Diving Into Centenary's Journalism Archives with Victoria Ramsay

Victoria Ramsay serves as Centenary’s part-time archivist and librarian. We recently had the opportunity to join her in Centenary’s Archives where she shared her background as an archivist and thoughts on campus publications.

What started your interest in Centenary’s Archives and how did you become a part-time archivist?

I joined Centenary's library team as a part-time librarian just a few months after their long-time archivist, Colleen Bain, had retired in 2023. Since I worked in Gettysburg College’s Archives previously, I expressed my interest in the Archives. Susan Van Alstyne, our library director, decided that "college archivist" would be my primary role here in the library.

What has been your favorite piece of Centenary student publication from the Archives? Are there any specific issues that stand out to you?

My favorite student publication in the Archives is called The Scroll, and was the literary magazine of the Diokosophian (a Greek term for literary society) Society in the 1880s and 90s. The time period it was published was an interesting one, since Centenary was still a co-ed school, and the literary societies reigned supreme as the most popular activities on campus. 

The Diokosophians would publish one "scroll" of stories, poems, event recaps, and other noteworthy school and world events every few weeks, and it provides a lot of insight on what the school and its students were going through as Centenary attempted to make a name for itself. 

I also really love the “Campus Capers” sections of the 1930s-40s Spilled Ink publications. My favorite aspect of history, and something I love to delve into in the Archives, is the people who lived through historical events, no matter how big or small. 

The “Campus Capers” are anonymously written by a student and function as a gossip column for Centenary's students; it goes into who has been caught getting into trouble, who is dating whom, and which students are and aren't getting along. I highly recommend checking them out on JSTOR or in the Archives.

What’s your favorite part of working with Centenary’s historical materials?

Like I mentioned, I love learning the history of the people behind the materials. One of my favorite aspects of working in the Archives are the unique requests I get to locate information, whether it's about alumni, trustees, staff, or classes. 

I've created timelines for both the equestrian and theatre programs spanning their earliest years to today, and it gave me a better appreciation for Centenary's humble beginnings and how it's grown and changed over the years. You really can't leave the Archives without learning something new every time you go down there.

How far back do Centenary's student newspapers and publications go?

The earliest Centenary publication in the Archives is the original Scroll, not to be confused with the Diokosophian Scroll, which took the name to honor the original. It is the first official publication Centenary released to the public, introducing the school and what it stands for. 

However, the first student newspaper/publication was The Hackettstonian, which was released every few months during 1889-1912. From faculty meetings notes about The Hackettstonian, the students were incredibly passionate about this publication, writing and editing it all themselves. 

It contained stories, essays, and news, and these entries would later go on to be judged and awarded at the end of every year while the publication was still around, so students were rewarded with both experience and with an academic prize by writing for The Hackettstonian.

How many different student-based publications are available in the Archives?

Along with The Hackettstonian, there are four major student-based publications available in the Archives: Spilled Ink (1933-77), The Quill (1981-2019), Prism (1967-Present), and The Cyclone Chronicle (2023-Present). These are "official" publications headed by students with a faculty supervisor. 

The Archives also house many "unofficial" student-based publications, like The Weekly Voice (1978-79), The Centipede (1980-81), and The Filly Hill Express (1986-97), which were done entirely by students and on a smaller scale. 

Have you noticed any major shifts in how student journalists have covered campus issues over the decades?

The biggest shift is probably the scale of news coverage. Early publications are focused almost entirely on local or college news, many times even just reporting the facts with no opinions from students themselves. 

By the 1960s and especially in the 2000s, country and even world news became a heavy focus, and student journalists seemed eager to hear what the general public had to say in regard to these events.

One of the biggest differences I've noticed with modern Centenary publications, including The Cyclone Chronicle, is the involvement of the campus community in the articles, especially with faculty and staff. There are more articles about the interactions between different parts of the campus community, making the publications feel like they're meant for all readership rather than just the students, even celebrating the achievements of non-students. I always enjoy catching up on the new articles put out because I get to see what's happening on all sides of the campus.

What do you wish more students understood about the Archives or its importance?

I wish students understood just how much there is to learn in the Archives. I think most people have a general understanding of "the Archives preserve old documents or artifacts from the college" or even that the Archives just has "stuff from the past," but that's really the tip of the iceberg. 

We have objects down there that are over 300 years old, and you can touch them with your own hands. The first one that comes to mind–and one of the oldest artifacts in our collection–is a 17th-century Asian "chuckmuck" or flint-striker. It quite literally fell out of a folder into my hands with no context as to what it was or how it got to Centenary. I was able to figure out what it was (it still has flint inside the pouch!), and I think it is either a gift from missionaries lecturing at Centenary or a missionary friend of President Meeker's (president during the early 1900s at Centenary) who was living in China. 

There are photos of students standing in the same places as students today. I encourage all students to go to the Archives at least once during their college career. Being physically able to touch, see, and feel these items reminds us that the past wasn't so long ago and soon, items we handle every day might be in these same Archives.

What do you think is the lasting value of maintaining and studying these publications?

The biggest takeaway from studying these publications, I think, is they show the approaches taken by journalists over time—what was considered news, how they went about reporting, and who their audience was intended to be. 

From an archivist's standpoint, the publications are usually the first place I look when trying to find information about a person or event from long ago because they'll provide factual information as well as a student's perspective on that information. These publications also gave a voice to the students of Centenary when they otherwise might not have been heard, which I think is a testament to the importance of journalism everywhere.

What’s one item or issue in the Archives that you think every Centenary student should see?

I'm a big fan of showing off the hair wreath because it's just so unique and strange. Though hair wreaths were fairly commonplace a few hundred years ago, they're just not a thing that most people can get behind today, so it's an artifact that makes you laugh, think, and just go "huh?" 

It's also one of the Archives' most haunted objects, according to NJ Paranormal, a paranormal group based in New Jersey who research and investigate haunted places around the state. Highly recommend checking that one out, because when else do you get to see something like that?

What do you hope the Archives will look like in years to come?

I hope the Archive will become a bigger asset to the campus community, as well as to historians everywhere. TML is working to make the Centenary Archives more accessible through its JSTOR database and reminding the Centenary community of its usefulness as a research tool. 

I don't know if students realize just how cool Centenary's history is, so I'd love to use the Archives to raise awareness in upcoming years.