Fundraisers
"Evening with Hildegarde" - September 25, 1982
Sister Aloyse Hessburg, Hildegarde, and Charles Kleibacker at Hildegarde's 1982 fundraiser for Mount Mary
Source: Mount Mary University Archives
Letter from Hildegarde to Sister Aloyse Hessburg, April 26, 1982
Source: Mount Mary University Archives
In September 1982 Hildegarde, a famous cabaret singer with a long connection to Mount Mary College, performed at Mount Mary to raise funds to maintain campus buildings. To the left is a letter from her to Sister Aloyse Hessburg, head of the fashion design program, from April 1982, in which she writes, "I pray with all my [drawing of a heart] that the theatre or auditorium will be sold out and S.R.O. [standing room only]." The program for the event is below; Hildegarde's singing was followed by a champagne reception.
Hildegarde fundraiser program, September 1982
Source: Mount Mary University Archives
Newsletter from Sister Aloyse Hessburg, February 1983
Source: Mount Mary University Archives
Sister Aloyse's February 1983 newsletter for alumnae (to the right) described the event as a "smashing success," saying "she sang to a packed house, and many attended the champagne reception afterwards." Sister Aloyse also details the "large grant" the college received from the Walter and Olive Stiemke Foundation "as a direct result of the show." This grant was to refurbish the hall, as well as an adjacent storage room to house the Historic Costume Collection, now known as the Fashion Archive. (The outfit Hildegarde wore for this fundraiser is part of the Digital Fashion Archive, Object ID #2002.84.25.AB.)
Hildegarde and guest at Mount Mary fundraiser
Source: Mount Mary University Archives
"Treads and Threads" - 2009
Treads and Threads was a fundraiser for the Mount Mary College fashion design program held in 2009. It was attended by Mount Mary staff and former staff (including President Eileen Schwalbach, professor Sandi Keiser, and original chair of the fashion design program Sister Aloyse Hessburg), alumnae (including Karen Davidson, designer at Harley Davidson, and Donna Ricco, a New York fashion designer), and others. Browse the photographs below!
Donna Ricco and Sandi Keiser
Karen Davidson, Sandi Keiser, and Donna Ricco
Eileen Schwalbach and Donna Ricco
Sister Aloyse Hessburg and another person
Karen Davidson, Tom Puls, and Donna Ricco
Donna Ricco and Karen Davidson
Eileen Schwalbach, Karen Davidson, Sister Aloyse, Tom Puls, Donna Ricco, and Sandi Keiser
