RoseMary Calamia Mahany, Interview with Regina Hong, 2020

Rosemary Calamia Mahany, Mundelein class of 1971, was interviewed by Loyola graduate student, Regina Hong. Mahany moved from New York City to study at Mundelein. Her experiences as a student were greatly influenced by her activism. When Mahany arrived at the college, she was politically conservative and served as the president of the Young Republicans campus group. Mahany recalls that within one or two years, she became involved in the antiwar movement and along with several of her classmates petitioned to serve as a student teacher in Chicago’s inner city rather than at the suburban schools where they would typically be assigned.

July 28, 2020

RoseMary Calamia Mahany was born in 1949. Mahany was a member of the Mundelein class of 1971. She was born in Brooklyn, New York and moved to Queens, New York when she was ten.  

Mahany majored in psychology and minored in elementary education at Mundelein College, where she lived on campus at Northland Hall for all four years. She was the President of the Young Republicans group and held jobs in the school library and as an elevator operator. Mahany was also part of a group of students who convinced Sister Margaret Irene Healy, BVM, Chair of the Education Department, to let students teach in the inner city. During her time at Mundelein, Mahany also participated in the 1970 anti-war student strike. 

Regina Hong is a graduate student in the Digital Humanities program at Loyola University Chicago and a Sesquicentennial Scholar at the WLA. She was raised in Singapore and lived in Japan for two years prior to moving to Chicago.

[0:00 – 5:00]: Introduction, corrections made to biographical information, Consola’s background, reasons for enrolling at Mundelein, experiences of first moving to Mundelein, descriptions of Coffey Hall and Northland Hall facilities

[5:00 - 10:00]: Wall phones in dormitory, parietal hours, petitioning Sister Margaret Irene Healy for students to teach in the inner city, participation in anti-war student strikes, Young Republicans, classmates raising funds for her to attend Nixon’s inaugural ball, reflection on how she came to know about Mundelein



[10:00 - 15:00]: Reflection on seeing nuns out of habits, work as an elevator operator, students recognizing that she was from New York, memorable moments as an elevator operator, major and minor at Mundelein, reasons for choosing major and minor, Mundelein sports chant

[15:00 -20:00]: Favorite places to study at Mundelein, different drinking ages in New York and Illinois, memories of having Sister Jean as class graduation speaker

[20:00 – 25:00]: Trimesters at Mundelein, Sister Margaret Irene Healy and her teaching program in the inner city, reflection on Sister Margaret Irene Healy’s effect on Mahany’s family, uncle’s comment on her changed pronunciation

[25:00 – 30:00]: Accent variations across the United States, experiences taking the train to Lawndale, teaching at an all-Black school in Lawndale

[30:00 – 35:00]: Memorable experiences teaching in the inner city program, experience doing education field work with Sister Therese

[35:00 – 40:00]: Question about the Mundelein mascot, sports chant at Mahany’s high school, starting the Young Republicans group, classmates raising funds for her to attend Nixon’s inaugural ball, grades for maintaining scholarship, out-of-town students at Mundelein

[40:00 – 45:00] Parietal hours, Young Republicans’ activities, Spanish immersion program in a dorm at Mundelein

[45:00 – 46:16] Classmate’s experience with the Spanish immersion program

RoseMary Calamia Mahany (RCM)

Barat College, 10-15

Basketball, 10-15

Black National Anthem, 25-30

Brooklyn, New York, RCM 0-5, RCM 25-30

BVMs, RCM 0-5, RCM 5-10, RCM 10-15, RCM 35-40

Catholic School, RCM 0-5, RCM 20-25, RCM 25-30

Chicago, RCM 25-30

Cuernavaca, Mexico, RCM 40-45

Evanston, Illinois, RCM 0-5

Francis Parker School, RCM 20-25

Healey, Margaret Irene, RCM 5-10

Irene, Margaret, RCM 10-15, RCM 15-20, RCM 20-25

King, Jr., Martin Luther, RCM 25-30, 30-35

Lawndale, RCM 20-25, RCM 25-30

Lincoln Park, RCM 20-25

Lorena, Mary, RCM 10-15

Loyola University Chicago, RCM 20-25

Mexico, RCM 40-45

Midwest, RCM 25-30

Mundelein College, RCM 0-5, RCM 5-10, RCM 10-15, RCM 15-20, RCM 30-35, RCM 35-40, RCM 40-45

Mundelein College Coffey Hall, RCM 0-5, RCM 5-10

Mundelein College Northland Hall, RCM 0-5

Mundelein College Skyscraper Building, RCM 10-15

New York (City), RCM 0-5, RCM 10-15, RCM 20-25, RCM 25-30

New York (State), RCM 15-20

New York State Scholarship, RCM 0-5

Nixon, Richard, RCM 35-40

North Shore, RCM 10-15

Our Lady of Perpetual Help School, 30-35

Parks, Rosa, RCM 25-30

Pilsen, Chicago, RCM 30-35

Queens College, RCM 0-5

Republican Party, RCM 5-10

Rogers Park, Chicago, RCM 30-35

Sanders, Aaron, RCM 30-35

Saint Pius V Church, RCM 30-35

Schmidt, Jean Dolores, RCM 15-20, RCM 20-25

South Side, Chicago, RCM 30-35

Spanish, RCM 40-45, RCM 45-50

Students for a Democratic Society, RCM 5-10

Volleyball, RCM 10-15

West Side, Chicago, RCM 25-30

Young Republicans, RCM 5-10, RCM 35-40, RCM 40-45

Zoom, RCM 20-25

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