear, I won’t be seeing any of your things; I’m seeing our things and remembering how it used to be.’”

The Business Side Elizabeth Burwell, former treasurer and vice president of finance, says that faculty members—even Milhaud—always paid rent,

Share your memories of Faculty Village!

Send us an email at mills.quarterly@northeastern.edu, leave us a voicemail at 510.430.3187 (time limit is three minutes), or mail a letter to: Mills Quarterly 5000 MacArthur Blvd.

Oakland, CA 94613 We will publish select responses in the fall 2024 issue of the Quarterly as part of a new column that compiles stories about the legacy of Mills College.

which was automatically deducted from their paychecks. “A pittance at least,” she says. There were also leases reviewed by lawyers hired by the College.

By 1991, there was a policy in place regarding who got to live in the Village and for how long. Priority went first to new, untenured faculty who were from outside the area, then to visiting or guest professors, untenured faculty, and finally those with tenure. The College’s faculty handbook stated that residents were required to move out of the Village within one year after achieving tenure.

(Despite the policy, it was usually not enforced.)

In 2000, the College, facing financial challenges, informed longtime residents (some at that point with more than 25 years living in the Village) that their rent would be increased to get closer to the current market rate, according to a contemporaneous article in Mills Weekly. With the Village full, then-College attorney Robin Isenberg said it was necessary to make residences available to new faculty, an important factor in attracting prominent academics, and it was hoped that the rent increase might encourage some to move. A small group of faculty members complained to the Oakland Rent Board, but their efforts were to no avail, and they eventually moved.

If you were to take a stroll around the Village today, you might get approached by security politely asking why you’re there, but otherwise, it’s a bit of a ghost town. No faculty walking to and fro, no students headed to their professors’ houses for lectures or gatherings, no children playing on the grassy circle. There are just two faculty members remaining. “It’s very quiet now,” says Mario Hernandez, assistant professor of sociology. Hernandez and his family arrived from Switzerland in 2019 when there were more residents and more socializing: “I remember having outdoor picnics during the pandemic.”

Faculty Village was initially built for those who were new to the area and could not afford housing in the surrounding neighborhood, like Program Head of Ethnic Studies Natalee Kēhaulani Bauer, who moved in with her family in 2019. “That was a lifesaver because the market was very competitive,” Bauer says. “We had been unable to find another rental nearby and within our price range.” Her children were excited to be on campus and attending the Mills College Children’s School. “Walking to and from school has been one of the sweetest experiences of living on campus,” she says. Like the residents before her, Bauer enjoyed the sense of community, especially during the pandemic lockdown when so many people were isolated.

Soon, that feeling will be no more. Hernandez and Bauer are preparing to move out, and most of the residences remain empty; however, they are available on a short-term basis to visiting Northeastern faculty and administrators. Bauer says that she is disappointed by the loss: “In addition to the Village as a recruitment strategy, the community that was built here—and the history—was special and important to the larger College community.”

Even though the future of the Village may be uncertain, the memories remain. • SU MM E R 2 0 2 4

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AAMC NEWS & NOTES Dear fellow alumnae, The AAMC has achieved a remarkable success! We met our $65,000 fundraising goal for The Center for Contemporary Music digitization project in just 135 days, thanks to strong alumnae support. Alums contributed via checks and electronic donations. Additionally, the AAMC Governor Match in April added $10,000 to the total.

The digitalization of the historic CCM recordings is just the first phase of this project. With the help of Nikole Adams and the Advancement team, additional funds were earmarked for the project from an unrestricted bequest from an alumna, and the project also received generous support from Mills College at Northeastern faculty and Interim Dean Beth Kochly.

In total, this puts the amount raised at $195,000, very close to the projected estimate to cover the remaining costs of the second phase of the project, creating an online library accessible to the public, which the AAMC and Professor Bernstein first envisioned just a few months ago.

Thank you to all our faithful alums who embraced the AAMC’s first major fundraising effort since the merger. Mills College’s music department, renowned composers, and their compositions represent a living legacy of excellence and innovation. Stay tuned for updates as work progresses, and let’s appreciate this major joint achievement!

In April, 48 Mills undergraduates and three graduate students celebrated their

remarkable journey by participating in Commencement on April 27 on Holmgren Meadow. Several events were held for our graduates at Reinhardt Alumnae House leading up to the ceremony. The Pearl M dinner honoring seniors and advanced degree candidates was on April 9, and Student Affairs hosted celebrations for the Black, LBGTQ, First Gen, Latinx, and Asian American and Pacific Islander Affinity Groups honoring their graduating members the week before Commencement, with inspiring speeches from students, professors, and advisors. Please see photos on the AAMC website and Facebook page. We were thrilled to attend!

The courage, the perseverance, resilience, and tremendous sense of accomplishment showcased during these celebrations was inspiring. The AAMC would like to thank the alums and our Alumnae Student Relations (ASR) committee who supported the graduates during their unprecedented four-year journey. To the Class of 2024, welcome to the AAMC—we’re excited to have you with us!

As this Quarterly reaches you, the AAMC is preparing for its Annual Meeting on June 22. This year, we’ve also introduced online and mail-in voting for your convenience. Watch for emails from the AAMC with voting instructions for the Nominating Committee.

We extend our gratitude to outgoing governors—Alice Hewitt ’15, Linda Goodrich ’82, María D. Dominguez ’08, and Melissa Berkay ’18, MA ’19—for their leadership during these challenging times. Meanwhile, five new governors join the Board, bringing fresh talents and professionalism to strengthen our mission. See their bios on the facing page.

Throughout the year, the AAMC continued to foster connections between alums with cooking classes, book clubs, captivating AAMC travel experiences, and attending branch and club events, which are planned in conjunction with and supported by Alumnae Relations staff.

We’re excited to add Orbridge Travel to our list of agencies, who will provide U.S.based trips starting in July. Details about the new Denali National Park trip are on the inside back cover of this Quarterly.

Looking ahead, the new Board will convene for its annual leadership conference this summer, shaping the path for the 2025 term. Share your ideas and suggestions for our future at admin@aamc-mills.org.

Together, we’ll keep our vibrant alumnae community thriving.

With heartfelt gratitude, we wish you a wonderful summer!

Debby Dittman ’68 and the Board of Governors

HONOR OUR BEST & BRIGHTEST Submit names for the AAMC Alumnae Awards, which will be awarded at an awards ceremony during Reunion on Saturday, September 28: • AAMC Distinguished Achievement Award: An alumna who has made significant contributions in her professional life—whether on a national, international, or local scale.

• AAMC Outstanding Volunteer Award: An alumna who has gone above and beyond in volunteerism, fundraising, and AAMC projects.

• AAMC Recent Graduate Award: An alumna who graduated within the last 15 years and made innovative contributions during their time at Mills and in their post-graduate years.

The application form is available on our website at aamc-mills.org. Submissions are due

by August 1.

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WELCOME TO OUR NEW BOARD MEMBERS! It is with great pleasure that we introduce the exceptional individuals who will be serving on our board this year. Their diverse backgrounds, expertise, and commitment to our Mills community will be invaluable as we carve a path forward. Let us extend our warmest welcome to each of them.

Thank you for becoming an integral part of our community.

Wendy Ng ’79 is a seasoned educator and academic leader with more than 35 years of experience in higher education.

She currently serves as the dean of the College of Letters, Arts, and Social Sciences at Cal State East Bay. Wendy holds a BA in Sociology and Biology from Mills, with an MS and PhD from the University of Oregon.

She has previously served on the board of the Palo Alto Area Mills Club and been part of Mills Alumnae Admissions Representative (AAR) program.

Wendy emphasizes the importance of working together and addressing the AAMC’s relationship with Mills College at Northeastern, as well as helping to establish the Mills Institute. She advocates for collaboration, unity, and a commitment to the common good of the Mills legacy among alumnae and would like to ensure that the AAMC ultimately encompasses graduates from both institutions. Her extensive background in higher education, equity-minded education, and community involvement positions her well to serve and move the AAMC forward as a heritage institution of Mills College.

Cristiana Cunningham Freed ’98 brings 20 years of experience as a teacher and non-profit program director to the AAMC. She currently works for Ravenswood Classroom Partners, a 135-volunteer non-profit serving East Palo Alto schools. Cristiana holds a BA in art history from Mills, an MA in arts education from the Teachers College at Columbia University, and an MS in literacy from Cal State Fullerton. She also served as a class agent and was awarded the Pearl M pin in 1998 by the AAMC for her outstanding fundraising work.

Cristiana was crestfallen when Mills was acquired by Northeastern but believes the future of the AAMC depends on our collective creativity, resilience, and the

strength that Mills taught us. By joining the board, she will seek opportunities to bridge divides and nurture the Mills legacy for generations to come. Cristiana is deeply committed to the AAMC retaining its independence, and being the place where alums gather to learn and work together in service to the larger community. She aims to fortify the legacy of Mills, and the AAMC, as an institution devoted to fostering transformative educational experiences at home and abroad.

Myila Granberry ’05, deeply connected to Mills and the AAMC, brings extensive experience in event coordination, volunteer work, and fundraising. For nearly two decades, she’s served as an education specialist at the Seneca Family of Agencies and serves on the board for the non-profit Afro Puff Gurl Prep Academy. Myila holds a BA in liberal studies from Mills and an MA in education from Holy Names. She’s volunteered countless hours for the AAMC, including previously co-chairing the Alumnae of Color Committee and serving on the Nominating Committee and Board of Governors. She currently co-chairs the Lifelong Learning Committee.

Hailing from a family of Mills graduates, Myila grew up on campus. She has collaborated closely with students, faculty, and staff at both Mills College and Mills at Northeastern. Myila’s vision for the AAMC includes creating greater networking opportunities, celebrating alumnae, and nurturing a positive connection with Northeastern. Driven by her love for Mills, she is committed to upholding its proud, inclusive legacy while propelling the AAMC to new heights and rekindling its spirit of collaboration and strength.

Glodean Champion ’06 brings extensive experience in organizational transformation, change management, and project management to the AAMC. With a degree in English from Mills and an MFA in creative writing from California College of the Arts, Glodean currently works with organizations as a transformational change leader, consultant,

and motivational speaker. She’s served the AAMC as a facilitator for the Annual Meeting and leadership retreat, where she helped focus the board on its goals moving forward.

Glodean is eager to leverage her skills and experience in group facilitation, conflict resolution, and “cat herding” (fostering cohesive teamwork) for the AAMC. With a focus on collaboration and transparency, her goal is to help guide the organization toward a brighter future filled with purpose. Recognizing that service with the AAMC is a chance to contribute to the greater good, Glodean aims to foster greater unity within the Mills community, celebrate shared experiences among alumnae, and create a legacy that extends far and wide— one we can all be proud of.

Quintin Bailey ’16 brings perspective as a more recent alum along with experience interfacing with the College to the Board.

Quintin currently serves as assistant clinical director at The Gronowski Center at Palo Alto University, alongside maintaining a small private practice.

They hold a degree in psychology and queer studies from Mills, and a PsyD from The Wright Institute. As a student, Quintin served as Associated Students of Mills College president and played an integral role in the creation of Mills’ trans-inclusive admissions policy.

Quintin is a Bent Twig and has a unique understanding of the challenges facing recent graduates and the need for greater young alum engagement, particularly amidst the transition to Mills at Northeastern. They envision a future for the AAMC with a thriving network with recent alums and hope to give them more ownership over how the College’s mission continues to be honored. Quintin is excited to support the board’s continued efforts to preserve and uplift the legacy of Mills and wants to strengthen connections of recent grads with the ways Mills lives on through the AAMC. SU MM E R 2 0 2 4

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Class Notes do not appear in the online edition of Mills Quarterly.

Alumnae are invited to share their news with classmates in the Mills College alumnae community.

To submit notes for publication in the next available Quarterly, send your update to classnotes@mills. edu.

Class Notes do not appear in the online edition of the Mills Quarterly.

Alumnae are invited to share their news with classmates in the Mills College Alumnae Community, alumnae.mills.edu. To submit notes for publication in the next available Quarterly, send your update to classnotes@mills.edu.

In Memoriam Notices of deaths received before April 5.

To submit listings, please contact mills.alumnaerelations@ northeastern.edu or 510.430.2123

and garden in Japanese style, built an aviary for injured birds, taught yoga and ceramics, and studied for a master’s degree in botany.

Later, she self-published the book The Well of Understanding. She is survived by two daughters, three grandchildren, and a sister.

Marion Beebe O’Bryan ’43, November 19, 2019, in Portland, Oregon.

She departed Mills before graduation, and later worked as a salesperson for Meier & Frank.

Nancy McNary ’48, October 28, 2023, in Fairfax, California. She departed Mills before graduating, and she is survived by two children and cousin Elizabeth Douglass Paine ’47.

Deborah Prouty Jones Karr ’43, March 21, in Punta Gorda, Florida.

After Mills, she graduated from UC Berkeley, then soon married the late Elmer Jones, whose airline career took their family around the United States before they settled in Florida. After Elmer’s death in 1983, she married the late Neal Karr and enjoyed 11 years of marriage before he died. Despite moving to a senior home in Atlanta, Deborah returned to Florida to be close to her son after his retirement. She participated in various organizations, traveled around the world, and loved playing bridge. She is survived by two children, four grandsons, and 10 great-grandchildren.

Joan Larkey-Press ’49, MA ’51, December 4, 2022, in Carmel Valley, California. After earning her two degrees in dramatic arts at Mills, she went on to Yale for an MFA. Joan was a lighting designer and supervisor on and off-Broadway in the 1960s, and she eventually made her way back to California to establish an eponymous design studio in Monterey County.

Joyce Hancock Hodge ’45, June 28, 2021, in Fair Oaks, California. She majored in education at Mills and later worked in a US Army Clinic.

Her husband, Kenneth, predeceased her.

Johonet Halsted Carpenter ’48, October 26, 2022, in Durham, New Hampshire. After Mills, she graduated from Radcliffe and married her late husband, John, a Harvard alum. While he taught music at the University of New Hampshire, Johonet raised their two daughters and indulged her intellectual curiosity—she designed the family home

Evelyn “Muffy” McKinstry Thorne ’48

A former editor of Mills Quarterly, a former president of the AAMC, and a giant in the Mills alumnae community, Muffy McKinstry Thorne ’48 died on April 17 in New York City.

She was born in Santa Barbara and lived there until she relocated to Massachusetts to attend Concord Academy for her senior year of high school. Muffy returned to California to attend Mills, graduating in 1948 with a degree in social work that she immediately used for the City of Oakland. According to a profile in the February 1966 edition of the Quarterly, she quit after two years to work at dude ranches and wrestling matches in Arizona to earn money to bicycle across Europe with her late sister, Ann McKinstry Micou ’52.

Her first job at Mills was in 1951, when she worked as an assistant resident in Mills Hall, though she left upon her marriage to the late Harry Thorne in 1952. Muffy was elected to the Board of Governors with the AAMC the next year, and she took over editing the Quarterly for six years in 1959—her children recall fond memories of working on the issues with her at home. (That wasn’t her only brush with publishing; she also wrote the famous San Francisco Magazine cover story about “The Mills Girl” in the 1966.)

For nearly 20 years, Muffy worked as the administrative assistant for the Western Association of Schools and Colleges, a position she started in 1965 under the supervision of former Mills faculty member Francis Herrick—and one that kept her on the Mills campus. In her roles over the next decades, including on the Board of Trustees and

Sydney Peppard Anderson ’49, December 3, 2023, in Coral Gables, Florida. Though she lived in Florida and worked as an investor, for years she maintained a residence in Wayzata, Minnesota, near where she grew up.

Margaret Bard Fall ’50, November 26, 2023, in Inverness, California.

As a newlywed in San Francisco, she worked as a bookkeeper and helped her late husband, John, settle into his Peace Corps career.

It took them to Chile in 1968, and they traveled extensively around Latin America for three years before returning to California.

Margaret hiked and practiced yoga, enjoyed reading and keeping up with the news, studied history, and visited all manner of museums and landmarks. After John’s death, she moved to West Marin and the

many committees, she promoted philanthropy and maintained a strong bond with alumnae from across decades.

It goes without saying that Muffy was a fierce advocate for the Mills mission—as AAMC president in the late 1980s and early 1990s, she was a big part of the Strike of 1990, and her service on the BOT earned her a lifetime appointment. In 2010, the many years she spent devoted to her alma mater were recognized with the awarding of an honorary doctorate of humane letters at Convocation, where she shared the stage with fellow awardee Dolores Huerta.

The word of Muffy’s passing elicited a flood of remembrances from many Mills community members. Melissa Stevenson Diaz ’91, who was the rising ASMC president during the Strike of 1990, said, “I so enjoyed knowing Muffy and appreciated her tremendous service to Mills.” Irene Panagopoulous ’85, a fellow former member of the Board of Trustees, offered these thoughts: “For as long as I can remember, through good times and bad, Muffy was there, present, to cheer and to support Mills. She will be remembered for her dedication, for her generosity and for her kindness.”

Beyond Mills, Muffy embarked on many theater trips to London, and she loved completing the crossword puzzle in The New York Times—she even wrote and published her own acrostics. She is survived by three children, six grandchildren, seven great-grandchildren, and several Mills alum relatives: sister Sally McKinstry Hall ’50, niece Virginia Hall Yanoff ’66, and grand-niece Leah Yanoff ’05.

Muffy’s grandmother, Annie Livingston Hedges McKinstry, graduated from the Benicia Seminary in 1862.

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Gifts in Memory of Received between December 1, 2023 – February 29, 2024 natural beauty there. She is survived by five children, six grandsons, and three great-grandchildren.

Mary “Mimi” Glide Miller ’50, June 12, 2023, in Sacramento.

She was left widowed with three children when her first husband died while carrying out his Air Force duties. But Mimi persevered, obtaining her teaching credential before meeting and marrying a widower who also had three children. They raised their combined family (plus two more children) in Sacramento and Olympic Valley. The Millers hosted students from around the world, the various organizations they supported, and a legendary Boxing Day party every year. Mimi’s love for hiking took her everywhere from the basecamp of Mount Everest to the caves of Borneo. She is survived by six children, six grandchildren, and six great-grandchildren.

Jean Harold Daniels ’50, January 8, 2018, in Tempe, Arizona. After Mills, she graduated from Case Western Reserve University. She is survived by two sons.

Ruth Redman Williamson ’52, January 26, in Bethesda, Maryland. She later graduated from the University of New Mexico and earned a master’s degree in history at the former Texas Western University. She and her late husband, David, moved to Washington, DC, where he was an original employee at NASA. Ruth began teaching at National Cathedral School, where her seventh-grade medieval history class became legend—former UN Ambassador Susan Rice even mentioned Ruth in her memoir. Retirement came after 50 years on the job, when Ruth became a docent at the National Cathedral and more fully enjoyed her love of ballet. She is survived by two children and three grandsons.

Beverly Hoberg Mandel ’53, August 5, 2023, in Novato, California.

After Mills, she earned a business degree from San Francisco State, which is where she met her late husband, Frank. They raised their family in San Bruno where Beverly served in leadership roles for many community organizations, such as Crestmoor Park Garden Club and Crystal Springs Junior Woman’s Club. She was a natural athlete who loved playing all manner of games and puzzles, and she was a huge fan of movie musicals. In her later years, Beverly moved to Novato, which reminded her of where she grew up in Lake County. She is survived by two children and four grandchildren.

Wendyce “Wendy” Hull Brody ’68 by Linda Cohen Turner ’68 Natalie Soloman Feldman ’40 by her daughter, Janis Feldman Siner ’69 Flora Gladwin Burkhard ’40 by her granddaughter, Juniper Bacon ’93 Eleanor Marshall Schaefer ’29 by Nicole Bartow Professor Emerita of Economics Nancy Thornborrow by Brady Vannice Brisen ’93

Lisbeth Paul Krogman ’54, March 14, in DeKalb, Illinois. She was called to serve, helping to establish programs in hospice, adult literacy, and recycling. In her later years, Lisbeth returned to school to earn her master’s degree in social work, which she then used in her position with the Epilepsy Foundation of Greater Chicago. She also loved dogs and was a master Scrabble player. She is survived by four children, five grandchildren, and four great-grandchildren.

Sally Morse Cushman ’55, February 17, in Richmond, California. After Mills, she began her career in clinical psychology as a research assistant, and her work later took her to the medical school at the University of Virginia, the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Corrections, and Carondelet St. Mary’s Hospital in Tucson. Sally kept learning in retirement, and she became both an accomplished painter and an art teacher. She also loved to travel, including a sailing trip to the Galapagos Islands and a safari in South Africa. She is survived by three daughters, three granddaughters, and a brother.

Marilyn Stone Lytle, MA ’55, January 24, in Seattle. She came to Mills for her master’s in psychology after studying music at Ball State University.

Her late husband, Dean, was a student at Stanford, and she soon joined him there to work on her PhD. After they moved to Seattle, Marilyn kept busy managing the household and providing care to several elderly aunts. She played a big part on the Seattle Public Schools desegregation committee, and she traveled all over the world with her children and grandchildren. She is survived by four daughters and six grandchildren.

Ruth Rapp Anderson ’56, March 19, 2020, in Santa Rosa. She spent her life as a schoolteacher, musician, and artist. She is survived by a sister, three sons, eight grandchildren, and a great-grandson.

Clyde Taylor

Former Assistant Professor of English and Chair of Ethnic Studies Clyde Taylor died on January 24 in Los Angeles. He is survived by a daughter and a granddaughter.

He was on the faculty at Mills from 1979 to 1982, but his scholarship in Black and African cinema made him well-known nationwide. In its obituary, The New York Times said that Taylor was “at the epicenter of a push to bring the study of Black culture into academia.” He embarked on the early years of his studies at Long Beach State and UCLA before coining the phrase the “L.A. Rebellion” in the 1970s to describe the work of Black directors such as Julie Dash and Billy Woodberry.

Film scholars credit Taylor with bringing their names into the canon.

While at Mills, he continued his groundbreaking work and added to the College’s burgeoning efforts in ethnic studies, including hosting the renowned novelist Toni Morrison on campus (they were classmates at Howard University). After Mills, Taylor made his way back to the East Coast, teaching at Tufts and NYU before retiring in 2008. He wrote one book in 1998, The Mask of Art: Breaking the Aesthetic Contract—Film and Literature, and poured his vast knowledge into many documentaries, museum exhibitions, and journal articles.

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Sumile “Sumi” Matsumoto Imahara ’56, March 31, in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Sumi spent some of her early years in Poston, an internment camp for Japanese Americans during World War II. After Mills, she became a teacher at an Army post in Dachau, Germany, where she met her husband, Walter. They moved to Baton Rouge, his hometown, and there, she taught second grade, co-founded the Imahara family’s landscaping business, and channeled her wanderlust into a career as a travel agent. Sumi was also known to be a gourmet chef, and she prepared and served meals to family and those in need alike.

She is survived by Walter and a brother.

Sylvia Larron Lyons ’59, March 2024, in Napa.

After Mills, she graduated with a degree in visual and performing arts from California College of the Arts. Sylvia owned a business called Porcelain People, and she later became the manager at her family’s vineyards. She is survived by her husband, Richard, and two children.

Johanna “Joey” Hoffmann ’01 Prudence Bergman Squier ’64, March 13, in Santa Barbara. After Mills, she graduated from UC Santa Barbara and started a nomadic life, including collaboration with Indigenous communities in South America and work as a flight attendant. With her second marriage, to Bob Squier, Prudence shifted to Washington, DC, where Bob was a consultant to Democratic politicians, and she started writing about architecture and home improvement for Sunset and The Washington Post. She also restored an estate in Virginia, where she cared for horses and dogs, and a six-acre property in Santa Barbara. She is survived by her companion, Steven Sparklin, and her two stepsons.

Johanna Hoffmann ’01 died in December 2023. Known to many as Joey, she was born and raised in L.A. and moved to Oakland in 1997 to attend Mills. She was thrilled to be there, remembers her longtime friend Brooke Facente ’01, who met Joey at registration.

Johanna’s time at Mills was one of the happiest chapters of her life. She studied ethnic and women’s studies, was intellectually inspired, loved being at a women’s college, and formed deep friendships. Mills alums from her era may remember the loud music blaring from her room in Mary Morse Hall and Joey’s equally full-throated laughter and opinions.

After Mills, Johanna studied public interest law at New College of California and practiced as a defense attorney for several years, including at Justice Now, a non-profit that partnered with people in women’s prisons to build a safer, more compassionate world without prisons. She later worked for the Oakland Unified School District.

Johanna is survived by her daughter, parents, sister, aunts and uncles, cousins Gloria Boyd ’69, 2022, in Euless, Texas. She majored in (some of whom Joey babysat on campus), friends, and colleagues who will miss French and minored in Spanish at Mills, building upon her enormously. diplomas she had already earned in France and Spain.

After Mills, Gloria earned an MA in history and a certifi“Rest in peace, dear Joey,” said Jennifer Dalton ’01. You will be dearly missed, but cate in archival administration from the University of your spirit will always shine brightly among us. Thank you for bringing so many Texas, Arlington, which she used in a 40-year teaching memories to our time together starting at Mills College and after.” career throughout the Dallas-Fort Worth area. Her coursework was wide-ranging, from world history to Spanish and French, and visual media, developing a number of AP programs in the process. Gloria suppleMarin Bright ’82, January 28, in San Francisco. She came to Mills mented her education with extensive travels around the world, and she after first attending the University of Nevada. Marin worked in adopted many rescue cats. She is survived by a sister and a nephew. hospitality for more than three decades, and she founded Bright Robert Johnson, MFA ’70, 2021, in South Toe Township, North Business Media, which still publishes monthly magazines for event Carolina. He was a renowned artist and naturalist who earned his planners and hospitality executives under the name Smart Meetings. bachelor’s degree at the University of Louisville before coming to Marin’s work there landed her the Western Publishing Association’s Mills for his MFA. While Robert’s career took him around the world, Distinction in Leadership Award and two consecutive Folio Top he found the most joy exploring the Blue Ridge Mountains in a Women in Media Awards, and she made Eventex’s list of the 100 most camper van with his dog, Molly, and sketching examples of the nature influential people in the event industry. She is survived by a son, her he so loved there. He is survived by his wife, Forrest; four children; former spouse, a sister, and many nieces and a nephew. and seven grandchildren.

Karen Soots Pare ’91, March 13, in Oakland. She was a resumer who Wanita Zumbrunnen, MA ’71, February 19, in St. Louis. She came to earned a paralegal certificate from St. Mary’s, which she used to Mills after enrolling at Coe College at the age of 30, when she was support her children while at Mills, and she followed up her divorced with two children. Her Mills degree was in American and undergraduate degree with a master’s from Rutgers. Her daughter Russian literature, which she followed up with a PhD from the Jennifer graduated from Mills in 1991 as well, simultaneously making University of Iowa. Wanita’s poetry won awards from the Saint Louis them both the first in their family to earn four-year degrees. Karen Poetry Center and appeared in a variety of publications, and her book taught history at Cal State East Bay for 21 years, retiring in 2022. She of poems, All Mortals Shall Dream Dreams, achieved semi-finalist also fought for women’s equality and loved music, including the last status in the 2008 Concrete Wolf Chapbook Competition. She was Beatles concert at Candlestick Park in 1966. She is survived by her also on the faculty at Lindenwood University in Missouri, where she two daughters, Jennifer Pare ’91 and Christine Pare Harlow ’93; three was twice named a Fulbright Scholar and traveled to Pakistan. She is grandchildren; and four siblings. survived by two children and two siblings.

Johnwilly Osuji, MA ’18, November 23, 2023, in Chino Hills, Mary Luke ’72, December 2023, in Oakland. After Mills, she graduCalifornia. He was a teacher at Laurel Elementary School in Oakland, ated from what’s now Cal State East Bay with a master’s degree in and his sudden death prompted an outpouring of memories from his public education, which she put to work in a wide-ranging career. students as reported by KRON. They said that Johnwilly loved to Mary started out as a social worker, went on to coordinate efforts dance, and he was a crackerjack basketball player. One student, between agencies as part of the Salvation Army, and then worked as Sharon Li, wrote a letter to his parents: “My teacher was really a rehabilitation therapist for Alameda County Health Care Services supportive. He would always encourage us to never give up!” He Agency. Her love of the water pushed her to earn seaman certification grew up in Chino Hills and in Nigeria, and he was the first Black from the United States Coast Guard, and she was an art collector who president of Fullerton College’s Associated Students. always engaged in sparkling, intelligent conversation. She is survived by her companion, Jerry Carlson, and three cousins.

Spouses and Family Kristine Holm ’74, December 10, 2023, in Rialto, California. She was a high-school teacher, most recently as a special education instructor at Pacific High School in San Bernardino, and she also worked as a graphic designer, including for Soccer America magazine. Kristine loved art and keeping active through rowing, traveling, and hiking.

She is survived by a brother, two nieces, and a nephew.

John Gray, spouse of Eleanor “Elli” Armstrong Gray ’54, February 10, in Santa Rosa.

Faculty and Staff

Francis “Frank” DeToma, former dean of faculty and provost, January 23, in South Hadley, Massachusetts.

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ieieieieieieieieieieie A REAL PEARL ieieieieieieieieieieie Amanda Page Harper ’09 is a fervent collector of Mills artifacts.

By Jill Robi

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utside of the actual archives in F.W. Olin Library, there may not be a bigger collection of Mills memorabilia in one place than the Reno home of Amanda Page Harper ’09.

Collecting bits of Mills history is her favorite pastime. “I like history, old things,” she said. “I like antiques and that kind of stuff.”

But her love for Mills and its history surpasses a mere love of old things. Harper’s degree in psychology is something that she holds quite dear; her Mills roots grew from a wish from her mother—and a scholarship.

“My mom was a single mom with four kids, and she told me, ‘You’re going to go to Mills,’” she says.

As it turns out, her mother had a highschool classmate who went to Mills. Not only did she know about the College, but she also knew about the Josiah and Amelia C. Keep Scholarship, which is designated for students from Loyalton High School

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in Sierra County, which is Harper’s alma mater, or students elsewhere in that county or Modoc, Lassen, or Plumas counties in the far northeast corner of California. “When I was a sophomore in high school, my mom told me about this full-ride scholarship,” Harper says. “That I had to go to Mills because it [could be] free. And we were poor, you know? All expenses paid [was everything].”

It wasn’t until after she graduated from Mills that she became invested in the College’s history. “When I was at Mills, I didn’t really spend any time being grateful or thankful for how I got there, paying zero dollars to attend,” Harper says. “Mills has special collections of books and all kinds of pictures in the library. Students have access, and I missed out on all of it.”

But after Commencement, she found her first book on eBay, which detailed Mills’s origins. It was Fourscore Years–A History of Mills College written by Rosalind Keep, Class of 1903, the same legendary professor, publications director, and Eucalyptus Press founder whose name was synonymous with the largesse that allowed Harper to attend Mills in the first place. Rosalind was the daughter of Josiah, a Mills professor in the natural sciences from 1886 to 1911, and Amelia Keep.

And now, Harper says she simply just wants to show more appreciation of the College, its rich history, and her experience. “That’s when I was, like, ‘I’m going to start collecting things that I think preserve Mills,’” she says.

After years of searching, her collection is not only vast but nearly extensive enough to sustain its own exhibit. Among her pieces are books from the bibliography of

the Eucalyptus Press (she currently owns 49 of 110); a recipe book from 1916; a book and signature of Homer T. Sprague, the first president of Mills after it was incorporated as a college; a 1920s-era Pearl M pin; a sterling silver spoon from Lisser Hall; an Ethel Moore coffee pot; a collection of yearbooks from the 1920s; more than 100 postcards; and a Mills Quarterly from 1873, the oldest of all of the items.

When it comes to what’s next, Harper says she would love to take her photos and make a collage. “I would love to have a photo of Cyrus and Susan as the centerpiece. I want to get my degree framed for it,” she says. “An homage to Mills.”

Harper’s personal connection to the Keep family is what makes these treasures so special to her. “I’m really interested in collecting as many pieces as I can,” she says.

“I’d like to preserve what I have of the Keep legacy. The Keep scholarship still exists. It’s my duty to make sure people know they can still get a quality education; they can still get a scholarship.”

Harper says she believes in the power of education, the importance of it, and preserving it: “Mills historically was a women’s college, but the importance of education in general—people need to have access and availability to that.”

AAMC Travel

2024

We are thrilled to announce a partnership between the AAMC and Orbridge Travel, which expands our travel offerings with U.S.-based adventures in addition to our renowned international trips through AHI!

NEW TRIP ADDED

Denali National Park

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Discover Denali National Park

Greece: Athens & Kalamata

Portugal: Romance of the Douro River

Journey into the scenic wilds of America’s northernmost state, through Alaska’s rugged forests and wildlife. Your destination: the magnificent Denali National Park and Reserve. Uncover the many wonders of the park during naturalist talks, guided trail hikes, and walks. One of many highlights of this adventure will be traveling the historic Alaska Railroad route, with superior viewing from your train’s upgraded glass-domed seat. Customize your adventure with a variety of exciting, unique optional excursions or independent touring arrangements.

Join our eight-night adventure in Athens and the Peloponnese, a land shaped by Greece’s famous myths and city-states. Imagine ancient urban life as you amble through ruins of great cities. Visit the Bronze Age kingdom of Mycenae and less-explored Messene.

Soak up the ambience of Mystras, a stunning Byzantine city, and tour ancient Olympia, birthplace of the modern Olympics. Learn how olives and their rich, green oil seep into every aspect of Greek life. Experience the timeless traditions of winemaking (and tasting!) and folk dancing. In the evenings, stroll along sidewalks adorned with magenta bougainvillea blossoms, savor an alfresco meal, and capture memories of a lifetime.

The romantic splendor of the Douro River is yours to enjoy on this spectacular journey.

Stay in lively Lisbon, packed with maritime legacies and historic charms. Spend time exploring the enigmatic river port town of Porto, known for its storied Ribeira district, Bohemian culture—and of course—port wine!

Along the way, excite your taste buds with extraordinary regional dishes and local pastries. Visit romantic Óbidos and the famous university town of Coimbra, with its beautiful university gardens and medieval architecture, as well as the elegant Salamanca, Spain.

July 14 – July 19, 2024

Visit the AAMC website to explore these and other trips, and to secure your spot at: aamc-mills.org/travel.

September 6 – September 15, 2024

September 20 – October 1, 2024

Let’s create memories together!

Mills Quarterly

Mills College at Northeastern University 5000 MacArthur Blvd.

Oakland, CA 94613-1301 510.430.3312 mills.quarterly@northeastern.edu quarterly.mills.edu

••❳ ••• All alumnae are invited to campus!

Thursday, September 26— Sunday, September 29

Honoring alumnae from class years ending in 4 or 9, including the 50th Reunion-ing Class of 1974

• Updates from campus leaders and the AAMC

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HIGHLIGHTS INCLUDE: • Faculty-led discussions: The Book of Old Ladies with Ruth Saxton; the fine arts at Mills and French wine history with Bert Gordon; lifelong connections to Mills with Susan Ito

NION

• Campus scavenger hunt • Mills After Dark Uno and the Darius Milhaud concert • Class luncheon and AAMC awards ceremony • Tours of the Community Farm, Lisser Hall, and the Art Museum • Class dinners and photos • A behind-the-scenes glimpse of the Quarterly!

REUNION WEBSITE

REGISTRATION OPENS EARLY JUNE Visit eventregistration.northeastern.edu/ millsreunion2024 for the full schedule, and register by September 13. Brochures will be mailed to all alumnae from class years ending in 4 or 9 and will be available to other alumnae by request.

BOOK YOUR ACCOMMODATIONS NOW Take advantage of special rates available through August 30 at the Executive Inn & Suites or the adjacent Best Western Plus Bayside Hotel near Jack London Square. Visit executiveinnoakland .com/groups/mills-college-reunion-2024 for details.

Email: mills.alumnaerelations@northeastern.edu Web: eventregistration.northeastern.edu/ millsreunion2024