Post Author: Charity Derrow
And this is how I pursued, examined and concluded:
Methodology
Recent history presents unique challenges, especially when participants remain active in the Harrisonburg community and the campus of James Madison University. Often our memories become nostalgic and published histories of universities reflect posterity. Both can present problems of selectivity. Not that this is bad. It just makes fact-finding and truth telling a bit more difficult.
The visual artifacts in this exhibit work in conjunction with written documentation. One must consider the possible biases or true intentions when presenting visual artifacts as evidence. Even though the yearbooks and student newspaper contain random shots, digital photography and smartphones had yet to be introduced. The cost to develop pictures, as well as a limited number of photos per role of film, often dictated posed-for visuals. In addition, where is the color? The seventies brought color alive, especially through media like photography and television. Unfortunately, cost often limited color photographs in college media during this period – resources central to this research. Thus, most of what you see is in black and white.
A majority of the primary research is based upon articles printed in The Breeze – the student newspaper. The Breeze served as what historian David Perlmutter would denote a “propaganda campaign” for the Student Government Association, the primary representatives of the student body (Perlmutter). Student agendas and attitudes emerge through an examination of its contents. While students controlled and reported articles, positions of administrators do surface through interviews. In addition, its photographs, cartoons and ads reflect a timeline of artifacts created to target the student body at Madison during the seventies. It seems unlikely that anyone considered its value to history when they published its pages, therefore its contents remain relatively free of posterity. Additional primary resources were located in the minutes from the University Council and SGA, although gaps of missing documents existed. College self-study reports provided statistics and student handbooks offered missions and policies of administrators and the student governing body.
The secondary works of Fred Hilton and Emily Gillespie Robertson portray timelines and actions taken specifically by Madison College (James Madison University) in the 1970s while additional scholarship paints a broad view of the seventies on a national level. These scholars include Helen Lefkowitz Horowitz, Bruce Schulman, Welch Suggs, and D. Parker Young.
Of course, a special thanks is extended to the participants at Madison in the seventies that provided first-hand accounts. Alumni Joe Carico and Susanne Myers shared candid memories about student life in relations to their experiences. Dr. Carrier’s viewpoints revealed the changes he implemented to transition the practices and reputation of Madison College from a primarily small conservative girls’ school to a much larger coed campus that might someday contend with the University of Virginia and William and Mary. Though published works about James Madison College tend to gloss over unspoken aspects like alcohol, Dr. Carrier shared direct open answers without hesitation.
Last, it is not my intentions to diminish the respect and development of James Madison University. Rather, I hope to provide a realistic glimpse into a national experiment that played out on many college campuses across the 1970s in states that reduced drinking ages. My research just allows this university to be the example of an “experiment” that generated greater awareness of alcohol and the responsibilities that come with drinking and growing up.
Images Cited:
Cover and top image: 1980 Bluestone, Harrisonburg, VA: James Madison University, 1980, Accessed April 22, 2012 from http://archive.org/stream/bluestone198072jame#page/n3/mode/1up. Framed in PowerPoint by Charity Derrow, April 15, 2012.
Derrow, Charity, “Researching the ’70s,” Created in Adobe Photoshop, April 14, 2012; Image of The Breeze, September 18, 1979, 1.
Works Cited:
Perlmutter, David D. “Visual Historical Methods,” Historical Methods 27, no. 4 (Fall 94), http://web.ebscohost.com/ehost/detail?sid=b5a543a6-2f60-4fb8-8fb4-d7380f890a98%40sessionmgr14&vid=2&hid=15&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZSZzY29wZT1zaXRl#db=a9h&AN=9502172933 (accessed April 26, 2012).
Bibliography
The Breeze, Harrisonburg, VA: Special Collections. Carrier Library. James Madison University. 1970 – 1980.
Carico, Joe, “Class Lecture,” History 337 Local History Workshop, James Madison University, Harrisonburg, VA, April 9, 2012.
Carrier, Ronald, Dr. “Class Lecture.” History 337 Local History Workshop. James Madison University. Harrisonburg, VA. March 14, 2012.
“Celebrating 75 Years.” Solo Cup Company. 2012. Accessed 4/15/12 from http://www.solocup.com/solo-history.
Davies, Laurie. “25 Years of Saving Lives.” Mothers Against Drunk Driving. 2005. Accessed March 15, 2012. http://www.madd.org/about-us/history/.
Dingledine, Raymond C. Madison College: The First Fifty Years, 1908-1958. Harrisonburg, VA: Madison College, 1959.
“Faculty Senate Minutes.” Control #FA 93-0305. Faculty-Senate Minutes. Box 1. Special Collections. Carrier Library. James Madison University. Harrisonburg, Virginia. 1970 – 1980.
Genesis II, Harrisonburg, VA: Special Collections. Carrier Library. James Madison University. 1971. The Genesis II actually is The Breeze, but the editor chose to rename it for a short period once the new president, Dr. Carrier took office. Its name reverted back to The Breeze by the fall of 1971.
Hilton, Fred D. Changing form a College to a University: Madison College to James Madison University 1971-1977. Harrisonburg, VA: James Madison University, 1996.
James Madison University Student Handbook 1978-79. Special Collections. Carrier Library. James Madison University. Harrisonburg, Virginia.
James Madison University Student Handbook 1979-80. Special Collections. Carrier Library. James Madison University. Harrisonburg, Virginia.
James Madison University Student Handbook 1986-87. Special Collecetions. Carrier Library. James Madison University. Harrisonburg, Virginia.
Lefkowitz Horowitz, Helen. Campus Life: Undergraduate Cultures from the End of the Eighteenth Century to the Present. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1987.
“Madison College Institutional Self-Study and Periodic Visitation Program: Prepared for the Commission on Colleges and Universities, Southern Association of Colleges and Schools.” Madison College. Harrisonburg, VA: Madison College, 1971. Carrier Library. Special Collections. James Madison University.
Murphy, Pat. “Carrier Says of Madison.” Daily News Record. Harrisonburg, VA. December 4, 1971.
Myers, Susanne. “Class Lecture.” History 337 Local History Workshop. James Madison University. Harrisonburg, VA. April 2, 2012.
Perlmutter, David D. “Visual Historical Methods.” Historical Methods 27, no. 4 (Fall 94). http://web.ebscohost.com/ehost/detail?sid=b5a543a6-2f60-4fb8-8fb4-d7380f890a98%40sessionmgr14&vid=2&hid=15&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZSZzY29wZT1zaXRl#db=a9h&AN=9502172933 (accessed April 26, 2012).
“Report of the Self-Study Committees for the Institutional Self-Study: Prepared for the Commission on Colleges and Universities, Southern Association of Colleges and Schools.” James Madison University. Harrisonburg, VA: James Madison University, 1981. Carrier Library. Special Collections. James Madison University.
Robertson, Emily Gillespie. The Transformation of Madison College Into James Madison University: A Case Study. Harrisonburg, VA: James Madison University, 1991.
“Robertson, Gary. “Madison College Development Reaches Full Flower: Football.” Richmond Times Dispatch. Control #PU88-1015. Special Collections. Carrier Library. James Madison University. Harrisonburg, Virginia. May 7, 1972.
Suggs, Welch. A Place On the Team: The Triumph and Tragedy of Title IX. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2005.
Schulman, Bruce J. The Seventies: The Great Shift in American Culture, Society, and Politics. Cambridge: Da Capo Press, 2002.
“SGA Minutes.” Control #SGA 2001-1010. Student Government Association Papers. Box 1, Series 2, Folder 3. Special Collections. Carrier Library. James Madison University. Harrisonburg, VA. 1978 – 1980.
Student Government Association Student Handbook 1971-1972. Harrisonburg, VA: Madison College. Special Collections. Carrier Library. James Madison University. Harrisonburg, Virginia.
Student Government Association Student Handbook 1972-1973. Harrisonburg, VA: Madison College. Special Collections. Carrier Library. James Madison University. Harrisonburg, Virginia.
Student Government Association Student Handbook 1973-1974. Harrisonburg, VA: Madison College. Special Collections. Carrier Library. James Madison University. Harrisonburg, Virginia.
Student Handbook 1970-71, Harrisonburg, VA: Madison College. Special Collections. Carrier Library. James Madison University. Harrisonburg, Virginia.
“University Council Minutes.” Control # PR2005-1115 1972-2003 University Council Minutes. Box 1, Series 1, Folder 1. Special Collections. Carrier Library. James Madison University. Harrisonburg, VA. 1972 -1979.
“Virginia ABC’s 75th Anniversary. 1934-2009.” Virginia Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control. Accessed 3/5/12 from http://www.abc.state.va.us/admin/abc75th/abc75th_timeline.html.
Young, D. Parker. “Student Rights and Discipline in Higher Education.” Peabody Journal of Education 52:1 (October 1974): 58-64.