Quezi

This is what mom wants you to believe (Flickr Commons - NKCR)

Exactly what were mom and dad doing back in their college days?  Seeking new knowledge in the library, or sneaking out the dorm for a midnight rendezvous?  Getting stoked for the big game, or getting a secret smoke behind the gym?

I can’t tell you all the details, but maybe with a bit of prompting, you can get your folks to tell you the true stories.  To help things along, check out these free archives from (mostly) student newspapers on college campuses.

The Argus, from Illinois Wesleyan University, 1894-current. Heck, you can even check out what your grandparents were doing.

The Ithacan, from Ithaca College in NY, 1931-current.

Cornell Daily Sun, Cornell University, NY, 1880-1979. Coverage is a bit sporadic.  

The Collegian, University of Richmond, VA, 1914-2003.

Assorted College Newspapers from Penn State University, 1887-1989.

Harvard Crimson, Harvard University, MA, 1873-current (text only… no images)

Lancaster County Newspaper Archives, in Pennsylvania, 1915-2001. This mixed collection includes several college newspapers, including the Franklin and Marshall College Reporter.

Purdue Exponent, Purdue University (Indiana) 2000-2006. A good one, if your folks are recent graduates.

University of Massachusetts at Boston, 1966-2007

Coe College Cosmos, in Iowa, 1890-1977

Barnard Bulletin, Barnard College in NY City, 1901-2002

NewspaperArchive.com. This one isn’t free, but it’s a good resource to know about, as it’s one of the most comprehensive newspaper archives available.

If anything really embarrassing turns up, please let us know in Comments ;-)

David Sarokin

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