My first memory of
Mary Hobbs will always be the brass doorknobs. Like the wooden banister
leading to the second floor, or the thick stone steps that lift you into the
arms of the front porch, the doorknobs were hand polished with years of girls
passing through these doors.
I would imagine
each girls touch as they opened or closed the door. Tender touch: thankful to
come in after the rain, Rushed touch: coming back to find that book before
you’re late for class, Lingering touch: after meeting your sweetheart under the
kissing tree, Firm touch: after fighting with your sweetheart or a good friend,
or All consuming: like your palm is hugging the door after months in a foreign
country and you’re just so grateful to be home.
I was obsessed
with these doorknobs. They were on every door and I got to thinking that there
might be an extra laying around somewhere, so I called around the offices on
campus trying to buy one. No luck. The second best to having one to instal in
my own future home was to photograph them. I walked around to every door and
tried to find the doorknobs that were worn most beautiful by time. All this led
to my interest with the brass name plaques that were only on certain doors. My
door, to room four on the first floor left wing, was one of them. It read Rhoda
Macy Worth and to me she seemed like a combination of Harriet Tubman and
Audrey Hepburn.
But there were
more plaques too. Who were these women? Were they all dead? Past residents?
Financial contributors? Quakers? Professors? Could I have my name
beautifully inscribed on a plaque in Hobbs Hall one day? These questions are
what led me to call the Alumni house and poke around for an answer.
A year later,
after graduation in 2007, I was asked to come to Guilford and help organize the
Hobbs Reunion. It was a year away at the time and even while I was working hard
and buying tickets around the world (Greece, Hawaii, the Bahamas) I knew no
matter where I was I had to come back and be part of this project. Because
Hobbs was my Guilford experience, it was my home, my heart, my saving grace,
and when I got that call it felt like I was being called home.
Grace Boyle, '07
