Dossier f55 - MacLachlan, Sybil M., nee Spencer

File consists of a recording of Sybil MacLachlan. Topics of the conversation include subject's Kingston Award (Andre Bieler artwork), 1975. Attendance at Ottawa Ladies' College; extra year's study to assure parents of maturity; 'tightly-rolled diploma meets ogrish Registrar' incident, Queen's registration,1922. Arrival at Avonmore Residence, 18-resident household plus 'grubbers'; single telephone, virtual absence of rules. Transfer as senior to Ban Righ, quarrels with Dean Laird over residence restrictions. Avonmore group spirit, rivalry with Hen Coop. Blowing fuses with illicit electric heaters in Avonmore rooms; primitive gas arrangements in Hen Coop (supplying heat for hair-curling irons). Formal standards of YWCA residence. Venetian Gardens dance hall; party at Superior Restaurant. Change in student spending habits: former capacity for inexpensive amusement. Bitter rivalry between Queen's, RMC men; skill required to date both simultaneously. Impersonal flavour of expanded campus; feeling that earlier years are close now because they were closer then. Wonderment how off-campus students combine study with shared-living responsibilities. Subject's room-mate problems; dishonour of perpetual appearance on 'untidy room' list. Impossible conditions for study in Old Arts Building library, housed with stinking Biology Dept. Subject's Philosophy-Psychology ordeal: Dr. George Humphrey's 'weird' Psychology course; unexpected success in Philosophy. Min Gordon's course 'The Novel'. Questionable custom of awarding salaries to student officials (Journal staff), former understanding that honour sufficed. Queen's football championship, 1922: 'amazing' campus spirit, unkempt personal practices of superstitious football heroes. Civil service exams, Grant Hall, 1926; subject's 2-year employment with Bureau of Statistics, lack of qualifications for job. Husband's transfer to Engineering Dept., Mt. AIIison Univ. N.B.: return to Ontario during Maritime Depression, partnership in lumber business, Kingston. Daughter's insistence on Queen's education, Phys. Ed. degree; grandchildren's lack of intellectual ambition, exceptional skill in sports. Grading inflation at Queen's: former pass mark set at 40,hard to achieve. Pity for present-day Arts students facing economic squeeze; former Meds students' job-seeking forays to USA (1926). Subject's father-in-law (Queen's grad, Arts 84) : //progress via Union Seminary to educational work in Middle East; erection of Old Arts Building replica, now NATO headquarters for South-East Asia; sons' births in Turkey, all sent to Queen's for higher education. Faculty kindness in inviting students out on Sundays; Kiwanis Ball; annual Students' Frolic skits, marvellous Meds production of 'Little Eva', practical joke played on star. Male-female 3 :1 ratio in subject's day. Foundation of Latin Professor Dr. ]ol iffe's reputation for meanness, sarcasm. Unfortunate instruction of French classes in English. Extensive travel since husband's retirement, husband's fluent Greek, familiarity with Turkish homeland. Father-in-law's continued voluntary residence in Turkey, WWI, return to Kingston, 1926; disIike of 'barbaric' Western funeral rites in comparison with civilised Eastern practices. Queen's 50th reunion custom of leading alumni to dinner with bagpipes. Kingston as a natural homing town for widely scattered alumni friends. Contrast between grandchildren's carefree existence, subject's more conscientious studenthood. Dubious attitude towards women's lib, 'OK to a point'; divided attitude to issue of working mothers, admiration for those who succeed. Concern for grandchildren; premature pressure exerted on children to select careers. Daughter's colourful teaching experiences in England, especially as games mistress in posh girls' school, Kensington (including students hailing from Kingston). Active involvement in Queen's Alumni, recruited by Mary Chown (1930); nostalgia for hard-working, friendly Women's Alumnae organisation, typified by heavy preparation for annual Commencement tea; suspicion that cutbacks may force return to greater personal effort on Alumni's part.