[Date Prev][Date Next][Thread Prev][Thread Next][Date Index][Thread Index]

Re: symbolism of creepy yearbook illustrations



Colleagues,

I think that Jeffrey hit the nail on the head.  My experience in University Archives has lead me to believe that use of "creepy" imagery for secret societies was quite common.  Even the honorary society here at Rutgers, the Cap and Skull, regularly utilized skulls in their art work and yearbook photographs (it also brings to mind Hamlet, actually).  Other art work in our fin de siecle yearbooks include demons, devils, and snakes.

Jeffrey's commentary about both upper middle class decadence and the aesthetics of the time are also right on the money.  The popularity of Fraser's "The Golden Bough" (chronicle and explaination of European pagan traditions and mythologies) in the late nineteenth, early twentieth century comes to mind as well as the earlier ninteenth century fascination with mediums and seances.

However, one interpretation I would add is that Hollins is an all-women's college.  Freya is a goddess.  It seems as if the secret societies and the yearbook are either playfully experimenting with  specifically female symbols (both the goddess of fertility and the spinster) or they are making a more bold social/political statement as women.  The more recent feminist movement--or a subculture therein-- has used goddess imagery (particularly Norse
and Druidic mythology) and also studied it to examine women's representation in and contribution to history, myth, literature, etc.  For me, the first thing I thought is that this secret society at Hollins was an early feminist group.

Erika Gorder
Rutgers University Archives

Jeffrey Makala wrote:

> Beth,
>
> Wesleyan has had societies around the turn of the century (and some
> still today) called Corpse and Coffin, Skull and Serpent, and the Mystical
> Seven - some were honorary, some secret fraternities, some both. The S&S
> Society routinely posed for yearbook photos with an actual human skull on
> someone's lap, and our turn of the century yearbooks are full of "that
> sort" of imagery.
>
> I think there are a number of reasons that could account for this sort
> of thing flourishing at a "respectable college:" mostly affluent,
> middle class college students (then an absolutely _tiny_ minority of the
> general population) intelligently playing with the forbidden and
> "decadent" as a reaction to societal expectations; the desire to have
> their own obscure secret rituals and ominous, slightly menacing symbolism
> that no-one else could understand. The imagery no doubt also comes from
> the yearbook illustrators who were following closely some of the fashions
> of the times - closer to the turn of the century you have the Yellow Book
> and Beardsley and the decadents openly celebrating "pagan" culture; later,
> Art Nouveau stylings all appear in college yearbooks; all that sort of
> imagery was around in "artistic" circles and slowly filtering back into
> American culture at the time. And of course amongst college students it
> seems to have taken interesting extremes. So I wouldn't think it's
> terribly unusual to find in other similar sources around the country - and
> some of the illustration is really beautiful!
>
> Best,
>
> Jeffrey
>
> Jeffrey Makala
> Assistant University Archivist/Reference Librarian
> Special Collections & Archives
> Olin Library, Wesleyan University                    860.685.3863
> 252 Church St.                                       860.685.2661 fax
> Middletown CT 06459                                  jmakala@wesleyan.edu
>
> On Mon, 26 Aug 2002, Beth S. Harris wrote:
>
> > Dear Colleagues:
> >
> > I am doing some exhibit research on the history of our yearbook, The Spinster.  We have a secret service organization, Freya, that has been in existence for approximately 100 years.  (Membership hasn't always been secret, however.  In the early days, the group put on plays on May Day and called themselves the "Fairies of Freya.")  It's hard to get in touch with these folks due to the secrecy so I thought I would turn to the List for help.
> >
> > According to Britannica, Freya was a Viking goddess of love, fertility, etc.  A Google search pulled up some Wicca (and related sites).
> >  The yearbook illustrations for this organization during the first 30 years or so were really creepy looking.  So there are four aspects:  creepy images (hooded figures, fire, bats, snakes, skulls), Viking fertility, service, and secrecy.  I'm not sure what the connection between the idea of service and these images.  A co-worker of mine says that some of these are universal symbols and are not particularly connected to the goddess or Wicca.
> >
> > What are these weird images doing in a yearbook of a nice Southern genteel ladies college and what do they mean?  Does anyone know of other similar organization that used such imagery?
> >
> > For a sample, go to http://www.hollins.edu/academics/library/services/freya.htm
> >
> >
> > Thanks so much for your help!
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> > **********************************************************************************************************************
> > Beth S. Harris,
> > Special Collections Management Librarian
> > Wyndham Robertson Library / Hollins University
> > POB 9000 / 7950 E. Campus Drive
> > Roanoke, VA  24020-1000
> > Phone: 540.362.6237 / Fax: 540.362.6756
> > Web:http://www.hollins.edu/academics/library/libtoc.htm
> >
> > A posting from the Archives & Archivists LISTSERV List!
> >
> > To subscribe or unsubscribe, send e-mail to listserv@listserv.muohio.edu
> >       In body of message:  SUB ARCHIVES firstname lastname
> >                     *or*:  UNSUB ARCHIVES
> > To post a message, send e-mail to archives@listserv.muohio.edu
> >
> > Or to do *anything* (and enjoy doing it!), use the web interface at
> >      http://listserv.muohio.edu/archives/archives.html
> >
> > Problems?  Send e-mail to Robert F Schmidt <rschmidt@lib.muohio.edu>
> >
>
> A posting from the Archives & Archivists LISTSERV List!
>
> To subscribe or unsubscribe, send e-mail to listserv@listserv.muohio.edu
>       In body of message:  SUB ARCHIVES firstname lastname
>                     *or*:  UNSUB ARCHIVES
> To post a message, send e-mail to archives@listserv.muohio.edu
>
> Or to do *anything* (and enjoy doing it!), use the web interface at
>      http://listserv.muohio.edu/archives/archives.html
>
> Problems?  Send e-mail to Robert F Schmidt <rschmidt@lib.muohio.edu>

A posting from the Archives & Archivists LISTSERV List!

To subscribe or unsubscribe, send e-mail to listserv@listserv.muohio.edu
      In body of message:  SUB ARCHIVES firstname lastname
                    *or*:  UNSUB ARCHIVES
To post a message, send e-mail to archives@listserv.muohio.edu

Or to do *anything* (and enjoy doing it!), use the web interface at
     http://listserv.muohio.edu/archives/archives.html

Problems?  Send e-mail to Robert F Schmidt <rschmidt@lib.muohio.edu>