I think that if Morna suddenly found herself on Cemetery Ridge during
the Battle of Gettysburg at the height of Pickett’s charge, she would say, really
wanting to know, “All right, who started this, and why?”
Speaking to parents of girls who would potentially attend the Girls School
as dorm students, Morna made the following down-to-earth observation:
We see the disadvantages of the dormitory situation, where one person’s injured
feelings are multiplied in a chain reaction. The first girl sounds off, and since the
quantity of girls in Glenn Hall is in excess of critical mass, this outburst strikes other
girls. Each girl hit emits two or more outbursts, and in no time the mushroom cloud
hangs over the campus. But I am exaggerating like a teenager.
While she was well aware of the challenges of being a parent, particularly
of an adolescent girl, she noted:
Don’t be afraid to hold the line in the face of tears and slamming doors. We tend
to shy away from doing anything or saying anything that will cause our adolescent
children to slam the door between us, either physically or figuratively. But if in
handling problems, we are truly looking toward the real welfare of our girls, if we
are acting from love for them rather than our own gratification, the door that was
slammed shut will open before long, the storm clouds will clear away, and the bonds
will be stronger than ever. Some daughters have been known to thank their parents
for being strict and not allowing them to do things they have wept to do a few days
before. However, most daughters do not put their thanks into words until 10 or 20
years later.
Morna stepped down as Principal of the Girls School in 1971, but resumed
the role in 1976 and continued until 1982. She stayed on beyond when she
had submitted her resignation because a tumultuous process was going on:
discussing whether the Secondary Schools should be united into a single
school or remain as two, and also allowing time to find a replacement.
As with anyone in an administrative role, while Miss Morna had people
who responded very positively to her presence and decisions, others did not.
After going into mandatory partial retirement at 70, she continued to teach
part time, and then served in the student support program, tutoring in math
until 2007 when she was in her late 80s. A coworker and great-niece in that
student support program said that Morna’s help was essential and still quite
effective.
One of the features of Morna’s adult life was her love of skiing. A spring
break ski trip was a wonderful change from the challenges of principal. Morna
skied in Colorado, New England, Switzerland, Austria and elsewhere. She
continued skiing into her 80s. She also traveled extensively in this country and
across the Atlantic. Many fondly remember her white Oldsmobile convertible
that she drove for many years.
Part of the richness of Morna’s life, beyond her work at the Girls School,
339