SC023 Shimer College Engagement Calendars

Series

Identifier: RG04-S10

Staff Only

Scope and Contents

Frances Shimer College Engagement Calendars served as a daily planner for Shimer students. The engagement calendars listed events or holidays for each particular day and provided students with space to write their own plans for the day. Each calendar also included photographs of the Shimer campus, students, and faculty. Published when Shimer was still the girls’ finishing school Frances Shimer College, the engagement calendars reflected the rigid structure under which Shimer students were expected to conduct themselves. While education was an important part of Frances Shimer College, the training of students into proper young ladies was also a strong focus. Along with containing reminders about campus events and holidays, certain days in the engagement calendars would also include reminders for students to mail cards for holidays or plan parties.

As the engagement calendars in the collection were intended for use by students, some of them contain writing. The 1946-1947 calendar in particular contains a substantial amount of writing, particularly in the first semester of the academic year.

Dates

1946 - 1948

Language of Materials

English

Biographical / Historical

Edited by Frances Shimer College’s public relations director, W.N. Wittenfeld, the Frances Shimer College Engagement Calendar served both as a daily planner for Shimer students and as a means of advertising the school. As daily planners, the engagement calendars kept Shimer students organized, with daily reminders of events that were happening on campus and important academic dates, such as the dates for mid-semester and final exams. The advertising aspect of the calendars was largely accomplished by the calendars’ use of photography on each page. Pictures in the engagement calendars depicted the Shimer campus, then located in Mt. Carroll, Illinois, as well as Shimer students and faculty. In the pictures of the campus, the natural beauty of Mt. Carroll was emphasized. The pictures of students and faculty, meanwhile, showed various activities in which students could participate on campus. Some pictures included students attending class, spending recreational time together outside, or participating in the annual horse show.