Esther M. Doyle, pictured in the Dec. 5, 1945, edition of The Juniatian, Volumn XXII, number 11.
Esther M. Doyle taught at Juniata from 1945 to 1975. Doyle hailed from Boston, Massachusetts. She received her Bachelor’s degree from Emerson University and her Master’s from Boston University. She later received her PhD from Northwestern University while on a year-long leave of absence from Juniata in 1950. Before coming to Juniata, she taught at public schools in New York and the University of Denver. She was the head of the drama program at Cushing General Hospital in Framingham, Massachusetts.
Doyle began her employment at Juniata a mere two weeks after the end of World War II. She started as an instructor in Elementary Education and English. Doyle remained an English professor throughout her time at Juniata with a specialization in Speech. Just a month after she was hired, Doyle revived the theater program at Juniata which had completely disappeared during the war. This would spark a relationship between Doyle and the Juniata theater program which would remain for twenty years and continue after her death.
The first play performed at Juniata after the war was You Can’t Take It With You, a comedy by George S. Kaufman and Moss Hart. A newspaper excerpt advertising the upcoming play stated Doyle “has that peculiar quality that most college theater directors lack–the ability to get along with people.” The later rave review of the play attributed the existence of theater at Juniata to her. Two things are consistently praised in reviews of Juniata theater performances from the 1940s to the 1970s: the high quality of the performance and Doyle’s talent as a director. Doyle directed two to three plays a year for Juniata in the early part of her career. She was well-known as a director who elevated the material of a play. After the 1947 production of As You Like It, Coach Snider, the basketball coach said, “if I could produce a basketball team as Miss Doyle does a cast, we’d lose very few games.” She also brought back the tradition of the “Masquers,” an honors theater club.
Also in her first year, Doyle began another notable aspect of her time at Juniata: her reading and speech performances. Doyle performed multiple readings throughout the academic year, and her skills were commendable. In certain readings, Doyle played two or more characters at once, and her talent for distinguishing characters through voices was impressive to anyone who heard it. Her impressive gift of speech was made all the more noteworthy when she performed as multiple characters. Her readings consistently captured audiences’ attention. Doyle was interested in classic literature, with a particular interest in medieval and Renaissance works. She often excerpts from works like The Importance of Being Earnest, Romeo and Juliet, The Canterbury Tales, and A Man For All Seasons.
For some time, there was an annual Fall Reading Festival, where Doyle, professors, and students could perform. Whenever The Juniatian, the school newspaper, covered Doyle’s readings, her talents in speech were praised to an almost worship-like level. A review of a selected presentation of The Canterbury Tales described “Olympian Esther M. Doyle (one of the last of that beautiful race of people God gave to us to interpret the majesty of the spoken word before He discouraged of our ability to even utter intelligible sounds).”
Speech became Doyle’s specialization in the English department. In 1947, she was promoted to Assistant Professor of English. She would eventually become chair of the English Department. Doyle also became a Charles A. Dana Professor of English, one of the highest faculty distinctions given. Doyle devoted herself to Juniata through involvement with extracurriculars. She was mostly notably involved in theater, but she also assisted with the Juniata Choir and was on the faculty committee for public events.
In 1948, she went on a lecture circuit at colleges throughout Arkansas and Tennessee. She presented lecture-recitals and dramatic presentations. She edited the second volume of Studies in Interpretation, about oral interpretation of literature, which was published in 1973.
During the 1970s, Doyle served on the committee that updated the Juniata curriculum. She also won the Beachley Distinguished Teaching Award in 1973. Doyle later retired in 1975 after a long and storied career. Though even after her retirement, she was heavily involved at Juniata. She continued her professional reading performances, doing them multiple times a year for the next decade.
She was honored by Juniata with a stained-glass shield with the Juniata seal and the school colors. This honor was bestowed upon one faculty member a year, at the annual Faculty–Trustee dinner.
Even when Doyle stopped appearing at Juniata, she was still dedicated to the college. She submitted a letter to the editor of the Juniatian about grammar and punctuation in 1998. Theater performances were dedicated to her following her retirement, because of her contributions to the theater department. In 1992, the Esther M. Doyle Theater Scholarship was established. It is given every year to a freshman, sophomore, or junior who has made a significant contribution to the theater department.
A portrait and a short biography now hang in the lobby of the Suzanne Von Liebieg Theater, which has been fittingly named in her honor. A deserving tribute to the woman who revived theater at Juniata and brought it to such great heights. Doyle’s impact on Juniata will forever be remembered.
In 2006, Esther Doyle passed away.
Rachel Knearl-Wearne '26
Bibliography
Primary Sources
“Artist Floyd Here For 10 Days.” The Juniatian, (Huntingdon, PA) October 24, 1973. https://archive.org/details/juniatian-vol-50-1973-1974/page/n11/mode/2up?view=theater&q=ESTHER.
Brigman, Fay. “Initial Reaction to the Fall Reading Festival.” The Juniatian, (Huntingdon, PA), November 10, 1971. https://archive.org/details/juniatian-vol-48-1971-1972/page/n31/mode/2up?view=theater&q=esther.
Doyle, Esther M. “Congratulations!” The Juniatian (Huntingdon, PA), October 3, 1997. https://archive.org/details/juniatianVol741997-1998/page/n13/mode/2up?view=theater&q=esther.
“Dr. Crosby Honored.” The Juniatian, (Huntingdon, PA), May 15, 1980. https://archive.org/details/juniatian-vol-56-1979-1980/page/1988/mode/2up?view=theater&q=esther.
Evans, Edward Kinchley. “Lime.” The Juniatian, (Huntingdon, PA), February 21, 1973. https://archive.org/details/juniatian-vol-49-1972-1973/page/n53/mode/2up?view=theater&q=esther.
Garber, Jesse F. “Reviewer Lauds As You Like It.” The Juniatian (Huntingdon, PA), March 7, 1947. https://archive.org/details/juniatian-vol-23-1947-1948/mode/2up?view=theater.
Grotyohann, David. “Cornell Poets Read Works at Shoemaker.” The Juniatian, (Huntingdon, PA) February 21, 1973. https://archive.org/details/juniatian-vol-49-1972-1973/page/n51/mode/2up?view=theater&q=esther.
“Miss Doyle on Southern Personal Appearance Tour.” The Juniatian (Huntingdon, PA), December. 3, 1948. https://archive.org/details/juniatian-vol-25-1948-1949/mode/2up?view=theater.
Miss Esther Doyle,” Photograph, The Juniatian, (Huntingdon, PA), Dec. 5, 1945, https://archive.org/details/juniatian-vol-22-1945-1946/page/n39/mode/2up?view=theater&q=esther.
“New Appointments.” Juniata College Bulletin, Fall 1950. https://archive.org/details/juniata-college-bulletin-fall-1950/mode/2up?view=theater.
“Pat Konitzer Wins Oratorical Contest.” The Juniatian (Huntingdon, PA), April 9, 1987. https://archive.org/details/juniatian-vol-63-1986-1987/mode/2up?view=theater.
President Names Faculty Additions.” The Juniatian (Huntingdon, PA), September. 27, 1945. https://archive.org/details/juniatian-vol-22-1945-1946/mode/2up?view=theater.
Secondary Sources
“Awards and Prizes.” Juniata College, April 22, 2013. https://www.juniata.edu/academics/provost/media/convocation-scholarships-and-awards.pdf.
Kaylor Jr., Earl C. Juniata College: Uncommon Vision, Uncommon Loyalty. Huntingdon, PA: Juniata College Press, 2001.