University of Virginia - Corks and Curls Yearbook (Charlottesville, VA)

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74 Yrs. of Past Editors Dedication The changes in the University of Virginia from l888, when the first Corks and Curls was presented to the student body, to the present seventy-fifth anniversary edition have been marked by' the University's growing participa- tion in the highest levels of Americal education. From a small University, suf- fering with the South in general from the ravages of wars and reconstruction, the University has grown into the outstanding school in the South, and one which can look forward to an important role in the future of education in this nation. To the editors of Corks and Curls for these seventy-four years has fallen the task of recording these changes, of recognizing the events and individuals who yearly have contributed to the growth of the University. It is an arduous task, one which grows to full importance only in retrospect, when a year in the history of the University has become solely a date, and we must turn to Corks and Curls for an understanding and a vision into the character of the University's growth. They must capture the social atmosphere, the customs of each genera- tion which modify all that has gone before and shape what is to come. And they must honor men such as William Faulkner, and Professor Shepparson, whose deaths bring an awareness of their contributions to the University. ln presenting this issue of Corks and Curls we must gratefully acknowledge the work of these seventy-four editors who have established a tradition for us to fulfill, a tradition of excellence true to the best that the University has, and will produce. From the modest preface to the first issue, which states, Be it successful nor unsuccessful, let us hope that it will at least be permanent, and serve as a foundation on which to base successful and creditable productions in years to come, through the years to the present, each of these editors has contributed not only to the continued success of the annual, but also to the very growth of the University. We are deeply indebted to them. Then, as now, they encountered the fears of entering a world threatened by destructive forces, their fears are our fears, and their hopes are our hopes, and the reso- lutions of these fears and hopes lie within the students of seventy-five years in the University of Virginia. To these seventy-four editors, then, who have faithfully gathered, recorded and presented the events which mark the growing achievements of the Univer- sity of Virginia, this seventy-fifth anniversary issue is dedicated. 5 J. H. C. Bagby Albert St. J. Latady R. Colston Blackford W. H. Randolph Jason H. Paxton Harry U. Sims Hampson Gary Randolph H. Laughlin Gordon Wilson Rockwell S. Brank Robert B. Tunstall Lawrence C. Leadbeater Joseph A. Burdeau Albert L. Roper Lewis P. Chamberlayne James Hay, Jr. Charles S. Brent Charles S. McVeigh Samuel B. Woods, Jr. Lewis D. Crenshaw John M. Blackford Oscar L. Shewmake James R. McConnell Walter H. Kelly Robert B. Albertson Oscar W. Underwood, Jr. Frank W. Rogers Robert B. Jackson William A. Stuart William J. Parrish Allison E. Palmer Walter J. Bergstrom George R. Martin Frank R. Reade Russell Parrish Harry J. Taylor Walter B. Stabler Charles C. Wertenbaker Ambler H. Moss David R. Groome Thomas A. McEachern, J Hunter H. Moss Edmund F. Broun, Jr. George Cooper, Jr. William J. Oven, Jr. Ross V. Cauthorne Frederick E. Nolting, Jr. David R. Owen Paschal D. Fowlkes Thomas Marshall James O. Putnam, Jr. Edward R. Dyer, Jr. A. Jackson Brent Frank H. Balsey Edward N. Cheek, Jr. George G. Shackelford Martin T. Williams Lewis M. Allen T. Evans Wyckoff J. Thomas Priddy Fielding L. Bowman Jay W. Cheek Malcolm S. Underwood George N. McMath Walter H. Horsley John A. Carter Thomas O. Trotter Joseph W..Twinan W. Tabb Moore Harold J, Williams, Jr. Charles M. Riddle, Ill R. Spencer Hines, Jr. J. Gilbert Haus, Jr. Martin S. Brown Peyton A. Eggleston Kenneth S. White I'

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A histor of the name of The origins of the University of Virginia's annual lie in the years shortly after the end of the War Between the States, when a group of students decided that in order to bring the University out of the bushes of the college world an annual was needed to present the school to its fellow 'institutions and to the world. A growing number of American colleges were producing year books, and students at the University as early as 1878 at- tempted to match these annuals. The permanent establishment of Corks and Curls occurred in 1888 when representatives from the fourteen fraternities then on the Grounds set about to re- cord that year under the leadership of John Hampden Cham- berlayne Bagby, who later became a professor at Hampden- Sydney College, and in the 1923 edition of the annual recounted the events which led to the first issue. These fourteen men, with no hope of financial aid from any of the existing organizations, secured a pledge from each fraternity member to buy one copy of the first edition at a cost of fifty cents. ln this rather inauspicious fashion they began the search for a name. As most undergraduates learn, the name Corks and Curls ori- ginated in the slang of the 1880's for failures and successes The preface to the first edition, however, more explicitly ex- plains the title and its sources. A cork was a student who, when questioned by a professor, seemed corked up like a bottle of champagne, unable to pour forth his knowledge, while a curl was a student who, having successfully impressed his professors with his knowledge, seemeth as pleased as a dog when he is patted on the head, and curleth his tail for delight thereof. This name was chosen as unique to the Uni- versity of Virginia over The Old Dominion which seemed to refer to any of the colleges in the state. The editors added in the preface that Corks came first in the title for modesty's sake, for otherwise we would seem to assert beforehand that our work would be a success. With a name, but virtually no funds that first issue came into being, and incurred a deficit of 365, created chiefiy by the still existing phenomenon that the annual arrived from the printers after most of the students had left school for the summer. Obiectively the first issue lacked many of the things which make an annual truly representative of the institution. With virtually no pictures, no list of the members of the student body, and little description of the social life, it consisted chiefiy of a list of the fraternities, the athletic teams, and advertisements. Significantly, however, the annual first appeared at a time when the University of Virginia and education in the South were undergoing profound changes, chiefiy for the better. By 1888 the worst effects of Reconstruction had passed, and as Dr. Bagby wrote in 1923, Young men who had served in the Con- federate Army, boys born before or during the War Between the States, and reared in the strongly conservative decade that followed, had come and gone, to be succeeded by stu- dents who, born after the war and growing to manhood in the first years of slow but sure-recovery, were not so bound by tradition and were ready, if not eager, to inaugurate new things and new ways of doing old things. Among the new things, great and small, which occurred in the decade from 1880 to 1890 were the concoction of the University yell in 1886, the choosing of the University colors in the same year, the crea- tion of the first football team in 1888, and the organization of CQRKS A D CLIRL the General Athletic Association in 1890. All of these things, combined with a number of improvements in the curriculum, faculty, and plant, marked the pending changes in the University. The editors of the first issue realized their own failings and the precedents they had set, when they wrote in the preface, While we hope that it lCorks and Curlsi will be a success and credit to the college, we feel strongly that it is not worthy of the leading college in the South, nor of the genius and talent to be found among its students. Be it successful or unsuccessful, let us hope that it will at least be permanent, and serve as a foundation on which to base successful and creditable pro- duction-in years to come. From that first, modest preface the Corks and Curls had grown with each year marking an addi- tion to the presentation of all aspects of the University. The differences between that first edition and a recent issue are impressive. Yet from year to year the changes seem slight, at the turn of the century the soft bound covers disappeared, pictures of students in Victorian dress appeared, and football teams with virtually no equipment, degree applicants, and their achievements came also. In 1919 Corks and Curls consisted chiefly of correspondence from University students fighting in France. The home guard learned the horrors, and light moments of war, and learned of the Virginia Club in a Paris Hotel where students relived the days at the University, and honored men such as James Rogers McConnell who were killed in action. After the war Corks and Curls enioyecl a period of plenty with little change in subiect matter or format, year followed year complacently and the annual in its light humor reflected the spirit of the times, With the Depression came the effects of financial problems, but no appreciable changes were made, and in 1937 the fiftieth anniversary issue celebrated the forty- nine previous editors and presented in pictures a panorama of the lasting beauty of the University. World War ll marked significant, and lasting changes in both Corks and Curls and the University. The corner was deserted, automobiles disap- peared, and more than two thirds of the student body was in the armed services. ROTC units appeared as permanent fix- tures. With peace, the student body was classified as either new students or veterans, and the clamor for housing led to Copely Hill, and eventually the new dormitories. Automobiles reappeared and lasted until 1958 and the riots. From the end of World War ll, through the effects of the Korean War, Corks and Curls has grown with the University into an era when both can anticipate tremendous increases in size and infiuence. The history of Corks and Curls, therefore, is the history of the last seventy-five years at the University of Virginia. The students and faculty who have served the University well are those who adorn the pages of the annual, and the infiuence of national and international events have determined to a degree the fate of both the University and its annual. Corks and Curls had served and will serve many purposes for sentimental alumni, for students aware of their tradition, and for the social historians. Reviewing the seventy-five previous issues one can- not help but feel that he has much to learn from the aspirations of those who have preceded him, and much to accomplish to match their achievements.