ACROSS THE GENERATIONS: A LEGACY OF LEARNING

While Elizabeth “Barrie” Carter Gibby, Class of 1970, attended Rockford College, majoring in English and education, she co-organized May Day weekend, served as vice president for the student affairs committee, and spent many hours in Clark Arts and Maddox Theatre. She remembers picking up Kurt Vonnegut at the airport and transporting him to the Humor Festival, an event she helped produce.

Barrie’s entire adult life echoes the lives of two beloved women who preceded her: her greatgrandmother Martha “Mattie” C. Howard Wells, Rockford Female Seminary Class of 1866, and her mother, Elizabeth “Bess” Newhall Carter, Rockford College Class of 1941.

Mattie was born in Kewanee, Illinois, in 1847 — the same year Rockford Female Seminary was chartered. A promising scholar, Mattie began her studies when she was just 17 years old. Her older brothers fought in the Civil War, and while at college, Mattie and her classmates heard the shocking news that President Lincoln had been assassinated.

Mattie recalled her college days as “memorable and happy” and praised Principal Anna Peck Sill “for her fair-mindedness.” She remembered outdoor “calisthenics” and required chores assigned to each young woman. Mattie served as a bell ringer, starting at 4:45 a.m. when she roused the kitchen staff. At age 19, Mattie was the youngest to graduate and the valedictorian of the Class of 1866.

In 1872, Mattie married Cyrus W. Wells, and settled in Minneapolis, raising a daughter, Blanche (Barrie’s maternal grandmother). Mattie channeled her love of education and the arts throughout her life. She founded study clubs devoted to lifelong enrichment and inquiry, similar to today’s book clubs. She led tours through Europe. People were so inspired by her intellect and wit that in 1916, Mattie was selected to be toastmistress at her 50th class reunion. Mattie received an honorary master’s degree in 1936, a year before her own granddaughter, Elizabeth “Bess” Newhall entered Rockford College, Class of 1941. Mattie celebrated her 100th birthday in 1947, as Rockford College marked its centennial year.

By then, Bess had graduated from Rockford, majoring in botany/biology.

Martha "Mattie" Howard Wells was featured on the cover of the Rockford College Alumna magazine in 1947 — the year of the college's 100th anniversary and of Mattie's 100th birthday. Elizabeth "Barrie" Carter Gibby, Class of 1970.

In 1943, Bess married Charles “Chuck” Abbott Carter, Jr., a Rockford native. They raised Barrie and her two brothers in Kansas City, Missouri, where Bess earned a master’s in education and headed the art department at the Barstow School, a private institution. She also taught dozens of art classes, was a prolific watercolor artist, gardener, violinist, traveler, and was active in her church.

When Barrie graduated from Rockford College, she taught English, creative writing, journalism, and theater at the high school level. Barrie met her husband, Alan Gibby, when he taught at the same private school Bess had long worked at. The couple moved frequently as Alan served as headmaster at several private schools, including Keith Country Day School in Rockford.

The independent spirit of Barrie’s mother and greatgrandmother, cultivated in part at Rockford College, served as a touchstone for Barrie through each move. She pursued graduate studies in theater production and design and served as director for regional and civic theater. She became an accomplished pianist and owned a design and event company.

With each relocation, Barrie jumped into community activities, including arts and education nonprofit groups, serving on the boards of many and leading a few. In Rockford, she served on the Golden Apple Foundation Board, Women’s Art Board, and was president of the Rockford Garden

Elizabeth "Barrie" Carter Gibby, Class of 1970. Club. “Wherever I landed, I could link into the school and community life in some way,” Barrie said. “Education was always a priority. Theater was always a love, as was my spiritual life.”

Most recently, Barrie and Alan moved to Atlanta to be near her son, daughter-in-law, and granddaughter, Thea Quinn Gibby.

Today Barrie celebrates her creative edge between the branches of words and movement expression, combining her many loves. She facilitates retreats and workshops based on using the ancient design of the labyrinth as a tool for meditation, and she is a member of the faculty of Veriditas. org, an organization for the Worldwide Labyrinth Project. It’s an example of how her past connects to the present. Barrie said: “I commend my liberal arts education at Rockford College to bringing a diversity of awareness and adaptability to my life in many subjects and with many communities.”