{"id":3452,"date":"2013-02-26T20:07:56","date_gmt":"2013-02-26T20:07:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.lib.uconn.edu\/archives\/?p=3452"},"modified":"2013-02-26T20:07:56","modified_gmt":"2013-02-26T20:07:56","slug":"through-the-lens-of-an-anthropologist-scrapbooking-our-university-roots","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.lib.uconn.edu\/archives\/2013\/02\/26\/through-the-lens-of-an-anthropologist-scrapbooking-our-university-roots\/","title":{"rendered":"Through the Lens of an Anthropologist: Scrapbooking Our University Roots"},"content":{"rendered":"

Carey MacDonald is an undergraduate Anthropology major and writing intern.\u00a0 In her blog series <\/strong><\/em>Through the Lens of an Anthropologist<\/strong>, Carey analyzes artifacts found in the collections of Archives and Special Collections.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

Although college customs tend to change over time, their social ramifications remain profound and everlasting.\u00a0 We are able to observe these traditions and their impact on students from such artifacts as documents, photographs, or, in this case, from scrapbooks.<\/p>\n

The University Scrapbook Collection contains the scrapbook of one Arthur J. Randall who was a student at Connecticut Agricultural College from 1916 to 1918 when Charles L. Beach (of Beach Hall) was the college\u2019s president.\u00a0 Randall\u2019s scrapbook reflects his two years at C.A.C. in stunning detail and provides great insight into his personal college experience.\u00a0 Needless to say, this scrapbook also outlines C.A.C.\u2019s very own history and traditions and highlights the agricultural roots of what is now the University of Connecticut.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Arthur J. Randall\u2019s scrapbook is a wide, bound, bright blue book that was printed by The College Memory Book Company of Chicago, IL and copyrighted in 1914.\u00a0 It is called the \u201cMemory and Fellowship Book\u201d and is dedicated to the \u201cKeepers of Keepsakes\u201d in its inside title page.\u00a0 The Latin phrase \u201cQui Transtulit Sustinet,\u201d or \u201cHe Who Transplanted Still Sustains,\u201d is featured in gold on the front cover below a gold emblem.\u00a0 This same phrase is found on the Connecticut state seal, according to CT.gov.\u00a0 \u201cConn. Agri. Coll.\u201d and Arthur\u2019s full name and graduating year of 1918 are etched below the emblem.\u00a0 Also interestingly, the inside backing of the book shows the seals of several other American universities that must have also contracted out to The College Memory Book Company of Chicago.\u00a0 Ultimately, the scrapbook\u2019s elaborate imagery and design are indicative of the significance of collegiate history and tradition.<\/p>\n

Moreover, Randall\u2019s scrapbook includes such things as class registration cards, treasurer\u2019s cards, boarding and dining cards, Athletic Association season tickets, post office box renting fee slips, and other miscellaneous charge slips.\u00a0 He also kept many photographs of various buildings on campus, Horsebarn Hill, and his friends.<\/p>\n

His scrapbook is, in essence, a repository of rather mundane items \u2013 but items that are nonetheless useful for our purposes.\u00a0 We can glean from Randall\u2019s collection that he was likely a typical, responsible, self-aware student, by today\u2019s standards at least, as well as by the standards of his time.<\/p>\n

Also interesting is Randall\u2019s account of the campus goings-on.\u00a0 First, he marks September 12, 1916 as \u201cthe beginning of my career\u201d in the calendar section of his scrapbook.\u00a0 His \u201cComparative Athletic Record\u201d shows that he played recreational basketball on several occasions.\u00a0 He notes the President\u2019s Reception and Rope Pull \u2013 two traditional university events \u2013in October of 1917, as well as the Halloween Masquerade, Benefit Dance for the Red Cross, and \u201cfirst moving pictures\u201d in November of the same year.<\/p>\n

Randall also takes note of the fire that burned down the old chemistry building on the morning of November 27, 1917.\u00a0 This major change in the university setting was certainly upsetting, hence his note that it was a \u201ctotal loss.\u201d\u00a0 Essentially, in the academic year of 1917-18 Randall took note of many of the events he attended, which also included going to church services and Mansfield Grange meetings on a regular basis.\u00a0 It is particularly interesting that he recorded the events of his second year more than his first, and perhaps this is because he felt inclined to preserve what was left of his college career.<\/p>\n

Lastly, Randall even held onto many of his final exams, the likes of which he also discusses in his calendar notes.\u00a0 By writing on January 21, 1918 about midyear exams that \u201cto think of the next five days is enough to make you crazy,\u201d Randall implies that the university view on exams was much like it is today: exams are stressful and throw everyone into a collective state of turmoil.\u00a0 His class schedules included classes such as Veterinary Science, Agriculture, Farm Management, Animal Husbandry (which he deemed \u2018killer\u2019), Dairy Husbandry, Horticulture, Forestry, History, and, interestingly, Military Drill and Military Science.<\/p>\n

Randall\u2019s records further identify the founding of the University of Connecticut as an agricultural school, and his apparent interest in recording exactly that indicates his pride in and appreciation for the school.\u00a0 It is from these roots that our university grew and diversified into the flagship research university that it is today.<\/p>\n

Carey MacDonald, writing intern<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Carey MacDonald is an undergraduate Anthropology major and writing intern.\u00a0 In her blog series Through the Lens of an Anthropologist, Carey analyzes artifacts found in the collections of Archives and Special Collections. Although college customs tend to change over time, … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":48,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1,9],"tags":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p9NKyO-TG","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.lib.uconn.edu\/archives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3452"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.lib.uconn.edu\/archives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.lib.uconn.edu\/archives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.lib.uconn.edu\/archives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/48"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.lib.uconn.edu\/archives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3452"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.lib.uconn.edu\/archives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3452\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3458,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.lib.uconn.edu\/archives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3452\/revisions\/3458"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.lib.uconn.edu\/archives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3452"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.lib.uconn.edu\/archives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3452"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.lib.uconn.edu\/archives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3452"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}