May 11, 1998
Contact: Rebecca Arrington
	  (804) 924-3801 or rpa@virginia.edu
							

SOMETHING OLD, SOMETHING NEW
ROBE TIES TOGETHER U.VA. ALUMNI -- PAST AND PRESENT

	Among the sea of caps and gowns adorning faculty and graduates
at this year's University of Virginia Final Exercises on May 17, one
hood and robe especially reflect the rich history of the Grounds --
designed and founded by Thomas Jefferson -- on which the ceremony takes
place.
	Anne Elizabeth McIlhaney, a Ph.D. candidate in English, is the
recipient of the unique regalia, originally worn in 1925 by one of the
first women to earn a Ph.D. in English from U.Va., Elizabeth Glass
Marshall Swan. Not only did Swan wear the black robe trimmed in royal
blue velvet at U.Va. and later for academic ceremonies at the college
where she taught in Pennsylvania, she also shared it with her
brother-in-law, Thomas Jefferson Wertenbaker, a Charlottesville native
and U.Va. alumnus with deep ties to this area, for his Princeton
University commencements. 
	The robe and hood were given to U.Va. recently by Swan's and
Wertenbaker's niece, Elizabeth Marshall Nixon of Earlysville, Va., with
instructions to present the regalia to a deserving Ph.D. student in
English or history, and with a "wish for success and happiness to the
recipient" of the gift.
	"I have such fond memories of Aunt Elizabeth in the processions
for commencements and other special academic occasions," Nixon wrote to
U.Va. officials in a letter that accompanied her gift. "It seems fitting
that the academic gown and University of Virginia hood be passed on to a
deserving Ph.D. graduate ... Hopefully the recipient can appreciate some
of the history of former uses by two dedicated professors. I am certain
that Aunt Elizabeth and Uncle Tom would be delighted with my decision."
	Swan lived on the Lawn with her sister, Isabella Marshall Edgar,
and brother-in-law, Graham Edgar, professor of chemistry at U.Va., for
part of her time in Charlottesville. She also studied at Oxford
University to prepare for her dissertation on "Poetical Theories and
Criticisms of 
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the Chief Romantic Poets as Expressed in Their Personal Letters..."
which she presented at U.Va. on April 15, 1925.
	Following graduation from U.Va., Swan's career led her to
Mansfield State Teachers' College in Pennsylvania. For many years prior
to her retirement in 1966, she was chair of the school's English
department.
	Wertenbaker -- named for U.Va.'s founder by his grandfather, the
librarian at the University who was brought over from Germany by
Jefferson -- was a professor of early American history at U.Va. until he
was "'thieved' by Woodrow Wilson to accept a position at Princeton
University before Wilson became President of the United States," Nixon
wrote. 
	"Uncle Tom was chair of the history department at Princeton for
many years, during which time he wrote a number of books on early
American history. He also taught at Oxford and in Germany and was asked
by Rockefeller to be a consultant for historical and architectural
accuracy for the restoration of Colonial Williamsburg," she wrote.
Thomas Jefferson Wertenbaker, his wife, Sarah Marshall Wertenbaker, and
their son are buried in U.Va.'s cemetery.
	McIlhaney, who has accepted a teaching post at Webster
University in St. Louis this fall, says of her new, old regalia, "I am
grateful to Elizabeth Marshall Nixon for passing the academic gown along
to the English department. I feel honored to have been given a gown
formerly owned and worn by two such distinguished alumni and educators.
I am delighted to be able to wear it in my own University of Virginia
commencement ceremony and will be proud to wear it at future academic
ceremonies in which I participate."
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	For more information Anne Elizabeth McIlhaney can be reached for
comments at (804) 296-0654 or aem4t@virginia.edu. A color, electronic
image of McIlhaney in the regalia is available. It can be sent to media
as an attached document via e-mail or put on U.Va.'s ftp site. Call
Rebecca Arrington at 924 3801 for details.  Television reporters should
call the TV News Office at (804) 924-7550. 












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