Muskingum College 1919-1924
For those unfamiliar with my Alma Mater, let me enlighten you:
Muskingum College was a small private Presbyterian-affiliated college in New Concord, Ohio. New Concord is on the far eastern edge of Muskingum County in Ohio. It had a small, intimate campus that felt like home to me. It's peppered with beautiful trees and wide open green spaces, among which old and new buildings blend into a lovely, serene place. The college was founded in 1837 to educate the "sons of the farming village of New Concord. Muskingum did not admit women until 1854. This was the college Papa had attended, so I was a legacy student. The family name Moorehead is everywhere on this side of the state. I had more than a few cousins who attended Muskingum at the same time I did.
Since You Went Away and Came Back Then Went Away Again.
I was away at college but coming home for holidays and summer breaks. It was idyllic, and we all felt that way, too—particularly Mother, who returned to Reedsburg permanently later in life. By the following year, a change began to manifest in our home, a change that would subtly alter the balance of our family until it finally came apart eight years later.
When I left her parents' home in 1919, I left a controlled, sheltered environment and headed to one with the shimmering promise of freedom. Once I arrived at Muskingum College, I was no longer under my father's or mother's watchful eye. Instead, I was under the watchful eye of the administration, faculty, and staff of Muskingum College. More importantly, I was 18 and about to experience freedom for the first time.
The Bobby Trunk and The Ukulele
The trip from St. Louis to New Concord was outrageously long, and I always went by
train. Grandpa Moorehead or one of my Uncles would pick me up at the station and
drive me to Muskingum. I always made this journey with a trunk and a ukulele.
That trunk and the ukelele were my pride and joy. I hand-painted my nickname on that
trunk in beautiful gold paint. "Bobbie." The canvas case that held my ukelele. I was really hot
with a ukulele, believe me. It was a round ukelele with my initials inked prominently on it
and my parent's address was in St. Louis. I still had the trunk and the ukelele when I left
this plane of existence.
Just Like Being Dropped Off At Disney
My first year at Muskingum was stress-laden. I was still awkward and more than a little bit afraid of
accidentally committing some grievous sin. Instead, I blossomed while I was at Muskingum
College. I was a biology major and studied public speaking as well. It was a challenging degree.
Yet, while there, I was experiencing something I had not known before. I was free.
I know that college in 1919 was different from what you all know today, but for me then,
it was the equivalent of what you term today as being dropped off at Disney
with the deluxe pass. I wasted little time getting involved with everything she possibly could.
Spending Time On My Parent's Dime
In my first year, I was engaged with the Aertean Literary Society. I also became a member
of the Glee Club, the Athletic A's, Delta Gamma Theta, the Magenta Minstrels, the K Club,
the Student Volunteer Group, and the Erodelphian Society Muskingum, where I started
becoming Agnes Moorehead.
By the end of my second year in college, I had gotten my name in the local paper.
Aunt Cam was beside herself since this proved her right. I would continue to
get my name on the paper right through college. From 1921 to 1924, my name
would be in the newspapers at least twelve times. They were wonderful years
and I wouldn't trade them for anything.
May 21, 1921
The Daily Jeffersonian
Cambridge Ohio
Monday evening, the Weaver Bible Reading Contest was held in Brown Chapel.
The result was as follows:
1st prize for ladies Rachel Longridge $4.00
2nd prize for ladies Mary Reed $2.50
3rd prized for ladies Agnes Moorehead $1.00
November 18, 1922
Saturday
The Daily Jeffersonian
Muskingum has a live student band.
On Tuesday evening, November 28, the thirty-five-piece "band" will give a
home concert. Agnes Moorehead of Reedsburg, Wisconsin, is listed as a soloist.
She is a contralto. A contralto is a female voice type that is the lowest in
range, between tenor and mezzo-soprano.
The Bump
I colored outside the lines a few times; however, I used my playful charm and last name
to get out of the occasional pot of boiling water. A girl has gotta do the "Bump" during a talent
show to some Jelly Roll Morton down-and-dirty tunes, so what was I to do? I found myself in the
president's office due to this highly provocative move. Believe it or not, I felt wild when
feeling my oats; at least two guys and all my girlfriends knew that.
John and Other Distractions
I had a beau in my final year in college. A flame, as it were, His name was John Collins
Ballantyne. John was born in India to American parents. In the 1924 Muskingum yearbook,
he hailed from Xenia, Ohio, where my father's Uncle William was from. Johnny
was born on October 11, 1899, in Punjab, India. He was so exotic and just a lovely boy.
He graduated from Woodstock High School there too. This boarding school
in the Himalayan mountains was geared toward college preparation.
He graduated from Muskingum in 1924 with a Bachelor of Arts in oration.
His bubble in the yearbook says he was interested in either teaching or attending
seminary school father loved that! He enlisted in the National Army during the
First World War, but never saw action. He was discharged honorably in 1918.
Johnny was the class vice president in his sophomore year. He was class president during his
junior year. He was president of the "M" club, and was a fine orator, and played football.
He was tall, with black hair and blue eyes. He pinned me. Johnny did not
fit the description of a man unworthy of me. Johnny was a lovely young man, and I cared for him
but decided I would never marry him. I couldn't stand the idea of somebody
bossing me around my house!
Authors Observation: Weak Willed Men
In the past, mention was made of an alleged remark from John Moorehead about Agnes'
penchant for attracting gentlemen who were genuinely unworthy of her. I don't know if
he remarked, but I would agree if he said it all. When looking at the man Agnes left behind
and the men she married made me weep with aggravation and a desire to bang my head
against the wall. It has left me searching for meaning in the "Wonderland" that Agnes wove and
used for herself as a protective cover over the years.
Off to Soldiers Grove
On September 29, 1923, I left Muskingum to begin teaching at Soldiers Grove, Wisconsin.
This was not the end of my time at Muskingum. In the spring of 1923, I officially received
my Bachelor of Science in Biology. I left Muskingum wiser and a woman now.
I was capable of supporting myself, and I did not waste a minute proving to anybody
paying attention that I was in no way basic.
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