Susan Carlson, Interview with Chris Mattix, 2021

Susan Carlson was a history major and graduated from Mundelein in 1971. She participated in Mandala, the experimental college, during its first year of operation, 1970-71. She lived in Coffey Hall during her freshman year, 1967-68, and during the first two terms of her sophomore year, 1968-March 1969. During her junior year, Susan lived in the Northland. She worked on campus 10 hours a week as a student aide in the Academic Dean's office. Initially, she worked for Susan TePas and Sister Jean Dolores Schmidt (lucky her!). Later, she worked for Sister Frances O'Shea, BVM as well as for Sister Jean Dolores. During the summer of 1970, she worked full-time in the Registrar's Office. During her senior year, Susan also worked on Saturdays at the Chicago Historical Society (now known as the Chicago History Museum).

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December 10, 2021

Susan Carlson was born and raised in 1948 in Des Moines, IA. Susan was the eldest of four children. Her father was a convert to Catholicism, and Susan was raised in the faith. Her mother was a nurse, and her father was a draftsman for a local construction company. Susan attended public school for two years before attending parochial school. Susan later attended an all-girls Catholic high school operated by the Sisters of Charity of the Blessed Virgin Mary (BVMs). Between 1965 and 1966, Susan participated in the Summer School of the Christian Apostolate where she first visited Mundelein College’s campus along with 3,000 other Catholic teenagers. Susan chose Mundelein for its location in the “big city” and its operation by the BVM order.
Susan arrived at Mundelein with the intention of becoming a secondary school teacher but quickly decided to pursue a major in history. She lived in Coffey Hall during her freshman year, 1967-68, and during the first two terms of her sophomore year, 1968-March 1969. During her junior year, Susan lived in the Northland. She worked on campus 10 hours a week as a student aide in the Academic Dean's office. Initially, she worked for Susan TePas and Sister Jean Dolores Schmidt. Later, she worked for Sister Frances O'Shea, BVM as well as for Sister Jean Dolores. During the summer of 1970, she worked full-time in the Registrar's Office. During her senior year, Susan also worked on Saturdays at the Chicago Historical Society (now known as the Chicago History Museum).
During her sophomore year, Susan was able to study abroad in Switzerland, studying French. In addition to French, she also studied Spanish, Greek, and Japanese. She began classes following the events of Vatican Council II, which drastically changed the campus experience during her years at Mundelein.
Susan attended college during several pivotal moments in United States history, namely the war in Vietnam and the Civil Rights Movement, including the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr. She remembers the activism of Black students and their fight to be seen at Mundelein including the hiring of a Black dean of students. Susan was active in opposition action to the war in Vietnam. During her junior year, Susan recalls the Kent State Massacre and her participation in a strike in response to the violence, headquartered in Piper Hall.
In her senior year, Susan participated in Mandala, the experimental college where students were more involved in designing their scholastic experience, during its first year of operation. She also audited a chemistry class during this time. Susan graduated from Mundelein in 1971.

Chris Mattix was a graduate student in the Public History Master’s program at Loyola University Chicago and a graduate assistant at the Women in Leadership Archives in 2021-2023. Chris received their bachelor’s degree in history and human communication from Western Michigan University in 2020 and focuses on the history of the LGBTQIA+ community.

[0:00 - 5:00]: Introductions, family background, choosing Mundelein, and career goals going into Mundelein.
[5:00 - 10:00]: Classes she took, term in Switzerland, and experience of moving to Chicago as a teenager.
[10:00 - 15:00]: Experience of going to Mundelein during the Vietnam War, Kent State massacre, and strikes on campus.
[15:00 - 20:00]: Black student visibility and continuation of world events.
[20:00 - 25:00]: How the Vietnam War affected her time at Mundelein.
[25:00 - 30:00]: Changes in Mundelein when she attended, lifting of dorm restrictions, and regretting not getting to know the commuters more.
[30:00 - 35:00]: More world events, difference between living in Coffey and Northland Hall, and her roommate.
[35:00 - 40:00]: Coffey and Northland Hall continued, candlelighting, and working with Sister Jean at her campus job.
[40:00 - 45:00]: Working with Sister Jean and working with Sister Mary Frances O’Shea.
[45:00 - 50:00]: Working on Saturdays at the Chicago History Museum, not pursuing a master’s in history, and applying to law school.
[50:00 - 55:00]: War protests being her extracurriculars, Upward Bound, and reading Mundelein Voices.
[55:00 - 57:30]: How a Mundelein ad got her to go to the school and wrap up.

Brahms, SC 5-10
BVMs (Sisters of Charity of the Blessed Virgin Mary), SC 0-5, SC 5-10, SC 30-35, SC 35-40
Cambodia, SC 10-15
Carr, Marge Flynn, SC 20-25
Catholic Church, SC 5-10
Catholic Theological Union, SC 15-20, SC 45-50
Chicago, SC 0-5, SC 5-10, SC 20-25, SC 25-30, SC 50-55, SC 55-60
Chicago History Museum, SC 45-50
Chicago Symphony, SC 5-10
Civil Rights Movement, SC 10-15, SC 15-20
Clark College, SC 0-5, SC 55-60
Coffey Hall, SC 30-35, SC 35-40
Conference of Curriculum, SC 10-15
Crosby, David, SC 10-15
Des Moines, Iowa, SC 0-5, SC 35-40, SC 45-50, SC 55-60
Dubuque, Iowa, SC 0-5, SC 55-60
Englewood, SC 50-55
Evanston, SC 20-25
Facebook, SC 25-30
Gannon Center, SC 10-15, SC 45-50
Hruby, Norbert, SC 50-55, SC 55-60
Iowa, SC 0-5
Johnson, Lyndon B., SC 30-35
Kennedy, John F., SC 30-35
Kent State Massacre, SC 10-15
Kent State University, SC 10-15
Lake Forest, SC 0-5, SC 30-35
Lake Michigan, SC 30-35
Learning Resource Center, SC 10-15
Loyola University Chicago, SC 20-25, SC 30-35, SC 45-50
Madonna della Strada, SC 30-35
Mandela, SC 10-15
Martin Luther King Jr., SC 10-15, SC 15-20, SC 20-25
Mimeograph, SC 35-40
Motley, Archie, SC 45-50
Mount Carmel, SC 35-40
Mundelein College, SC 0-5, SC 5-10, SC 10-15, SC 15-20, SC 20-25, SC 25-30, SC 35-40, SC 40-45, SC 45-50, SC 50-55, SC 55-60
Mundelein Voices, SC 50-55
National Guard, SC 5-10
New York, SC 25-30, SC 55-60
Nixon, Richard, SC 10-15
Northland Hall, SC 15-20, SC 30-35, SC 35-40
Northwestern University, SC 45-50
Orchestra Hall, SC 5-10
Orr, David, SC 10-15
O’Shea, Sister Mary Frances, SC 35-40, SC 40-45, SC 45-50
Piper Hall, SC 10-15
Portnoy, Kenneth, SC 45-50
Rogers Park, SC 0-5, SC 35-40
Second City, SC 50-55
Sheridan Road, SC 25-30
Sister Jean Dolores Schmidt, SC 15-20, SC 35-40, SC 40-45, SC 45-50, SC 55-60
Skyscraper (Building), SC 0-5, SC 25-30
Spanish Arms, SC 30-35
Summer School of the Christian Apostolate, SC 0-5
Switzerland, SC 5-10, SC 30-35
Tea Room, SC 15-20, SC 35-40
Trahey, Jane, SC 55-60
Tudor England, SC 45-50
University of Chicago, SC 25-30
Upward Bound, SC 50-55
Vatican II
Vatican Council, SC 25-30
Vietnam Moratorium, SC 20-25
Vietnam War, SC 10-15, SC 20-25, SC 30-35
Washington, D.C., SC 20-25
Watergate, SC 30-35
Xerox, SC 35-40
Zoom, SC 25-30

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