Mercer University - Cauldron Yearbook (Macon, GA)

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Zhe Past a v r The Cauldron has faced some hard limes during its lifetime, but it has man- aged to struggle onward. It still makes an attempt to cover Mercer news, her students, the events, and the groups of people that make Mercer tick The Cauldron has become a permanent record of Mercer’s past. People can look back, and not only see how things were “back then. but also see how Mercer has grown and flourished into the institution it has become. ■ viii Cauldi ron

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I OP TO BOTTOM: Be»ull« wav .» rcpuljr feature ol the old C juldmnx Mm Mercer iill emu, but Mia Cauldron tut not been around since Ihc early seventies 1970’s books reflected the contro- versial issues of the time and their effects on campus Mmi-biogra- phies on students in the early da s included everything you ever «anted to know and more vii Songs, M iss Cauldron, Jj football Yearbooks are always changing, just like every- thing else. The Cauldron has changed sizes, shapes, and thickness, and the early covers were bendable hardcovers. But more noticeable is the content of each book. Present books focus on news and newsy or feature presentations. Gone are the baby pic- tures that were present in high school books, and Last Will and Testaments arc nothing but a memory. Early Cauldrons (and the Kinctoscopcs) were definitely history books. Class histories incorpo- rated the prospects and concerns of the individ- uals of a given class. Many were lighthearted and tended to poke fun and exaggerate the truth. Now. such an extensive story would take up almost 10 pages of solid writing to cover the lives of every student here. Class songs, field cries, jokes, and poems packed the pages in the early books. An example of one of the field cries is on the opposite page. Those have all vanished not only from the pages of the Cauldron, but also from the spirit of Mercer. Miss Mercer's existence is still on shakey ground, but she hasn’t yet met the fate of Viiss Cauldron. This honorable title existed from the 50’s to the 70’s when she quietly disappeared. Like the Miss Mercer contest. Miss Cauldron contestants were sponsored by organizations and grccks, and the applicants poured in. Also marking history and marking the old Caul- drons collectors’ items was the coverage of the Mercer football team. Complete synopsis of each game, some when we beat UGA, and ac- tion photos of our star team appeared before World War II. The C'auldronshave covered a span of 76 years, including both World Wars, Vietnam. Nixon, the birth of Rock Roll, the Depression. Wom- en’s Lib. Civil Rights. Kennedy. MLK Jr., and life before television. Yearbooks arc history books, and one of the best ways to learn about how all these events have affected Mercer, look at an old Cauldron. Cauldron

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