Program Operations
Running a fashion design program is a complicated task! This exhibit showcases some documentation of the day-to-day operations of the fashion design program at Mount Mary College, as well as its reorganization into its own department.
Operations 1966-1981
Objectives for Mount Mary College clothing and textiles minor for the fashion design major
To the right is a list of objectives for the clothing and textiles minor, part of the fashion design major at Mount Mary. Prepared by Sister Aloyse Hessburg in May 1966 (just as the program was established), the 19 objectives address a broad range of fashion-related knowledge and skills, including design principles, clothing construction, and manufacturing techniques and limitations, as well as many others. From its very beginning, though, the fashion design program looked beyond just "fashion." Mount Mary endeavored to "encourage creativity" and cultivate in students "an awareness of one's own worth and valuable potential constribution [sic] to society." (Click the image to see it in more detail.)
Fashion design faculty (1973?)
This list of faculty in the fashion design program from approximately 1973 contains five entries: Barbara Borgwardt, Elaine Zarse, Carol Stowell, Sister Aloyse Hessburg (Fashion Program Coordinator), and a question mark indicating a fifth position that still needed to be filled. The number of faculty positions increased in later years as the program grew. A list at the bottom of classes being offered includes Fashion Drawing, Principles of Clothing Construction, Tailoring, Textiles, Fashion Design, Advanced Construction, Advanced Problems in Fashion Design, and Couture Construction II. Several classes needed multiple sections due to the number of students interested in taking them.
Itinerary for 1975 tour of fashion manufacturing plants
Learning from and building connections with companies outside the classroom has long been an important part of the program. In August 1975 faculty (and possibly students) took a five-day trip to visit fashion manufacturing plants in the Midwest. Stops were planned for the Stanbury Band Uniform plant (Brookfield, Missouri), the Allen-A plant (Piqua, Ohio), the Sand Knit plant (either Waupun or Berlin, Wisconsin, or possibly locations in both towns), and the "sox factory" (possibly Portage Hosiery Company) in Portage, Wisconsin. (See itinerary to the right.)
Memo from Sister Aloyse Hessburg to Sister Mary Nora Barber, March 25, 1976
A 1976 memo from Sister Aloyse to Sister Mary Nora Barber, president of Mount Mary College, gives a hint of how busy Sister Aloyse was with running the fashion design program on top of teaching and advising students. She writes of numerous fashion-related updates and items requiring Sister Mary Nora's input, including information about a visit from Charles Kleibacker and possibilities for designers who might visit Mount Mary to critique students' work and take part in classes. She also mentions the new runway that had been approved for the annual fashion show.
Fashion design program course schedule for 1981-82
By 1981, the breadth of courses being offered and the number of faculty positions within the program had both increased, as is evidenced by the tentative list of 1981-82 courses and the faculty teaching them to the right. Sister Aloyse continued to teach in the program, along with Barbara Borgwardt and Elaine Zarse, and newer additions included Sandra (Sandi) Keiser (faculty 1975-2019 and chair of the fashion program for 25 years, after Sister Aloyse) and Harold Winston.
Restructuring and a New Department in the 1980s
In the early 1980s Mount Mary began considering restructuring the fashion design program. Since before the program even existed, the Home Economics department offered a Clothing and Textiles major and various fashion-related courses (see the curriculum documents below from 1954 and 1965). When the fashion design program was established, it initially remained within the Home Economics department.
Curriculum of the Home Economics Department 1954-1955
Curriculum of the Home Economics Department 1965
Course descriptions as they appear in the Mount Mary College catalog,
1965-67 edition
Letter from Sister Ellen Lorenz and Sister Luetta Wolf to faculty, December 8, 1983
But in December 1983, Sister Ellen Lorenz (president of Mount Mary College) and Sister Luetta Wolf wrote to faculty in Integrated Home Economics, Home Economics Education, Undergraduate Dietetics, Graduate Dietetics, and Fashion Design, asking for ideas regarding department organization and personnel, in terms of separating the Home Economics department into smaller departments by major areas. The letter (to the left) indicates that related discussions had been happening for a few years and requests feedback from faculty by the end of the current semester. Some of the responses received from fashion design faculty are presented below, with a consensus around making fashion design its own program.
Letter from Sandra Keiser to Sister Ellen Lorenz and Sister Luetta Wolf, December 20, 1983
Letter from Elaine Zarse to Sister Ellen Lorenz and Sister Luetta Wolf, December 20, 1983
Letter from Barbara Borgwardt to Sister Luetta Wolf, December 22, 1983
Rationale for the Fashion Department (1984?)
As part of the conversation around reorganizing, someone (almost certainly Sister Aloyse) wrote a "Rationale for the Fashion Department," probably in early 1984 (see document to the right). This rationale advocated for a separate Fashion Department and presented the numerous ways in which the fashion program already functioned as its own department and the further benefits that could be realized from such a restructuring. It contains suggested curricula for the Apparel Design, Pattern, and Promotion concentrations; fashion program objectives; a self-study report of the fashion program; a list of speakers for fashion design classes in 1982-83; and information about internships for 1983-84.
Letter from Sister Ellen Lorenz to Sister Aloyse Hessburg, April 2, 1984
Ultimately, Sister Ellen and Sister Luetta agreed with the rationale above, saying "it would be to the good of the program to make the Fashion area a department" (see letter to the left). They also appointed Sister Aloyse to a five-year term as department chairperson, thanks in part to the very positive responses from faculty about her work. Finally, they expressed apprecation for the "truly high quality department" that resulted from "talent and very much hard work" as well as "cooperative working together." Sister Aloyse accepted the appointment, and the department flourished well into the future.
