Mary Hallock Foote and Francis Wolle

Mary Hallock Foote (1847-1938) was an American illustrator and author. She was best known for her portrayals of life in mining communities of the west such as New Almaden, California and Leadville, Colorado. Her works include: The Led-Horse Claim : A Romance of a Mining Camp (1883); In Exile and Other Stories (1894); Coeur d'Alene (1894); The Prodigal (1900); The Desert and the Sown (1902); A Touch of Sun and Other Stories (1903); Royal Americans (1910); and The Valley Road (1915).

Francis Wolle 1889-1979) received his master’s degree in English at the University of Colorado and continued his graduate work at the Sorbonne and at Columbia University. He began teaching at the University of Colorado in 1913, spending forty-four years on the University of Colorado Department of English faculty. Wolle served six years as chairman of the English department. He was associated with more than eighty plays during his time at CU and was the director of University Dramatics from 1914–1940. Between 1917 and 1933, Wolle wrote, produced, and directed fifteen University of Colorado musical comedies. Wolle served overseas in the army during World War I. He advanced to the rank of captain. Upon his return to Colorado he was named commander of a company that later became the Colorado National Guard. During World War II this unit was called to service. Wolle chaired a committee that helped with navy training on campus during the war. He married Muriel V. Sibell on October 26, 1945. After Wolle retired from the University in 1959, he became active in youth ministry at the Episcopal Church in Boulder. He was ordained as a priest of the Episcopal Church in April 1973; he was granted special permission to be ordained despite age restrictions, and became the oldest man to receive ordination.