The Archive Alcove

Month: October 2024

Autumnal Landscapes of the Past

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On October 18, 2024

In 2024-25

As Fall arrives, and leaves start to change color throughout the Midwest, it’s worth remembering some of the distinctive autumnal features of our campus landscape that have disappeared. One of those was “the Grove”— a parcel of the campus planted with trees that turned gold, crimson, and auburn each Fall (and is now home to the eastern half of the Noyes Science Center and its parking lot). The other space was the college’s arboretum and botanical gardens, located across Sixth Avenue, on the large plot of land that eventually became the home of St. Paul’s Episcopal church. In their heyday, both locations provided a calm retreat where members of the campus community could enjoy a bit of nature, particularly during the seasonal changes of Fall and Spring.

The Campus Grove (postcard)

Photograph of Grinnell Arboretum & Botanic Garden

The “Encampment” Tradition at Grinnell College

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On October 9, 2024

In 2024-25

In 1960, the Student Government Association and President Howard Bowen agreed to hold a multi-day retreat, off-campus, that would bring together a select group of students, faculty, and administrators to discuss the “Purposes and Values of a Liberal Arts Education” at Grinnell. This retreat, or “Encampment,” as they called it, became a recurring tradition, in which about 100 members of the campus community would gather at some retreat site in October, each year, to spend a few days informally discussing broader issues of campus culture and curriculum as well as tackling concrete issues, needs, or policies (on a more practical level). The tradition of encampments was seen as one of the more distinctive aspects of campus life and shared governance at Grinnell.

Images: Cyclone Yearbook 1964  and Scarlett & Black special edition, 10/11/66.

encampment in 1964 cyclone yearbook (click here for full sized pdf)

S&B 1966 coverage of encampments at Grinnell (click here for full sized pdf)

Special October Edition: How to Choose a Major at Grinnell College

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On October 8, 2024

In 2024-25

how to choose a major (click here for full size pdf)

How to Choose a Major at Grinnell College

Since October is the month when all departments (and many concentrations) host welcome sessions to provide more information for first- and second-year students thinking about their academic futures, I thought it would be appropriate to share the wisdom and insights of the Scarlett & Black editors (from 20 years ago), who created this diagram to guide the process of discernment.  You path to enlightenment begins here…

 

Dedication Ceremonies

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On October 3, 2024

In 2024-25

 

Dedication Ceremonies

While the large festivities surrounding the dedication of Renfrow Hall happened this weekend, there was another, earlier, ceremony that took place on January 30th–a “topping off” ritual (pictured here) in which select members of the community were invited to sign the final beam that would be hoisted into place to complete the structure of Renfrow Hall. The ritual of “topping off” has deep roots in Scandinavian and British history, but it is just one of a number of builder’s rites that have evolved over the centuries. Most of Grinnell’s early structures, in fact, had “foundation deposit” ceremonies in which dignitaries gathered important documents, signatures, coins, and other objects that they placed into a symbolic copper box, which they then deposited behind the cornerstone or foundation stone of a new building. These have often been discovered when the older buildings are torn down, such as the example pictured in this 1972 article from the S&B, that discusses the deposit box found when the women’s gym was torn down that summer.  Some of the contents of these earlier boxes was placed in a special time capsule that was ceremonially embedded into the floor of the new Burling Library at its dedication in 1958, with instructions to be opened in 2058. If you’re someone who likes scavenger hunts, I’d encourage you to find the plaque for this time capsule in Burling (it’s in a publicly accessible area).

 

 

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