In August 1963, six young women — Betty Ann Schultz, ’67, from Okemos, Michigan; Evelyn Siegel, ’67, from Detroit; Marilyn Krzywkowski, ’66, MA’71 from Livonia, Michigan; and Gretchen Nacke, ’67, Meg Harding, ’67, and Ruth Dietzler, ’67, all from Midland — arrived at a small dormitory on State Street across from Angell Hall. Opened in 1915 in memory of Helen Newberry, this women’s dormitory was founded to provide a small, supportive environment fostering friendships. It is now the oldest all-female residence hall on campus, housing about 110 young women.
Little did we know, we “girls” about to begin our educations, that we would create friendships that would survive for 62 years. It is remarkable that we would continue seeing each other every few years for reunions occasioned by birthdays, marriages, and other life events, sharing and supporting one another as we moved through the stages of our lives. Now we are 80 year olds, actively and gracefully aging, grateful not only for the small residential experience at Newberry, but also for being part of the 1966 movement to allow undergraduate females for the first time to experience off campus, unsupervised housing.
Helen Newberry was a special dorm in the 1960s with a breakfast buffet, sit down lunches, afternoon tea served by the housemother Mrs. Tait, and dinners on white tablecloths served by waitresses who were fellow dorm mates wearing starched gray and white uniforms. The dining room became a study hall at night with typewriters clicking and clacking. Incoming phone calls were routed from the switchboard on the first floor to upper floor phone booths where girls heard the distinctive ring pattern for their room and answered the phones in the booths. Girls had to sign out in the evenings and be back in the dorm by 10 p.m. from Sunday through Thursday, and midnight on Friday and Saturday. No males were allowed on the residential floors during the week. On Sunday, men were allowed, but only with the loud alerting call of “man on the floor.”
Just months after coming to Helen Newberry, we dorm mates vividly remember hearing in November 1963 the news of the assassination of President John F. Kennedy. Another communal experience was gathering around the small black-and-white television in the living room to see the Beatles perform on the Ed Sullivan show in February 1964. We also experienced the deafening roar of panty raids, with males chanting outside the girls’ dorms for underwear! For the next three years we would continue to experience this country’s cultural changes together.
Our senior year, when female students were permitted for the first time to live in unsupervised, non-University-sponsored housing, we six young women were able to live independently and rented 1315 Forest Court, a three-bedroom, one-bath house. We planned together how to do this successfully, each chipping in $6 weekly for household expenses (mainly groceries) and dividing chores and sharing duties in another small, supportive environment that further strengthened our friendships and bonds.
After graduating with degrees in education, English, French, journalism, and speech pathology, we roomies all moved out of state to pursue our respective careers. Betty Ann was a journalist, a newspaper reporter/photographer, a travel agent, a conference planner, and is currently a tour guide. Evie was a teacher, an editor, and is currently a business owner. Gretchen was a French teacher. Marilyn was an English and French teacher, a department chair, and a university instructor. Meg was a speech and hearing therapist, an editor, a realtor, and an elected official (state representative). Ruth worked in a bank, was a child welfare worker, a foster parent, and a librarian and organizer of children’s programs. For half a century, we were working wives, mothers, and caregivers. We all actively volunteer in our communities. Six “Roomies” with six marriages, ten children, and no divorces. Sadly, three of us are now widows.
The Roomies now reside from the East to the West coast, the Midwest, and the South. Fifteen years after graduation, we have reunited as a group all around the country more than 20 times since 1982 and as many times virtually during COVID lockdowns. We last gathered in August 2024 for a week in Asheville, North Carolina. We Roomies, now in our “elegant 80s,” are still sharing the bonds of friendship formed six decades ago — listening and caring for one another, laughing and enjoying one another’s company. We are so glad we lived together in Ann Arbor and are still “the Roomies.”
Meg Harding, ’67, is one of The Roomies.
