Happy Birthday DSU!

Happy 125^th Birthday Delaware State University! Here’s to wishing you many happy returns!

 Today, May 15, 2016,  we salute the 125 years of service DSU has dedicated to positively impacting the community, state, nation, world, and Mars! …Okay so we haven’t actually reached our neighboring planet yet, but the Optical Science program is doing its best. Thank you to the administrators, faculty, staff and more than 20,000 graduates who shaped this university.

Class of 1966

The Delaware State University Archives would like to welcome the Class of 1966 back to campus! Congratulations on your 50^th anniversary!  We wish you many happy returns!  Here's your senior year in review:

Delaware State College in 1966:

            College President: Dr. Luna I. Mishoe

            Number of Faculty: 66

            Student Enrollment: Approx. 900

Number of Student Organizations: 20 clubs, 7 Greek organizations

Tuition: Approx.  $1,125.00 including room and board

            Number of Academic Departments: 17

 

Popular Culture in 1966:

Top songs:

We Can Work It Out by The Beatles

Ballad of the Green Beret by Sgt. Barry Sadler

Monday, Monday by The Mamas & The Papas

Top TV Series:

Bonanza

Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C.

The Lucy Show

Major International events that occurred during your senior year:

September 6, 1965 – India invades West Pakistan marking the official beginning of the Indo-Pakistani War

November 11, 1965 –  The Unilateral Declaration of Independence is signed in Rhodesia. The UN deemed the government behind the declaration an “illegal racist minority regime,” and enforces an arms embargo - a first for the UN Security Council.

February 3, 1966 –215,000 US soldiers were present in Vietnam

March 2, 1966 – First soft landing on the moon is achieved by Soviet Luna 9.

Earth Day

John Boykin Aiken

Written by Dan DelViscio 

Happy Earth Day! Throughout its history, Delaware State University has cultivated a strong appreciation for the natural environment. After all, a core component of the 1890 Morrill Act, under which this university was founded, was to establish agricultural courses of study.  Consequently, through these doors have passed many green-thumbed individuals.

John Boykin Aiken was an early graduate of the State College for Colored Students, and he remained at the college following graduation to serve as an agricultural instructor from 1898 to 1906, and as Farm Manager in 1923. In 1937, he was appointed by Governor Richard C. McMullen to the college’s Board of Trustees.

Dr. Ulysses S. Washinton

Pictured here is the esteemed Dr. Ulysses S. Washington conducting an agriculture class in 1970. From 1949 until his retirement in 1991, Dr. Washington served the university faithfully as, first, an assistant professor of agriculture and farm mechanics, and later, as the chair of the Department of Agriculture and Natural Resources. Although he no longer actively teaches classes, today Dr. Washington continues to enrich the campus community through his unwavering support and presence on campus.  To learn more about Dr. Washington’s achievements, check out this interview. 

 

The tradition continues! Earlier this spring DSU announced the work of Janet Cordero, a graduate student of Plant Science, and her advisor Dr. Sathya Elavarthi, who developed a free app called “DSU Urban Forest.” Funded by the McIntire Stennis Forestry Grant, the app provides users with information about the 25 most abundant trees on the DSU campus including Common Crapemyrtle, Eastern White Pine, Honeylocust, and many more! Using the app, you can learn about the ecological and energy saving contributions that these trees make to the college. Please check out the app here or explore The DSU Urban Forest Facebook page.

This Earth Day we commend these individuals. Thank you for promoting our beautiful campus and enhancing our knowledge of the local environment. 

 

Campus Couples

Written by Dan DelViscio

As you may have noticed Valentine’s Day is coming up soon and that got me thinking about the holiday here at DSU. So I started going through our photograph collections and found some really fun images of affection here on campus. 

One of our favorites is this image of a couple walking hand in hand through the snow. Unfortunately, we don’t know who the people are in this picture for obvious reasons, but it was printed in the DSU yearbook the Statesman, in 1968.

Here is another photograph of a couple on campus. This one was printed in the DSU newspaper the Hornet, in 1968. It was featured in the Campus Scenes section. 

Rejoice and I have argued about whats going on in this picture. I think its former President Dr. Luna I. Mishoe and his wife renewing their vows with Reverend R. W. Coleman. What do you guys think?

What are your plans for the holiday? Going to a concert? Maybe having a nice dinner? Clue us in on your holiday plans and take pictures. You never know if they’ll end up in an archive. Archivists love pictures.

Martin Luther King Jr. Day

Written by Dan DelViscio

The notion of memorializing a day to exemplify King was first proposed by labor unions, but it took 15 years before a federal holiday was created. Following the death of Dr. King, two politicians, John Conyers and Edward Brooke, proposed a bill in Congress to make Dr. King's birthday a national holiday. The bill first came to a vote in the U.S. House of Representatives in 1979, but it wasn't until 1983 that President Ronald Reagan officially signed the holiday into law.

Delaware State University will be celebrating its 30^th annual Martin Luther King Jr. day on January 18th.  Even before Martin Luther King Jr. day was a national holiday, DSU held annual celebrations to honor one of the greatest civil rights activists in history. Thirty years ago, this historically black university  recognized that Dr. King had helped to create a brighter future for its students. 


In commemoration of this special day I thought I would riffle through the archives  and show you some of the past celebrations here at DSU. On the top right Theressa Webster as Miss DSC and Senator Herman Holloway both visit the child development lab on campus in 1978. The photograph to the right shows students posing with signs for a 1985 celebration. Finally, the  photograph below depicts Delaware State College's Gospel Choir performing in 1980.

I hope you enjoy the weekend and at the same time reflect on the significance of Martin Luther King Jr. Day.

Reference:
Ross, Shmuel, and David Johnson. "The History of Martin Luther King Day." Infoplease. Accessed January 14, 2016. http://www.infoplease.com/spot/mlkhistory1.html.

Helmets Through History

Written by Daniel DelViscio

Do you wonder what football was like back in the day? Well here at the Delaware State University Archives we have a handful of sepia colored photographs displaying what the football team looked like. 

See those sweet leather hats? That was back when they didn’t have the newfangled polycarbonate helmets that protect you from concussions and probably sing you a nice lullaby when you go to bed at night. Helmets weren’t designated as mandatory protection until 1943 and it wasn’t unusual to see a mishmash of players on the field wearing different kinds of helmets or no helmets at all. The man who receives the most credit for inventing these first helmets is George Barclay in 1896.¹ Back then it was known as the “head harness” and had three leather straps making it a tight fit.

Around 1915 helmets started looking more like they do today with the addition of more padding and flaps that covered the ears with holes for hearing. These were often referred to as Zuppke helmets after Robert Zuppke, the head football coach at the University of Illinois.² In addition, straps of fabric were introduced in 1917 to better support the head and lessen the impact of a 250lb lineman folding you up like a taco.

                             

Pictured to the right is a player on the 1955 football team shaking hands with the president Dr. Jerome H. Holland, but his helmet wouldn’t be developed until 1939, when the first plastic helmet prototype was created by John T. Riddell and they had some very big advantages over the old models.³ For one, they didn’t rot away like their leather predecessors and they were lighter as well as stronger. Unfortunately the helmets also had some big problems first and foremost being that they were too brittle and couldn’t handle direct blows often shattering on impact.³ So the helmet was made rounder so that collisions were more likely to be deflected. They looked something like the helmets in this 1951 Delaware State College vs. Bluefield State game.

                            

The next big advance was the introduction of the BT-5 face mask in 1955, which at first was a rubber-coated steel tube formed into a single bar over the front of the helmet and over time has become a cage to protect the face of the players, and help referees add a new type of penalty flag to fling.⁴ Further improvements to the helmet came in the 1970s when some tinkering was done with various shock absorbing systems for inside the helmet like anti-freeze solvent and vinyl cushions. Over the years small alterations have been added for the safety of players and we hope the egg-head engineers keep coming up with new ways to keep our players safe, because we love football.

There you go, a little history to go with the homecoming celebration coming up. As a parting gift here is a picture of the homecoming football game played in 1954, go hornets!

 

Citations:

1. Nelson, David M. The Anatomy of a Game: Football, the Rules, and the Men Who   Made the Game. 1st ed. Newark, Delaware: University of Delaware Press ;, 1994.

2. Forthofer, Jason. "A History of Leather Football Helmets." Goarticles.com. 27 Apr. 2009. Web. 22 Oct. 2015. http://goarticles.com/article/A-History-of-Leather-Football-Helmets/1569349/

3. Stamp, Jimmy. "Leatherhead to Radio-head: The Evolution of the Football Helmet." Smithsonian.com. October 1, 2012. Accessed October 22, 2015. http://www.smithsonianmag.com/arts-culture/leatherhead-to-radio-head-the-evolution-of-the-football-helmet-56585562/.

4. Gambini, Bert. "The Otto Graham Myth and the Evolution of the Face Mask ." ClevelandBrowns.com. May 20, 2014. Accessed October 22, 2015. http://www.clevelandbrowns.com/news/article-1/The-Otto-Graham-Myth-and-the-Evolution-of-the-Face-Mask/572726b4-eca8-4e21-aa17-b99b28e735f4.

Get Lost in the Library

My name is Paul Scherry, younger brother of Rejoice Scherry who is DSU’s very own archivist.  Today I was browsing through the shelves of the archival office, (which by the way are open to the public) and I discovered a hidden treasure!  I play this little game, where I go to a shelf and look for the oldest possible book.  I don’t care what the book is about, who wrote it, or what kind of shape it’s in.  The only thing that matters is how old it is. 

Well this time I hit the jackpot.   I found a book dated to the year 1694! To put that in perspective, the pilgrims landed at Plymouth Rock in 1620.  Imagine holding a piece of history that was printed only 74 years later.  Its leather binding is in surprisingly good shape, with an unsurprising amount of “red rot” (dried and crumbling leather).  The pages on the exterior have been heavily browned with age, but when I opened the book, I found the paper to be only slightly yellowed.  Just over three centuries old and this book is in better condition than some books currently sitting openly in DSU’s collection! 

I can honestly tell you that at this point my heart was pounding.  Then I looked at the title which read Hudibras, written by Samuel Butler.  Even though I had no knowledge of this piece of literature, I immediately began to feel as if this artifact, older than the United States themselves, was talking to me.  I looked at the first few blank pages and I found the owners signature!  He or she, signed “J. Green” and dated the year, 1758.  Now I was ecstatic!  Someone in 1758 bothered to signify ownership of this book about two decades prior to the American Revolution.  Little did that person know was that I, a junior in college at Del Sate, would crack open this book three hundred years later and see the personal touch they left behind.  

It gets better.  On page 320, I found something else a reader left behind.  Tucked into the spine of the book was a dried out and flattened four leaf clover.   To think I stumbled upon someone else’s good fortune made my day. 

As I sit here writing out this little highlight, I think this book was sending me a message.  In today’s modern world, we have access to unlimited sources of knowledge.  With the swipe of a phone screen, we can find anything.  But let me ask you this: would you find a signature? Would you find a hidden treasure?  Would you be able to physically hold an artifact made over three hundred years ago?  There are still discoveries like the one I just had yet to be found in libraries.  The next time you have a few minutes to burn in between classes, instead of staring into your cellphone, get lost in the library. You might be surprised by what you find!

. 

Happy 125th Anniversary to the 1890 Land-Grant Universities!

Written by Joy Scherry

Above: First Officers of the State College for Colored Students,
known today as Delaware State University.
SCCS Cadets wore military style uniforms to reflect their studies. 

It’s the 125^th anniversary of the 1890 land-grant universities!  This year Delaware State University joins eighteen other American universities in celebrating their common heritage in the Morrill Act of 1890.

In 1862 Congressman Justin Smith Morrill introduced an act which intended to provide land for the purpose of encouraging industrial colleges in each of the United States.  The proposed institutions would teach military tactics, mechanical arts (engineering), and agriculture.  The first Morrill Act was signed into law by President Abraham Lincoln in July of 1862.

Well after the Civil War, in 1890, Congress recognized that persons of color were not afforded equal opportunities to attend college.  Therefore, a second Morrill Act was passed in order to require that the established land-grant universities either demonstrate that race was not a criterion for admission, or create separate institutions for African Americans.

In total, seventy colleges and universities were created as a result of the Morrill Acts. Today Delaware State University and other historically black colleges and universities across the United States proudly celebrate a mutual heritage.

Above: Delaware State College students participate in a tractor driving competition and an egg judging.  The contests were a part of a Future Farmers of America (FFA) convention held on the DSC campus during the 1949-1950 academic year. The DSC agricultural building circa 1949 is seen in the background. 

Do you want to learn more about the Morrill Acts and the 1890 land-grant universities? Click here. You can also view a calendar of commemorative events in honor of the 125th anniversary and learn about the current goals of the 1890 land-grant universities.  

Click above to visit the current webpage of the Department of Agriculture and Natural Resources at Delaware State University 

Creation of the Black Studies Program

During the spring of 1968, students protested dormitory conditions and regulations. The unrest reached its height in May when students occupied Grossley Hall, prompting the governor to dispatch the National Guard.

Black Majestic Society editorial, The Hornet, October 10, 1969

Among the most organized of the activists was the Black Majestic Society, who demanded the creation of a Black Studies Program. Their October 10, 1969, editorial in The Hornet, pictured here, represents their displeasure with the college, to put it mildly. 

By the 1970-1971 academic year, the Black Studies Program was approved as a multidisciplinary concentration that called upon a variety of fields in the humanities. You can read the Black Studies Planning Committee proposal here, as part of our digitized collection.

11th Anniversary of name change to Delaware State University

Click here to view more about this photo.

Written by: Leigh-Anne Yacovelli

Today’s post celebrates the 11th anniversary of the day that Governor Thomas Carper signed the name change from Delaware State College (DSC) to Delaware State University (DSU) into law. This important event stemmed from a unanimous vote made on September 10, 1992 by the DSC Board of Trustees to conduct a study on the merits of changing the institution’s name. By May 13, 1993, they agreed it was a wanted change, and authorized the DSC’s president to send a formal request for name change to the General Assembly. 

Visit the Archives to read this report.

Why is it so important? After all, the size of the institution does not tip the scale from a college to a university. By 1991, different states developed different rationales for changing the name of an institution from college to university. Some states insisted the school be able to provide doctoral degrees, while others had to offer a minimum number of graduate degrees, or a minimum number of students enrolled in degrees not designed to produce teachers.

The designation of “university” resonates as a solid, worthy institution. For instance, institutions carrying that designation are more likely to gain notice over those simply labeled “college” when donors are deciding on where to contribute their money. For DSC, a name change would bring it on par with many of its peer institutions. The Board of Trustees noted in a background paper supporting the name change (written for the Governor and members of the Delaware General Assembly) that, of the 17 historically black land-grant institutions, only DSC and Fort Valley State College (in Georgia) are not designated as “university.”

If you want to learn more, come visit the archives or check out our past posts on DSU history.

History: The Delaware State Ceremonial Mace

Written by: Emily Cottle 

 Introduced during the tenure of Delaware State’s seventh president, Dr. Luna I. Mishoe, the ceremonial mace was designed to be a “permanent emblem of the authority of the Office of the President and will be used at commencement exercises and at other College affairs of special significance.”

Pages from a pamphlet housed in the Archives giving
information on the history of DSU's ceremonial mace.

The preceding quote was taken from a publication on the ceremonial mace, the cover of which is pictured here. It described how the mace was designed and constructed by Mr. John McCollough, an assistant professor of Art Education at Delaware State College, in spring 1963. It is constructed with sterling silver alongside ebony from Africa, rosewood from Africa and India, lace wood from Australia, mahogany from the Philippines, pear wood from Switzerland, lignum vitae from South America, and walnut wood from North America. Its symbolism is derived from the incorporation of silver with the wood from different continents.

The mace is 48 inches long and weighs over 6 pounds.

Founders Day 2014

Carlos Holmes as President William C. Jason 

striking a thoughtful pose.

Written by: Cale McCammon

February 25th’s snowy weather didn’t dampen DSU’s spirits as we celebrated the university’s 183rd birthday, complete with birthday cake and tours of Loockerman Hall, the oldest building on campus and the former center of the university. As part of the celebration, students donned period-style costumes as Carlos Holmes, Director of News Services at the Office of Public Relations, dressed as President William C. Jason and provided insights into the history of the university.

Loockerman Hall, February 25, 2014.

Founders Day is an annual celebration of the university’s heritage from its beginnings in 1891 as the State College for Colored Students after the passage of the second Morrill Land Grant Act. The archives have a collection of past Founders Day programs, the oldest going back to 1942. We also have photographs starting in the 1970s. By all accounts, DSU has made a history of celebrating history.

You can see more photos from the day on the university's website here. 

History: Delaware State University, 1993-present

Written by: Emily Cottle

Welcome back for the final part of this three part series on the history of Delaware State University. Be sure to check out part one or two if you missed them. This week picks up in 1993 during the tenure of President William B. DeLauder.

On July 1, 1993, Governor Thomas Carper signed Senate Bill 138, which officially changed the name from Delaware State College to Delaware State University (DSU). The photo at right shows Governor Carper with Representative Nancy Wagner, Senator Herman Holloway, Mrs. Vermell DeLauder, and President DeLauder at a reenactment of the bill signing.

President DeLauder’s tenure also include numerous campus improvements, such as the second phase of the William C. Jason Library addition, Warren Franklin residential halls, the Mishoe Science Center expansion, and the MBNA Building (renamed the Bank of America Building in 2008), and the Administration Building, among others. 

Under the tenure of DSU’s next president, Dr. Allen L. Sessoms, the first two doctoral programs were established: Educational Leadership and Interdisciplinary Mathematics and Mathematical Physics. By the end of President Sessoms’ term in 2008, DSU had launched a total of five doctoral programs and added five master’s degrees.  Enrollment continued to increase and grew by more than 15%, going from 3,178 students in 2003 to a school-record 3,756 in 2007.

While Dr. Claibourne D. Smith served as acting president, the Wellness Center was completed in the summer of 2009 and in January 2010 Dr. Harry L. Williams was sworn in as Delaware State’s 10^th president. DSU continued to thrive under his leadership expanding research initiatives and rising in the US News and World Report ranking of HBCUs to 9^th in 2013 from its initial ranking of 22^nd in the list’s first year in 2008.

From left to right, DSU Presidents Dr. William B. DeLauder, Dr. Allan L. Sessoms, acting president Dr. Claibourne D. Smith, and Dr. Harry Lee Williams.

To recap, the presidents during this period were Dr. William B. DeLauder (1987-2003), Dr. Allen L. Sessoms (2003-2008), Dr. Claibourne D. Smith [acting president] (2008-2010), and Dr. Harry L. Williams (2010-present).

Delaware State has a very long rich history and these three blog posts barely scratched the surface. They are meant to serve as a general introduction and future posts will highlight particular events or eras in more detail.

Sources:

"History." Delaware State University. http://www.desu.edu/history (accessed January 10, 2014).

"Presidential Tenure Highlights." Delaware State University.  http://www.desu.edu/administration/presidential-tenure-highlights (accessed January 10, 2014).

Skelcher, Bradley. Delaware State University. Charleston, SC: Arcadia Publishers, 2000. (accessed January 10, 2014).

History: Delaware State College, 1947-1993

Written by: Emily Cottle

This post is part two of a three part series about the history of Delaware State University. Be sure to check out last week’s post covering 1891-1947 available here. This week we pick up in 1947.

In 1947, the name of the State College for Colored Students was changed to Delaware State College (DSC) by the Delaware State Legislature. In 1948 there was a then-record graduating class of 49 students.

However, in 1949, Delaware State College struggled as its Middle State Commission on Higher Education accreditation was revoked. A state task force was created to study the role of Delaware State College in higher education in Delaware and to consider it becoming a junior college or being closed altogether. However, President Oscar Chapman was the lone member of this taskforce that fought to maintain DSC as a four-year institution.

DSC persevered and based on a 1954 report submitted by President Jerome Holland, DSC continued as a four-year institution and received then-unprecedented major capital funding from the state. This funding  provided for the construction of Memorial Hall, Conwell Hall (dormitory), an administration building (now Grossley Hall), and other campus renovations. It was also under Dr. Holland’s leadership that the College won back its full accreditation from Middle States. In 1960, the College’s enrollment had increased to 386.

Dr. Luna Mishoe’s 27 years at Delaware State College resulted in additional campus improvements with the construction of Laws Hall, the home economics building (now the Price Building), an agriculture building (now the Baker building), as well as the Education & Humanities Building, the original Martin Luther King Student Center, and the first phase of the William C. Jason Library. At the end of President Mishoe’s tenure, enrollment had increased from 386 in 1960 to 2,327 in 1987.

Additional highlights included the establishment of the first master’s degree in Education Curriculum and Instruction in 1981 and six other graduate degrees by 1987.

From left to right, Delaware State College Presidents: Dr. Oscar J. Chapman, Dr. Maurice E. Thomasson (acting president), Dr. Jerome H. Holland, and Dr. Luna I. Mishoe.

To reiterate those mentioned above, presidents during this period included the conclusion of Dr. Howard Gregg’s tenure until 1949, followed by Dr. Maurice E. Thomasson, serving his first of two stints as acting president  from 1949-1950. Dr. Oscar Chapman came onboard for the shortest tenure of any president from 1950-1951. After this was Dr. Thomasson’s second term as acting president from 1951-1953, followed by Dr. Jerome Holland from 1953-1960. His successor was Dr. Luna I. Mishoe, who had the second longest tenure of any president from 1960-1987. The last president in this time period was Dr. William B. DeLauder, who began in 1987 and whose tenure will continue into next week’s post on Delaware State University, 1993-present.

Again, I encourage anyone who wants to learn more about the history of Delaware State to check out a copy of Delaware State University by Dr. Bradley Skelcher. Come back next week for the final part in our series that will cover 1993 to the present.

Sources:

"History." Delaware State University. http://www.desu.edu/history (accessed January 10, 2014).

"Presidential Tenure Highlights." Delaware State University.  http://www.desu.edu/administration/presidential-tenure-highlights (accessed January 10, 2014).

Skelcher, Bradley. Delaware State University. Charleston, SC: Arcadia Publishers, 2000. (accessed January 10, 2014).

History: State College for Colored Students, 1891-1947

Written by: Emily Cottle

This post kicks off a three part series where we will explore the history of Delaware State University. Each post will include a different era of DSU’s history: part 1 will focus on the State College for Colored Students (1891-1947), part 2 will cover Delaware State College (1947-1993), and part 3 will cover the most recent history of Delaware State University (1993-present).

Delaware State University by Dr. Bradley Skelcher.

Established on May 15, 1891 by the Delaware General Assembly, the State College for Colored Students (SCCS) was created as a result of the second Morrill Act of 1890. This act required that existing land-grant institutions either open their doors to students of all races or create a new separate institution for black students. (The original land-grant institution in Delaware was the University of Delaware.)

Upon its official opening on February 2, 1892, five courses of study leading to a baccalaureate degree were available: Agricultural, Chemical, Classical, Engineering, and Scientific. A Preparatory Department was established in 1893 for students who were not yet qualified to pursue a baccalaureate degree upon entrance. In 1897, SCCS began offering a three-year normal course leading to a teacher's certificate.

The first graduates received their diplomas in May 1898. The teacher education program was expanded to four years in 1911 and students who successfully completed the program were awarded a Bachelor of Pedagogy degree. In 1912, the available areas of study changed to Academic, Agricultural, Mechanic Arts and Domestic Science, all leading to a Bachelor of Pedagogy. The Preparatory Department was phased out during the 1916-1917 school year and a Model Grade School was established that awarded a high school diploma upon successful completion of four years of study.

Academic programs continued to evolve and expand. In 1923, a Junior College Division was added. Four-year curricula in the Arts and Sciences, Elementary Education, Home Economics, Agriculture, and Industrial Arts were established in 1932. In June 1934, the College graduated its first class of bachelor-degree candidates completing one of these four-year courses of study.

All of this academic growth culminated the College receiving its first provisional accreditation by the Middle States Commission on Higher Education in 1944.

Throughout this period, the State College for Colored Students had four presidents. The first president of the college was Wesley P. Webb, whose tenure lasted from 1891-1895. He was followed by William C. Jason, whose tenure from 1895-1923 remains the longest of any president. Richard S. Grossley was president from 1923-1942, succeeded by Dr. Howard D. Gregg from 1942-1949.

From left to right, State College for Colored Students presidents: Wesley P. Webb, William C. Jason, Richard S. Grossley, and Dr. Howard D. Gregg.

For more information about the history of Delaware State, including a large number of wonderful pictures, come to the library and check out a copy of Delaware State University by Dr. Bradley Skelcher.

Come back next week for post 2 and learn about the institution after our name was changed to Delaware State College.

Sources:

"History." Delaware State University. http://www.desu.edu/history (accessed January 10, 2014).

Skelcher, Bradley. Delaware State University. Charleston, SC: Arcadia Publishers, 2000. (accessed January 10, 2014).