Amherst College - Olio Yearbook (Amherst, MA)

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TI-IE AMIIIERST COI.I.liGlC OLIO. 5 HISTORYOF THE AMHERST OLlO.l At the first general assembly of the MDCCCXCI. OLIO Board, alter careful consideration of- the varied interests at stake, the following resolution was drawn up and unanimously adopted :- Whcrerzx, The present OLIO Board is expected to produce a junior YM Ffllllffll-Y Annual according to precedentg and R4'50!7'f'0'l U Whereas, Great ignorance prevails in regard to the origin and mf l301U'fl'- history of said Ouog therefore, ll' VVc insert thc following derivation from Skenlfs litymologicnl Dictionary :- Olin, at lnixlurc, lncdlcy fSpnn.-IJ. A IlllSlilliL'll form of ohh, which is :un li. spelling of Spun. nlhl, sounded very nearly :ls uhh, the Span. llnnswering lo li. 41' or In IC. l7ll' in nlfflliul.-SIDSYIL vffrl. H il l'0lIlIKl enrlln-n lllll,1lIl ogliul' f.rli:J5 hlezulnws. Properly, the lmlcr sense is due to the Span. dish culled alla pm!'r1Mr, n dish uf various lnuzils nnd vegeladxles, hence :l mixture, medley, olio.-Lat. vlhr, n pol 5 from O. Lal. fmh1,:x pot. Root nncerlnin,

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PREFACE. Ever since the publication of the last OLIO, we have been striving in vain to understand the misau d'6lrc for its biographical sketches, its History of Amherst College, and its long extract from an old Cefzlmjy ZVfagazz'm'. In the preparation of this book our constant aim has been : I. To restore the junior Annual to its old-time position of Collage Clmw' and Crz'lz'r, faithfully reflecting theilast faint flickering of the reckless and irresponsible Sophomoric spirit 5 2. To grind, irrespective of age, sex, or previous condition of servitude 5 3. To preserve a strict impartiality in grinding the two adjacent classes, realizing the fact that '90 fails as completely to fill the place of a Senior class as ,92 does that of a Sophomoreg 4. To handle the Freshmen with tender sympathy, in the hope that they will give B500 to the base-ball team next spring, 5. To bring into the compass of a single moderate volume an adequate treatment of the countless pranks of a college year. The innovations in the Art of Grinding sufficiently explain themselves. The authorities most constantly consulted in the preparation of this work are Dinner-Table Gossip and Amherst Wind-bags, by McFadden the Youngerg Contemporary College Chumps, by Zeb Durand, and Horses That Have Helped Me, by A. S. Cooley. With this brief statement the volume is respectfully committed into the hands of professors and students. In conclusion we wish to express our grateful acknowledgments to Moxy, Cooley, Hicks, and Senftner, without whom the undertaking would probably never have been executed. THE EDITORS.

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6 TIIE AMHERST COLLEGE OLIO. Resolved, That two members of the Board be chosen by ballot to compile from original sources a History of tl1e Amherst College 01.10 from its inauguration to its present grand cul- mination: primarily, for the use of the Board, secondarily, for the instruction of the College 77 world' Accordingly, after six months of wearisome and confining labor in sifting and verifying original manuscripts, the two historians 7.w.b' of the Board, with a realizing sense of the impossibility of any merely human labor being absolutely accurate, do pre- sent the following Outlines of the History of the Amherst College OLIO. The small grain of mustard seed from which the noble branches of the 01.10 were to spring was the College Dial, a four-page news- Superh uma n 7f2'?'Cff!4Z're paper sheet which was termed in the College Records' the DMI. 3 Undergraduate Catalogue. This tender little seedling was, however, frozen out by the bitter frosts of undergraduate indi- gence and penuriousness. Eight years later it was revived and issued under the suggestive and euphonious title of the Amherst College OLlO.H At great expense we have procured a photographic reproduction of A TW this first Junior Annual tFig. 11.1 This OL10, interesting as it is MIIIERST to the antiquarian, has little intrinsic worth, as it is merely a care- less compilation of the various college organizations. As we ex- amine this poor, miserable, insignihcant sheet, with its meager statistics and its two wretched doggerel poems, we see no promise of the mag- nificent volumes which were to appear thirty years later under the same name. 57 The third Undergraduate Catalogue appeared under 7-he Auraml the inflated and bombastic title of the Amherst Aurora. But the new name did not go down jlj with the simple coun- try students, and the following year witnessed tl1e restoration of the historic title which has since attained perennial fame. This '60 OLIO contained a handsome illustratio11 of the college buildings, which at that time suggestively corresponded with the number of Co1.1.1zG12 OL10, Orlaber, 1855. 18. T he Ola' Nazlre Restored. W' Vol. MXCIVII., page 05193. T Great thanks are due to Mr. l letcher, I.ibra1'ian of Amherst College, for his lllOllgllll'lll courtesy in allowing access to the otiicial files. I11 view of tl1is courtesy we regret the insertion of Mr. Fletcher-'S name on subsequent pages of this publication. 1 'l'l1is expression is perhaps permissible because of tl1e local coloring it gives to tl1c narrative.