(Davis Enterprise, Front Page, Sunday, September 19, 1999)

Proud Moment: Celeste Turner Wright speaks at an October 1997 ceremony where the dramatic arts building was renamed in her honor.

By Elisabeth Sherwin, Enterprise correspondent

Celeste Turner Wright, the first tenured woman faculty member at UC Davis, died Thursday.

Wright, 93, was surrounded by family and friends when she died in her Core Area home of almost 50 years after battling cancer.

Wright is survived by her husband, Vedder Allen Wright, and son, Vedder Allen Wright Jr., both of whom were with her when she died.

A memorial service is scheduled for 1:30 p.m. on Sept. 29 at St. Martin's Episcopal Church, 640 Hawthorn Lane, Davis.

The talented and independent Wright leaves an academic legacy that includes the development of the campus' humanities curriculum, a theater building named after her, a poetry contest she created, and countless students who benefited from her academic fervor.

Through a 51-year academic career spent teaching English, Latin, German and dramatic arts, she staked her claim to numerous firsts, including first woman faculty member with a Ph.D., first tenured woman faculty member, first campus drama instructor, first humanities professor to receive a campus Faculty Research Lecturer award and one of the first campus women to have a building named after her.

"Few faculty colleagues have so fully expressed the history, the values, and the hopes of UC Davis," said UC Davis Chancellor Larry N. Vanderhoef. "Celeste Turner Wright was a pioneer in women's search for professional recognition in the academy, an untiring advocate of the humanities and a person who never missed an opportunity to strengthen our community bonds.

"We will miss her greatly, but she has left us an indelible legacy."

Wright was born in Maine on St. Patrick's Day 1906. She grew up at a resort hotel where her father managed the store. His family invested money in wool mills.

During her elementary school years, Wright attended a three-pupil school, completing eight grades in five years.

"My father coached me in math and later in algebra," she told an interviewer. Family fortunes took a turn for the better when woolens were needed by the U.S. Army during World War I. Her father was able to retire and to take his family to California.

Her father wanted her to go to business school and become a stenographer, which he thought was a good woman's career. Her mother was determined that Celeste go to college.

When they learned that the University of California was opening a "Southern Branch" they decided Celeste should go there. This first Los Angeles campus opened with a two-year program and a required transfer to Berkeley for the last two years, but as the young scholar progressed, so did the years of schooling available in Los Angeles, and she was able to earn her bachelor's degree there. Later, she earned a Ph.D. in English at UC Berkeley.

And her professors at Berkeley helped their new Ph.D. obtain a teaching position. "We must find you a job, Miss Turner," she recalled them saying. She was introduced to Walter Howard, who was a pioneering head at Davis, then a branch of the College of Agriculture of UC Berkeley.

So Wright came to Davis in 1928 to teach and, in her words, be "a refining influence on the farm boys."

In addition to her $2,400 annual salary, she was asked to help edit agricultural publications during the summer for an additional $600. To earn $3,000 was a magnificent opportunity, but Wright also confessed that, at 22, she loved the idea of a campus with so many men.

She chaired the English department from 1928-34, chaired the Division of Languages and Literature from 1934-52 and chaired the Department of English, Dramatic Art and Speech from 1952-55.

When she arrived at the fledgling Davis campus, it had 350 students, eight of whom were women; she was one of two English department faculty members.

She retired in 1979 from an English department of 20 professors, and a university with three professional schools and 20,000 students. Today, the campus has more than 25,000 students and four professional schools.

From the moment Wright came to UC Davis until many years after her retirement, she immersed herself in campus life. She lived in the dorms as a young professor; married one of her students, "Doc" Wright; directed more than 15 plays; created and endowed a poetry prize; helped establish a Davis chapter of Phi Beta Kappa; and as recently as 1998 repeated a turn as a Picnic Day marshal, having done so previously in 1975.

Doc Wright and Celeste Turner were married in 1933 and divorced in 1970. They remained close friends and neighbors, however, and remarried in 1996.

"He faithfully attended her up to the last," said Vedder of his father. "Even though she was legally blind for the last 10 years of her life -- and loved listening to books on tape -- she kept active in her aerobics group until very recently," he added. The exercise group was known as the SOB sisters for "Save Our Bodies." These friends also served as a support group and friends to have coffee with.

She was diagnosed with terminal cancer in June.

"She also was involved with St. Martin's for many years and was a very active parishioner," added her son.

In 1997, Wright spoke and read from her poems during the dedication ceremony of the UC Davis dramatic arts building as Celeste Turner Wright Hall. In "University Woman: The Memoir of Celeste Turner Wright," in her characteristic candid manner, she talked of her theater production work.

"I still look back at my productions, about 10 full-length plays and the same number of one-acts, with considerable pride," she said.

"The building dedication was a tremendous surprise to her -- she was really delighted," added Vedder.

Many people will remember Wright as a poet. She wrote several books of poetry, including "A Sense of Place," which won a Commonwealth Club of California medal as one of the best books of 1973. Most of her poems are about her connection to place: "I write about my emotional response to place," Wright once said.

She published three collections of poetry: "Etruscan Princess and Other Poems," "A Sense of Place" and "Seasoned Timber."

And to encourage aspiring undergraduate poets, Wright created and eventually endowed the annual Celeste Turner Wright Poetry Prize, conducted under the auspices of the Academy of American Poets.

Wright's candid, witty and engaging personality, as well as her unwavering dedication to teaching, research and campus service, endeared her to many.

UC Davis English professor Peter Hays knew Wright for 33 years, since he first came to Davis. He was chosen to interview her for a segment that aired on Davis Community Television.

"She was a very fine poet and a superb editor," Hays said. "I once had her read one of my research papers, which she edited more harshly -- and improved more -- with less consideration for my feelings than I would have for a student of freshman comp," he added fondly.

Wright excelled as a scholar, he said. "She has the classic essay on Renaissance imagery in 'The Grapes of Wrath,' which scholars today still refer to. She was the sole humanist on the campus for many years," Hays said.

Additional survivors and friends include a sister, Charlene Parker, of Orange County, and two goddaughters, Alyssa and Valerie Renosto.

"Carol Chandler, Ellen Beede and Kathy West were invaluable during her difficult last illness," added her son, Vedder, who works in the Boston area as technical support staff for Software Tool and Die, the first public Internet service provider. His e-mail address is vedder@world.com.

"Deepest heartfelt thanks go to Yolo Hospice for their nurturing support during my mother's care at home and final passing," he added.

Memorial contributions may be sent to Yolo Hospice, P.O. Box 1014, Davis, CA, 95617, or to the Celeste Turner Wright Memorial Fund in the UC Davis English Department, One Shields Ave., Davis, CA, 95616 (check payable to UC Davis Foundation), or to the American Cancer Society.

-- Enterprise staff writer Marilyn Mantay contributed to this report

Sunday, Sept. 19, 1999
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