Rak, kak, key, wack!

The "Class Yell" for the class of 1899:

"Rak, kak, key, wack,

Rim, ram, rine,

B.S.N.S. '99!"

It does have rather a ring to it, doesn't it? ;-) Their class motto might be a little more edifying: "Non sibi, sed aliis," or, "Not for ourselves, but for others." Pictured here is the cover of their 1899 class yearbook. It was a one time effort; in 1914 the Stylus started publication, and its June issue was for some years a commencement issue. Then the Saga yearbook began in 1929, and ran until 1996. You can find quite a bit of the college's history online by the way, at the College Archives site,  and in the new Digital Commons  where the college archives section is being built up, including this 1899 yearbook in digital form. Visit soon!

Far flung Brockport alumni of yesteryear

The college has a new "Digital Commons" site, an online page where the college is presenting articles by various faculty and much more. There is an archives section to the site, with a number of collections present already. In adding a document to the site, a list of alumni from 1867-1922, showing where they were living at that time, the archivist was struck by how far some alumni had traveled. Many of course were in the local region, or in NY, but many were living out west and other parts of the country. Some had made it even further, serving as missionaries, working for the government or business. Here are their listings in the register:

• Changsha, China: Carl D. Meinhardt '07, American Counsulate.


• Maubin, Burma: Mrs. Elsie Northrup Chaney (Rev. C.E.) '05, American Baptist Mission.


• Shidzuoka City, Japan: Mrs. Leora Britton Lobdell (N.L.) '99, 32 Nichome Hegashi, Kasabuka Cho. (Pictured here from the 1899 yearbook, a one time production; it wasn't till some years later that a yearbook was regularly published.)


• Tokyo, Japan: Mrs. Minnie Jackson Ayres (S.G.) '88, care of Universalist Church.


• Tokyo, Japan: Rev. Charles B. Tenny '91, 29 Sauai Cho, Ushigome.

It was starting to get a little crowded...

As enrollments skyrocketed in the 1950s, the campus was increasingly overcrowded. The classroom space in what is now Hartwell Hall had been supplemented by some temporary classrooms buildings along the railroad tracks ("Quonset" huts, that shook when the trains went by!) but that additional space was hardly enough to alleviate the space issues, as shown in this photograph. Pictured here is instructor Rosie LaSorte teaching a sex education class to a group of men - back then they divided the sexes up for these classes. Note by the way the "beanies," or caps many of the students are wearing. These were worn by all freshman, men and women, the first month or so of school, as part of the longstanding tradition of hazing of freshmen.