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Page 26 text:
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Li tw . mk m RTS MMM ' »1I € e ' « f ttroit f ar» 7 Cl lfl||iB«l iac ’-• ' k )ii v tc« 14 l ' HE eaioawxA viuAiti c«2.in a « (no of iff sValtj tf( SltffrM? w g i4 r ii ..r 11 ) t ' l tmtixtuiy 4% i U Z£ f.nc - w cA are ukutf y tayy tt tit t « jj ’UitJ 3fcd0, £ Utc afifufiiaU ' } to f onuUp Sdi(XUi i i % i f I ' ?noU a„,f r—r, to . 1( m«£ tu i uticn jmJ acwrditup y it ufwn . so, t 0 9 € rf jL ste%Ss .u£ aiu , 1 m WK. J ; JWi 4M- « A „w0 ' ' ■ y v vv - i yJ -raKgs. • P •l ' o ' j r»„, THE FIRST GRADUATING EXERCISE of Wesleyan Col- lege was held on the evening of July 18, 1840. In the grad¬ uating class were eleven tremendously excited girls dressed in plain, unruffled, white muslin dresses with their hair drawn back softly from their faces and caught with tucking combs 1 he valedictory on this occasion was delivered by Catherine Brewer. After all the speeches had been made, there came that portion of the program which was to become a part of history, and Catherine Brewer stepped forward again this time to receive the first diploma from Wesleyan College. llHii Wi C L 4 - ■ ST fc JrMi CATHERINE BREWER BENSON
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Page 25 text:
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One of Aunt Cindy ' s duties was to go around at night after the lights were turned off from the central switch and remind each girl to turn off the gas in her room in case the central switch were turned on again. Another was to go about in the morning waking the girls, or “knocking up the halls as she called it. A self-ap¬ pointed task of Aunt Cindy ' s was to report every misde¬ meanor she saw—and she saw a great deal. “Do Dr. Bass know ' bout dat? she would ask. “Den I ' s sho ' ly gonna lead him to de light! quite harmlessly, and at dusk trooped back to the col¬ lege, feeling that they had been very wicked. Contrite, they appeared before Dr. Bass, the president, and asked his forgiveness, receiving ten demerits each m punish¬ ment. They always felt, however, that they were really brave and daring. A Mercer boy, much impressed with their boldness, sent a poem to each girl m the class tell¬ ing of the incident. It was entitled “The Fair Brigade and praised the “Noble One Hundred who “steadily, steadily, quietly onward—forth from the college hall . M crept. Poplin was stylish. Dresses were made with paroda waists, long sleeves, full skirts gathered around the w ' aist. All the dresses were to the ankles. At alumnae parties, some of the dresses had long trails and full skirts and others had low ' necks. I had one dress with three large loops in the back worn over a bustle. Another was a green poplin dress and another was a black and orange poplin, w ' lth which I wore a black velvet sailor, narrow brim w ' ith six-inch black and orange stripe rib¬ bon crushed around the crown and tied in a big bow at the back with the ends hanging down. I wore my hair crimped and hanging dow n, but the older girls wore the w ' aterfall, hair tied up, then brought over a cushion, combed up smooth and slick over the cushion. —MRS. MAMIE C. MORGAN. April Fool ' s Day in the eighties! Getting out of bed in the grey dawn, the girls slipped dow ' n the stairs, shoes in hand, and escaped through a break in the w ' all around the col¬ lege. Buying pickles and candy at a Vine- ville store, they spent the day in the w ' oods • “Uncle Johnson, another traditional Wesleyan char¬ acter, w as negro gardener for more than fifty years for the college. He carried the mail and the money deposit to the bank also. Often the girls w ' ould stop between classes and ask how he was. Always he jerked his hat from his head, bowed low, and replied: dat I means I ' s feelin ' thankful. “Ma health am in a state ob distica- tion mos ' compoun ' procific. Hit am mos ' superfluous, seeforendum, mos ' infrishus umph de way ob speakm ' ma ' am. Hit am in a political state. By missis. When he died in 192b, three of the college presidents under whom he had served attended his funeral and a fourth wired his deep regrets at his inability to be pres¬ ent. For many years every new ' girl w as taken to Zeigler s vault in the cemetery by the river. After she had been forced to look inside the vault, all the older girls would groan, giving the freshmen a bit of our “rat court.
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