The Lincoln Hall Project « College of Liberal Arts & Sciences « University of Illinois

Jean Weigel (AB ’57, speech education) describes the life lessons she learned while helping produce performances in Lincoln Hall Theater.

I don’t think that they had lectures in the Lincoln Hall Auditorium when I was here. I know they did later, and even after they stopped doing plays there, they still used it as a place for classes. I can remember one of the first plays I ushered for. This isn’t really about the building except that I was ushering for the play Death of a Salesman. And I remember that I knew the play—I had read the play—but I was just powerfully affected by that play. And I saw it once, because I was ushering. And I thought, I need to go back and see that again. What was that that was so important? And I finally decided it was the love between the father and his sons and how exhilarated he was when they were successful and how disappointed he could be in them. And it was kind of a revelation to me. I think I hadn’t realized how important children are to parents. You think about it the other way. But I remember telling someone that I realize now how important how I was going to do in school would be to my parents.

So, you do learn things in plays, even though you go for entertainment. But I won’t ever forget that. I can kind of picture going up the steps even to the Auditorium. I remember where I was ushering that first night even—on the left-hand side, looking at the stage. It’s fun to think back about it, you know, because my experience was so positive here. I think I came to Illinois pretty much afraid of how big it was.

It didn’t cost very much to come to the University of Illinois in those days. And I even got a scholarship because my father had been in World War I. And there was a scholarship in every high school for one student whose father had been in World War I. Well, I was the only student whose father was that old (laughs), so I didn’t really have to do anything to qualify for that. But it was so much less expensive than to go to any other school. I had really, really hoped to go to a smaller school, but I loved it here. And I think that the whole experience, which I think of as Lincoln Hall—the classes and the university theater—were a big part of that. And it was able to break down a great big university into something that was much more human and much more welcoming. I hope they are still able to do that for a lot of people and in a lot of other departments too. Because I think that keeps you here—if you feel warm and kind of needed as we did.