Found in the Archives: Chemistry Classroom Photograph

February 7th is National Periodic Table Day, an unofficial holiday celebrating the publication of the first table of the elements on February 7, 1863.

The Archives and Special Collections has this picture of Whitby Hall room 121, which was used as a chemistry classroom.

The photograph, taken around 1918, shows a poster of the periodic table hanging on the wall to the left. The poster is enlarged below.

The text underneath the poster's title indicates the table is "according to Mendeleev . . . revised and corrected to 1910 by Dr F W Clarke."  The periodical table St. Kate's students learned in the early 19th century, with its 70 elements arranged into 8 groups and 12 series, is much simpler than the 118-element table chemistry students use today.

Found In the Archives: College of St. Thomas Panty Raid Letter

Ahhh...the good old days. Dating back to the late 1940s, a panty raid was a college prank in which large groups of male students attempted to invade the dorms of female students and steal their undergarments as the trophies of a successful raid.

Considered the first post-World War II college craze, the panty raid originated in 1949 at Illinois's Augustana College, eventually sweeping through colleges in the United States. For many college students, this prank was carried out as a humorous protest against dormitory curfews and and restrictions placed on male visitors.

Letter from Sister Marie James, CSC Dean of students, 1973

According to a letter we found in the 1972-1973 College Association Annual Reports, a group of students from the University of St. Thomas (at the time, College of St. Thomas) were successful in their raid, however this victory came with a price.

In the letter, Sister Marie James, CSC Dean of Students, itemizes the expenses incurred during the panty raid. The total cost is $33.00, including 2 emergency exit glasses ($2) and one hour to check out damage ($6). She also reiterates the severity of the prank, reminding the St. Thomas students that "... an entry such as you made the other night adds additional costs which really, in justice, should be born by you boys."

By the mid-1970s, the fad had run its course and we suspect that this was the last time a panty raid was carried out by our neighbors from St. Thomas. Fortunately, the relationship between our schools remains strong, even after a prank like this!

Until 1977, St. Thomas was an all-male campus with St. Kate’s students taking on the role of cheerleaders and homecoming queens. This, combined with the proximity of our campuses, organized social events, and a shared commitment to Catholic education, make the history between our two campuses unique.

This letter is one of many unique items you will find in our Archives! Learn more about the history of St. Catherine University online and in person in Room 62 of the Library, open Monday - Friday from 9:30-4:30.

Found In the Archives: Marie Curie Letter

In honor of the announcement of the 2015 Nobel Prize in Chemistry jointly awarded to Tomas Lindahl, Paul Modrich, and Aziz Sancar "for mechanistic studies of DNA repair," the St. Catherine University Archives contains a 1933 letter written by Mme. Marie Curie, inviting Sister Antonius Kennelly to visit her famous laboratory in Paris.

Letter from Marie Curie, April 4, 1933

Here is a translation of the letter:

Sir,
It goes without saying that S. Antonius Kennelly will receive a warm welcome to my laboratory and that she will be able to visit it. However, I am not sure to be in Paris at the particular time when she is supposed to come, and in that event, I will have my daughter Mme. Irene Curie-Joliot welcome her for me.
Best wishes,
M. Curie

In case your brain is overloaded from everything else you're studying this semester, here is a crash course in why this is so exciting! In 1898, Mme. Curie and her husband Pierre discovered radium and were awarded the 1903 Nobel Prize in Physics, making Mme. Curie the first woman to win a Nobel Prize.

After her husband's death in 1906, Mme. Curie continued to devote her life's work to the study of radium. In 1911 she received a second Nobel Prize, this time in Chemistry, in recognition of her work in radioactivity. In later years, she was assisted by her daughter, Irene Joliot-Curie, in her radioactivity laboratory in Paris. Following in her parents' footsteps, Irene and her husband, Frederic Joliot, won the 1935 Nobel Prize for Chemistry.

Sister Antonius was assigned the study of chemistry to fill a need for a chemistry assistant at the College of St. Catherine, but she grew to love and excel in the field. She received her BA in chemistry and language from St. Catherine in 1926 and her MA in chemistry from the University of Minnesota in 1929. Encouraged by College of St. Catherine President Sister Antonia McHugh, Sister Antonius earned her Ph.D. from the University of Munich, Germany in 1933. In Germany she studied under Dr. Heinrich Otto Wieland, who won the 1927 Nobel Prize for Chemistry.

It was during this time that Sister Antonius requested to visit Mme. Curie's laboratory in Paris. As she recounted in a 1957 speech, this request was granted by the French National Director of Education in 1933. During the visit, Sister Antonius was given a tour of the facility by Irene Joliot-Curie. The visit ended with a meeting of Mme. Curie herself, who Sister Antonius described as a "quiet little lady in black". It goes without saying that this encounter was one of Sister Antonia's prized memories, as she described how her "heart went still at the opportunity to meet this remarkable woman".

After she returned from her studies in Europe, Sister Antonius continued her career at the College of St. Catherine, first as faculty in the Chemistry Department and later serving as the third President of the College from 1943-1949.

This letter is one of many unique items you will find in our Archives and an example of the rich history of the community of women who founded our campus and continue to inspire us.  Learn more about the history of St. Catherine University online and in person in Room 62 of the Library, open Monday - Friday from 9:30-4:30.

Found in the Archives: Library Hours

There was a time when the St. Kate's Library wasn't open every day of the week. Until the late 1960s it was closed on Sundays. Students began asking for extended hours, however. The minutes of the Student-Faculty Committee from November 18, 1964 include this item:

"[There was a suggestion] that the library be open on Sundays and the Friday and Saturday of exam week. It was mentioned that the librarians work very long hours all week and are entitled to have Sunday free."

Demand for Sunday hours continued unsuccessfully until the 1966-67 academic year. That year, Head Librarian Sister Marie Inez mentioned in her annual report "the happy resolution of opening the library on Sundays with the cooperation of students and faculty."

That cooperation was the plan of Resident Student Council President Jan English and Day Student Council President Judy Tingerthall. They led an S.O.S. (Students Out to Study) effort to recruit faculty members to staff the library for 3 hours on Sunday afternoons, using sign-up sheets like the one pictured here. It shows the signatures of 25 faculty members willing to sit at the library desk from 1:30-4:30.

This sign-up sheet is in the Archives and Special Collections as part of the records of the College Association, the student governing board. Unfortunately, the Archives does not seem to have the "list of duties" Sr. Marie Inez left for the faculty members who sat at the desk.

Found in the Archives: Strategic Air Command Certificate

Sister Alberta Huber (President of St. Catherine University 1964-1979) with Minneapolis/St. Paul Civic Leaders, Headquarters Strategic Air Command, Offutt AFB, Nebraska, 1973.

For two days in August 1973 Saint Catherine’s seventh president, Sister Alberta Huber, joined civic leaders from Minneapolis and St. Paul for a tour of the headquarters of Strategic Air Command (SAC) at Offutt Air Force Base in Nebraska.

Active from 1946 to 1992, SAC was the United States Air Force’s long-range strike force, responsible for bombing operations during the Korean War, Vietnam War, and Gulf War, and is most well-known for its role in the Cold War. Its mission, included in a packet of information about SAC given to the civilian visitors, recalls the days when the idea of a nuclear deterrent as defense was still popular:

In peacetime the mission of SAC is to maintain a force capable of preventing nuclear war, while in wartime the mission is to destroy the enemy’s war-making capability.

The itinerary for Huber’s tour included a tour of the Underground Command Post, a tour of the Strategic Aerospace Museum, and briefings on topics such as “The Human Element” and “Soviet Strategic Posture.” Among the documents that Huber saved from her trip is a rather peculiar Certificate of Degree for a Bachelor of SACology, with language that is very reminiscent of its time:

The text is as follows:

Sister Alberta Huber

Having been thoroughly briefed, indoctrinated, rebriefed, instructed and again rebriefed on the mysteries of aerospace in general, and the Strategic Air Command in particular, and having ventured into the subterranean depth of the Free World’s citadel of aerospace power, is hereby awarded the Degree of

B.S. 

(Bachelor of SACology)

and as such is entitled, authorized and enjoined to share her profound knowledge and enthusiasm with her fellowman, whenever and wherever the slightest opportunity to do so should arise.

 Given under my hand this 23^rd day of August 1973 at Offutt AFB, Nebraska.

 [signed]

JOHN C. MEYER, General, USAF

Commander in Chief

Found in the Archives: Bathroom Tissue

Travel abroad sometimes inspires people to collect rather unusual souvenirs, an example of which was recently found in the University Archives.  In 1949 St. Catherine’s sponsored a group of 13 students and their group leader to travel across Europe. From July 1st to August 25th they visited England, Scotland, Belgium, Germany, Switzerland, Italy, and France through the program American Youth Abroad. 

Among the documents recording their travel plans we found an envelope labeled “Samples of Bathroom Tissue in Europe 1949.” Inside there were in fact 8 pieces of bathroom tissue, sadly not labeled by country. Was this tissue paper particularly unique or was it simply an inexpensive and amusing souvenir? So far no other information has been found so we can only guess.

As we discover more of these interesting artifacts we’ll keep you updated with our new Found in the Archives blog series.

The tour group with members of the Swiss Guard
in the Pontifical Chambers in Vatican City, July 29, 1949.

Update: February 27, 2014

Your request is granted.  Below is a picture of the sheets of tissue, along with the envelope they were in.  You may not be able to tell from the photo, but Charmin they are not!