From football to photos, archives relive U.

As football season comes to an end and cold weather forces athletes indoors, Franklin Field appears vacant and unwanted. But, just below the North Stands, year-round activity in the University Archives and Records Center keeps the field alive. The Archives houses the University's records, photographs, personal papers and other documents dating back to when founder Benjamin Franklin first conceived the University over 250 years ago. "The University Archives plays a large role in preserving and researching primary sources that have historically shaped this University," the Center's Director Mark Lloyd said last week. Lloyd said many undergraduates use the facilities to conduct research for history and urban studies classes. Many of the archived photographs from the early 1900s depict a school that barely resembles the modern University. In the photographs, College Hall was draped with so much ivy that some of the windows were completely covered. Houston Hall served as the home for an all-male club and featured a swimming pool in its basement for water polo matches. There was no hospital looming over Spruce Street and an empty field rather than high rises provided the campus' western boundary. Although the campus' buildings and demographics have changed dramatically, the University's spirit has not. The Archives has files of information examining student activities of the early 20th century. "Much of the most interesting information on student activites can be traced through old yearbooks and student publications such as The Record," Public Service Archivist Gail Pietrzyk said. According to the Women's Undergraduate Record a Spring Fling type of celebration was founded in 1919 and called the "Pele Mele." Pele Mele was the first spring holiday when alumni and undergraduates gathered to "make merry" in celebration of the season, the yearbook said. Like today's spring festivites, students gathered to listen to music and see student productions. The evening ended with a grand dance where the "engineering building found itself invaded by coeds and their friends for a night of festivities." According to the records, much of the student social life centered around extra-curricular activites ranging from academics to music. Some of the now defunct popular groups included a Banjo Club, the Naturalists Field Club, a Mandolin Club and a Menorah and Zionist Society. One active club in 1901 was the Gun Club, which apart from it's name, was not really concerned with shooting. Rather the gaming club spent months determing ideal locations to hunt exotic animals. The Archives provide information to the University community as well as the public and often people from around the world use the facilities, according to Pietrzyk. She said Kwame Nkrumah, the president of Ghana, attended the University for a few years and international visitors occasionally use the Archives to study his life.

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