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Washington's Dispatches

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National Home Front Project - Meet Jo Ann Marshall

12/12/2023

The National Home Front Project is a major grassroots initiative under the leadership of historians at Washington College. Our innovative oral history program partners with individuals, communities, and organizations across the United States to record, preserve, and share audio interviews with civilians who experienced World War II. By pulling together in the spirit of wartime Americans, we can ensure that future generations hear their voices, and that our country never forgets its past. For this short entry, we’d like to share the story of Jo Ann Marshall.

  • Concordia University St. Paul
  • National Home Front Project
  • Starr Center
  • World War II
  • Archives
Front endpaper

Mencken's Christmas Story

12/05/2023

Henry Louis Mencken was an American journalist and cultural critic who had such a distinctively combative writing style that the term “Menckenian” was coined to describe it.

  • Bill Crawford
  • Christmas Stories
  • Freethinkers
  • Henry Louis Mencken
  • Archives
Washington College

Then and Now - Middle Hall

12/01/2023

The Hill Dorms are some of the oldest buildings on campus. Serving as dormitories, a frat house, and classrooms, they stand high on the hill as some of the most recognizable images of the campus. Here are some upperclassmen in 1926 who are doing their best intellectual posing on the steps of Middle Hall. Notice the score on the door: this was in the prime of hazing, pitting the sophomore class against the “rats” or freshmen. What role will the hill dorms play as the college moves into the future?

  • Dorms
  • Hazing
  • Students
  • Then and Now
  • Archives
Oysters

William Firth Wells and Mildred Weeks Wells

11/28/2023

Now that we are in the midst of the cold and flu season, I am reminded of the William Firth Wells papers. In late 2019, the processing of the Wells papers began, but 2020 put most things on hold, including finishing this collection.

  • CES
  • Infectious Disease
  • Oysters
  • Public Health
  • Archives
Washington College Cookbook

Happy Thanksgiving to all the WAC Community!

11/21/2023

While many of us have favorite family recipes that we look forward to every year, the Archives and Special Collections team thought we’d share some Thanksgiving recipes from Maryland’s history and our various library collections.

  • Maryland
  • Recipes
  • Special Collections
  • Thanksgiving
  • Archives
Washington College

Naptime with George

11/17/2023

This time of year can be a mad dash- between the holidays, end of semester activities, and the general chaos of life, it is sometimes difficult to find a moment for yourself, simply to rest and relax. If you were searching for a sign to take a break, look no further than this photo of George, the unofficial Washington College campus cat, seen snoozing here in a chair in the 1987 Pegasus. We hope your weekend is as relaxing and restful as George’s!

  • Relaxation
  • Rest
  • Cats
Wilodeen Brady ready for work

National Home Front Project - Meet Wilodeen Brady

11/14/2023

The National Home Front Project is a major grassroots initiative under the leadership of historians at Washington College. Our innovative oral history program partners with individuals, communities, and organizations across the United States to record, preserve, and share audio interviews with civilians who experienced World War II. By pulling together in the spirit of wartime Americans, we can ensure that future generations hear their voices, and that our country never forgets its past. For this short entry, we’d like to share the story of Wilodeen Brady.

  • National Home Front Project
  • Starr Center
  • Thanks! Plain and Simple
  • World War II
  • Archives
Image courtesy of .....

Kitty Knight: Wartime Celebrity

11/07/2023

It is difficult to imagine that the beautiful and serene Sassafras River was once a battlefield, but this was the case on May, 6, 1813. As the British troops advanced towards Fredericktown and Georgetown- two small communities separated by the Sassafras- local militia fired at them from both towns. Though the militia fought back only briefly before retreating, the British troops took their revenge by first setting Fredericktown aflame, then crossing the Sassafras to Georgetown. Much of Georgetown was destroyed in the fire started by the British, but two structures survived due to the courage and tenacity of one local resident, Catherine “Kitty” Knight.

  • War of 1812
  • Archives
Goats on runway Ramitelli Italy March 1945

National Home Front Project - Michael Conway and the goat in the bar

11/03/2023

The National Home Front Project is a major grassroots initiative under the leadership of historians at Washington College. Our innovative oral history program partners with individuals, communities, and organizations across the United States to record, preserve, and share audio interviews with civilians who experienced World War II. By pulling together in the spirit of wartime Americans, we can ensure that future generations hear their voices, and that our country never forgets its past.

  • National Home Front Project
  • Starr Center
  • World War II
  • Archives
Testimony in the case of Martha Polk

The Mystery of Martha Polk

10/31/2023

Now that we are well into Fall and as Halloween nears, let’s look at a bit of true crime hidden in the Joseph Wickes papers.

  • MS 0066 Joseph Wickes papers
  • Mystery
  • True Crime
  • Archives