A picture worth a thousand words

IN 1969 OR SO, someone—perhaps Maryann Akin, a professional photographer whose daughter Rima (Akin) Little is an MLC alumna and was a young student at the time—took this iconic photograph. It has consistently found its place at the top of our every list of early photos, appearing on the 50th Anniversary poster and magazine cover—so we will give it its own page.

Emil and Helen Abramovic stand just outside their classroom, Rm. 22, at the southeast corner of the Couch building's upper floor. Sixteen students, from earliest grades to high school, present a perfect early MLC base-station grouping.

The students, dramatically side-lit, with one amusing exception have somber expressions that make them seem part of an undertaking serious and intimate.

The teachers gaze at angles to their students, Helen in scholarly black, Emil beatific in white shirt, fully illuminated. Nothing disrupts the old-school interior architectural lines but a drinking fountain.

We are just drawn to the faces.

Back row: Ricia (Smith) Parcher, Lisa (Liz Kaye) Michaelson, Andy Haight, Nicholas Hill. Middle rows: Kristi Daggett, (unidentified), Jason Lynch, Ken Dragoon. Front rows: (unidentified), Mike Brooks, Melissa Hibbard, Emily Spray, Delia (Lane) Paine, Andy Paget, Paula Hunt, Jonathan or Gregory Dubay (PLEASE HELP US CORRECT AND COMPLETE THIS LIST).