by George G. Morgan
My cousin Penny loaned me the college yearbooks for her mother’s years at Brenau College-Conservatory in Gainesville, Ga., a while back. The name of the yearbook is Bubbles and the one I am browsing as I write this column is dated and copyright 1932. What a marvelous look into the past! Brenau is of interest to me because my mother and two of her three sisters attended, with some overlap of years.
I enjoy family academic yearbooks on several levels. They provide pictures of the environment in which my family members spent a significant period of their formative years.
I can see the buildings, the instructors (often dour!), the students and the ways they dressed and wore their hair, school and/or athletic uniforms, the various groups and their activities, and the individual “biographical sketches” that accompany the seniors’ class photographs. These bios often contain cryptic or mysterious references to school-year hijinks and adventures. However, they are always interesting for their references to the activities and organizations in which the student participated. They often include the aspirations for the future that the student has espoused. And it’s always interesting to see what the person actually ended up doing for a living.
In the 1932 Bubbles, Penny’s mother, Beth Weatherly, is shown to have received a diploma in art, and she was a member of Theta Upsilon. The verbiage of her biographical sketch reads as follows–brackets are mine.
“Entered from Meredith [College] ’29; North Carolina Club 2, 3; Secretary-Treasurer of N.C. Club 3; Brush and Palette Club 2, 3, 4; Vice-President Brush and Palette Club 4.”
This information tells me that she entered Brenau in the fall of 1929 and graduated in 1932. Her academic records from Brenau can probably be obtained from the registrar’s office. However, this entry points me toward Meredith College for prior information and transcripts.
During her tenure at Brenau, Beth joined a sorority and there may be records at Brenau of her activities or at the sorority’s national headquarters.
The references to the clubs are followed by numbers that represent the academic year(s) in which she participated and held offices. I certainly want to learn more about those groups, both from the yearbook and from the school.
Interestingly, though, for each senior’s photograph is an accompanying baby picture. Not only is this a cute touch, the baby picture might help identify Beth in other juvenile photographs that other people failed to label.
The senior class wrote its “Last Will and Testament” and other literary gems for inclusion in the yearbook, again providing a small glimpse into the character (or antics) of each person.
These academic publication gems are often found among the possessions from your parents, aunts, uncles, and grandparents. Your cousins may also have inherited them.
If you can’t trace a yearbook within the family, the schools that your family members attended may well have a copy in the library’s collection. I’ve also been successful occasionally in locating a copy for myself in a used bookstore in the town in which the school was located. And don’t forget to check eBay; you never can tell who is trying to clean house and is willing to let one of these gems be sold.
Family history can be found in many, many places. Don’t overlook yearbooks for facts, clues, and a lot of smiles along the way.
Happy Hunting!
George
© 2006 Copyright George G. Morgan. All rights reserved. Reproduction in any format is strictly prohibited without written permission. Please contact George at aha@ahaseminars .com for more information.
This column is made possible through the efforts of the Questing Heirs Genealogical Society of Long Beach. For more information about that society, go online and visit www.qhgs.info.
