Cenie Myrtle Seyster Straw

Cenie Myrtle Seyster Straw

“Class baby” of 1894

"It takes a village to raise a child."

African Proverb

. . . but in 1894, it took the women of Eureka College's graduating class to name a child.

We have all heard the expression "Eureka College is like a family," but today's story is one that puts a different spin on this concept. In addition, it challenges us all to recognize the multiple levels of relationship that connect us all as an extended college family.

Eureka alumnus David Franklin Seyster (Class of 1894) married Emma Wolf in 1885, several years before coming to Eureka College to pursue his studies in hopes of becoming a minister. David’s fellow students accepted Emma as one of their own, and the bonds of sisterhood were extended to her by the women of the Class of 1894: Cenie Allison, Myrtle Lee, Mabel Claire Maxwell, Olive M. Reynolds, and Maude Wodetsky.

As the members of the Class of 1894 approached the date of graduation, so too did Emma approach the birth of her second child. By mutual agreement, the members of the Class of 1894 decided that Emma’s child would be named in honor of the class. When a girl was born, five names were placed into a hat—Cenie, Myrtle, Mabel, Olive, and Maude—and two of these were randomly selected to create the baby’s name. It was in this fashion that Cenie Myrtle Seyster came to be known.

This story is a classic example of the social sensibilities and personal affections of the late-Victorian era. The member of the Class of 1894 formed a unique community—a commonwealth of learners—that remained intact throughout their individual lives beyond Eureka College. Besides the group effort that was taken to name the "class child" in 1894, these students also made a pledge ...

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...ctive in theater in high school.) A few years later she married and became Cenie S. Straw.

Cenie Straw was a next-door neighbor of the Reagans when they lived in Dixon and she became a close personal friend of Nelle Wilson Reagan. Both women shared an interest in theater and attended the same church in Dixon.

Cenie's son Robert Straw attended Eureka College in 1938 and her niece, Ruth E. Straw, graduated from Eureka College (Class of 1945).

Cenie S. Straw was still alive in March 1970 when she had a letter to the editor published in World Call, the international publication of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ).

It is quite possible that Ronald Reagan learned of Eureka College from his early years in Dixon. This may change the story that he only learned of the school when his girlfriend decided to attend Eureka College in 1928.