Milne Alumni June Newsletter
June 15, 2011

by Judy Koblintz Madnick, '61


Dear Milne Alumni and Supporters,

In this issue:

* My Milne Alumni Email Policy
* Reunions
* Former Milne Library (Milne 200) Friezes
* Sad News


(Please note that links included in Milne Alumni Newsletters may at some point become obsolete.)

MY MILNE ALUMNI EMAIL POLICY

When we were in the planning stages of the 2005 All-Milne reunion, I instituted a personal policy regarding the sharing of email addresses based upon the University at Albany privacy policies. Basically, I do not share email addresses or other contact information without permission. So if someone would like to contact another alumna or alumnus, I have one of two options: The requester can send me an email or letter, which I will forward to the proposed recipient, or I will contact the intended recipient and ask if he or she minds if I provide the requester with his or her contact information.

My exception is within individual classes. For example, I gained permission from members of my class (the Class of '61) to include them on a contact list that I provide to our classmates. One person asked that his email address not be shared, so I don't include that on the list (although I have it for my purposes, which is fine with him). I know that other classes have done something similar, again, with the permission of each class member that his or her contact information may be shared. I hope that everyone who is handling Milne class lists has a similar policy so that alumni are confident that their privacy is being respected.

REUNIONS

Mary H. WELCH, 1971 Class Contact, has announced that the Milne Class of 1971 is holding its 40th Class Reunion on Saturday and Sunday, September 24th and 25th, 2011. There will be dinner on Saturday night and breakfast on Sunday morning, with specific times and locations to be announced. A tour of Milne is being planned for Saturday afternoon. Other suggestions from classmates are welcome.

Pat COSTELLO Smith, 1949 Class Contact, says, "Please save the date! On Saturday, August 13, 2011, our Milne Class of 1949 will meet for a reunion luncheon at the Century House Restaurant in Latham. Once again, Jim Panton has secured a private dining room for us at the same place we met two years ago for our 60th reunion luncheon. We will send details later. Right now, we are trying to get a sense of how many classmates are interested. Please respond: Yes, Maybe, No, and let us know whether you will be accompanied by a spouse, child, or friend."

FORMER MILNE LIBRARY (MILNE 200) FRIEZES

From Geoff Williams, UAlbany Archivist: "I thought I would pass on some news to you for your classmates from Milne. I took a tour group to Milne 200 last week and realized that I didn't know much about the friezes other than the fact that Milne students had paid to have them installed in the late 20s and early 30s. That prompted me to do some research to find out more about the friezes.

"I don't know whether you are aware of it, I know the University wasn't, but the friezes in Milne 200 are copies of originals commissioned by Napoleon the First to commemorate his entrance into Rome in 1812. Napoleon admired Alexander the Great, another great conqueror, and he commissioned the Danish sculptor, Bertel Thorvaldsen, at the time one of the two most prominent sculptors in Europe, the other being Canova, to create friezes for the Quirinal Palace in Rome, the palace where Napoleon and his family stayed in Rome. The actual title of the friezes is 'Alexander the Great's Triumphal Entry into Babylon.' Napoleon apparently saw his entry into Rome as repeating Alexander's triumph over Babylon. With the French invasion of Italy, Napoleon had driven the Pope from Rome and the Papal States and the Quirinal. From 1516 the Quirinal Palace had served as the papal summer residence situated as it was on the highest of Rome's seven hills. After the French withdrew from Italy in 1815, the Pope regained control of the Papal States and the Quirinal. After the Unification of Italy in 1861 and the final overthrow of the Papal States, the Quirinal Palace became the home of the Italian Kings and serves as such until 1946 when the monarchy was overthrown. With the overthrow of the monarchy the Quirinal Palace became the home of Italian presidents. Despite the overthrow of Napoleon and the French in 1815, the friezes remained though constant shifts in ownership of the palace.

"It appears that the plaster copies of the friezes were probably available in a school or art supply catalogs. In doing additional research last week I discovered that in 1926, at about the same time as the Milne school was installing its copies of the 'Alexander the Great's Triumphal Entry into Babylon,' Emory University was also installing a set of the friezes in their Library over the reference desk. Our copy of the friezes has fared quite a bit better than the Emory's as the ones at Emory were, at some point, either plastered over or destroyed during renovations.

"While we don't have photographs of the friezes, I managed to find a complete sketch of the friezes in Bertel Thorvaldsen: Sculpturen, Modelle, Bozzetti Handziechnungen, Gemalde aus Thorvaldsen Sammlungen.... As far as I am able to tell from looking at the sketch of the friezes and comparing that to the description of the friezes contained in the Milne School history, For Youth and the State, we appear to have a complete set of the Quirinal friezes which were paid for by Milne students....

"By the way, the now completely restored Milne Lithgow Murals drew rave reviews from the OASIS tour group which also viewed the as yet unrestored Van Ingen murals in Hawley Hall."

Click here to see the friezes on the Class of '61 website. Scroll down the page until you reach the photos of the former Milne library.

SAD NEWS

Please note that I rely upon the Albany Times Union and input from other alumni for this information, so if you become aware of someone who has passed away, please let me know. If a name is underlined, it represents a link to the obituary. Many obituaries are available free for a limited time only.

William F. Hotaling, husband of Patricia SCOONS Hotaling, '58, passed away on Monday, May 2, 2011.

John Powell, Class of '48, passed away on Saturday, May 14, 2011.

Elva WAGGONER Reynolds, Milne '40, passed away on Sunday, May 15, 2011.

Marvin Freedman, husband of Cynthia FROMMER Freedman, '58, passed away on Friday, May 20, 2011. Marvin was also the uncle of Steven FREEDMAN, '67, and Mona FREEDMAN Hampson, '72.

Frank B. Hewes, Milne '40, passed away on Saturday, May 21, 2011. Frank was the husband of the late Joyce HOOPES Hewes, Milne '42, and the brother of the late Barbara HEWES Beveridge, Milne '43.

Marian SHULTES Freihofer, '33, passed away on June 7, 2011. She was the wife of the late Edwin Freihofer, '35.

Sally Ann LAVINE, '41, passed away on June 12, 2011.



Thanks to all of you for your interest in Milne Alumni activities.

Judy (Koblintz) Madnick, '61

For contact information, see the Milne Alumni homepage:
www.albany.edu/~milne/


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