New digital collection highlights Elon’s buildings and spaces

Check out the newly added digital collection! While we only have a few buildings featured, more will be added over the next several months, so stay tuned! Read more about the collection below.

Sadie Hawkins Day at Elon College

Miriam Pace – volunteer in Archives
November 17, 2011

How many of you remember the comic strip that ran for many years and featured Lil Abner, Sadie Hawkins, and their friends in Dogpatch?  On November 17, 1950, Sadie Hawkins Day was celebrated at Elon College and was sponsored by the Student Christian Association.  Prometheus McGurgle (Mayor of Dogpatch) issued a proclamation calling for all Elon men who weren’t married to look over the “passel of gals” on campus, marry them, and “relieve their pappies and mammies of the burden of their board and keep.”

Andrew Morgan’s Legacy

Jess McDonald ’12
October 27, 2011

If you venture to the second floor of Belk Library and head toward the vicinity of the DVDs section, you might notice a portrait of a man named Andrew Morgan.  This portrait stands out among the others for several reasons: it’s relatively informal, Morgan has a large stature, and he is African-American.  Curious about the role that this man played in Elon’s history, I decided to investigate further.

Homecoming 20 years ago

Katie Nash – Archivist and Special Collections Librarian
October 17, 2011

Homecoming float, 1991

“Mardi Gras at Elon” was the Homecoming theme in 1991. Prior to Homecoming week, a few events were scheduled which included Skit Night in Whitley Auditorium, and the infamous Homecoming float competition that took place on Haggard Avenue. The Homecoming floats were created by a number of student organizations. The float competition preceded the Elon football game, in which the Fightin’ Christians played the Bulldogs of Gardner-Webb (and Elon lost).  Other events that took place during Homecoming included a penny drive to benefit the United Way and a carnival.

Racial Integration at Elon

Jess McDonald ’12
August 19, 2011

Paul de Montaigne was the first black student to attend classes at Elon College.  Paul was a faculty member of Palmer Institute and, although he was not seeking a degree, he attended evening classes at Elon in the spring of 1963.  Paul was from Martinique and, accordingly, his first language was French.  Some argue that Paul was viewed predominantly as a foreigner rather than as black, and that (combined with his taking only evening classes) certainly eased his entry into Elon College.

Robbery at Elon College!

Miriam Pace – volunteer in Archives
July 29, 2011

Time:  3:00 a.m.
Date: Monday, December 1, 1952
Place:  Elon College Business Office

The sound of breaking glass and loud banging on steel…what was happening?  Thieves were trying to break into the safe! At 8:00 a.m. when Mrs. E.B. Huffines (acting treasurer of the college) came to work, the break-in attempt was discovered. The business manager, W.E. Butler, called the sheriff who soon arrived at the scene.

Masquerade Ball at Elon College

Miriam Pace – volunteer in Archives
July 12, 2011

Gym in North Dorm

During a quiet and somewhat dull weekend in 1947, the male students of East Dormitory staged a masquerade ball. The ball took place in the gym of North Dormitory and it attracted a crowd of gypsies, pirates, sheiks, and Turks (all students of course!).

Rampaging Rat Rapped Rapidly!

Miriam Pace – volunteer in Archives
May 31, 2011

The usual serenity of a Sunday morning was broken on January 29, 1950, by a skirmish between man and beast in the halls of South Dormitory.  George Stanley was awakened by the sounds of a rat escaping from a trap set by George Seay.  Seay had been bitten on the ear by one of these rodents and was determined to get him.  And get him he did, but the rat was getting away!

Elon’s Radio Players

Miriam Pace – volunteer in Archives
May 24, 2011

Radio room in Whitley, 1948.

If you’re old enough to remember a time with no TV, no internet, no Nook or Blackberry, then you will remember the radio.  The family gathered around that early entertainment center and listened to “The Jack Benny Show” or “One Man’s Family” or “Your Hit Parade” and thought themselves lucky to have a radio in their home.  By 1947, Elon had completed a radio broadcasting studio in Whitley auditorium on the second floor facing the stage and was ready to launch the Elon Radio Players over WBBB, the Burlington, N.C.  station that would carry the plays.  The room, the wiring, and installation of equipment was done by Professor A.L. Hook and students from his physics classes.

Commencement through the years

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