Collins Unbound

When I got assigned to work with the Ephemera collection I really had no idea what ‘ephemera’ was. Two years ago I was given the job of re-foldering, re-boxing, and scanning the University of Puget Sound Ephemera collection. It didn’t take long to learn that ephemera are the things that existed or were used for only a short amount of time. We have almost thirty boxes of invitations, programs, pamphlets, calendars, and many other things dating all the way back to 1888. So all of that stuff you usually throw away are actually interesting and insightful pieces of history.

Over the years, I’ve come across some pretty unique things. Some of my favorite items are the fraternity and sorority dance programs. They are little booklets that describe the dance and they also provide a place to write in people you dance with. They are also very nicely put together and look more like a piece of art than a program. More recently, I’ve come across a pamphlet that says SURVIVAL on the front. Of course I was curious. The pamphlet outlines all of the resources on and off campus for any mental or physical health needs. Today, we have all of those resources and more but I do not think they advertise them as ways in which one would survive.

There are many other interesting things in the Ephemera collection. There are menus for banquets that usually have strange food items on them and sports programs that have great photos of the athletes. Check out the Ephemera Collection online or stop by the Archives and Special Collections to get a better look!

The Archives and Special Collections is open on Mondays, Tuesdays, and Wednesdays from 12:00-3:00 p.m. or by appointment.

By Sierra Scott

American Paradox: The Conflict of Thought and Action by Merle Curti is a book in the Archives and Special Collections about the tradition of anti-intellectualism in the United States. It highlights the ironic relationship between how America highly prioritizes education, but continually distrusts the word of intellectuals. Merle Curti was a scholar and teacher, who was committed to the ideals of peace and democracy. He taught both at Columbia University and the University of Wisconsin. Curti actually wrote this book as an expansion of the Brown and Haley lectures that he gave at Puget Sound. Since even now, we are living in a highly volatile political climate, American Paradox might be a good read for anyone trying to gain a context of our nation’s politics and social phenomena. Come check it out!

The Archives & Special Collections is open on Mondays, Tuesdays, and Wednesdays from 12:00-3:00 p.m. or by appointment.

By Laure Mounts

At our Open House for Homecoming and Family Weekend, we got a question about the origin of the title of the yearbook, Tamanawas. Volume 1 of Tamanawas was published for the 1920-1921 school year. According to the UPS website, Tamanawas is a Salish term that means “the coming of age”. A more complete description can be found in the 1920-1921 Tamanawas, where it says that “Too-man-a-wus is the term used by the aboriginal people of the Northwest for a man or woman who has become, by long work, training and sever tests, following rules laid down by custom, to be an efficient healer of diseases and by the guiding hand of the medicine spirit to give correct diagnosis… Too-man-a-wus was therefore the goal of only the brave, the fearless and worthy ones”. To obtain this definition, the yearbook staff (the juniors of CPS) consulted Mr. Henry Sicade, “a Northwest Indian residing here in [their] midst.”

However, it appears that that meaning may have been misunderstood at times. For example, in the same issue of Tamanawas, the greetings at the beginning of the yearbook mention the “punch and ‘good spirits’ characterized by the ‘Tamanawas’”, and in the February 1920 issue of The Trail, it says: “’Tamanawas’ – Do you know what that symbolizes? It stands for ‘Lively Spirit,’ and C.P.S. annual”.

What many people don’t know is that before it was called Tamanawas, the yearbook was called Klahowya, first published in 1913. We only have the one issue (1912-1913) of the yearbook under that title, but it’s unclear whether a yearbook was actually published between 1913 and 1921. Klahowya is another Native American term, meaning “Please help me” or “I’m miserable” in Chinook”. According to the Children of Fort Langley (an organization dedicated to the history of Fort Langley in British Columbia”, the use of the term Klahowya as a greeting may have been a misunderstanding; native people “begging for goods or food” was so common that white men assumed that it was a standard greeting. (source). This assumption is backed up by the March 1912 issue of The Trail, which mentions the use of Klahowya at All-University Day, saying: “Juniors arose and, solemnly bowing to the guests, gave the good old Indian greeting ‘Klahowya’. The Freshmen could not fully appreciate the meaning of it all”, which indicates that at some point, the phrase had some special meaning to the students of the University of Puget Sound, but that they didn’t understand the origin of the phrase.

Come check out our collection of yearbooks going back to 1913 if you want to learn more!

The Archives & Special Collections is open on Mondays, Tuesdays, and Wednesdays from 12:00-3:00 p.m. or by appointment.

By Julia Masur