Blasts from the Past: October 5, 2017
The Corner Cottage debuted as a “Special Interest House” for biology students in 1987 (Photo courtesy of Gettysburg College)
By Shannon Zeltmann, Staff Writer
This week in 1957, three new students joined the Honor Code Defense Council, or as it is known now, the Honor Commission. They were Carol Dingfelter, Ken Anderson, and Donald Holland. The Honor Commission sought three basic qualities in the students who were chosen: leadership, character, and scholarship, all of which can be applied to the Honor Commission of today. The chairman, Bob Gladney, also commented for the article, stating that Honor Commission could only work because of the students who are involved, making it a hard decision every time. He also stated the importance of trying to stop a fellow student from violating the Honor Code before it happens if you happen to see someone about to violate it and how to report a violation if it occurs. This tradition of the Honor Code still is a vital aspect of anyone’s Gettysburg College experience and it still has many of the same principles as it did 60 years ago.
This week in 1987, a new special interest house was introduced to the campus on the front cover of The Gettysburgian– the Corner Cottage. The Corner Cottage, which had ten students during this first year, was the biology special interests house. Dr. Kay Etheridge was the faculty advisor at the time. The students in Corner Cottage, along with Beta Beta Beta, helped tutor students in the science departments. They also had a softball team, which was in second place that year in the intramural sports program. They were also planning an event to serve the community, although at the time at this publication they did not know what they wanted to do. One student at the time, Sandy Amass, stated that Corner Cottage had a “relaxed atmosphere” for biology students to unwind from their studies. Today, this house exists as the Sustainability House (Farmhouse).
This month in 2002, an English professor from the University of Virginia and eLincoln Prize Winner, Professor Stephen Railton, spoke to the college about his work pertaining to Uncle Tom’s Cabin. The Gettysburgian reported that he had created a website to contain all the information about Uncle Tom’s Cabin and the stories surrounding it and slavery in America. The site has information in different medias, such as videos, plays, songs, essays, etc. This site, supported by the National Endowment for the Arts as well as the National Endowment for the Humanities, was continuously updated by Railton, up until 2009, as the study of Uncle Tom’s Cabin is a massive endeavor. One interesting aspect of the site is the “Tom Show,” in which different portrayals of the story exist, mainly in plays. The play adaptions of Uncle Tom’s Cabin were the way may people heard about the book when it came out and often plays had different dances and songs associated with the performances. All of Railton’s research can be found still be found on the website here.
These archived “Blasts from the Past” were compiled using online archives, which are available via Special Collections in Musselman Library. They were compiled by staff writer Shannon Zeltmann. To see more, visit our archives on the Special Collections website.
