I like going on “self-dates” where I go do something by myself that I enjoy. I’ve gone to the movie theater, restaurants, the park and bars by myself and it’s honestly a great time, almost on par with mother-son bonding activities. My most recent date was dinner and a visit to the Special Collections Library.
“I’ll take the earliest copy of The Cavalier Daily you have please,” I asked the librarian. The new Cavalier Daily logo has “1890” in it and I don’t know why but I feel like somebody on staff needs to check that out, and everyone else is busy with real news.
Five minutes later I’m sitting in the reading room alone, underground directly beneath the purple bushes I always watch the bees pollinate on my way to Alderman. A tad over-dramatically, the automatic double doors slowly open and the librarian makes unabashed eye contact with me as she walks in with a box of articles and places them in front of me. It’s pages of College Topics, the old name of The Cavalier Daily, from 1890. She leaves, silence returns.
I have a knack for ruining dramatic moments, which I achieved this time by unceremoniously leaving the reading room to fill out a form so I could take pictures. Upon my return through the slow-opening doors I whip my phone out, hover over this century-old front page to take a picture, and drop my phone on it.
“Sorry!” I mouth to the librarians from across the glass.
Undeterred, I went to the next page where I discovered my new favorite newspaper section: “Social Notes.” It’s just a list of one-sentence blurbs about everyone’s social life that fills the entire page. For example:
“Miss Abbott is at Prof. Mallet’s, visiting her friend, Miss Estelle Burthe.”
In case you were wondering. Some are oddly specific. For example, at 10 a.m. on a fateful Monday morning in March, 1890, Miss Rosa Williams married Mr. H. L. Hillebrand. The ceremony was in Rosa’s parents’ home. In the library. Wait, let me clarify: Mr. Hillebrand and his best man, Mr. Quakenbros, entered the library from the parlor. Just, you know, in case you were wondering the logistics of it.
I read on. One of my personal favorites from the yellowed pages was:
“Mr. Waters has returned from a short trip to Richmond. He reports the young ladies as being in ‘excellent condition.’”
Let’s unpack this. Mr. Waters reported this, meaning one of my predecessors interviewed him about his trip to Richmond and may have asked:
“Say, Mr. Waters, how were the young ladies in Richmond this weekend? The public needs to be informed!”
I began to catch on that the Social Notes of this boys-only institution focused a lot on the ladies.
“Miss Lizzie Harrison is in Richmond, where she is a great belle.”
Boom. One sentence story. Print it, baby, print it. Is Lizzie a great belle? Yes? Ok, no further questions your honor. Leave them guessing.
Whatever happened to this real, unbiased journalism from the days of yore? I’m going to ask the Cav Daily higher-ups to bring back the Social Notes.
Anyway, the library was closing in 15 minutes, so I put a handful of pages to the side to see what was in the middle. It was Social Notes again, and the first line read:
“Miss Lizzie Harrison has really returned from Richmond.”
I have five different theories about what happened to Lizzie in the handful of pages I skipped, from the report she was a great belle in Richmond to the report she really returned from the city.
I also found the writing of a guy with my same job 116 years ago: a columnist. I have to say I disagree with the content of his piece, “A Defence of the Girls” which begins:
“Though a modest, retiring youth, I am still so strongly saturated with a deep and tender affection for the ladies — God bless ‘em! — that my chivalrous nature is afire at the mere thought of some recent merciless, and to my girl-imbued ear most unjust, articles on their flirting propensities. I feel called upon to come out of my shell in their defence, even at the risk of being totally annihilated by my own blushes.”
So apparently College Topics was running articles complaining about girls, which girls I don’t know, being too flirty, and this author feels obligated to rescue their reputation with his knightly pen.
“Our girls are too womanly, too tender, too true, to ever willingly give undeserved pain. They would never flirt – oh! hateful word – if left to their own devices,” he writes.
I’ll let you take his thoughts as you will. I think the two of us have had different college experiences.
I enjoyed reading these Social Notes from 1890 for the same reasons I like reading today’s obituaries — it’s a peep into a life, a time. It’s a perspective-shifter to read about all these regular human experiences, come and gone. It’s akin to looking up at all the stars and feeling small. Thought provoking stuff! I think it was a successful self-date — I would definitely take myself out again.
Read More
Lending a hand during the finals push
By Abby Snowdon | YesterdayThe race to the end of the year has begun, and University groups have set up pit stops along the course to help students get to the finish line.
The spring fashion trend for you based on your college lifestyle
By Malone Morchower | YesterdayIn 2024, decades of different styles have come back, culminating in a casual yet exciting fashion.
University gym culture uplifts student fitness
By Mia Tan | 3 days agoFor these students, the most Herculean gym pursuits are less about achieving the build of a Greek god and more about building long-lasting, healthy relationships with the gym.
