Behind the modern exterior

Seniors bide their time on the Porch of Coe Library before the start
of Commencement exercises at Chalon, undated photo from 1950s.

DOWN IN THE BASEMENT OF COE LIBRARY is one of the nicest spaces on the Chalon Campus, in our opinion. We refer to it as the Porch -- which we'll explain in a minute -- but for students it's simply a quiet space to study. Silence is enforced by signs and an occasional warning shush from a librarian. When you think about it, how many places can you find around here where people aren't chatting, talking on the phone, or watching a video?

The Porch today is a quiet study area.

One wall of the long room is windows looking out onto ocean views, hillside landscapes and treetops. On the wall opposite are children's literature, music and art books giving the space a warm library ambiance. On this rainy morning, several students are alone at their tables, poring over their books and assignments. It's so quiet you could hear a mouse sneeze, if we had any mice (which we are pretty sure we don't).

You'd never know that you're looking at what was once a ballroom designed for elegant parties. It was our own founder, Mother Margaret Mary Brady, CSJ, who suggested the inclusion of a "social hall" when the plans for the new Charles Willard Coe Memorial Library were drawn up in 1945.

Perhaps Mother Margaret Mary knew that her students' boyfriends and fiancés would soon be returning home from World War II and would be ready to start living a normal life again. In those days, too, Loyola University (decades before Marymount came along) was considered the Mount's "brother school," and there were regular mixers and galas at local hotel ballrooms and social clubs that included dancing to the fabulous Big Band music of the 1940s.

Mount girls at the Senior Prom with their boyfriends,
most in uniform, during the closing days of World War II.
This 1945 event was held at a local social club.

As a result of Mother's suggestion, the bottom floor of Coe Library was designed with its own, separate entrance. Guests entered via an open "colonnade" with an ocean view that extended the length of the library building. French doors opened onto the 160-foot-long ballroom. The dance floor was made of dense, highly polished maplewood, the same material used for basketball courts. Other features included a small room for checking coats and wraps, a small kitchen and an orchestra pit for live music.

Sadly, the only "souvenir" of that gracious space is the Porch study area of today. When the library was renovated in 1995 the colonnade was enclosed and carpeted. The book stacks stop at the load-bearing wall because the architecture of the porch wasn't strong enough to support them.

Mother Margaret Mary Brady

But not surprisingly, a dedicated ballroom didn't survive very long anyway. A fast-growing college, the Mount needed that space over the ensuing years for many other purposes -- as a dormitory for CSJ Sisters and later for students; storage, classrooms, offices, library books. A full-fledged social hall was too much of a luxury by the time the 1950s rolled around.

But if you use your imagination, there is still the ocean view. Sit at one of the last two tables on the south end of the Porch on a clear day and you can see the Pacific Ocean sparkling beyond Santa Monica. Imagine yourself all dressed up in a formal or tuxedo, ready to show off your waltz or fox trot on the gleaming maple floor.

Those fashionable nurses

A Mount student in the complete nursing ensemble leads
the Class of 1955 from their Capping Ceremony in Mary Chapel.

Bicycling midwives in their smart
East End nursing uniforms.

FANS OF THE BRITISH SERIES Call the Midwife love the nurses' immaculate light-blue uniforms with maroon caps, matching sweaters, and a jaunty a secret-agent-style gray trench coat.

That era, the late 1950s and early 1960s, must have been the Golden Age of nursing fashion, because Mount students in the same decade had their own unique outfits – a crisp grey shirtwaist dress with thin white stripes, covered by a starchy white pinafore and topped off by the official MSMC nurses' cap, presented during the annual capping ceremony in Mary Chapel.

Collar detail of the Mount nurse's cape.

But the most wonderful part, the pièce de résistance, had to be the dashing thigh-length navy cape with bright red lining.

These were made of a heavy wool (think Navy peacoat) and had a standup collar with M.S.M.C. embroidered in shiny gold.  A chain at the back allowed it to be hung on a hook without damaging the fabric.

Unlike the midwives of Nonnatus House, Mount nurses probably never made their speedy rounds on bicycles in their capes, and if they had they would have roasted in the heavy wool. But what an impressive sight they would have made!

Thanks to Alanna Madrid '15 in the Alumnae Relations Office, we recently acquired for the Archives a cape in perfect condition that was worn by a member of the Class of 1953 -- only the second baccalaureate nursing class in California history. Another alumna donated her dress, pinafore and cap several years ago, so we now have the complete ensemble from the first years of MSMU's nursing department. Stop by for a visit – there's more to archives than papers and photos!

The ubiquitous Mount gown

A procession of clerics heads toward the Coe Library
on May 11, 1947, for its formal dedication and blessing. MSMC
students in academic garb ring the Circle. Picture by Meriman Photo Art.

WE'VE BEEN UPLOADING about 20 recently scanned historic photos of the Charles Willard Coe Memorial Library to our online repository.

The Residence Life Council with their bachelor's hoods
 waits for Commencement ceremonies to start.
Photo is dated June 1964, and the site is what is now
the Porch area of the first floor of the Coe Library.

In the same busy week, the College Archives also accessioned an authentic MSMC cap and gown from alumna Mary Thompson '38. Many of our old photos have pictures of students academic garb, so we thought this would be a good opportunity to share an outstanding Mount tradition from yesteryear.

In the early decades of the College, entering Mount freshmen had to endure various forms of orientation, both sacred and silly. The most cherished was Convocation, when gowns and mortarboards were handed out in a solemn ceremony welcoming the young women to academic life. Students were expected to wear their academic garb at events throughout their four years -- all school assemblies, formal presentations and liturgies, even daily Mass. A white collar was attached at the neckline, and the famous Mount bachelor's hood of white velveteen with purple and gold lining only came out at Commencement. So if you come across an old photo with caps and gowns galore, don't assume it's about graduation.

Mary Thompson '38 donated
her mortarboard and gown
to the College Archives.

Cottrell & Leonard
set the standard for
academic gowns.

Close inspection of Mary Thompson's gown, which she would have received in the fall of 1934, shows a carefully made garment of a fine cotton or linen with a great deal of hand-stitching and French seams. It was manufactured in Albany, N.Y., by Cottrell & Leonard, keeper of strict academic garb standards for the Ivy League and other prestigious schools of the day.

The mortarboard is even more astonishing. The headpiece is a real hat. It was made to size -- Miss Thompson was a 6 3/4 -- of shaped felt with a stiffener and bordered in silk grosgrain ribbon. The board is heavy cardboard or thin wood with a covering of black wool. It was evidently a tasty treat for carpet beetles or crickets but looks surprisingly good for its venerable 75 years.

Harry Potter in the
gown of Hogwarts.

Like other traditions, the all-season cap and gown went the way of school uniforms and nuns' habits. The 21st Century version of academic garb is a distant cousin of Mary Thompson's, mass-produced inexpensively of shiny polyester and designed for a few hours of show. But there is something charming about the similarity nevertheless, calling to mind how medieval some elements of academic life were -- and still are.

Talk to students today in the Coe Library's gothic Reading Room about the  old Mount cap and gown tradition, and you'll be met with surprise and enthusiasm. They'd love to have academic gowns to wear around campus, not just the day they graduate. Credit Harry Potter with making flowing black gowns very cool on campus once again.