Retired history professor and former Swarthmore resident Laurie Bernstein has been busying herself during the pandemic by developing a database of back issues of The Swarthmorean. This week, an article from 1932 about the town debates on tax rates.
All in Back Issues
Eureka!
Ads in old copies of The Swarthmorean are always fun to read. The prices alone make me long for the miracle of time travel. A brand-new Chevrolet for less than $525? A five-bedroom stone house in the Swarthmore Hills, complete with stable, for $9,500? What’s not to like?
Back Issues: Angry Birds, Angry Citizens
In the summer of 1930, “noisy birds” at the intersection of Harvard and Vassar avenues caused a flap among angry locals. A member of the community wrote “The Charge of the Bird Brigade” to parody the situation.
Swarthmorean Silence
Historian Laurie Bernstein notes a missed opportunity to discuss race and segregation in the Swarthmorean in 1931.
Back issues: Combination Consternation
Appalled over apps? Zonked by Zoom? Perplexed by passwords? Worry not. Frustration in response to accessing newfangled technologies is right in line with Swarthmore tradition.
Back Issues: Out of Their League
Retired history professor and former Swarthmore resident Laurie Bernstein has been busying herself during the pandemic by cataloging the articles in back issues of the Swarthmorean. Starting with Volume I, Number 1 from 1929, when the Swarthmore News changed its name to the Swarthmorean, Bernstein is slowly working her way forward. From time to time, we will reprint an article she selects from our archives with her commentary.