Features
What’s hiding in Burke’s basement?
By Sindy Chen ’19
October 1, 2015
Have you ever been to the library basement? Did you even know that there was a library basement? Next time that you’re in the library and don’t know what to do (which for me is all the time), make sure to head down the stairs and check out the Hamilton College Archives. The archives hold official and personal records of both Hamilton College and Kirkland College. They include published materials of and about students, faculty and alumni from the birth of the college to the present. Even objects like trophies of past debate teams and 1890s gym outfits.
If you’re a senior racking your brains for the perfect direction to go with your thesis, come to the archives and be inspired by those who came before you. The archives collect honors theses and theses that have won awards in past years. If you’re a theatre lover, you might be interested in photos of the comedy shows that a Hamilton theater group called the “Charlatans” put on in downtown Clinton until the 1970s. Whether you’re into art, math, football or all three, you will find something that interests you in the archives.
The majority of the collections at the archives consist of documents and photographs. Official documents of the College of Trustees Meetings and Presidents’ announcements can be found chronologically from 1812. One particularly interesting document can be found in the 1837 folder of official documents: a letter addressed to the state of New York, written by the President of the college at the time. Earlier that year, a large group of Hamilton students had secretly gathered and signed a petition attempting to ban slavery in the state. When the college administration found out, in fear of losing funding, they immediately wrote a letter to clarify that they knew nothing about the scheme.
The archives also contain letters, journals and diaries written by Hamilton students during the Civil War and the two World Wars. These give a fascinating glimpse into how major historical events have impacted the lives of Hamilton students. In the Civil War era, there were a significant number of Hamilton students who went to battle, and some did not make it out alive. In comparison, the First World War, referred to as the “Great War” in many of the documents from that time, seems to have only indirectly impacted life on the Hill. During World War II, the College’s curriculum changed slightly to support war efforts, including disciplines such as pilot training and putting more emphasis on sciences such as physics and the French and German languages. Many Hamilton students fought in this war, as well. Their names and exact number, along with students who took part in other wars, can be found in the registrar’s books down in the archives.
Photos stored in the archives allow us a visual peek into Hamilton history. The archives own pictures taken using methods ranging from stereoscopy, one of the earliest forms of photography, to an iPhone camera. The content of the photos is also extremely diverse, from graduation pictures to scenery postcards of Clinton to pictures of sports teams, including one of a football scrimmage in 1906. The archives also have an aerial photograph of campus taken from an airplane in the 1930s.
If you’ve ever been curious about the founding of Hamilton College, the archives hold a treasure trove of information. The Samuel Kirkland Correspondence is a collection of letters to and from the College’s founder. Correspondents include James Bowdoin, Joseph Brant, Israel Chapin and the office of President George Washington. Some letters are written in the Iroquois, Oneida and Mohawk languages, since Hamilton College’s predecessor, the Hamilton-Oneida Academy, was established to promote education among local Native Americans.
Some classes have projects and assignments that will require students to come down to the archives. Scholars from outside the College frequently make special trips to the archives for their own research. Hamilton students have also been making use of the resources for research purposes or simply out of curiosity. So, next time you find yourself in the library and feel like procrastinating, head down to the archives to discover something new (or old) about Hamilton!