Digital Postcard Exhibit Commemorates Significant Campus Buildings and Landmarks

Texas State University Archives offers a number of interesting digital exhibits. 

One of the exhibits includes images of postcards commemorating notable Texas State University buildings, landmarks, and symbols. 

The institution was founded as Texas State Normal School in 1903. The name changed to Southwest State Teachers College in 1923, to Southwest Texas State College in 1959, to Southwest Texas State University in 1969, and it became Texas State University at San Marcos in 2003.

Leave a comment and url below if you know of other similar digital exhibits focusing on college and universities.

Moravian College Transitioning to become Moravian University

Moravian College in Bethlehem, PA announced that is is transitioning to become Moravian University.

A boys' school was established in Bethlehem in July 1742, and another in nearby Nazareth in 1743. These schools merged in 1759 to form Nazareth Hall, an institution which survived until 1929. In 1807 a men's college and theological seminary was established as an extension of Nazareth Hall. That institution, Moravian College and Theological Seminary, moved to Bethlehem in 1858 and was chartered to grant baccalaureate degrees in 1863,

A school for girls was also established in 1742 in Germantown, PA and soon moved to Bethlehem. It was moved to Nazareth in 1745 before returning to Bethlehem again in 1749. The Bethlehem Female Seminary was chartered to grant baccalaureate degrees in 1863, and in 1913 became Moravian Seminary and College for Women.  

In 1954, after two centuries of separate development and growth, the women's and the men's institutions were combined to form a single coeducational college.

You can also visit the web pages of the Moravian archives to view an online exhibit, "Moravian Through the Mail," to see a number of different view of the campus and buildings.

New Mexico Military Institute featured as it celebrates 125th anniversary

The November 2016 issue of New Mexico Magazine features an article on New Mexico Military Institute in Roswell, NM.  NMMI is celebrating the 125th anniversary of its founding in 1891.   The institution was founded as Gross Military Academy. It became a territorial institution in 1893 and the name changed to New Mexico Military Institute. A junior college program was added in 1915 that continues. A baccalaureate program was offered from 1948-1956.

The NMMI alumni organization maintains a website that includes an extensive gallery with more than 35 postcard images as part of a larger virtual museum. Other pages include photographs, newspaper clippings, memorabilia, and other items.

Vintage Images and Historical Sketches for Higher Education Institutions in Memphis, TN

The Historic-Memphis website offers short historic sketches and a number of images for higher education institutions in Memphis, TN.  You can follow the bulleted items below to reach the pages:

• The history of the Memphis LeMoyne College, the Howe Institute, and Owen College / LeMoyne Owen College
• Masonic University of Tennessee / Montgomery Masonic College / Stewart College / Southwestern Presbyterian University / Southwestern College / Rhodes College
• West Tennessee State Normal School / West Tennessee State Teachers College / Memphis State College / Memphis State University / University of Memphis
• Memphis Medical School / University of Tennessee College of Medicine
• William R. Moore College of Technology

Vintage Postcards of Higher Education Institutions in Georgia

The Postcardman.org site offers 94 postcards and images of colleges.  Almost all the institutions are from communities in Georgia....though there are also five postcards for higher education institutions in Charlotte, North Carolina.  

You can select a town or city and then select the "Schools" link for images of institutions.  I also created a table below with the names of institutions and the number of images.  URLs are included that you can use to reach the page.

An Acre of Students and other images from the Bowden Postcard Collection

Miami University Library Digital Archives posted a number of collections on Flicker with photographs and images that may be of interest. One, the Bowden Postcard Collection includes over 2,100 old postcards that include hospitals, factories, hotels, etc. Most of the images of colleges and universities are Ohio institutions like Ohio Northern University, Ohio University, Miami University, Mt. Union, and Baldwin-Wallice.  There are also a few that have closed or merged, including Oxford Women's College and Western College in Oxford, OH that merged with Miami University, and others from outside Ohio that include Amherst College, Adrian College, and St. Joseph's College (IN).

Marketing Colleges: Ads, Postcards, Matchbook Covers, Signs

You can click the image below if you are interested in seeing additional historical images and links for marketing colleges.  Consider posting a comment below if you know of other examples to share.

Follow College History Garden on Pinterest.

Follow College History Garden on Pinterest.

Mount Holyoke College (MA)

Donna Albino maintains an extensive collection of postcards and other historical items for anyone interested in either Mount Holyoke College or higher education.  Links are provided for:  books, magazines, articles, and pamphlets; ephemera (paper souvenirs); letters; scrapbooks; photos; greeting cards; autograph books; pennants; a sound archive; and, much more.  There is also a link to order her book published by Arcadia Press in 2001.

 

Postcards from Bethel College (KS)

"Postcards from Bethel" is a very interesting article by Keith and David Sprunger available in Mennonite Life.  The authors use postcards as a way to explore institutional history, in this case, the history of Bethel College in N. Newton, KS. 

Topics include: campus buildings and architecture, faculty and classes, student activities, cards used for marketing of the institution, and the messages written by those using the cards.

Keith Sprunger is also author of the recently published, Bethel College of Kansas, 1887-2012 (Bethel College, 2012).

Tennessee College for Women

The Rutherford County Historical Society website offers an article with history of Tennessee College for Women written by Greg Tucker, "Strict Women's College Entertained Local Community."  The article includes several historic postcards and photographs.  It was initially published by the Murfreesboro Daily News Journal on November 28, 2010.

An earlier post on Tennessee Women's College with a link to another article by Greg Tucker is available in the College History Garden.

Carnegie Libraries on Campus

Judy Aulik maintains an interesting site with many images of library postcards. She has added a page with images of Carnegie Libraries that were built on college and university campuses.