History Commons^™

A Changing Tradition Comes With A Strengthening Of Bonds, Kyle J. Shaffer

CAFE Symposium 2024

Gettysburg College has many traditions that make it unique. One tradition that may not seem unique is Family Weekend, but at Gettysburg College, there is a vast history associated with the tradition. The weekend started as two separate-day celebrations in the fall semester and spring semester.

Gettysburg College Life In Fall 1963, Mary Huegel

CAFE Symposium 2023

The 1960s were a tumultuous decade full of social change and political conflict. This project explores Gettysburg College life in the fall semester of 1963 from a variety of scopes.

Complacency And Conformity: The Female Experience At Gettysburg College, 1956-1966, Greer Garver, Emily B. Suter

Student Publications

Women at Gettysburg College from 1956-66 received unequal treatment at a predominantly male school. Despite the 1960s being seen as a time of radical change, the majority of women on campus were content with the rules and social norms which held them in place. Changes and complaints were not widespread or outspoken, but they did exist in organizations such as the Women’s Student Government Association. Examinations of campus policies, dress codes, and dorm regulations illustrate the different standards men and women were held to on campus. Meanwhile Greek life, beauty contests, athletics and first hand accounts of social life reveal …

Ms-286: Elizabeth And Elmer Mckee, Class Of 1944, Jessica A. Cromer

All Finding Aids

This collection contains over 500 letters, 17 V-Mail, and 25 additional items, including Elmer’s college transcript, military documents, and personal narrative. The bulk of the letters are written by Elmer (Chuck) to Elizabeth (Diz), but there are over 100 letters written by Elizabeth in the closing years of this collection (1945-46). These letters provide insight into the Gettysburg College experience during the early 1940’s and the daily life of men stationed in Europe during World War II. Many of the letters depict Elmer and Elizabeth navigating their personal relationship, whilst simultaneously navigating the complex time period in which they lived. …

Epidemiology In Higher Education: Scarlet Fever At Gettysburg College, Addison E. Lomax

Student Publications

Throughout the early 20th century, the relationship between higher education and the spread of epidemic disease evolved in the United States. Two notable epidemics of scarlet fever in 1915 and 1920 serve as a lens through which the larger roles of disease and higher education can be analyzed. By assessing the roles both the administration and the students played at Gettysburg College, then Pennsylvania College, historians can understand the process of combating health crises in the future. Although the Pennsylvania College scarlet fever epidemics of 1915 and 1920 impacted campus to a smaller extent than the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic, the …

The Unfinished Sermon: A Tribute To Rev. John Vannorsdall, Devin Mckinney

Gettysburg College Faculty Books

This volume is collected tribute to Reverend John Vannorsdall, who served as chaplain for Gettysburg College, 1962-1976. It includes excerpts of Vannorsdall's writings and interviews, as well as reflections from students, colleagues, and family.

Sororities At Gettysburg College During The Haaland Era, 1990-2004, Elizabeth C. Hobbs, Madeleine M. Neiman

Student Publications

From 1990 to 2004, Gettysburg College’s Greek system dominated student social life and, due to its prominence (and notoriety), attracted the attention of not only students but also faculty and administration during the era of President Gordon A. Haaland. Although fraternities were often the more influential and problematic Greek organizations on campus, Gettysburg’s sororities played a major role in the lives of female students -- offering women a chance to join a community of other women, participate in philanthropy events, and engage in Greek social life. Throughout the Haaland era, Gettysburg’s sororities consisted of a combination of Sigma Kappa, Alpha …

Expansion And Acquisition: The Built Environment Under Gettysburg College President, Gordon Haaland, 1990 To 2004, Hannah M. Labovitz, Lillian Shea

Student Publications

Gordon Haaland presided over Gettysburg College from 1990 to 2004. His goals included improving the national status of the college by increasing the student body, developing the academic departments, and creating a dynamic campus community. This paper outlines Haaland's attempts to fulfill these goals through a plethora of construction projects, ranging from building a state of the art science center and extensively renovating a historic theater, to updating dormitories and revitalizing the appearance of campus. Some of the construction included projects that were planned under the previous president and carried out by Haaland, as well as scandals that accompanied these …

Ms – 229: Gordon Haaland Personal Papers, G. Ronald Couchman

All Finding Aids

This collection contains the personal papers of Gordon A. Haaland, produced and acquired during his many years as a college professor and as an administrator at the University of New Hampshire, at the University of Maine at Orono, and at Gettysburg College. What is striking about the material is how Haaland remained true to his academic background in social psychology, remaining current in the field and applying the theories of that discipline to the tasks and challenges that he faced as a college administrator and educational leader. The collection is organized into four series: Series I: Pre-Gettysburg College; Series II: …

Turning Points: Women At Gettysburg College From 1965-1975, Christina M. Noto

Student Publications

This poster is a summary of Christina Noto’s summer research. The research focuses on the experiences of Women at Gettysburg College from the Fall of 1964 to the Spring of 1975. While women attended Gettysburg College, they faced discrimination in all aspects of college life-- in the classroom, athletics, activities, their social lives and housing. This poster focuses on the housing discrimination women faced. Women had much stricter housing regulations. For example, women had to sign in and out of their dorms. Women also had mandatory dorm hours (certain times they had to be in their rooms). While some students …

Ms-152: Papers Of Harold A. Dunkelberger ‘36, Jenna E. Fleming

All Finding Aids

This collection includes materials relating to Harold A. Dunkelberger’s life and work in relation to Gettysburg College and the Lutheran Church, as well as his personal and family relationships. It contains notes and records used while he was a professor in and later head of the Religion Department, as well as information about aspects of College administration and alumni relations in which he was involved. Additionally, Gettysburg College publications for events with which Dunkelberger was not directly connected are present in the collection. Academic correspondence with faculty at Gettysburg and other institutions is included, as well as several pieces Dunkelberger …

Ms-114: Elizabeth Peeling Lyon Collection, Laura Heffner

All Finding Aids

This collection consists primarily of 75 letters Betty wrote to her family during her two years at Gettysburg College. They date from September 18, 1950 through May 19, 1952, excluding the summer holiday. The letters chronicle Betty’s college activities, showing specifically her participation in band, choir, the Independent Women, Kappa Delta Rho (her brother’s fraternity), and dorm life. This collection also contains one scrapbook sheet of four photographs taken on campus and Lyon’s freshman name sign.

Special Collections and College Archives Finding Aids are discovery tools used to describe and provide access to our holdings. Finding aids include historical and …

Ms-115: The Notarangelo Collection Of The Louis A. Parsons Papers, Elizabeth M. Johns

All Finding Aids

The collection was created from two different sets of letters and papers related to Louis A. Parsons, obtained from Thomas Notarangelo in 2008. Notarangelo purchased the papers at auction. Both sets consisted of correspondence of both professional and personal nature; one set consisting of correspondence from Parsons’ life before he became a professor at Gettysburg, and the other focusing mainly around the issue of his dismissal from Gettysburg College in 1925. The entire collection consists primarily of the correspondence written and received by Parsons.

Special Collections and College Archives Finding Aids are discovery tools used to describe and provide access …

Ms-108: Louise Ramer ’29 Chi Omega Collection, Jennifer A. Giambrone

All Finding Aids

This collection contains a number of different materials, including a scrapbook and photographs, newspaper clippings, letters, publications, and programs from both Tau Delta chapter and the national sorority. A majority of these materials are from the 1930’s and 1940’s, when Gamma Phi became Chi Omega. They focus on a number of events, including the installation banquet, a national conference, and an anniversary dinner, and many are associated with the Alumnae Chapter Ramer helped to establish in Gettysburg. Ramer was a national officer in Chi Omega at the time, and involved in planning a number of these events, and her scrapbook …

Ms-099: Robert H. Fryling Papers, Andrew D. Royer

All Finding Aids

The Robert H. Fryling papers consist of material related to his professional association with Gettysburg College, and include a wide variety of subjects and interests, in areas of student life and school governance. This collection does not contain any papers relating to Fryling’s research, personal life, or his time as an undergraduate at Gettysburg College.

Special Collections and College Archives Finding Aids are discovery tools used to describe and provide access to our holdings. Finding aids include historical and biographical information about each collection in addition to inventories of their content. More information about our collections can be found on …

Robert Fortenbaugh: Understanding A Man Through His Scholarship, Tracy E. Clifford

Hidden in Plain Sight Projects

On the second floor of Weidensall Hall at Gettysburg College hangs a picture of Dr. Robert Fortenbaugh. This portrait is hidden in plain sight, and countless people pass by it everyday on their way to an office, a classroom, or elsewhere. However, when one begins to notice the picture’s presence, the question begs to be asked, who was Robert Fortenbaugh? Why is his picture hanging in Weidensall Hall? What impact did he have on the history of Gettysburg College that makes him worthy of being remembered? The answer to those questions include many answers. Most formidable among these, however, was …

In Quest Of True Equality: A Study Of The Climate For Women At Gettysburg Since 1975, Sara Gustafson

The Gettysburg Historical Journal

In 2003, the election of Katherine Haley Will as Gettysburg College’s thirteenth president began a new era for women on campus. Will will be the first female president in the history of the college, and her election signifies the tremendous legal and psychological changes that have shaken both the college and the nation over the past quarter century. Federal legislation, the slowly-broadening vision of the school’s administration, and the proactive stance taken by women themselves have contributed to making Gettysburg College a place of seemingly strong gender equality.

The 55th College Training Detachment Of The Army Air Corps Program On The Gettysburg College Campus, 1943-1944, Julia Grover

The Gettysburg Historical Journal

The 55th College Training Detachment of the Air Force Cadet Program came to Gettysburg College in 1943. It was a separate program designed to provide educated officers for the Air Corps in the United States Army. These trainees would not only learn military drill, physical training, medical aid and flight skills, but they would also study physics, math, English, history, and geography. They were taught by members of the Gettysburg College staff and housed on campus, in dorms and fraternity houses.Their presence on campus was a constant reminder for regular students that the country was in the midst of a …

The Men And Women Of Gettysburg College: Class Of 1903, Daryl Grenz

The Gettysburg Historical Journal

On Thursday September 7, 1899 a new school year (its sixty-eighth) began at Pennsylvania College in Gettysburg.1 Many students had arrived as early as that Sunday to begin settling into their rooms. Many of the forty-three new students2 had been accepted the previous June by passing a series of entrance exams in all of the applicable subject areas, especially the Classics. A number of others had waited and taken the exams as the school year started. Eighteen individuals were exempt from entrance exams because of their satisfactory work during the previous year at the attached preparatory school in Stevens Hall. …

Ms-018: Robert W. Koons Collection, Christine M. Ameduri

All Finding Aids

Robert W. Koons graduated from Gettysburg College in 1943 with an A.B. in English, earned a B.D. from Gettysburg Lutheran Theological Seminary in 1946 and a D.D. from Susquehanna University in 1958. While a student at Gettysburg College he served at various times as President of the Student Christian Association, Literary Editor of the Mercury, Corresponding Secretary of the Pre-Ministerial Association and Treasurer of Delta Phi Alpha and was a member of various other campus organizations. He received Highest Class Honors in his Freshman and Junior years and Class Honors in his sophomore year.

Special Collections and College Archives Finding …

Interview With James I. Tarman, May 5, 2000, James I. Tarman, Michael J. Birkner

Oral Histories

James I. Tarman was interviewed on May 5, 2000 by Michael J. Birkner about his years as a student at Gettysburg College, Class of 1952, and becoming the school's first public relations director. He discusses his experience as a history major, his extracurricular activities and his social life on campus, including how he met his wife. Finally, he talks about his dedication to the school as the director of public relations.

Length of Interview: 31 minutes

Collection Note: This oral history was selected from the Oral History Collection maintained by Special Collections & College Archives. Transcripts are available for browsing …

Ms-010: The Papers Of The Linnaean Association, Melodie A. Foster

All Finding Aids

The Linnaean Association collection is varied in its makeup. Series I consists largely of the published versions of addresses given by association-sponsored speakers between 1844 and 1861. Series II contains a number of copies of the four volumes of the faculty publication The Literary Record and Journal of the Linnaean Association of Pennsylvania College, both bound and unbound. Volume III is in scarcest supply, and many editions are incomplete. Series III contains items from the Library of the Linnaean Association: scientific journals from the 1830s and 1840s and a bound collection of catalogues and scientific articles from various sources.

The …

Ms-006: Papers Of The Philomathaean And Phrenakosmian Societies, Melodie A. Foster, Christine M. Ameduri

All Finding Aids

The bulk of the collection consists of the official record books of the two societies and their libraries. Constitutions, minute books, account books and library circulation records cover the period 1831-1924 (with gaps). There are several library catalogues, arranged both alphabetically and numerically. Also included are correspondence spanning the societies’ years of existence in the form of letters received and copies of letters sent, and evidence of society activities including event programs, debating topics, and copies of essays, poems and addresses delivered before the societies.

Special Collections and College Archives Finding Aids are discovery tools used to describe and provide …

Ms-004: Papers Of Frank H. Kramer, Class Of 1914, Christine M. Ameduri

All Finding Aids

The Frank H. Kramer Collection is arranged into six Series. I. Personal Information; II. Organizations, Committees & Events; III. Education Department; IV. Oriental Art; V. Scrapbooks and VI. Miscellaneous. Of special note to researchers are the photo album of campus life in the nineteen-teens, scrapbook of commencement activities between 1939 and 1948 and correspondence from soldiers in camp during WWI.

Special Collections and College Archives Finding Aids are discovery tools used to describe and provide access to our holdings. Finding aids include historical and biographical information about each collection in addition to inventories of their content. More information about our …

Interview With Dorothy Bloom, May 28, 1993, Dorothy Bloom, Michael J. Birkner

Oral Histories

Dorothy Bloom, wife of Robert Bloom, a professor of history at Gettysburg College, was interviewed on May 28, 1993 by Michael Birkner about her experience as a spouse of a faculty member from 1949 to 1981. She discusses other faculty members and administrators at the time, her husband's work and the events they participated in on campus.

Length of Interview: 91 minutes

Collection Note: This oral history was selected from the Oral History Collection maintained by Special Collections & College Archives. Transcripts are available for browsing in the Special Collections Reading Room, 4^th floor, Musselman Library. GettDigital contains the …

The Way We Were: A History Of Student Life At Gettysburg College 1832-1982, Anna Jane Moyer

College History Publications

In writing The Way We Were: A History of Student Life at Gettysburg College, 1832-1982, it has been my purpose to capture what it was like to be a student at Gettysburg as the changing patterns of that life evolved and shifted with the growth of the College and events in the world outside the campus. Space confines impose perimeters. No attempt has been made to detail the history of organizations or to include many of the names of persons involved in campus leadership. The role of athletics has been mentioned only briefly as two monographs in the History …

Engineering At Gettysburg College, William C. Darrah

College History Publications

This little volume narrates the story of engineering instruction at Gettysburg College, particularly of the Engineering Department that functioned from 1912 to 1940. It includes also an account of the apparently first venture in engineering by an American liberal arts college, undertaken during the brief association of the renowned Herman Haupt with Gettysburg College between 1837 and 1847.

Time dims our memories. Although there are more than fifty living alumni who were graduated from the Engineering Department, many Gettysburgians are unaware of its existence and accomplishments. The purpose of this story is to place on record a significant aspect of …