Breaking another barrier

Mrs. Betty Smith Williams of the nursing faculty takes a
phone call with colleagues Sister Albert Mary, Miss Eloise
King, and Sister John Bernard, in 1959 or 1960.

SKIMMING THROUGH THE 1957 YEARBOOK, we noticed that among the 10 smiling members of the Nursing Department faculty was a black woman identified as Mrs. Betty Williams. We wondered whether that was unusual -- how many faculties at California colleges and universities had black faculty in those days?

It didn't take Google long to produce an answer: Our Betty Smith Williams was the first black professor in California -- male or female, in any subject, anywhere in higher education. It says so right here.

Betty Williams, center, with nursing colleagues Marjorie
Cogan and Sister Richard Joseph in 1958. 

Should we be surprised? After all, the Mount graduated a young black woman, Vivian Burgess '52, from its first-in-California bachelor's in nursing program. The brilliant Sister who made that happen, Rebecca Doan, CSJ, was still chair of Nursing in the fall of 1956 when Betty Williams broke the color barrier and joined the faculty.

Williams herself had already broken that same  barrier when she became only the second African-American to earn a master's in nursing at Case Western Reserve University in Ohio in 1954.

She taught at the Mount for 13 years, moving to the faculty at UCLA and many more firsts. You can read about them here: http://bit.ly/1Tt95d4

Now 82, Dr. Betty Smith Williams remains actively engaged in issues of ethnic and racial diversity in nursing and nursing education, and continues to speak to the importance of cultural competency among nursing professionals.

In 2010, she received the prestigious designation Living Legend of the American Academy of Nursing, the second member of the Mount community to reach that pinnacle after Sister Callista Roy, CSJ (2007).

Dr. Williams' amazing academic career got its start because our {Unstoppable} founding Sisters of St. Joseph of Carondelet weren't afraid to be bold -- nor were they interested in holding to the conventions of the day.

To the women and men of the Class of 2016 who will soon receive their diplomas, congratulations! In the footsteps of Sister Rebecca, Vivian Burgess, Dr. Williams and all the other remarkable people of the Mount who have gone before you, be {Unstoppable}. Be a first.

Betty Williams, seated at the end of the table, joins the rest of the
nursing faculty in a humorous moment during a meeting, 1956-1957.

[updated 1/25/2022]

Grips and grins

Sister M. Rebecca Doan, CSJ, president,
with alumna Dorothy Lieb Von der Ahe '29.

IN PHOTOJOURNALISM, THERE IS A CATEGORY of photograph called the "Grip and Grin," in which two people with broad smiles are shaking hands or passing something between them -- like a large check.

Sr. Rebecca with Alumnae
Association president.

Looking for photographs for Doheny's 50th anniversary, we noticed that Sister Rebecca Doan's picture file holds a lot of grip 'n' grins.

And no wonder. Sister, who was named Mount president in the spring of 1961, took office for academic 1961-62 -- just in time for the terrible Bel Air Fire of November 6, 1961, and the launch of a new Associate of Arts program at the newly acquired Downtown Campus planned for academic 1962-63. In other words, she was president during a very costly time in Mount history.

Faced with rebuilding much of burned-out Chalon and preparing to take students into a handful of frankly decrepit Victorian mansions on Chester Place, Sister undertook an unprecedented fundraising campaign, launched in the spring of 1962. 

Sr. Rebecca with A.C.
Pearce of Sears Roebuck.

It was known as the SPACE Program, echoing the excitement of the new Space Age and Mercury astronauts, but standing for Scholastic and Physical Advancement Centered on Excellence. With a goal of an astonishing $10 million ($75 million today, adjusted for inflation), SPACE designated $5 million for scholarships and other academic priorities, and an equal amount for construction on both campuses.

Fifty years ago this summer, the money was starting to come in. The kickoff donation was $25,000 from the Vons Foundation, led by Mount alumna Dorothy Lieb Von der Ahe '29. The $25,000 check is the equivalent of almost $190,000 today.

Companies, individuals and campus organizations contributed, including the Alumnae Association, Mothers' Guild, Gulf Oil, Crown Zellerbach, and Sears Roebuck. At the end of the summer of 1962, Sister Rebecca had collected nearly half a million dollars with a long fundraising road ahead.

The archives don't have records of the final accounting of the SPACE Program, but some of the immediate results can be seen today: the Humanities Building at Chalon and the Classroom building at Doheny, both constructed in 1964 and 1965. By then, Sister Rebecca and the College had a lot to grin about.

Sr. Rebecca with unidentified donors. The architectural model in front of them  shows
the proposed Humanities Building and the existing Chalon Library.