{"id":22050,"date":"2019-06-07T13:05:53","date_gmt":"2019-06-07T13:05:53","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/davidsonarchivesandspecialcollections.org\/aroundthed\/?p=22050"},"modified":"2019-06-07T13:05:53","modified_gmt":"2019-06-07T13:05:53","slug":"the-spirits-of-davidson","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/digitalexhibits.dcreate.domains\/aroundthed\/?p=22050","title":{"rendered":"Guest Blogger: Hannah Foltz, “The Spirit(s) of Davidson”"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Introducing guest blogger Hannah Foltz ’13<\/strong>! Look forward to additional posts this summer!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hello! I\u2019m Hannah Foltz, class of 2013 and current PhD student in rhetoric<\/a> at the University of Texas at Austin. This summer, I\u2019m working with the Humanities<\/a> program and the Archives and Special Collections<\/a> team. I\u2019ll be scouring the College\u2019s archives, documenting and studying depictions and erasures of marginalized populations in historical materials. Because of my disciplinary background, I am most interested in the archives\u2019 rhetorical role, or in other terms, how the records and materials we deem worthy of saving work to define the im\/possibilities of not only historiography, but also of popular conceptions of identity and belonging. <\/p>\n\n\n\n


This week, I\u2019ve been working my way through Quips and Cranks<\/a>, the College\u2019s yearbook. One of the volumes\u2019 most popular tropes is that of the \u201cDavidson Spirit.\u201d Year in and year out, it is heralded as that je-ne-sais-quoi that makes Davidson a special place. Even today, College marketing centers on the notion of being \u201cDistinctly Davidson<\/a>.\u201d
<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But what does it mean to possess the \u201cDavidson Spirit?\u201d I was struck by the evolution of this concept, which is illustrated by contrasting the Forewords of Quips & Cranks from 1933 and 1952.
<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Foreword
Foreword of the 1933 Quips and Cranks discussing the “Spirit of Davidson.”<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

\u201cDavidson\u2019s student life is in itself homogeneous and simple. Davidson\u2019s spirit is emblematic of the unpretentious denying itself the luxuries of form and show. Davidson\u2019s faculty, like her students, are alike in tastes and pursuits. Davidson\u2019s traditions are few but powerful, making evident the sameness of the mould in which we are all cast. Davidson\u2019s athletics speak eloquently of this same spirit of modesty. Davidson\u2019s activities add voices of modulation to the general tone. <\/p>

Of this life without superfulity and unwanted ostentation Davidson\u2019s Yearbook attempts to speak. Therefore with simple lines and plain colors we have built a monument to that Spirit of Davidson.\u201d
<\/p> 1933 (Robert L. McCallie, ed.) <\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n


<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"1952
Foreword to the 1952 edition of Quips and Cranks.<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

\u201cEvery man in the class is different. Everything we do is unique. We are a class and as a group we have characteristics that are solely our own. We have lived together and suffered together and out of this heroic mixture we have developed a sense of brotherhood that makes us distinct from any other class before and since\u2026
<\/p>

The Davidson Story is not devoted to any one class or any one group of any description. It is a blend, whether good or bad, of the character of anyone that has ever participated in the corporate life that is the college. From the President to the rawest janitor, each has a role and a line in the comedy or the tragedy that is Davidson.\u201d
<\/p> 1952 ( William A. Adams, ed.) <\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While perhaps the dourness of 1933 can be attributed to Depression-era values or a reaction against rising fascism abroad, it\u2019s clear that its notion of the Davidson Spirit is one that is static and inherent. It is something one is born with, something that determines membership in the community. It is very Protestant. It is a \u201csameness of mould.\u201d
<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Fortunately, by 1952, the notion of the Davidson Spirit (or Story, in this case) had grown closer to how we conceive of it today: an ethos developed through a shared transformative experience, not through any inherent sameness. This Spirit can be taken up by every member of the community, each in his own way. This Spirit includes a recognition of the good\u2014and the bad\u2014in its past and present. All in all, where the other is unchangeable and exclusive, this Spirit is dynamic and welcoming.
<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Yes, Davidson was still far from realizing this ideal Spirit in 1952; it was still all male, and virtually all white and all Christian. And yet, this articulation of an alternative kind of unity marks an important step towards building the kind of inclusive, generous, and enjoyable educational community we are still striving to create.
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Introducing guest blogger Hannah Foltz ’13! Look forward to additional posts this summer! Hello! I\u2019m Hannah Foltz, class of 2013 and current PhD student in rhetoric at the University of Texas at Austin. This summer, I\u2019m working with the Humanities program and the Archives and Special Collections team. I\u2019ll be scouring the College\u2019s archives, documenting … <\/p>\n

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