The MUW Long Blue Line
(of Mothers and Daughters and Sons and Sisters and Cousins)
By Jimmie Meese Moomaw, MUW Class of '58
In the early 70s, Nancy Friday’s book My Mother Myself generated considerable discussion about the positive and negative aspects of how mothers influence their daughter’s search for identity. Academics picked up the issue and developed attachment theory to explain the unique relationship that exists between mothers and daughters. In academese attachment theory was described as offering lucid and succinct concepts to describe and explain the transmission of internal models, working models of attachment, across generations.
However it is defined and explained there is unquestionable evidence that since the founding of the II&C daughters have followed in their mother’s and grandmother’s and in some instances great-great grandmothers’ footsteps to attend the W. The pattern was established years ago and continues to this day. My request for information about mother-daughter alums resulted in the longest response thread I have ever received. All are worthy of note; unfortunately only a few can be covered here.
ALL THE WAY BACK TO THE II&C: Erin Goia’s great great grandmother Ella Watson McMillen received her graduation certificate from the II&C in 1889! Sixty eight years later Erin’s grandmother, Barbara Webb McMillen ’57 graduated from the W. She was followed by her daughter, Amanda Webb Barber ‘87, and then by Erin who graduated in 2007. That line of loyal alums at 118 years (1889-2007) is no doubt the longest family chain linked to the W. However, both Courtney Murtaugh and Jennet Lacey have W ties that also date back to relatives who graduated when the W was still called the II&C.
JESTERS SET SOME KIND OF RECORD: In 1957 a group of Jesters graduated together. That was neither surprising nor unusual, but for the last 52 years, many of those Jester alums have vacationed together and maintained close connections with each other and the W, setting some kind of record for friendship and loyalty. Their bonds were made even more evident as five of those alums, Beverly Koch Jones, Donette Dunaway Lee, Ellen Young Gunn, Douglas Ann Stephens Graham all class of ’57 and Sylvia Duck Clark ’56 had daughters who followed in their mothers’ path and attended the W. Four of their daughters were at the W at the same time. Camile Clark Ball, Jennifer Graham, Larraine Lee Oakes all graduated in 1988, Beth Gunn Hefner graduated two years earlier, and Christine Jones Lawrence finished at the W in ’81.
SOME VERY LONG AND BLUE FAMILY LINES: If I could do the graphics, I would insert several trees with multiple branches showing how not just mothers and daughters but sisters and aunts and cousins and sons proudly followed family members to the W. Patricia Parish Acklin ‘78 and Emily Meyers Garner ’95 provide excellent examples of multi-branched alum trees. Eleven members of Patricia Atkins’ family attended the W. This very long blue family line began in 1898 when her great-grandmother Kathleen Clyde Hester graduated from the II&C.
Emily Myers family comes close to matching the Atkins line. Emily was the 8th member in her family to graduate from the W and her sister made the 9th. The pride that comes with having a long history of family members attending the W is reflected in Emily’s comment: "As the eighth woman in my family to attend MUW, I am proud of the long, blue line that links woman to woman and generation to generation. My grandmother, my mother, my aunts and my sister have all been a link in the 'W' chain and each has left her own unique mark upon our alma mater. We will always have not only the bond of family, but also the bond of 'W' girls that only those having the privilege of walking through Old Maids Gate can truly comprehend.”
IN THEIR OWN WORDS: Sydney Evans Stars ’05: “Of course my mom, (Elaine Nichols Evans ’70) aunts, cousins and sisters went to the W, making it very appealing to our family tradition, but it also felt like home.” “And,” she added “I think it allowed me to develop a deeper bond with my mom because we had more shared history.”
Amanda Webb Barker ’87 “I do feel that our relationship is stronger. We all have the common bond of attending a university that focuses on excellence and promotes independent thinking. We are all opinionated, but value the rights of others to have different beliefs. We all love the history, and appreciate the efforts that others made to provide women with an excellent education thru MUW.”
Erin Goia: “The W is such a unique place that it's hard sometimes explaining to someone who has never experienced it. When I was a student, I could talk to Mama or Grandmother about stuff going on campus and wouldn't have to explain about social clubs or where things were or any of the other thousand little things that make the W the W. Even when discussing non W things, having that common background helps us to see where the other is coming from.”
Barbara Webb McMillan ‘57: “I loved it when Erin decided to go to the W. I felt closer to it because she was there and visited campus more than I had during other years. I loved the idea that she graduated 50 years after I did.
It is not possible to mention all the mothers and daughters and sons and cousins and aunts and uncles who have attended and are now attending the W. The family names in the long blue line just keep coming: M.B. Strickland and Mary Faglie; Lynne Curtis and Ben Curtis; Terry Coffey and Lydia Coffey Pierce; Laurie Teague, Anghaarad Teague and Browyn Teague; Nita Byrd Lumpkin and Heather Lumpkin; Vonda Keon and Ariel Keon...
How does one explain this extraordinary display of fidelity to an institution by generation after generation? Attachment theory? Plain old “Southern love of place”? Or is it evidence that the W is a very special place where history and traditions are interwoven in support of a women’s mission that no other institution in the state of Mississippi can offer? One thing is certain - legions of mothers and sons and daughters have demonstrated life-long attachments to the place once described as “the jewel of Mississippi.”
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