Lyr Add: Mimi the College Widow

Subject: Lyr Add: MIMI THE COLLEGE WIDOW
From: and e
Date: 16 Jun 20 - 09:50 AM

MIMI THE COLLEGE WIDOW (RECORDING)

Mimi the college widow
Pride of the university
Mimi the college widow
She taught the boys anatomy
Mimi the college widow
To know her is to love her it's sure
She laid the the cornerstone of knowlege
ALSO THE WHOLE DAMNED COLLEGE
She's Mimi the college... widow.

Transcribed from the singing of Mark A. Mandel. This song is is also titled "Nellie the Campus Widow". Variants to follow in later posts.

I did several searches of Mudcat using the search box and also using Google but the only Mudcat reference I can find is the song title in Joe Offer's post of the index of Songs for Swinging Housemothers.   

Are there other posts of this song on Mudcat ?

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: MIMI THE COLLEGE WIDOW
From: and e
Date: 16 Jun 20 - 09:55 AM

NELLIE THE CAMPUS WIDOW (recording)

Nellie the campus widow,
Pride of all the university,
Nellie the campus widow,
She taught all the boys anatomy.

To know her was to love her,
Now and forever and what is more,
Behind the stone of knowledge,
She laid the whole damn college,
Nellie the campus... widow.

Transcribed from the singing of John Frushour. The tune is the same as above. He learned the song while at Indiana University in the mid to late 1950s.

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: MIMI THE COLLEGE WIDOW
From: and e
Date: 16 Jun 20 - 10:05 AM

MIMI, THE COLLEGE WIDOW

Mimi the college widow, Queen of the University,
Mimi the college widow, taught all the boy anatomy, wow, wow-
Mimi the college widow, to know her is to love her, that is sure.
She really is a honey, but she will cost you money,
That's Mimi the college lure.

High above Cayuga's waters, there's a place known as Cornell,
Mimi met a football hero, shot the team to hell.
She met a rambling wreck from Georgia Tech, and a helluva engineer.
Something of an architect, he left his footprint here, where? Here, Where?
At Wisconsin, at Wisconsin, Mimi met an all-American.
Flashed her signal, showed her colors, Landed on her end U Rah Rah.
Now Mimi got a letter and was proud as she could be.
When asked if she was on the team, "Hell, no, the whole damn team's on me!"

Mimi the college widow, queen of the University.
Mimi the college widow, taught all the boys anatomy, wow, wow,
Mimi the college widow, to know her is to love her, that is sure.
That's Mimi the college lure.

From pg 10 of The Unofficial College Song Book. This college drinking songbook is not dated [1950s], no location [internal references Univeristy of Wisconsin], no publisher.

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: MIMI THE COLLEGE WIDOW
From: and e
Date: 16 Jun 20 - 10:10 AM

Joseph Hickerson in his article, "College Songs in the Indiana University Folklore Archives," Folklore and Folk Music Archivists (1958), mentions that Mimi, the College Widow is popular song with many archived versions.

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: MIMI THE COLLEGE WIDOW
From: and e
Date: 16 Jun 20 - 10:26 AM

I love a Chi O, I always will,
Because a ChiO always will.
When I was younger and just a child,
A little Chi O drove me wild;
They call her Mimi, the college widow,
Queen of the university.
She laid the cornerstone of knowledge;
In fact she laid the whole damn college.
Hey, look at Mimi a-stranding by the door;
The call her Mimi, the college....widow!

Sung by Jean Fox and Corol Adams of the Chi Omega sorority at Indiana University on March 14, 1964. They indicated that this version was sung by Chi Omega girls all over the state in Indiana. The tune is different than in the previous two recordings. See pg 133 of Richard Reuss An Annotated Field Collection of Songs from the American College Student Oral Tradition

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: MIMI THE COLLEGE WIDOW
From: cnd
Date: 16 Jun 20 - 10:48 AM

There are 14 books containing the phrase "Mimi, the college widow" on Archive.org (click). Of particular interest is a long version of the text from the 49th Tactical Fighter Wing (undated, est. 1960s) which appears to combine school songs from Cornell, Georgia Tech, Cornell, and Wisconsin.

MIMI

Mimi, the college widow
Pride of the University
Mimi the college widow
She taught all the boys anatomy
 (anatomy Rah Rah Rah)

Mimi the college widow
Down at old Cornell
Mimi met a football hero
Shot the team to Hell

She met a Bamblin Reck [sic: Ramblin' Wreck]
From Georgia Tech
And a hell of an engineer
He was something of an Architec
And he left his Blueprints Here
(Where? Here Where? Here)

At Wisconsin, At Wisconsin
Mimi met an All American
Called his signals
Rushed her Center
Set her on her Rear
(Rah Rah Rah)

Speak--Now Mimi won a letter
 She's as proud as she can be
 You ask her if she made the team She says,
 "Hell no the whole damned team made me."

Mimi the college Widow
Pride of the University
Mimi the college Widow
She taught all the boys anatomy
 (anatomy Rah Rah Rah)

Mimi the college Widow
To know her is to love her that's for sure
She laid the corner stone of Knowledge
In fact the whole damn college
That's Mimi the College Lure
----the word is "LURE"

From 48th Tactical Fighter Wing (TFW) Hym-m-m-nal, circa 1960s

There's another version comparing Mimi to a camel at the link above, so definitely check those resources out.