Was it Chemistry? Or a Miracle?

A question arises.

A few months ago, an email from Emily (Hallinan) Mavridoglou asked: When, where, and how did Art Hallinan and Dorothy Mooney meet? "How hard can it be to figure that one out?" we thought. But sometimes a question that at first glance appears to be simple turns out to be a little bit more complicated. This is one of those times.

Was it Chemistry?

The simple (but perhaps incomplete) answer appears to be that they first met on September 14, 1940, in a night-school chemistry class (Chemistry III) at John Carroll University in University Heights, Ohio. The instructor was Ambrose F. Shmelzle (pictured to the right), a newly minted Ph.D. who was, like Art and Dorothy, in his mid-20s. (You might want to take note of the instructor's name; we'll be seeing it again.)

Art was working full-time in the family's flower business while pursuing a degree in business at night. Dorothy, having just graduated from the St. Alexis School of Nursing, was working toward the bachelor's degree that she would complete (cum laude) in 1975 after the brief interruption caused by getting married, raising a family, and having a career.

John Carroll University yearbook (the Carillon): Art Hallinan & Dorothy Mooney in images from the Night Session. (At least that sure looks like Dorothy Mooney, third from the right in the middle picture, which depicts Father Puhl's Advanced Psychology class.)

We know the date and place of the big event because Art recorded it in the daily log he kept for most of his life. Art noted that the course promised to be "fairly interesting, & tough." He also recorded that there were "About 10 in class, 2 girls incl. lead player of 'Fr Malachy's Miracle'". Appended to the "lead player" reference is a later-added footnote: "Dorothy Mooney. Cf. 12-17-40ff."

Wait. What? Dorothy Mooney was a lead player in a stage play? A play named "Father Malachy's Miracle"? She was a thespian? We have questions. Many questions.

Or a Miracle?

It turns out that Father Malachy's Miracle was first a novel and was then converted to a theatrical work. (Wikipedia supplies some information about the novel here, and the full text of the play is available at the Internet Archive here.)

The novel.
(Image from wikipedia.)

The story involves a charming and devout Scottish priest (Malachy) who prays for a miracle to show a skeptic that God still works in the world. The prayer succeeds: a dance hall near Malachy's church is whisked away and parked on a craggy wasteland 20 miles from civilization, all without spilling a drink or interrupting the dancing.

The law of unintended consequences then kicks in. Malachy gets pushback from his bishop, the Vatican, and the police. Hollywood types descend and try to buy the priest's publicity rights. The dance hall rebrands itself as "the famous miracle Casino" and does a roaring business. Malachy soon realizes that he had been presumptuous to think a miracle was a superior way to develop people's faith. On Christmas Eve, he visits the dance hall to pray with the patrons, and — voila! — a second miracle restores things to the way they were before.

What interests us in particular is the play's sub-plot about a romance between the bishop's ne'er-do-well younger brother (Andrew Gillespie) and sweet Peggy McNab, "an attractive young girl of 20" who gets understanding and guidance from the miracle-working priest. In the end, Andrew sees the light, and the happy pair wind up, well, happy.

Andrew: Bubbles ... Will ye forgive me?

Peggy (in his arms): Andrew, darling, I think you're the only man in the world who'd need two miracles to wake him up.

The play ran (successfully) on Broadway in 1937 and 1938. Then the local productions began, including a 1940 presentation by the Little Theater Society at John Carroll University. And, sure enough, there's Dorothy Mooney of the Carroll Night Session, tapped to play the role of sweet Peggy McNab.

John Carroll University Carroll News, March 27, 1940.

Here's a yearbook picture of Dorothy hard at work studying her lines with the guy who played Andrew Gillespie (Jack Murray). Fashion-conscious readers will recognize that black & white coat from its earlier appearance on the Frontenac in the summer of 1939.

The John Carroll production was a huge success (due no doubt to the skills of the leading lady). Additional performances were scheduled to meet the demand. And then the Little Theater Society got invitations to take its program on the road. One such request — readily accepted — came from the Catholic Youth Organization (CYO) at St. Mary's parish in Painesville, Ohio.

Champion Jr. High School, Painesville.
(Image from oldohioschools.com.)

So, on Sunday, May 5, 1940, the performance took place in the auditorium at Champion Junior High School in Painesville. (Props to Paul G. Hallinan for identifying the venue and finding the picture.) And in the audience that night were Art Hallinan and his parents, C.C. and Jane.

According to the Painesville Telegraph, the show was well-received, though there were some difficulties involved in performing on "a small and strange stage" — the stage hands, the paper said, were slowed down, and the audience had to wait "a little longer than usual" for scenery changes.

The reviews from the Hallinans were mixed. According to Art's log, C.C. & Jane didn't like the play. (They don't appear to have commented on the performances.) On the other hand, Art said, "in my opinion, [it] had a good theme and good characterizations," even if it was "a little too long drawn out." (Those delays for scenery-changing obviously took their toll on the audience.)

Art's log doesn't mention the role of Peggy McNab, but it's clear that Dorothy Mooney's performance made an impression, if only because he immediately recognized the "attractive young girl of 20" (actually 24) when she showed up in Chemistry III four months later. Which brings us back to ...

Chemistry (again).

As you'll recall, Art's September log entry about Dorothy included a later-added footnote cross-referencing "12-17-40ff." Back to the daily log. The entry for December 17, 1940, says, "School in eve -- plodded along on expt. on PbCl₂. Asked Dorothy Mooney, Chemist-nurse, to go to CYO party the 27th, she accepted." (Because emojis hadn't been invented yet, there is no smiley-face following the last sentence. But you can feel it.)

Scene of The First Date:
The Mentor Harbor Yachting Club in 1938.
(Image from the Cleveland Press photos collection
at Cleveland State University.)

On December 26, Art "[p]honed Dorothy Mooney re pickup time & dress-color for tomorrow nite." And on the 27th, we learn that it pays to be a florist if you're in the dating game:

"Corsages for CYO Dance (we had most of them) -- back from last delivery at 6:45.  Quick bath & dinner, then lv. at 7:45 for Cleve., picked up Dorothy Mooney (met also Mr & Mrs O'Malley, her sister & bro.-in-law.)  2 of us to Ment. Hbr. Y. Club for CYO Dance."

The evening appears to have been a success. The December 27 entry continues: "Rather enjoyable affair, principally [because of] Dorothey [sic], [who] is I think the best girl [in terms of] agreeableness, sense of humor, conversation, that I have yet met." (The bracketed bits are best-guess translations of the Latin and French prepositions that were standard usage throughout the log.) A few days later, Art took an end-of-year inventory of his romantic life (he was, after all, an accounting major). Once again he concluded that Dorothy [spelled correctly this time] was the best "[in terms of] sense of humor, conversation, agreeableness, etc."

Things moved along nicely thereafter. The couple took in films, hockey games, and museums. Art even took the young lady to a florists' trade show in February, 1941. Around that time, he proposed marriage, and she accepted. Writing the news to his brother Paul, Art said, "Dorothy is the girl. She is thoughtful, considerate, kind, intelligent, religious, cultured, beautiful, has a sense of humor and of balance; above all, has guts. Oh, yes — and we love one another."

Courting.

The florist's inherent dating advantage.

January 24, 1942.

Remember this guy?

A little more than a year after their first date, on January 24, 1942, the florist and the nurse were wed at St. Philomena's parish in East Cleveland, Ohio (the bride's home church). The presiding clergyman was Art's brother, Fr. Paul Hallinan. The matron of honor was Dorothy's sister, Eileen (Mooney) O'Malley. And the best man? Ambrose F. Schmelzle, Ph.D., the fellow who helped supply the chemistry in the first place. (We told you he'd be back.)

So how did they meet?

"Please pass the bunsen burner."
(full episode available at the Internet Archive)

If the question is, when did they meet, then that's an easy one: they first met in Chem III on September 14, 1940. The selection of the best man certainly suggests the class's central role in the whole business. And it would do a lot to explain Art's unusual fondness in later years for the "Please Pass the Bunsen Burner" episode of My Three Sons.

On the other hand, toward the end of 1941, Art assembled a tally of the relationship's "Firsts" (we did mention the major in accounting, didn't we?). The very first entry in that list is "May 5-1940 —  'Father Malachy's Miracle'".

So, if we re-frame the question to ask how they met, the play takes on a critical role, as the point at which it all really began. To put it another way: if we think of their getting together as an event, it was Chemistry. But if we think of it as a process, it started with a Miracle. And then the chemistry and the miracles just kept on going ....