School Days Back Then

Yesterday my wife and I drove down to the University of Southern Mississippi on a special mission.

My paternal grandmother attended Mississippi Normal College from 1913 to 1916. She was a young lady from Rankin County and made her way to the campus just two years after the college opened it's doors.

When my grandmother passed away in 1990 at the age of 98, I became heir to some papers she had kept over the years. Those papers were a scrapbook of her years at MNC, and her class notes from biology, botony, and health classes. The material gives a keen insight to life on a college campus around the turn of the 20th century.

The university will soon be celebrating it's 100th anniversary. I thought they might be interested in having this material for the archives.

Much to my joy, they were elated to get the information. We were met on campus by at least a half dozen people including a representative from the alumni association, the archivist, former USM President Aubrey Lucas, the director of external affairs and others.

For about an hour, I pulled out the documents and went over some page-by-page. The scrap book portion had instructions for getting to the campus from the train station and told students how to handle their baggage.

She had a copy of the suggestions given to all students. Breakfast at seven, dinner at one and supper at six. Light bell at 10:30. Don't waste water. Please keep rooms tidy. Study hours are from seven until ten. Don't visit with your neighbors during this time or you will be visited by your matron. Pick one church and go there. Don't be a church wanderer. Join the Y.M or Y.W.C.A.

In the material were receipts, programs and notes from debates which were held between MNC and various other colleges. There were even some wonderful love poems written by a young man who had a keen interest in my grandmother.

Among the notes, I really enjoyed reading the notes from the health class. There were instructions on how to recognize and treat rabies, how to protect oneself from flies and to build flytraps, and a lot of information on tuberculosis and pneumonia.

Students learned how to treat hookworms, measles, pellagra, and typhoid fever. They were also taught how to build a sanitary closet (out house) complete with drawings and dimensions.

The course was quite different from what I studied in college.

One thing that really struck me was the neatness and legibility of the handwriting. Yes, they even had to take a course in penmanship in college. All of the notes were in ink, and through out the 300 or so pages, the number of strikeouts would be less than a half dozen. I can hardly write an address without a mistake. I don't know how she took all those notes without making mistakes.

I enjoyed reading the material before handing it over to the University. I did make copies of about half of it. What is really neat is to think that the experience of a young lady from Rankin County, will be shared with many others in the days to come.

I think she would be pleased about that.