Record of Garden Successes and Failures (January 2009)
William Plumer Jacobs
1868 – 1869
Rev. William Plumer Jacobs, fresh out of Columbia Seminary, arrived in Clinton in May of 1864. He was 22 years old, and had been hired as the first full-time pastor of the Clinton Presbyterian Church, now First Presbyterian Church, Clinton. The next year he married Mary Dillard, and by the time he was writing this garden notebook, he was living in his own home with his wife and two children, Florence and Ferdinand.We plan to publish these notes in several segments, to correspond to the months in which they were written. Hopefully you will find them informative, and they may even give you ideas for a garden of your own. Many of the seeds he mentions are still available from heritage seed catalogs.
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Merry Christmas! (December 2008)
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Food, Glorious Food! (November 2008)
The ever-curious Chris Bates ’86 has also asked about student eateries, both on and off campus. In the earliest days of the college, the students could either eat on campus, or eat with a local family for $12 per month. The first official dining hall was next to Alumni Hall (now Doyle Hall) on the present-day campus.
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Pranks (October 2008)
The ever-curious Chris Bates (he is a librarian, after all) inquired recently about stories involving Volkswagens and Neville Hall. We did a little research, and came up with details on that event, as well as several other memorable pranks.
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Rat Season (September 2008)
With the freshmen having recently arrived on PC’s campus, we thought it would be fun to explore the freshman experience at PC over the years. The college’s Matriculation Pledge, which all incoming students signed until 1971-72, strictly prohibited students from engaging in any type of hazing. There was, however, an institutionalized form of hazing, called “Rat Season,” which served as a forerunner to today’s Freshman Orientation.
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Chill Out! (August 2008)
Since we have now reached the dog days of summer, we thought it might be fun to cool everyone off with pictures of PC in the snow. Yes, it does snow here in Clinton – perhaps most notably, the severe ice and snow storm we had in January of 2000. And, as you can imagine, the campus looks beautiful, and the students always find creative ways to enjoy themselves.
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The Turbulent 60s and 70s (July 2008)
At the beginning of the 1960s, the student body at P.C. was quite conservative. According to a poll taken in 1960, students supported Richard Nixon over John Kennedy almost 3-1. Thus it isn’t surprising that the first demonstrations on the campus were not political, but concerned more local issues. The first of these actually concerned the tennis program.
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The Legacy of Women at Presbyterian College (June 2008)
When Presbyterian College was founded in 1880, it was open to women as well as men. According to the catalog, “young ladies are entered in the same classes and upon the same footing, except that in their case, the classical studies are optional.” Female students were not, however, permitted to live on campus. They were either local women, or made arrangements to board with families in town. The college’s first graduating class, in 1883, consisted entirely of women, including Dr. Jacobs’ daughter, Florence. According to the 1888 college catalog, the presence of young women on the campus “has in no way proved detrimental to the scholarly work of the Institution, and has materially lessened difficulties of discipline.”
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The Early Days of Presbyterian College (May 2008)
So, where to begin? Perhaps the best place to start is at the beginning, with PC’s early history. The college, founded in 1880 as Clinton College, was a result of the work of Rev. William Plumer Jacobs, then the pastor of the Clinton Presbyterian Church.
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