Alice Boehret’s “Unmusical” Song Sheets

by Beth Ann Koelsch

The students at Woman’s College (the W.C.) were essentially restricted to campus and made their own fun with clubs, pageants, theatrical and musical productions and many other traditions. One of those was the annual “Unmusical.” According to the May 13, 1949 edition of the school newspaper The Carolinian, an Unmusical was a “programmed planned, written, and directed by the senior class for the sole purpose of a “take-off” of the faculty, presented at the last chapel program of the year. The theme for 1949 was “Through the Years.”

Alice C. Boehret (1919-2008), was a U.S. Army Nurse Corps veteran of World War II and came to the W.C. in 1946 using her G.I. Bill educational benefits. She graduated in 1950 with a degree in French and returned to her native city Philadelphia, PA to teach at Albert Einstein Hosptial. received a bachelor’s degree in French in 1950. She returned to Philadelphia to teach at Albert Einstein Hospital. In 1957, Boehret accepted a position at the Woman’s College in the newly formed Department of Nursing; she became chairman of the department in 1960.

In a recent addition to her manuscript collection there is a three-page song sheet, circa 1950, of parody lyrics about the W.C. experience set to popular tunes such as “Old King Cole”, “This is the Army, Mr. Jones”, “Comin’ In on a Wing and a Prayer”, “K-K-K-Katy” and “Pack Up Your Troubles in an Old Kit Bag.” These songs were performed by students for other students and perhaps faculty.

Let’s sing along!

Tune: This is the Army, Mr. Jones