WAA to exhibit Rockwell painting

Alumni returning to campus for the annual Alumni Weekend will have the opportunity to view the original of Norman Rockwell’s painting “Willie Gillis in College.”

The piece will be on display in the board room of the Wisconsin Alumni Association‘s Martin and Florence Below Alumni Center, 650 N. Lake St., from 8 a.m.-4 p.m. May 10-13.

The painting was the final in a series of Saturday Evening Post covers that traced the wartime adventures of the fictional solider Willie Gillis. It features him in his dormitory room, reading a book, with a helmet, bayonet and ribbons in the background, serving as a reminder of his military days.

“Willie Gillis in College” is a significant piece of Americana. It is Rockwell’s tribute to the GI Bill, which has enabled more than 20 million veterans since 1944 to pursue advanced education. The painting is on loan from the Washington Mutual Bank of Seattle. The loan was arranged by the College of Letters and Science and Lou Pepper, a 1950 L&S graduate and former CEO of the Washington Mutual Bank.

“We are delighted that one of our alums has chosen to honor the university in this way,” says Judith Craig, associate dean for the College of Letters and Science. “This will be a great way to reunite alumni from all over.”

A display of World War II photographs and memorabilia will complement the painting, as will a continuous slide show created by Betty Ferris, editor of the Wisconsin Reader at UW–Madison libraries.

Madison attorney Tony Brewster, president of the Class of 1950, will deliver remarks at the class dinner during Alumni Weekend. Brewster, who was 17 when he entered college, says it was exciting to attend classes with older veterans. “They had no expectation, no dream of going on to college when they entered the service,” he says. “In 1940, only one out of twenty Americans had a college degree.

“A college education, which had been the preserve of a privileged few, was suddenly there for them, and they just were so excited about it. They had great focus. They didn’t cut class – they were just glad to be in class. It was an exciting time on the campus.”

The veterans had great interest in what was being taught, Brewster says, and the faculty met their numerous questions with exceptional respect and attention, “because the students had been places where the faculty had not been. So that created sort of an electric atmosphere in the classroom. It was contagious. It was a great time for America, and a great time to be on the campus of any college or university, and it was the GI Bill that did it.”

A reception for emeritus faculty, alumni, and friends of the College of Letters and Science is scheduled 9-11 a.m. Saturday, May 13, in the Alumni Lounge, complementing the Rockwell painting with a photograph exhibit compiled by John Jenkins and E. David Cronon, authors of of “The University of Wisconsin – A History” Volume III (1925-1945) and Volume IV (1945-1971).