Even as I write this post, Dartmouth's newest class, the '14s, have been arriving in Hanover to embark upon their freshman Outing Club trips and enjoy the great outdoors. Here we have a video from the Dartmouth archives chronicling orientation in 1947.
1947 was the first "normal" year at Dartmouth following World War II, and Dartmouth enrolled a record number of students that year.
As soon as the video starts, I was amazed to see the students stepping off the bus in jackets and ties, and the students were similarly dressed in the classroom. Nary a t-shirt to be seen throughout the whole film.
There are some nice shots of Main Street, including the now long-gone Campion's haberdashery, and the College Bookstore.
One "tradition" that I was amazed to see was that freshman, wearing their beanies, were required to help upperclassmen with their luggage at the beginning of the year. I can't imagine something like that happening today, but the thought of the unlucky '14s carrying my boxes around is not a bad one.
The video also shows a model for a performing arts center which would have stood where the Hopkins Center stands today. Designed along the lines of Webster Hall, personally I would have preferred it to the modernistic and ugly Hop.
The video ends with scenes from the famous Freshman trips, although the trips of yesteryear feature a lot more flannel and a lot less flair that those of today. However the point of the trips is the same; to introduce them to the wonderful countryside of New Hampshire and to welcome students to the best college in America
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