Elizabeth Ann Campbell (1962-1965): The ‘Women of General’ before ‘Women at General’
I smile when I read about Women at GTS for 50 years! We all know what is meant in context, especially those of us who helped promote ordination of women! However, in our own ways, we were already there!
Tom and I arrived in Penn Station in the fall of 1962 with only a big old wooden trunk filled with our wedding gifts, and each with a medium size suitcase of clothing. At General, my husband went in to shake hands with the Dean, who welcomed him and suggested a nearby second-hand store where we could find used furniture. We were to live at 422 West 20th Street in the “three sisters” apartments for married students. These years would be some of the sweetest times of our life together. The Dean, Lawrence Rose, and our own Bishop of South Dakota, Conrad Gesner, had been classmates at GTS, so perhaps we felt we might have a bit of a special little place in the hearts of this couple who were such great role models for sharing life as a team. Caroline Rose strove to make sure the wives of students felt there was a place for each of us at General as well as for our husbands.
We all knew Dr. Dora Chaplain, the first woman faculty member, who had a background in Christian Education. Naturally a priority was to have Sunday School for the children on weekends, and sandboxes and playgrounds were also established on the Close. Everyone seemed to make a point to welcome us and learn the names of our children, and it felt as if we had stand-ins for the grannies and aunts left behind. Our time there was not only pleasant but an opportunity to grow into our own niches and skills. For example, Mrs. Nils Sonne, wife of the Librarian and a librarian herself, encouraged book-reading groups; she also took us to Almy’s showroom to select fabric and supplies for hand-sewn stoles and then shared her expertise as a seamstress in small weekly work groups, which meant that some husbands would receive a beautiful set for ordination. Together we women had a loosely knit organization within a tightly knit group called the Women of General, lovingly (but with great irreverence on the part of the males) referred to as the WOGS.
The “Parson’s Pottage”, circa 1963, has found a home in in the archives at General’s Christoph Keller, Jr. Library.
The entire community had fun providing recipes for the great WOG Parson’s Pottage Cookbook project. The seminarians responded by publishing The Parson’s Pleasure for appetizers and drinks. In jest it was immediately dubbed ‘The Potted Parson’ by the women! These cookbooks were a natural outcome of the frequent invitations for treats or meals, regardless of limited resources, when we shared what we had. Neighbors became dear lifelong friends!
Although women could not be ordained in the 1960’s, Caroline Rose’s unspoken message was that there was a fulfilling dignity and worth in lay ministry ahead for each of us if we wanted it – perhaps a simple balance to the leadership our husbands were about to accept as priests. We could, but did not have to, be leaders – but as laywomen we were learning that we could be the “Jesus People” that our current Presiding Bishop Michael Curry is reminding us to be in our daily lives. I think Mrs. Rose and Bp. Curry would have loved discussing this concept – she lived it every day. She and Jean Weinhauer, wife of Professor (and later Bishop) William (Bill) Weinhauer, were our sponsors for WOGS. As student wives we organized regular meetings for fellowship, hospitality for special guests and new people, and encouraged invitations to single seminarians to join us as we sometimes entertained each other’s households – anything to make our everyday lives feel as normal as in any other community. An example of a special event was the annual New Year’s Eve party on West 20th Street. It had to be low budget, with food and baby-sitting. With three apartments on every floor of each building, a unit with children usually volunteered to take the sleeping babies and set-up food and drink; a second was for the older children to be entertained and supervised; and in the third everyone helped stack living-room furniture in bedrooms and provide recorded music; we had all signed up for our turn at babysitting. After the eating and dancing, the evening culminated by toasting the future and the newest baby (usually in a senior family) at midnight! Caroline could be counted on to be one of the first to arrive to welcome a new baby home, but only if invited. It meant so much to have the Dean and Chaplain and their wives join us in our home for dinner after our first child’s baptism in the Chapel, as our own parents could not make the trip.
The recipe for Mrs. Rose’s fresh bread, circa 1963.
We all, but especially the single men, loved Caroline’s fresh bread! Some of us learned to bake bread after enjoying the warm braided bread rings which she served regularly with tea at open house at the Deanery on Tuesdays – perhaps the best-attended affair on campus. We tried to arrive right at 4 PM just to enjoy the aroma and taste while catching up on campus news. Often there was a visiting bishop, missionary, author - best of all was the gregarious 100th Archbishop of Canterbury Michael Ramsey and his wife Joan, who seemed to visit or stay with the Roses as often as once or twice a year. Caroline and the Dean would have everyone happily chatting and too soon the bells rang for Evensong, and we all shuffled over to the Chapel of the Good Shepherd for daily evening prayer. Single students ate in the refectory and married students settled in for dinner at home, to eat and get back to studying. Typewriters often tapped late into the night.
Caroline Rose and her husband, The Very Reverend Lawrence Rose.
Caroline invited us to special Bible Study groups or cooking/baking get-togethers in the Deanery on Saturday mornings to accommodate working wives (like me) or student stay-at-home moms. We shared tips on entertaining and helping our husbands. Perhaps what I remember best was when she told us it is a great gift to be able to offer to pray with someone rather than say we will pray for them. She suggested that we could begin “the Jesus Prayer” by simply saying the name of Jesus, then pause for the Holy Spirit to lead us in the prayer with the other person. Another example of how she touched our lives personally.
I felt I could ask Mrs. Rose about anything. She sat in the back row in the guest section of the Chapel. Sometimes she did not wear the little lace head covering, nor did she always kneel during prayers, traditional at the time – sometimes she stood. So, I questioned her, and she told me that if she saw guests unfamiliar with Episcopal liturgy and practices, she would not want them to feel out-of-place or uncomfortable. Her forte was to simply introduce herself and welcome them. Later, with changes influenced by a newer prayer book, I realized that Caroline was indeed quite ahead of her time in many other ways, as well. She was not afraid to step out of perceived norms to reach out to others in the name of Christ.
Women on campus were needed for the theater group to produce annual fall and spring plays. Gilbert and Sullivan were always standing favorites because of all the fine male voices. Edward Albee was well known at the time – he was invited, and he came to sit down with the student body to discuss theater. Deep in winter we had an annual semi-formal dinner; after dessert the floor was cleared, and a good musical group played lively music. The ladies dressed in gowns (maybe borrowed), gentlemen in suits, and everyone got to dance and make the rounds of all the tables to socialize. It was expected that wives would also dance with the single guys without a date, which was most of them. I was not a great dancer and found some of the guys were also traditional slow-dancers - but, like my husband, most of them really loved to show off on that rare occasion every year, and I enjoyed simply stepping back to watch! I still smile when I read in the Living Church about ‘The Rev. so and so” or “Bishop so and so’” as I remember dancing with them. It was an evening of fun, so most of us tried to stay out until 10 or 11 PM – rare for married students who had to pay baby-sitters.
After graduation Mrs. Rose and I continued to exchange greetings and news at Christmas. My husband and I looked forward to her personal letter of sharing news of their family, progress on the restoration of their historic old home in Kent CT, the Dean’s health – but I did not ever see her again after graduation. She died in 1993 at the age of 89.
Mrs. Rose rarely talked about herself in real life, but from her obituary I know that Caroline Averill was born into a clergy family in Peru IN; a graduate of Vassar College, she studied at Simmons School of Social Work and Northwestern University School oof Social Work. She and her husband Lawrence had been missionaries in Japan, and he also served parishes in New York City and Deer Lodge MT. He was Dean at Berkeley Divinity School in New Haven CT before their move to GTS, where he served as the Dean 1947 – 1966. My husband also benefitted from having the Dean as Professor for Ethics while at General.
Caroline’s positive example was a lifetime gift to me - I feel so fortunate just to have known her, and I loved her as dearly as my own mother! I moved wholeheartedly into women’s work and other church organizations wherever we lived, following Caroline’s example of avoiding leadership roles but always ready to join in and help out when wanted or needed. Many wonderful and exciting things grew out of this. Needless to say – I often thank God for Caroline Rose and time at GTS!
My GTS next door neighbor and still dear friend Genelda Woggon (wife of Harry Woggon ’63) reviewed this article for me for historical correctness and added her own recollection of how these seminary years were as helpful and fulfilling for the spouses as for the students, and how much of the hospitality and friendship had a profound and almost life-changing effect in their lives: Our WOG’s group allowed for friendships between faculty and student wives to continue beyond seminary days. I enjoyed a special friendship with Glenda Woollcombe, the wife of Professor Kenneth Woollcombe. As we were leaving General to return home to North Carolina, they were also leaving to return to their home in England and we had agreed to stay in touch. Over the coming years there was much exchange with Christmas greetings and special news in between. This included the exciting news of Professor Woollcombe becoming a bishop in his homeland and various activities related to this new ministry as it continued to unfold. Unfortunately, we never saw them again after they left for England. Some years later there was the very sad news of the devastating loss of Mrs. Woollcombe due to cancer. Not too many years later the bishop announced his early retirement as he said, “This job as bishop requires two pair of hands” and he could “not continue this alone.” Surely this statement bore witness to the strong support Gwenda had offered him during his ministry, and certainly an example of what she taught us as young WOGs.
Lovingly submitted, Genelda Woggon
Elizabeth Ann Campbell served as a President of WOGS while living in GTS married student housing at 422 West 20th Street, and practiced nursing at St. Luke’s Episcopal Hospital (next to The Cathedral of St. John the Divine, New York City) during the school year and at the Diocese of New Jersey’s Eagle Nest Camp each summer, which her husband directed 1963-1965. A lifetime member of Episcopal Church Women, she has served on the national boards of ECW, the United Thank Offering, and the Episcopal Women’s History Project. Currently she is Secretary-Treasurer for ECW in Minnesota. Thomas Campbell graduated from GTS in 1965 and had a continuous ministry in the Church and Church schools and institutions, also often teaching Sociology and History as an adjunct or providing governmental consultation for human services integration. The Campbells are retired in Northfield MN and attend All Saints.