Milly Benson Bielaski

Letters
June 10, 1921
February 8, 1928
March 10, 1931
July 18, 1936

Handwritten Excerpt (66 KB)

Photographs
Mandolin Club

Millie Benson Bielaski, her daughter Be, '33, her granddaughter Barbara Bielaski Kitchell, '59, and her great granddaughter. (127 KB)

November 1903 Kalends:

Claire Ackerman is laboratory assistant in chemistry, and Amelia Benson in physics, at the college. Both are doing graduate work there, as is also Charlotte Jones.

1904 Program:

Assistant in Physics Laboratory, Woman's College, 1903-.
Present address: 2704 St. Paul Street, Baltimore, MD.

October 1904 Kalends:

Amelia Benson is teaching physics at the Western High School.

June 1909 Kalends:

Amelia Benson has announced her engagement to Mr. A. Bruce Bielaski, a graduate of the Law School of George Washington University. The wedding will take place June 30.

March 1914 Kalends:

Amelia Benson Bielaski, Mollie Cullom Walker, and Lottie Magee visited in Baltimore at the time of the installation ceremonies.

February 1915 Kalends:

Amelia Benson Bielaski has a son, born November 27.

October 1929 Alumnae Quarterly:

Amelia Benson Bielaski's daughter will be a Freshman at Wellesley this year.

July 1930 Alumnae Quarterly:

Milly Benson Bielaski, like choice wine, improves with age. She looked as young as ever and was most attractive. She made a big hit with the 1903 daughters. Milly has a lovely home and family at Great Neck, Long Island. She is president of the Woman's Club- and a very fine one, we hear. She has a son, a Sophomore, at Amherst, and a daughter, a Freshman at Wellesley; another daughter graduating from High School, and a boy still in High School. No wonder Milly looks young and happy, keeping up to this family.

July 1932 Alumnae Quarterly:

Millie Benson Bielaski has two daughters in Goucher, Amelia, a Senior next year, and Jane, a Sophomore.

May 1938 Alumnae Quarterly:

Millie Benson Bielaski has been kept busy as family chauffer in the place of her daughter, Jane, who had an emergency appendectomy on New Year's Eve.
Millie's oldest son married a Smith girl and they now have a little daughter, so Millie is in the grandmother class. Her youngest boy finished at Amherst and is in Hartford with the Actua Insurance Company. "B," the older daughter, is associated with the Cornell Extension work on Long Island.
"These past two years,"Millie writes,"have been very busy ones. As we wrote, Daisy Murphy Matthews and I worked on the Woman's Club here in Great Neck, Long Island. The Long Island Goucher group meets about three times a year. They are to come to the Woman's Club this month (April) for the spring meeting."

November 1938 Alumnae Quarterly

Amelia Benson Bielaski was chairman of a flower show held recently at Great Neck, L.I. under the auspices of local garden and women's club groups.

May 1939 Alumnae Quarterly

Millie Benson Bielaski and Daisy Murphy Matthews were two of the hostesses who helped to arrange a luncheon and tea for the Long Island Goucher Club on March 23. The luncheon was in honor of Dr. Robertson, who spoke on "The GOucher Way" later at the tea, where Goucher alumnae, prospective students and their mothers were present. The party was held at the Woman's Club in Great Neck, Long Island.

July 1939 Alumnae Quarterly:

Millie Benson Bielaski reported that guests, the Fair, and a garden party for Goucher prevented her from attending our reunion. Millie is deep in Club work.

May 1940 Alumnae Quarterly:

Milly Benson wrote me in March from Lake Worth, Florida. Her husband was very ill with pneumonia in December, so they had gone south to help him recuperate. We trust his recovery is complete by now.

February 1947 Alumnae Quarterly:

Amelia Benson Bielaski represented Goucher at an academic convocation celebrating the 50th anniversary of the chartering of Adelphi College, on June 1, in Garden City, Long Island.

November 1948 Alumnae Quarterly:

"Now that my family are grown and all away from home except our daughter Jane, we run on a pretty regular schedule. Jane is married and since her husband came back from the war they have made their home with us.
Bruce goes off on trips quite often and I usually tag along. I think I am a tramp naturally. Last December we went to Miami Beach and Havana. Then since, we went to Philadelphia, Sky Top, French Lick and Manchester, Vermont. They are usually trips of a week or ten days, but lots of fun.
I still am active in our Woman's Club. Daisy Mathews and I feel we just have to help run it.
Always I have enjoyed the garden. I find I can't weed, hoe, or spade like I used to, but I still do quite a bit and really love it.
We work with the Long Island Goucher Club a lot. I think I am the most 'antique' member- Daisy and I probably are a tie on that. This is all just homey gossip to you- hardly seems interesting to anyone."

Spring 1954 Alumnae Quarterly:

"Bruce and I are flying to London in March, then to Paris, Switzerland, the Italian Lakes, Italy, etc. We sail from Naples, calling at Salerno, Gibraltar. and Lisbon on our way home. Naturally I am a bit excited now, reading guide books and comparing places described with my memories of them from 46 years ago, when I made this trip the year before I was married."

Winter 1955 Alumnae Quarterly:

Millie Benson Bielaski wrote just after a Thanksgiving party at which she had entertained guests for dinner, - son, daughter, grandchildren, sister, and friends. But most of her letter was about her European trip, "which was grand. It was 46 years since I had been to Europe, and this time everything was so different. Bruce and I flew to London the last of March - a fine trip - finding spring flowers in bloom and all the country lovely an d fresh. Then we flew to Paris, but from there we drove around to all sorts of interesting places. To Switzerland and then into the fairyland of the Italian lake country. To sight see we drove through Italy. Then to Sicily, Gibralter, Lisbon, and back to Halifax. I want to go back to Lisbon, which I found especially interesting. During the summer I was home most of the time. A trip to New Orleans in the early fall was like going abroad again.
I still play with my paints. Had pictures shown at the art exhibitions at Cooperstown. I have been trying portraits this fall.
Florence Carmine is certainly a traveler! She has almost covered the globe, and I envy her her trips. When we were up in Alaska not so long ago we didn't get into the wilds as she did."

Spring 1956 Alumnae Quarterly:

"Yes, Bruce and I leave March 31. Will fly to Lisbon and stay in Portugal a while, then on to Madrid and southern Spain. We shall fly from Madrid to Frankfort and wander around Germany for a time, coming home on the "America" where we can rest. You know I think I am part tramp for nothing pleases me so much as to wander around. I never get tired, and feel years younger after a trip. Last June we went to Hawaii, which we liked so much that we are hoping to go back soon."

Spring 1957 Alumnae Quarterly:

Millie Benson Bielaski tells us a little bit about her marvelous trip last spring to Portugal (by way of the Azores), to Spain and to both West and East Germany. "We arrived in Madrid just a little ahead of the Sultan of Morocco, and had a grandstand seat to see all the ado they made over him. We went to Toledo, Seville, Granada, and Malaya, then flew back to Madrid. In Seville we saw a bull fight, in which the bulls were much better than the matadors, according to our ideas. Next we flew to Frankfurt, and other West German towns, and were very much impressed every place by the way the country is recovering. One real treat was the opera in Weisbaden. I almost froze on the trip down the Rhine to Cologne, in spite of the two coats I wore. Those lovely towers are as lovely as ever, and the cathedral is under repair. There are many fine streets, new stores, and apartments, but acres of rubble still. When we drove over to East Berlin, it made me sick to see the Tier Garten overgrown with weeds and little trees, and the Brandenburg gate just stripped; I was remembering how it was when I visited there before I was married. But the Russians had done one fine thing - they had set up the paintings in the Art Galelry and we saw the SIstine Madonna. How wonderful it is! Flew to Hamburg, then by train to Bremen, coming home on the America to rest up. Last fall we flew to Houston for Bruce's fraternity meeting and later to New Orleans for a short visit. Stayed put since coming back, keeping house, painting, etc.
Our next flight will be to Honolulu and Japan.
So glad to hear news of Charlotte and Emilie, and am surely glad also to hear that Thyra has improved. She wrote me such a nice letter.
We have a sophomore granddaughter in Goucher and a freshman granddaughter at Lake Erie College."

Winter 1958 Alumnae Quarterly:

"Yes, indeed, I expect to be at Reunion in June. The Bielaski clan will be well represented, for our oldest daughter will be there for her class gathering, '33. We got back from our trip Nov. 5 after a wonderful time, flying to Hong Kong Oct. 25, shopping one day in San Francisco, 8 days in Hawaii which we love, a week in Tokyo to which we expected to return after 2 days in Hong Kong. The night before we planned to leave, however, I slipped in a sampan, broke my ankle, and ended in Queen Mary Hospital - a wonderful place, where the surgeon did a masterly job on my ankle. So, though I was in Japan, I did not see what we had planned. I still have a cast on my leg, and there are many things which I should be doing, but expect to be walking normally by reunion time."

Spring 1958 Alumnae Quarterly:

Milly Benson Bielaski says that she is about on her own two feet again and wearing her own shoes and driving her own car and feels fine! Good for you, Milly! We knew that you'd be around and about pretty quick. And it will be so good to see you at the reunion.

Summer 1959 Alumnae Quarterly:

Milly Benson Bielaski and her husband were about to return home after a stay in Cooperstown, N.Y. They were taking their daughter "B" back with them for recuperation from 2 serious operations - heart and thyroid. She came through the ordeal very well and just needs rest to complete the cure. Milly reports no long wanderings, just one trip to Florida where Bruche had to attend a meeting. He retired last November. "Our granddaughter graduates this June and Jane has her 25th reunion so we may see Goucher again this summer."

Winter 1960 Alumnae Quarterly:

Milly Benson Bielaski is off with her husband on a world tour in a cargo ship. They left New York the day after Thanksgiving and will be returning about the time this bulletin reaches us. They go by way of Panama, San Francisco, Manila, etc., living on the ship all the way, giving her time, Milly hopes, to do some reading. It seemed to me that they were taking half of their library and I'll wager she doesn't do one tenth of what she now thinks she will. It's such a luxury to just sit! She still paints and she should take her paints along, too.

Spring 1960 Alumnae Quarterly:

We expected Milly Benson Bielaski and her husband to return home from their global tour about the time that the last bulletin came out, and so it happened. Bruce and Milly had a most satisfactory voyage in a cargo ship - no time tables to fret about, long hours of resting, reading and watching the water, good food and comfortable quarters. Do you wonder that they want to make another similar voyage?

Winter 1961 Alumnae Quarterly:

"The George Washington," Vol. 4, 1. tells of the election to the University "Letterman's Hall of Fame" of Bruce Bielaski, our Milly's husband. He was Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation before it became known as the FBI and was in charge of the investigation of German activities during World War I. The Bielaskis were on the Pacific last Christmas Eve, and crossing the date line the next day they lost Christmas altogether. Milly says their next trip will be to Australia, for they love the sea in all its moods. Milly looks forward hopefully and happily to June.

Fall 1961 Alumnae Quarterly:

Milly Benson Bielaski has two great grandchildren, a boy and a girl. You are mighty young looking great grandparents! She tells of no more trips since their round-the-world journey last year, but hopes to visit Australia and New Zealand. Their oldest son had a heart attack in May and has spent the summer recuperating. Our prayers for his complete recovery will include the faithful doctors who are laboring so earnestly to help the heart patients.

Summer 1962 Alumnae Quarterly:

Milly Benson Bielaski and her husband are in good health and when Milly says she is cooking often for as many as five I can believe her. The lilies of the valley that Milly took up from Maryland have done so well that she has several large patches from which friends just help themselves. Their garden must be an all-year delight.

Spring 1963 Alumnae Quarterly:

Amelia Benson Bielaski assures us she will come to reunion and (lucky woman!) will bring her daughter, Amelia '33, for her thirtieth. One granddaughter is recently married and living in Germany. How we Americans do get about!

Winter 1964 Alumnae Quarterly:

Milly Benson Bielaski says that her husband doesn't walk much and they are rather confined, but it is a beautiful home to stay in , where their children love to come back for Thanksgiving and Christmas.

Spring 1964 Alumnae Quarterly:

We send our heartfelt sympathy to Amelia Benson Bielaski in the death of her husband, A. Bruce Bielaski, whose long life of service to the public began with his work with the F.B.I. which he headed from 1912-1919. It included hunting down spies and saboteurs and breaking up liquor smuggling and arson gangs - a colorful and sometimes dangerous career. Amelia, or one of the sons or daughters, should really write the story of Mr. Bielaski's life with the background of their interesting home life.

Spring 1967 Alumnae Quarterly:

Milly Benson Bielaski and Edith Powell Pringle say they are doing many of the same old things, but in moderation, a little gardening, some travel, church work, music (Edith), and painting (Milly).

Winter 1969 Alumnae Quarterly:

Amelia Benson Bielaski found her trip to Cooperstown not too hard and quite satisfying. She is now working on a landscape in oils. She and I both recommend painting as a hobby for retirees. Milly makes light of a fall that injured her leg; I hope it is really a thing of the past.

Winter 1970 Alumnae Quarterly:

Milly Benson Bielaski has left that lovely Long Island home where she lived so long to be with her daughter "B" in Cooperstown, N.Y. She has her roooms all on the 1st floor. No steps. One room is studio-size, where Milly has set up her easel. She was already quite familiar with that charming town and its interesting history.

Winter 1971 Alumnae Quarterly:

Milly Benson Bielaski has seen a good deal of the world in her travels, but none of her trips gave her more pleasure than traveling recently with her daughter as far south as Raleigh, visiting relatives in Pennsylvania and New York on the way back. She still paints a little. None of us do as much as we used to, even in the fields of our hobbies.

September 1971 Alumnae Quarterly:

Milly Benson Bielaski still paints. Wouldn't you like to see her latest picture - a study of Chinese lanterns? Milly, by the way, has eight great-grandchildren!

Summer 1973 Alumnae Quarterly:

For the past 4 tears I, Milly Benson Bielaski, have been living with my daughter, Be, in Cooperstown, N.Y. I enjoy our rides summer and winter in the beautiful countryside, still paint a little, and enjoy my new friends at church, and keep in touch with many old friends in Great Neck. My oldest son, Bruce, a lawyer, lives in St. James, L.I. Jane, another Goucher girl, is married and lives in Glenridge, N.J. Bob, an insurance broker in Boston, lives in Weston, Mass. I have five grandchildren and nine great grandchildren. This keeps me busy with letters and birthday cards. I plan to go back to Goucher in June with Be who will be attending her 40th reunion. Hope some of you 1903 girls can make it too so we can have a 70th reunion. There were 57 members in our class, and the above notes report on ten of them as Alice and I knew the news.

Summer 1974 Alumnae Quarterly:

"Although I missed not seeing any of you at our 70th reunion last year, I was taken good care of by my daughter Be's class of 1933. I also got the surprise of my life when Dr. Perry announced at the banquet that the first Milly Benson Bielaski Prize in Chemistry had been awarded at graduation. My younger son, Bob, and his wife had started it as a surprise for my 70th reunion. My granddaughter, Barbara Bielaski Kitchell, '59, a chemistry major at GOucher, got her Ph.D. in chemistry at Duke this year, and another granddaughter, Jennifer Bielaski, who graduated from Mt. Holyoke, got a master's in journalism at Oregon. Along with these joys came the sadness of the sudden death in March of my oldest son, Bruce."

Winter 1975 Alumnae Quarterly:

"This summer my granddaughter from Florida came for a visit with her three children and husband, so now I have met all nine great-grandchildren. We have a possibility of one of the four girls being the fourth generation to go to Goucher."

Summer 1975 Alumnae Quarterly:

"A bright spot in my winter was meeting Sian B. Jones '72 from Montclair, Nwe Jersey, who is a student in the art conservation program here in Cooperstown. I believe Sian will be back in Baltimore doing her internship this fall. My youngest granddaughter, Jennifer, is being married in June and I expect to attend the wedding in Great Barrington."

Winter 1976 Alumnae Quarterly:

"I have gotten to be a real Cooperstonian and enjoy church and club contacts. This summer the F'orida grandchildren came again, as did Jennifer before leaving for Texas with her husband. We went to Boston to see my son and to New Jersey to see Jane. We had a family party for my 93rd birthday in September. I still enjoy traveling and people, and plan to paint a picture for one of my grandson's Christmas."

Summer 1976 Alumnae Quarterly:

"Cooperstown had a cold wet winter, but now the spring flowers are out and somehow surviving the cold nights. My son from Boston with his wife and two sons came to have Easter with us, and we are hoping with good weather more of the family will be coming to visit."

February 1977 Alumnae Quarterly:

I believe there are only four of us left now...I had my first airplane ride in 1920 in Boston. This year I celebrated my 94th birthday in Boston by taking my first motorcycle ride with my grandson as pilot. I am very proudof my granddaughter, Barbara; she still is very active in many things in Raleigh.

Winter 1978 Alumnae Quarterly:

"A pleasant surprise on my 95th birthday was a visit from Jill RObinson, a 1977 graduate of Goucher who lives in town. She brought me a rose and news of the college. She plans to go to France to continue her studies...Be and I are joining my son and family in Point Clear, Alabama, for Thanksgiving and his birthday. It will be a nice party. I hope I'll be able to attend the reunion in June."

Summer 1979 Alumnae Quarterly:

The College and the Quarterly regret to report the death of Millie Benson Bielaski. The following column was submitted by Mrs. Bielaski just before her death.
"As far as I know just Alice Dunning Flick and I are about all that is left of 1903...My eyesight is poor now so I don't write many letters, but I do enjoy our drives in the countryside. I'm looking forward to July when I expect a visit from my thirteenth great-grandchild who was born in Houston in March. Maybe she will be the fourth generation to go to Goucher."
Last Updated 9/14/99.
Copyright 1999.