Fight For Your Right…To Equal Opportunity

By: Eleena Ghosh

In October 1968, 500 students took over the steps of Marie Mount Hall, home to the College of Home Economics, in a rally protesting discrimination in a nutrition experiment. 

Four Black students were denied participation in the experiment for being “biologically different” and an “unknown variable”, despite the Home Economics lab having a history of employing Black women to work in the lab for cheaper wages than their White counterparts, particularly pre-integration. 

As the protest went on, state and campus police were called in to line the perimeter of the building, as well as the inside lobby. 

Crow outside the Marie Mount building, 1968. The Diamondback, vol. 61, issue 29. University of Maryland Archives.

When then-president of the Black Student Union, Bob McLeod, tried to peacefully enter the building to speak with Brooks and VP of Student Affairs, J. Winston Martin, he was met with forceful resistance from them. McLeod stressed that is his legal right as a student to enter the building, and that this was not a violent protest; still, the state troopers wouldn’t allow him in. 

Eventually, he and other students were able to enter the building. After a conversation with BSU representatives, Brooks took to the podium to publicly apologize and announce that two of the students would be given lab positions, and two were to be included in the study. 

Bob McLeod, right, speaking with J. Winston Martin, left. Crow outside the Marie Mount building, 1968. The Diamondback, vol. 61, issue 29. University of Maryland Archives.

However, she also read excerpts from a 1956 science journal article that stated a “biological difference between White and Black individuals” and later, mass copies of that study were made available and spread at the Student Union, though no one knows how… 

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Eleena Ghosh is a graduate student assistant in University Archives, pursuing a Master’s of Library and Information Sciences and a Museum Scholarship and Material Culture Certificate. She is interested in museum studies, creating more inclusive archival records and spaces, anthropology, and figuring out how to combine all of her different interests.

Students: the Architects of Waste Management at UMD

By: Eleena Ghosh

Happy America Recycles Day! We’re all familiar with the black, green, and blue bins that are spread across campus today but once upon a time (the 1960s), this campus didn’t recycle or compost. It was thanks to the activism of students in the Environmental Conservation Organization (ECO) and Maryland Public Interest Research Group (MaryPIRG) that administrators even began to think about it. Today, only MaryPIRG remains, but they’re still doing great environmental work.

Early history:

• May 1969, a “Trash Bash” was held on campus, where 500+ students participated in a weeklong campus clean-up that was organized by Greek Week committees and the North American Habitat Preservation Society. There were also student and administration speakers, along with a “jug band and folk group” to soundtrack their clean-up. 
• April 1970, the campus and the nation celebrated the very first Earth Day! There were day-long teach-ins, films, displays, and speeches. 

The Diamondback, April 22, 1970

The Diamondback, April 10, 1970

• March 1971, student-led ECO, which organized around issues of recycling, toxic runoff, and pollution, successfully proposes and pushes for the university’s first campus recycling center; run entirely by student volunteers, the UMD recycling center predates that of PG County.

The Diamondback, November 5, 1971

• November 1972, Political activist/reformer Ralph Nader speaks on campus, which leads to the creation of another student organization, the Maryland chapter of the Nader-backed Public Interest Research Group (MaryPIRG).

ECO did much of the early work that began this university’s journey towards recycling, composting, and waste reduction. Throughout the 70s and 80s, ECO volunteers (read: students) would collect paper, cardboard, and aluminum waste from bins in the dorms, offices, businesses, and take them to a nearby recycling center in the ECO truck. Eventually, in 1971, they succeeded in establishing a recycling center directly on campus, which they largely ran themselves.

Truck — Environmental Conservation Organization, n.d., Diamondback Photos, Box 87, Item 8953

Mary Ann Harrison, ECO Volunteer, removes paper wrappers from tin cans, 1975, Diamondback Photos, Box 127, item 13588

The center had to be consistently fought for, as university officials and administrators consistently threatened its existence; for example, in 1976, the space was eyed to create a parking lot for shuttle buses. Because the university never gave the center any funding, it eventually began to struggle to stay open and operating, because of student turnover. Though this begs some more digging, the recycling center likely became Facilities Management. 

The Diamondback, April 2, 1976

Along with ECO, MaryPIRG became the two most active student groups when it came to recycling and waste management on campus. One of their longest-lasting and more ambitious (and, most successful!) projects was targeting dining hall waste, particularly styrofoam waste. 

Though the movement towards recycling more and waste consciousness had existed long before, even among students, the story with the dining halls really began in 1991, when they switched from paper products to Styrofoam (polystyrene). Almost immediately, MaryPIRG was vocal in their criticism of that choice, first suggesting that food services completely eliminate carryout altogether. Barring the increased litter and pollution that comes from Styrofoam use, MaryPIRG based their campaign on the argument that polystyrene is also harmful to the user’s health and acts as a carcinogen (so said Sharon Williams, campus coordinator for MaryPIRG) and argued that it should be completely phased out– a position they made clear with their “Phase Out Foam” day. A chemistry professor did, however, publicly assert that those statements were “completely untrue” in the Diamondback. 

The Diamondback, March 6, 1992

Though Food Services Assistant Director Joseph Mullineaux decided not to completely ban Styrofoam products, he did announce that the dining halls would begin recycling carryout containers in the Spring of 1992. 

Student opinions varied on the subject, but generally, it seems that they were on board with MaryPIRG’s original campaign to completely phase styrofoam out. The Diamondback ran a few opinion columns and Letters to the Editor from students that affirmed that position- or at the very least supported the recycling of styrofoam. 

As part of what eventually became the “Reduce, Reuse, Recycle Campaign”, MaryPIRG continued to hold events around campus in the hope to educate students about waste, excess packaging, and styrofoam. In September of 1992, they gave out “Wastemaker Awards” outside Stamp Student Union to companies like Kool-Aid and Chef Boyardee hoping to open people’s eyes about the excessive packaging that came with many products. 

The Diamondback, October 22, 1992

After a small dip in activity, MaryPIRG and ECO’s efforts picked up again in 1994, when campus stopped recycling styrofoam after the Dining Services’ contract ended with Eastern Waste. The two groups immediately began to promote alternatives to styrofoam, like number one and two plastics, paper products, and reusable mugs, and even met with Mullineaux again to advocate for the use of these materials. Although it seemed he was interested, there was no move to implement the ideas. As a result, MaryPIRG and ECO took it upon themselves to begin the work on implementing reusable mugs in dining halls and continuing to educate students about waste. 

And educate they did. There were numerous tables held around campus, but perhaps the most notable was the one outside of Stamp Student Union in the fall of 1994. Accompanying informational flyers and pamphlets was an eight-foot dinosaur made out of trash and wire on display. Hey, nobody can ever say environmentalists were boring. 

Hoffman, Chris., Dinosaur made from trash on display at MaryPIRG event in front of Stamp Student Union, 1994, Diamondback Photos, Box 42, Item 4050.

MaryPIRG’s main focus was on convincing students to use reusable mugs rather than the styrofoam carryout mugs that were offered to them at the dining halls. Finally, after two years of on-the-ground organizing and meetings with campus officials, the campaign was officially accepted and implemented by Dining Services. Students could buy reusable mugs at dining halls and campus convenience stores for $2.25 and then receive a discount at dining halls whenever they used them. The campaign was slow going at first but picked up with kitschy flyers that prompted students to “go get mugged” at the dining halls. 

The Diamondback, March 27, 1996

But that didn’t mean their work was over. Even as their reusable mugs were being implemented, they began looking towards their next project to replace the dining halls’ Styrofoam carryout containers with recyclable plastics. Though that took many years, the students of MaryPIRG never gave up– even in 1998, they were very vocal about their criticism of the university’s continued use of Styrofoam containers. It wasn’t until 2007 that we saw the university switch to the compostable packaging and containers that we know and love today.¹ 

The Diamondback, April 22, 1998

Today, UMD keeps 58% of its waste out of landfills through composting and recycling (as of 2022)² and was ranked #1 out of the Big 10 and Maryland institutions in the Campus Race to Zero Waste competition.³ Wherever there’s a trash can, there’s sure to be recycling and composting bins right next to it. 

As many of the great things about this university are, it’s all thanks to the activism of the early students. 

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Works Cited

1. “Composting.” (n.d.) Facilities Management. https://facilities.umd.edu/services/recycling-waste-management/composting 
2. “Composting.” n.d. Facilities Management. https://facilities.umd.edu/services/recycling-waste-management/composting 
3. Small, A. (January 21, 2021). UMD’s Journey to Curbing Waste. https://sustainingprogress.umd.edu/celebrating-stories/umds-journey-curbing-waste 

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Eleena Ghosh is a graduate student assistant in University Archives, pursuing a Master’s of Library and Information Sciences and a Museum Scholarship and Material Culture Certificate. She is interested in museum studies, creating more inclusive archival records and spaces, anthropology, and figuring out how to combine all of her different interests.

The 1971 Admissions Policy Protests

By: Eleena Ghosh

In 1971, the Board of Regents announced new admissions requirements for the University– (1) a limit on incoming class enrollment, (2) a higher minimum GPA, computed by high school grades and SAT scores, (3) a tuition increase for some incoming students, and (4) a limit on incoming out-of-state students.

It’s likely that these changes had been building up for a while; for the 1969-70 school year, there were already concerns over the rising rate of enrollment versus the budget. When the University was denied any budget supplement by the Board, they were also told to hold the enrollment “at the present level”; this led to some proposals for new admissions requirements from Dr. R. Lee Hornbake, then VP of Student Affairs. These proposals included increasing the GPA minimum from 2.0 to 2.1, combining the “C” average requirement with the student also being in the upper half of their class, and a soft limit on incoming freshman.¹ Sound familiar?

That September, students began to protest these new requirements, claiming that they would unfairly exclude Black and minority students who would otherwise have been accepted because of the built-in cultural bias in exams like the SAT. It wasn’t just students who opposed the new policies– an informal coalition of students, staff, faculty, and some University administrators formed in response to the policy that was said to be “detrimental to the future of Black students at the University”. The Committee of Concerned Faculty even conducted a study to later detail a report of all the issues involved with the new policies and their development, emphasizing that faculty and student input were “deliberately avoided.” The Committee eventually called for a formal moratorium on the new standards, with an abundance of support from the students on campus. 

A petition that was circulated among students, staff, and faculty.

On the 22nd of that month, more than 300 Black students marched across McKeldin and took over the steps of the administration building to voice their concerns. For nearly two hours, the students took the stairs, going back and forth with administrators. Finally, Chancellor Charles E. Bishop appeared to promise that he will “study the problem” with admissions officials, only to later announce that a major change in the new standards is “beyond his control”. Students and faculty refused to accept that and condemned him for not living up to his word.

People gathered on the steps of the administration building to protest the new admission standards, September 1971.

Throughout the next few months, Bishop, the Board of Regents, and members of the Governor’s Commission on Student Affairs held hearings. Eventually, the Board of Regents admissions committee themselves recommended using a different predictive grade formula that doesn’t use SAT scores, only high school grades and class rank. 

Headline from The Diamondback, October 1971.

Finally, just two months after the policies were first approved, the Board agreed to modify them; under the new changes, students could enter the University without taking standardized tests and an increased number of students would be admitted as exceptions to regular admissions standards. 

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Works Cited

1. Nov. 8, 1968 – Ltrs. From Hornbake, Waetjen on Holding Enrollments During 1969-80…. Adm Policies, Series 10, Box 223, Office of the President, University of Maryland records

Anderson, Lonnie. “Coalition forms to challenge new admissions standards.” The Diamondback (College Park, MD: 22 Sept. 1971). https://digital.lib.umd.edu/result/id/812889d4-7c88-4733-b5ae-a6fa68b61a81?query=admission

Brodsky, Art. “Regents modify admissions standards.” The Diamondback (College Park, MD: 19 Nov. 1971). https://digital.lib.umd.edu/result/id/0c824258-10f3-47e2-87c5-9fb96af362b8?relpath=pcdm&query=%22admissions%22

Neighbor, Chad. “Admissions controversy .” The Diamondback (College Park, MD: 1 Oct. 1971). https://digital.lib.umd.edu/result/id/ff5e15db-400e-488f-90a8-b49493a66356?relpath=pcdm&query=%22admissions%20controversy%22

Neighbor, Chad. “Regents committee asks adoption of entrance policy without SATs”. The Diamondback (College Park, MD: 18 Oct. 1971). https://digital.lib.umd.edu/result/id/f1bde024-5773-4e61-a4d2-b64e23687b74?query=%22admissions%22

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Eleena Ghosh is a student assistant pursuing a degree in Environmental Science & Policy with a concentration in Anthropology. She is interested in museum scholarship and curatorship, creating more  inclusive archival records, and figuring out how to combine all these different interests.

HIST 429F On Display

At the end of October, the University Archives installed a new display of a selection of the posters created by past HIST 429F students in the Portico Room (Room 2109) in McKeldin Library. University Archives staff has taught HIST 429F, whose formal title is Special Topics in History: MAC to Millennium: History of the University of Maryland, each spring semester since 2014 and will welcome a new crop of Terps interested in learning about their alma mater in January 2020.

Each semester, the students are assigned three major projects, an analysis of an historical item, a poster on a UMD historical topic, prepared as a team effort, and a final research paper documenting a year in the life of the university through the eyes of a senior in that graduating class. Sample blog posts prepared as part of the first assignment can be found here on Terrapin Tales by searching the tag “historical item analysis.”

Examples of the posters from these past student cohorts now on display include:

• Haunted UMD, Spring 2014, Amanda Laughlin, Nicole Main, and Adina Schulman
• ACC-ya: 61 years of men’s basketball, Spring 2014, Kelsey Knoche, Sapna Khemka, and Brooke Parker
• Breaking Barriers, Spring 2015, Jenny Hottle, Talia Richman, and Jamie Weissman
• The Great Fire of 1912, Spring 2015, Dylan French, Christophe Istsweire, and Tyler North
• Sights on McKeldin Mall, Spring 2017, Samantha Waldenberg, James Wallenmeyer, and Jay Westreich
• Where Do I Park?, Spring 2017, Eric Segev and Tim Holzberg
• “There’s Something Happening Here”: The National Guard at the University of Maryland, 1970-1972, Spring 2017, Ian Bucacink, Alan Wierdak, and Adam Levey
• History of the University of Maryland Student Government Association, Spring 2018, Chris Keosian and Alex Flum
• A Royal Visit, Spring 2019, Caralyn Anderson and Wes Brown

The posters will remain on view in the Portico Room (Room 2109) in McKeldin until summer 2020.

Stop by to enjoy our students’ creativity and expertise. If you are a Terp looking for a spring course, we hope you will be inspired to join us on Thursday afternoons from 2 to 4:30 PM to learn more about the history of the University of Maryland. A general description of the course appears below. Hope to see you in class!

HIST 429F: SPECIAL TOPICS IN HISTORY:

MAC TO MILLENIUM: HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF MARYLAND

THURSDAYS, 2-4:30 PM, ROOM 3210, HORNBAKE LIBRARY

            Through an extensive review of primary documents and secondary literature, lectures, and guest presentations, students will gain an overview of the history of the University of Maryland, from its founding as the Maryland Agricultural College in 1856 to the present day.  This class will frequently require you to visit the University of Maryland Archives in Hornbake Library to review primary sources or to examine sources online that the Archives has digitized and is heavily research-based. The majority of the class sessions will consist of two parts. The instructor will lecture and lead discussion on the assigned topic for the week and the required readings during the first half of the class.  The second portion of most weekly sessions will feature a guest speaker who will present his/her/their perspective on the assigned topic for the week; as of mid-September, speakers who have committed to present include Missy Meharg, head field hockey coach, Marilee Lindemann, director of College Park Scholars, Marsha Guenzler-Stevens, Director of The Stamp, and former USM Chancellor Brit Kirwan.

Assignments consist of:

• Poster creation and presentation—30%. Students will work in groups to create a poster exploring an event or theme in university history which will be presented in class and displayed on Maryland Day.
• Historical item analysis assignment—15%. Each student will be assigned an item from the University Archives’ collections to analyze by responding to a series of questions and preparing a brief entry for the Archives’ Terrapin Tales blog.
• Year in the Life of Maryland—35%. The final paper (10-12 pages) will consist of a series of letters written from the perspective of a senior student in an assigned academic year. Research into the events of that academic year will shape the content of the letters.

The remainder of the grade for the class will consist of points awarded for class participation and attendance and successful completion of weekly reading assignments.

Questions about this class may be directed to the instructor: Anne Turkos, University Archivist Emerita, 301-405-9060 or aturkos@umd.edu

 

New UMD Story Map Unveiled

Today, in partnership with the University of Maryland Libraries’ GIS and Spatial Data center, we debut a new story map entitled “From MAC to UMD: How the University of Maryland became the campus we know today.” This new online resource visually chronicles the development of the UMD campus from its earliest days as the Maryland Agricultural College to the present. Terrapin Tales welcomes Story Map author and guest blogger Caitlin Burke, a former graduate assistant in the GIS and Spatial Data center, to describes her research process and the technology she used to create this exciting new UMD history resource. We hope you enjoy Caitlin’s post and the extensive story map she created.

As someone who works with and creates maps, I know maps can tell various stories. As the saying goes, “A picture is worth a thousand words.” Maps can do the same, especially looking at maps of the same location from different decades. In this project, I looked at old campus maps starting from when the University of Maryland (UMD) was Maryland Agricultural College (MAC) to tell the story of how the campus changed since its charter in 1856.

The creation of this story map took up much of my summer. My former supervisor, Dr. Kelley O’Neal, suggested I create a map that all of campus could enjoy. In the GIS library, I am known as the “story map person,” and I helped create story maps for the 2018-2019 Prange Collection exhibit and the 200^th anniversary of the publication of Frankenstein for the English Department. Kelley told me about University Archives’ digitized campus maps, so I thought that I could create a story map that shows how the UMD campus changed from a small, rural, 19^th-century agricultural college to a large public university in the 21^st century.

When I first started coming up with ideas for the map, I thought that this project might only show a few maps and could be finished quickly, but I realized that there was much more to this project. The University Archives digital repository, University AlbUM, has a TON of old campus maps, old aerial photos, and landscape scenery images that illustrate how the campus has changed over time.

Map of the University of Maryland campus, 1934.

This story map was going to be bigger than I initially thought. I included so much material, but there was so much more that could have been added. However, the story map focuses on landscape, architectural and some social change. Because there is so much history for UMD, there could probably be a story map created for each decade since 1856.

I used ArcGIS, a geographic information software owned by Esri, to create the UMD story map.  For this project, I used their online platform, ArcGIS Online. UMD has a partnership with Esri, so students and faculty can get access to free ArcGIS accounts. If you’re interested in using this tool, visit the GIS and Spatial Data Center’s website for more information, instruction and tutorials.

With this story map, I wanted to show that our campus is constantly changing. New buildings and old are updated with modern technology and features, and they are made to be more suitable for students and faculty of the modern era. In the map, I cover monumental events that affected the Maryland Agricultural College, the Maryland State College of Agriculture, as the university was known from 1916 to 1920, and the University of Maryland, from 1920 to the present. Some highlights include the Great Fire of 1912, the construction of some most-recognized buildings in the 1950s, and the building boom in the 2000s.

Maryland Agricultural College campus prior to the fire of 1912.

As I was creating the map, I was interested to learn about UMD’s affiliation with military training. I have always known that there is a large population of students involved in ROTC, but I didn’t know this predated World War II. The Maryland Agricultural College benefitted greatly from the Morrill Act, signed by Abraham Lincoln in 1862, that required colleges and universities designated as land grant institutions to have mandatory military training to receive federal funding. ROTC wasn’t even established until World War I! To be honest, I am more interested in art history than military history, but it was fascinating to learn how involved my university is with American history.

As a UMD alum and current graduate student, this story map was very fun to create. I learned so many interesting facts about UMD from University Archives librarians Anne Turkos and Kendall Aughenbaugh that I was surprised I had not ever heard in my five years of attending UMD. Also, I could spend a whole week going through University AlbUM, the Archives’ digital repository. There are so many interesting photos of various events and people that you get lost in wondering what it would have been like to be on campus decades ago. After working on this project, I pay more attention to details on older buildings. As I walk through campus, the old architectural features and characteristics of the older campus buildings stand out to me more. After going through the story map, maybe you will notice them too.

To view the new story map, <click here>.

 

#Terps100: This Day In History: December 2, 1955

The scene in the newly completed Student Activities Building was a festive one the night of December 2, 1955. University officials, dignitaries from around the state, including Governor Theodore R. McKeldin, and representatives from other Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) schools gathered to dedicate the new structure and celebrate the opening of the second largest arena on the East Coast, dwarfed at the time only by Madison Square Garden in New York City.

The ceremonies, chaired by J. Freeman Pyle, dean of the College of Business and Public Administration, featured addresses by Governor McKeldin and Charles Wickard, president of the Student Government Association. Judge William P. Cole, Jr., Class of 1910 and chair of the Board of Regents, presented the building to the university, and President Wilson H. Elkins officially accepted the structure.

(left to right) Victor Frenkil, chairman of Baltimore Contractors, Jim Tatum, UMD athletic director, Judge William P. Cole, chair of the Board of Regents, and President Wilson Elkins at the dedication of the Student Activities Building

Following all the speeches and photo-ops, the Terps took to the court against the Virginia Cavaliers.  Bob Kessler scored the first points in the new arena, hitting two free throws in the opening moments, but Virginia answered back quickly, with two free throws of their own from Bob McCarty and a basket by Bob Hardy. The Terps hit a lay-up and capitalized on an offensive rebound to take the lead at 6-4. At halftime, they were in front of the Cavaliers by 4, at 34-30, and they continued to pull away in the second half, thanks to some hot shooting from Kessler and teammate Bob O’Brien.

Game day program, Dec. 2, 1955

Game action, Dec. 2, 1955

Ultimately Maryland prevailed in a low-scoring affair, 67-55, the ACC opener for both teams. Kessler finished with 23 points, and O’Brien 15, as the high scorers for the Terps.

Who could have predicted at the time that the Terps would also end their playing days in Cole with a game against those same Virginia Cavaliers, winning that final contest on March 3, 2002, 112-92.

Today the historic field house, named in December 1956 for Judge William P. Cole, Jr., has been re-purposed as the Terrapin Performance Center, with a dazzling indoor practice facility; the Center for Sports Medicine, Health, and Human Performance; and the future home of the Academy of Innovation and Entrepreneurship.

This is the second in a series of blog posts the University Archives will be featuring as part of the commemoration of the 100^th season of Maryland men’s basketball, 2018-2019, with our colleagues in Intercollegiate Athletics. Visit the #Terps100 website for more information about and to participate in the celebration.

Follow Terrapin Tales throughout the season for additional features on landmark days in Maryland men’s basketball history. Next in line is December 30, when we mark Maryland’s first win in the Big Ten.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Take a Walk Down Route 1

Cutting along the eastern edge of UMD’s campus, Route 1 is a familiar site and busy thoroughfare for students. Students roaming the sidewalks of Route 1 have immediate access to food, shopping, and housing. But that’s not all the highway has been used for over the years. Check out these changes to Route 1!

Farmers walk oxen down Route 1 near the Rossborough Inn, 1900.

This rural scene shows what Route 1 and College Park were like before the road became a bustling, paved main street. With the rise in popularity of the automobile, traffic on the road increased, and the state mandated that the road be paved in 1904. Officially designated “State Route No. 1,” the College Park segment of the road wasn’t paved until 1910.

Dairy cows crossing Route 1, 1933.

Widened and added to the official US highway system in 1926, Route 1 connects the country from Maine to Florida. But even as the road expanded, the sections around College Park remained rural. Cows and other livestock were frequently seen crossing the highway in the 1930s!

The growth of the University of Maryland drastically and rapidly changed the character of Route 1 in College Park. As the university expanded, businesses congregated along its waysides to cater to students. Stoplights were added, and the road was widened again in the 1940s to accommodate increased traffic. Below you can see the lit signs of businesses and the large number of cars parked along Route 1 in College Park after World War II.

Route 1 at night, 1949.

In the 1970s, Route 1 became a site of protest. In 1970, UMD students blocked this busy thoroughfare during protests against the escalation of Vietnam War into Laos and Cambodia. Similar scenes occurred again in 1971 and 1972. The National Guard was called to campus three times in three years.

Student protesters congregate on Route 1, 1970.

Today UMD students continue to have a deep appreciation for Route 1. In 2010, an alum named her online clothing company Route 1 Apparel. The company sells Maryland state pride and Maryland-themed clothing. Additionally, many of students’ favorite hangout spots are in Route 1’s many restaurants, bars, and coffee shops.

Route 1 at night, 2018. Photo credit: Washington Post

More changes are on the way for US highway 1. The street will intersect with WMATA’s new Purple Line that is scheduled to open in 2022, and new businesses continue to spring up along the street.

From cows to light rail transit, Route 1 has seen it all!

 

 

 

UMD Then and Now: The Horticulture Department

What was the University of Maryland like in 1928? In 1968? How does it compare to 2018? Then and Now explores the evolution of the University of Maryland over the years. This week’s spotlight: the Horticulture Department!

The Horticulture Department, better known today as the Department of Plant Sciences and Landscape Architecture, has been a part of the curriculum at the University of Maryland since the very beginning. Horticulture has been a part of university curriculum since the Maryland Agricultural College opened to students in 1859. Early on, Horticulture was not its own separate department; rather it was coursework in the larger field of agriculture. Students focused on practical experience and fieldwork conducted with the Agricultural Experiment Station. Through the years, focus shifted to academic research and lab work, although practical knowledge and job experience are still key. 

Students plant lilies in Horticulture class, 1900

By 1928, Horticulture was its own distinct department with four tracks for specialization: Pomology (Fruits), Olericulture (Vegetables), Floriculture (Flowers), and Landscape Gardening. Professors in the department also worked for the Agricultural Experiment Station, an agricultural research facility affiliated with the University.

All dressed up and no place to go…except class! Female students in Horticulture class, 1925.

Students in the Horticulture Department in 1928 took a variety of classes including  “Public Speaking,” “Greenhouse Construction,” and “Vegetable Forcing.”

By 1968, the course of study expanded to include Ornamental Horticulture and Processing of Horticultural Crops. The Department also shifted its focus towards industry, preparing students to enter the field as fertilizer manufacturers and equipment managers. 

Curriculum in 1968 bears strong similarities to the coursework of 1928. However, focus has shifted to lab work and technology. Courses like “Flower Production Laboratory” and “Technology of Ornamentals” indicate the growing role of technology in science following World War II.

Today the Horticulture Department is called the Department of Plant Sciences and Landscape Architecture. Specializations are available in Plant Biology, Landscape Management, Turf and Golf Course Management, or Urban Forestry. The department supports both undergraduate and graduate studies, and the four specializations blend elements of science, design, technology, and fieldwork. 

Current courses in the Department of Plant Sciences show more science courses and laboratory work.

The Horticulture Department is a long-standing element of the curriculum at University of Maryland. Since the creation of the Maryland Agriculture College in 1856, the department has changed dramatically. Coursework has shifted, and lab attire has changed. You won’t see fur coats in the lab today! However, the focus on preparing students to make meaningful contributions beyond the classroom has remained constant. Whether they graduated in 1928 or 2018, Horticulture students from UMD are prepared to make an impact in the field.

To see more about changes to academic department through the years, including course catalogs from 1859 to 2018, visit https://www.lib.umd.edu/univarchives/catalogs.

 

“Who’s Afraid of the Big Bad Bomb?”

In the early 1960s, the threat of nuclear confrontation with the Soviet Union was on everyone’s mind. In the fall of 1962, the Cuban Missile Crisis brought the world closer to nuclear warfare than ever before. As the Cold War escalated,, and the world seemed to hover on the brink of disaster, many ordinary citizens began to prepare for the worst. In 1961, the federal government started the Community Fallout Shelter Program to create spaces to shelter citizens from nuclear fallout. In 1961, President John F. Kennedy wrote a letter to Time Magazine advising private citizens to prepare for the worst, causing many citizens to construct their own private backyard bunkers. The University of Maryland, like other colleges nationwide, participated in the fallout shelter mania of the early 1960s. The UMD Civil Defense program prepared for the worst by constructing and stocking fallout shelters across campus. Where were these safety havens from nuclear doom at UMD, and whatever happened to these spaces representing life on the brink of nuclear war?

In 1961, UMD began the process of constructing 34 fallout shelters on campus to accommodate more than 7,000 people. Shelters were located in the basements and hallways of academic buildings and residence halls. By 1971, there were 43 shelters on campus. The largest shelter, located in the Physics Building, could accommodate 2,472 people while the smallest fallout shelter, in Montgomery Hall, had space for only 50 people. Each shelter stocked enough rations to supply each resident with 8 survival biscuits for breakfast and lunch, 10 for dinner, and 4 cups of water per day. Not the most lavish of meals, but enough to sustain 23,000 people for 2 weeks!

Students open a tin of survival biscuits during a 1966 fallout center training.

 

 

 

The University’s Residence Hall Council even sponsored a course in fallout center management for interested students. The course involved simulations of conditions and situations that could arise in a fallout shelter during a nuclear emergency. Students could volunteer to participate in the exercise, spending 24 hours overnight in a fallout shelter in Denton Dining Hall. Students ate survival foods and practiced scenarios like decontaminating outsiders who could infect shelter inhabitants with radiation. Female students were even excused from the strict rules of nightly curfews to experience fallout shelter life. The course proved popular and occurred several times and in several different locations across campus in 1966 and 1967. 

Students sleep during a fallout center management course, 1966.

The University of Maryland also participated in community efforts to prepare for a nuclear attack. In 1961, the Prince George’s County Office of Civil Defense published a call for applicants in The Diamondback. Married college students with families were asked to participate in an experiment in living one week in an underground fallout shelter at Prince George’s Plaza. The Diamondback wrote:

The purpose of the test is to observe the reactions of a typical American family to the confined living imposed by the bomb shelter. The bomb shelter, yet to be built, will be the underground cellar-like type recommended by the Office of Civil Defense Mobilization. Its occupants will live on canned foods. They will communicate with the outside during periodic broadcasts made by radio station WWDC.

We were unable to find evidence in the Archives if the experiment actually happened or if any UMD students participated in the study. However, this call for participants shows the widespread uneasiness of the residents of Prince George’s County, including UMD students, during the Cold War.

The University of Maryland also provided community education about nuclear warfare and emergency preparedness. In February 1963, McKeldin Library featured an exhibit on how to survive atomic warfare, complete with a model basement fallout shelter and recorded messages providing information about survival shelters. The University of Maryland was clearly a part of a larger local community concerned about the impact of nuclear war.

A model basement fallout shelter on display in McKeldin Library, 1963.

In the mid-1970s, as the nature of the Cold War changed, fallout shelters began to fade from public interest. Funding to replace shelter supplies stopped, food supplies rotted, and vandals ransacked shelter sanitation kits. In 1976, the University gained permission from the Prince George’s County Civil Defense and Emergency Preparedness Office to dismantle the shelters, a process that took place throughout the remainder of the 1970s. As the Cold War continued into the 1990s, nuclear emergency plans shifted to focus on evacuation of students instead of efforts to seek shelter on campus.

Today, there is little evidence of the tension and anxiety experienced by students, staff, and administration as they faced the prospect of nuclear war. The idea of surviving a nuclear blast in a flimsy basement shelter equipped with survival biscuits seems naive and silly to us today. However, after the Cuban Missile Crisis in 1962, nuclear war seemed inevitable, and a sense of helplessness consumed many American. These citizens, UMD community members among them, clung to the small amount of hope available to them, using fallout shelters to soothe fears of nuclear obliteration.

   

 

Testudo’s Travels: The History of Kidnapping Testudo

By Alan Wierdak

There are many great stories in college and university lore about kidnapping the mascot of a rival school, e.g. the Army mule and the Navy goat or USC’s theft of UCLA’s Victory Bell, among many other tales. Believe or not, our beloved Testudo was not immune from this phenomenon too!

The first Testudo statue was revealed on the afternoon of June 2, 1933, when a 400-pound replica of a Diamondback Terrapin was presented to University President Raymond A. Pearson by Ralph Williams, President of the Student Government Association (SGA). The original memorial, created at the Gorham Manufacturing Company in Providence, Rhode Island, was placed on a brick and stone pedestal, funded by donations from the SGA, outside of Ritchie Coliseum. Major Howard C. Cutler, the architect who designed the Coliseum, finalized plans for the base initially drawn by D.C.-area artist Joseph Himmelheber.

Testudo memorial statue outside of Ritchie Coliseum. Summer, 1933.

The Testudo-nappings began not long after the dedication. According to a short article from the September 23, 1958, issue of the Diamondback, Testudo was stolen from his perch outside Ritchie Coliseum twelve times in fifteen years, between its unveiling in 1933 and 1948. This blog post explores the more memorable kidnappings of Testudo from his perch outside Ritchie Coliseum, before the statue was filled with cement and relocated outside the football stadium in 1951.

The Diamondback – September 23, 1958

The statue was first stolen on May 28, 1934, on a Monday night, the last day of the semester. At 8 AM the next morning, SGA President Warren S. Tydings and Ralph Williams, former SGA President who presented the memorial to University President Pearson, ordered a search. The thieves left “J.H.U.” painted in green on the statue’s base, hinting that the thieves were from the Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore. University Vice President Harry Clifton “Curley” Byrd called Johns Hopkins’ auditor Henry Iddins, informing him of the theft. Through information obtained from a state policeman, the search party learned that the thieves, “who looked like college boys,” may have stopped at a gas station in Berwyn, where one thief acquired iodine and a bandage for an injured finger. Later in the afternoon, administrators were tipped off by a phone call from a University of Maryland student, informing them the statue was located at a Johns Hopkins fraternity house in the 3100 block of North Calvert Street. Ralph Williams called Baltimore Police requesting a search of the fraternity, to no avail. By the time the UMD search party prepared a trip to Baltimore, the statue had been found in front of a dormitory at Hopkins, surrounded by roughly sixty Hopkins students. The crowd was questioned by Iddins, who then demanded that the students return the statue. “Fun is fun, but this is carrying it too far,” Iddins said, adding that the statue “must have cost several thousand dollars–and is a beautiful piece of work.” University of Maryland authorities echoed similar sentiments, suggesting that the theft “transcended the prank stage.” While Johns Hopkins administrators suggested that the thieves, if caught, would be expelled, Hopkins Dean Edward Berry also said he did not expect the thieves to be identified.

Baltimore Sun – May 30, 1934

Diamondback – June 1, 1934

Testudo was stolen again by Johns Hopkins students early Saturday morning, May 17, 1941. When Maryland students discovered Testudo missing from his perch at the Coliseum, they immediately gave chase to the fleeing Hopkins students. After an unsuccessful pursuit, Maryland students alerted Baltimore Police of “the crime of the century,” who then notified Johns Hopkins officials of the theft. This time, Hopkins administrators found the bronze Terrapin locked up at the Homewood athletic field, where Hopkins students planned to bring the terrapin onto the field during intermission of a lacrosse match between Hopkins and the University of Maryland the next day. Instead, the Hopkins administrators sent Testudo back to the University of Maryland, much to the chagrin of their students. According to one Hopkins student, “about a hundred of us, certain that we’d beat the Marylanders this afternoon, got in autos and trucks and went to College Park last night to do something about that Terrapin.” For better or worse, by the time this gang of Hopkins students arrived, Testudo had already been taken by another group of “about fifty.” Police, searching for the terrapin, stopped the gang of Hopkins students several times, but, without Testudo, they were let go. “When we got back to Homewood,” one student said, Testudo was “on the steps of Levering Hall. So we locked it up and decided we’d pull it on the field this afternoon and give it back to its owners.”

Diamondback – May 20, 1941

Testudo was stolen several times in 1947. In the first instance, Johns Hopkins students captured the terrapin in May before the national championship lacrosse game. Sidewalks on the Johns Hopkins campus were painted by individuals who believed Maryland would beat Hopkins in the upcoming game. In retaliation, Hopkins students traveled to College Park and stole Testudo. As many as 25 Hopkins students were caught, “scalped,” and held hostage by University of Maryland students until Testudo was returned.

Later that same year, Testudo was stolen on Halloween night by University of Maryland students who resided in West Virginia. According to news accounts, on the evening before the theft, a student asked a police officer about the penalty for stealing Testudo. “Don’t know,” the officer replied, “it has never happened to a Maryland student.” In this case, Testudo was not painted or damaged, but temporarily removed and left “camouflaged in the greenhouse shrubbery.”

Only a month later, Testudo was stolen again from his pedestal outside Ritchie Coliseum, this time by students from Loyola College. Maryland students, less than excited by this specific kidnapping of Testudo by Loyola students, cited a lack of an athletic rivalry between the two schools as the reason for their indifference to his disappearance. In this case, Testudo allegedly attended a Loyola pep-rally and spent an evening on “The Block” on East Baltimore Street in downtown Baltimore. He was returned undamaged and without Loyola’s colors painted on him. Loyola students also sent a letter back with Testudo, thanking University President Byrd, for his “generous hospitality” in loaning them the statue and even wrapped Testudo in a blanket for his trek back to College Park.

After the abundance of kidnappings, Testudo was moved from his perch outside of Ritchie Coliseum into storage in the General Services Department on the east side of Route 1 for several years. Upon the completion of the new football stadium at the University of Maryland in 1950, Testudo was brought out of storage, relocated outside of the new stadium, and filled with cement to prevent future thefts. Seeking a more central location for the statue, students requested that it be moved to the front of McKeldin Library, where Testudo has resided safely since 1965.

Author Bio

Alan Wierdak is a graduate student in History and Library Science. He has worked in Special Collections and University Archives since summer 2017.