Sally Dey ‘69 – HISTORY AND SOCIAL SCIENCES DEPARTMENT, 1981-2021

First, I offer two images that kept returning to me as I worked on this tribute:

• rocks: smooth, grey, solid; structured; our bones; our essential selves, fixed and clear.
• rivers: open to the sky, constantly moving, changing; open to change.

It is hard to tell a story of your 40-year career at Milton, Sally, without first emphasizing your dedication as a teacher, from 1981 to this turbulent COVID year, guiding Class IV students through the varied cultures, texts, and turning points in the history of ancient worlds, and training juniors and seniors to analyze, with greater complexity and scholarly rigor, the rich, contested history of the United States. Generous with your time, thorough—very thorough—and meticulous in your feedback, you have been equally supportive of your colleagues. Larry Pollans, formerly of Milton’s History and Art Departments, remembers Sally’s generous support in his early days as a teacher at Milton.

“I had no foundation in the Ancient World—not a single course in college!” he ex- claimed in a recent conversation. “Sally, collaborative and concentrated, willingly shared

her expertise. I wouldn’t have survived that first year with- out her support!”

Sally brought that same fo- cus and attention to commitments outside the classroom as well, from her long tenure leading the Senior Project Committee to her sustained support of civic life through Public Issues Board, support- ing student leaders in organizing Straus Desserts, and shepherding them through the more monumental undertaking of planning and running Seminar Day. Former col- league Nan Lee also shared a vivid glimpse of Mustang Sally’s commitment as an advisor and dorm parent, recounting the snow days in Hathaway when Sally would “set up shop” in the small dining area just beyond the large dining room. As a teacher, colleague, dorm faculty, and sponsor, Sally made a commitment to Milton both steady and deep.

Sally’s connection to Milton has also been lifelong. She was a daughter of headmaster David Wickes, a graduating member of the class of 1969, and a parent to Milton graduates Russell and Alex Dey.

Maybe some of those grand- children will find their way to Milton in the years ahead, Sally.

We celebrate your long connection and contributions to this place: to learning, to nurturing informed and engaged civic life, to support- ing students and colleagues in joyful, serious, searching, and sustained pursuit of both. May this summer be a restful, restorative one, with celebratory and reflective walks along the shore collecting those heavy, grey, oval rocks smoothed by ocean tides, taking photographs of changing river sunsets. Congratulations on your long and rich career at Milton, and best wishes for your next set of adventures.

—ANN FOSTER