In an ongoing effort to digitize historical photographs and paper ephemera, Maryville University Archives has digitized and electronically published a collection of student newspapers dating from the early 1900s. The images are available online here.
While not a complete set, the newspapers span 17 years, beginning in 1906, and have several monikers: The Pall Mall Gazette (1906), The Maryville Comet (1907), and The Mississippi Bubble (1908). By 1923, the students settled on a permanent name, Around Our World, after briefly publishing as Around the World.
The early papers contain poems by and musings of the students, the latest library books and complaints about the length of recreation. One student said if she were the Reverend Mother, she would “abolish recreation entirely and allow the young ladies to spend their time reading the ancient classics.”
One delightful story from the March 1923 issue of Around the World, entitled “Shrove Days,” describes two days of revelry leading up to the Lenten season. Baby pictures of the students had been secretly collected from the girls’ families to be displayed in the ‘College Exhibition of Famous and Familiar Portraits.’ The girls were astonished to see their childhood portraits displayed to the entire school. These two days also included a Valentines celebration and a Carnival ball in the new gymnasium, featuring confetti and serpentine.
The last two issues in the collection record Maryville before and after the transition of becoming a four- year college. The students write in the June 1923 issue that graduation is a joyous occasion — the first year that graduates would not leave Maryville; rather, they would return in the fall. In the November issue, they chronicle the growing pains of becoming a larger institution. Becoming a four-year institution also meant improvements to campus, including construction on a sunken garden, a new wing and a new uniform consisting of a white linen blouse and a brown wool skirt.
As is still the Maryville way, the students looked to the future. In the first newspaper of this collection, The Pall Mall Gazette, among the other items in the ‘WANTED’ section, two classifieds stand out:
“WANTED: This newspaper to be embalmed to print for succeeding generations” and “WANTED: An invention by which we can write without the necessity of ink, lead or chalk.”
Maryville University Archives is actively seeking additional newspapers to add to the collection. Alumni and their families may consider donating or loaning such treasures to the University Archives for scanning.
For more info, contact Emma Prince, university archivist: eprince1@maryville.edu; 314.529.9491.