CLASS NOTES 3
What’s in Your Attic? History can be found in almost every corner of campus. And it appears that some of the College’s history also lingers in your attics, closets and basements. Last fall, Margaret Sadler Eigner ’74 donated a box of College-related documents to the Office of Alumni Relations. Inside the box was a treasure trove of 20th-century, College-related history, from the first yearbook, The Maroon and White (1917), to correspondence between College president George Grice and Harold Mouzon ’13 (M.A. ’15), Eigner’s grandfather who was chairman of the College’s Board of Trustees from 1948 to 1959. The Office of Alumni Relations would love for you to dust off some of your old boxes and see what College history may be inside. And please share what you find by contacting the alumni office at 843.953.5630 or alumni@cofc.edu. 1. Correspondence between Charleston attorney Clarence Singletary ’40 and President George Grice regarding revision of the College’s charter in light of integration pressure, 1949. Note: Singletary later became the state’s Ninth Circuit judge. 2. The College of Charleston News-Letter, May 1965. This piece, edited by Willard Silcox ’33 and produced by the College’s Alumni Association and Office of Alumni Affairs, served to keep the College community current on campus happenings. On the cover is Bill Gaud ’65, then student body president and now retired biology professor from Northern Arizona University.
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3. The address delivered by Thomas Abernethy ’12 honoring President Emeritus Harrison Randolph at the May commencement ceremony, 1945. Abernethy, a renowned Southern historian, praised Randolph’s work in transforming the College during his 45-year tenure and closed with this: “I do wish to say that … he furnished a rare example of the manner in which a wise and devoted teacher – and he was always fundamentally a teacher – can, instead of adopting the easy ways of expediency, lead democracy in paths of enlightenment.” 4. The College of Charleston Magazine, January 1911. The studentproduced publication, edited by Paul Scherer ’11, offers some interesting insight to the campus culture. Its contents include short stories, poetry, essays covering such topics as “Reflections on the Jovial Side of College Life” and “The Aim of a College Education” and an op-ed imploring students to put the same energy and enthusiasm for football and baseball into the Inter-Collegiate Oratorical Contest, in which the College finished last in 1910. 5. Correspondence between President George Grice and South Carolina’s poet laureate Archibald Rutledge, who was slightly miffed at the College for failing to purchase his latest book of poetry, Deep River, 1960. Note: the College’s Addlestone Library does have four copies of Deep River in its collection today. 6. The College of Charleston Looks to the Future, 1961. This publication highlighted the objectives approved by the Board of Trustees for the Decade of Development program. This strategic plan for 1960–70 outlined the College’s desire to address faculty salaries, improve and expand facilities and increase the endowment and student enrollment. 7. Photograph of Elizabeth Mouzon Sadler’s May commencement ceremony, Cistern Yard, 1946. 7