Ghost of a College

(From the Janesville Messenger, 1-7-07)


When I walk out of my home each day, I see a ghost.

I live next to the remnants of Milton College, the oldest institution of higher learning in Wisconsin until ongoing financial problems sent it to academic afterlife in 1982.

It’s appropriate that I live where I do; I love history, and was thrilled that one of my Christmas gifts this year was a 1924-25 Milton College yearbook. This fascinating relic retrieved from an antique store offers a unique glimpse into the life of this small college.

Surprising was the number of female students, by my rough estimate nearly half of the student body. Remember, this was less than five years removed from women receiving the right to vote.

Women sported the shorter hairstyle of the day, some with “flapper” headbands and dresses. The vision-challenged men and women all share the same round, horn-rimmed spectacles.

Of course, all of the student activities are chronicled - everything from the school play (“Romeo and Juliet”) to athletics to clubs. The debate team took on weighty subjects like the new concept of unemployment insurance, whether the U.S. should join the League of Nations, and whether the “ultra-conservative” Supreme Court had too much power.

Participants in the oratorical contest didn’t shy from controversy, either. One delivered “A Plea for an Unbiased Opinion on Evolution.” But the speaker topics that are incomprehensibly shocking by today’s standards were “Negro – Menace or Problem” and “What of the Indians’ Musical Soul?”

For lighter reading, you can page over to the student-penned humor section, containing such gems as “Tis’ sweet to love/But oh! How bitter/to love a girl/and then not gitter.”

The original owner of this book had it signed by scores of her friends and fellow students. Reading the dedications is like peeking into her diary. Some smell of mischief - “Remember one nite on Taylor’s Point? Ah yes!” – while others are more heartfelt: “How I envy your artistic ability!”

Naturally, someone had to pay to publish the yearbook, so the later pages teem with dozens of advertisements. Of those sponsoring businesses, only a handful survive today, and only one - The Cozy Inn in downtown Janesville - is located in the same building.

It’s been a quarter-century since Milton College breathed its last, and with each passing year, the memories of the fine institution it had been get hazier, and the ghost I see gets fainter. But at its height, it was proud and strong with lofty goals, put in writing by President Alfred Whitford: “Milton College has for its ideal, sending out graduates who are not only clear thinkers capable of doing their part in the world’s work, but also men and women of character who put moral principles above mere intellectual achievements.”

Rest in peace, Milton College.