Wesleyan Centennial Records, 1931

Summary

Creator:
Wesleyan University (Middletown, Conn.)
Abstract:

During early October 1931, Wesleyan University celebrated its centennial. The event brought together current students, faculty, alumni, parents, and honored guests including the Canadian Prime Minister. The events also consisted of banquets, concerts, recitals, lectures, and sporting events.

The Wesleyan Centennial Records features a scrapbook with badges, pamphlets, newspaper clippings, menus, playbills, and other materials. Other materials in the collection include large photographs and correspondence, including telegrams and typed letters regarding the centennial events.

Extent:
1.5 and 1, and 1 oversize volume
Language:
Material in English

Background

Scope and content:

This collection consists of a large scrapbook and a box with file folders. The scrap book includes over 200 pages of items relating to Wesleyan’s centennial, including badges, pamphlets, newspaper clippings, menus, playbills, and more. The scrapbook is organized into categories, including sections entirely of newspaper clippings and one page with attached alumni and event worker badges, for example. The file folders contain large photographs, as well as copies of similar paper items to those contained in the scrapbook. They also contain correspondence, including telegrams and typed letters regarding the events.

Biographical / historical:

During early October 1931, Wesleyan University celebrated its centennial. The event brought together current students, faculty, alumni, parents, and honored guests including the Canadian Prime Minister, Richard Bedford Bennett. The events included a musical comedy, entitled "The Girl and the Graduate," written by alumnus William B. Davis and originally performed in 1908. The events also consisted of banquets, concerts, recitals, lectures, and sporting events. For example, Wesleyan’s football team squared off against Columbia University, falling 0-37. The events of the centennial produced varied ephemera, including badges for alumni and event staff, pamphlets, schedules, menus and souvenirs. The event also produced many photographs and coverage in newspapers such as the Hartford Courant and campus publications such as The Wesleyan University Alumnus and The Wesleyan Argus.

Acquisition information:
Given to the library following the Wesleyan Centennial by Professor Karl S. Van Dyke, executive secretary of the Centennial Committee.
Physical location:
For current information on the location of these materials, please consult Special Collections & Archives staff.
Rules or conventions:
Finding aid was prepared using DACS

Access and use

Location of this collection:
Olin Library
252 Church Street
Middletown, CT 06459
Contact:
sca@wesleyan.edu<
860-685-3864
http://www.wesleyan.edu/libr/schome/