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.

Archives Display: Student Life

Calling all Katies!

October is American Archives Month, and for this post we're asking your help in adding to the St. Kate's Archives and Special Collections. Do you want future St. Kate’s students to learn about your experience here on campus? YOU are what makes St. Catherine University and we want to include you in its history!

If you are part of a student club or organization, please help us preserve your group’s history by giving us flyers, posters, buttons, banners, meeting minutes, etc. We are also looking for handouts from campus events, workshops, and speeches you have attended, Residence Hall flyers about events within your building, playbills from on-campus concerts, plays, etc. Basically, anything that you think reflects your experience here at St. Kate’s! We know how busy you are--you can bring your collection to us anytime during the school year when it is convenient for you!

To recognize the variety of student life past and present, we are currently displaying photos and memorabilia of student groups and activities throughout the years. The display is located on the main level of the St. Paul Library, in the case in front of the video carrels. For more images of student life, you can also browse through our Digital Collections anytime.

Items on display include:

• Students roasting marshmallows in a fireplace in the common room of Mendel Hall, 1942
• Dolphin Club (Synchronized Swimmers) program, 1960s.
• Residence Life newsletter, titled “On Campus”, 1985.
• Chapstick from Senate with contact information on it, 2014.

If you have any questions about donating your student organization’s records and memorabilia, please let us know! For more information, visit the Archives online or 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.

October is American Archives Month!

Did you know that October is American Archives Month? Visit our archives display in the CDC atrium October 5-16 and discover unique pieces of St. Kate’s 110-year history!  We'll also be tabling October 13th.

Have you ever wondered what a gym uniform looked like in the 1940s? The yoga pants and leggings we wear today would definitely shock our fellow Katies!

Now we can access our student transcripts with the click of a button. Take a look at one student's paper transcript booklet from the early 1900s. Anyone interested in taking a course called Domestic Science?

 

Feeling groovy? Pages of a yearbook from 1973 will show you the differences (and similarities) between us and the women who called St. Kate's home over 40 years ago.

Illustration from La Concha, 1973

From recent history, we have Dew Drop Bop memorabilia and a DVD of Spring 2014 Commencement. Just think, some day your photos and memories may be a part of the St. Catherine University Archives!

Watch Twitter and Facebook for more highlights of St. Kate's history during October. For more information on the history of St. Catherine University, visit the Archives online or in person in Room 62 of the Library, open Monday- Friday from 9:30-4:30.