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Amherst College Student and Alumni Publications Collection

 Collection
Identifier: MA.00230
Digital Collection: Amherst College Student and Alumni Publications Collection (Selections)
Digital Collection: Amherst College Student and Alumni Publications Collection (Selections)

Browse 1 digital objects in collection

Scope and Contents

This is an artificial collection composed of literary, humor and news publications, largely written and edited by Amherst College students and alumni, but also including five-college publications and publications edited by the College for students and alumni, such as the Amherst Graduates' Quarterly. General informational publications published by the college (such as catalogs, calendars, directories, face books, annual reports, and the like) can be found in the Amherst College Administrative Publications collection. Publications created by particular offices or organizations can be found with the records of those offices or organizations.

Note that the following titles are continuations of the same publication:

  1. Amherst Collegiate Magazine --> The Ichnolite --> Amherst College Magazine
  2. Amherst Literary Monthly --> Amherst Monthly --> Amherst Writing --> Amherst Literary Magazine
  3. Amherst Review --> A Review --> Amherst Review
  4. Writing at Amherst --> Clarion
  5. Touchstone --> Sabrina
  6. The College Olio --> The Amherst Aurora --> The College Olio --> The Olio
  7. Amherst Graduates' Quarterly --> Amherst Alumni News --> Amherst

Dates

  • Creation: 1829-2020

Conditions Governing Access

There is no restriction on access to the Amherst College Student and Alumni Publications Collection for research use. Particularly fragile items are restricted for preservation purposes.

Conditions Governing Use

Requests for permission to publish material from the Amherst College Student and Alumni Publications Collection should be directed to the Archives and Special Collections. It is the responsibility of the researcher to identify and satisfy the holders of all copyrights.

Biographical / Historical

Amherst College students have been recording their news, literary endeavors and witticisms from the earliest years of the institution. The first student publication on record is La Critique, a handwritten review in five issues penned in 1829, a mere 8 years after the founding of the College. Its first printed publications were The Sprite (1832-1832) and The Shrine (1832-1833), which contained original essays, stories, and poetry as well as reprinted material from other publications. Horae Collegianae (1847-1840) and the Amherst Collegiate Magazine, or Ichnolite (1853-1862, named after the College's celebrated collection of fossilized footprints) were other early publications in the same vein. The mid-nineteenth century saw the origin of some of Amherst's longest-running publications: The Olio, its yearbook, first appeared in 1855 and continues today. The Amherst Student, its student newspaper, has run nearly continuously since its first printing in 1868, weekly and in some periods more frequently. The Indicator, a political and humor magazine, ran from 1849-1851 and was revived in 1996. Curiosities of the late 19th century include, among others, a single issue publication entitled The Electric Pen (1878), printed and duplicated using Thomas Edison's eponymous device.

The Amherst Literary Monthly, later the Amherst Monthly, Amherst Writing and then Amherst Literary Magazine, ran from 1886 until 1932 and was Amherst's longest-running literary magazine. The Amherst Literary Magazine was resurrected 1955 and remained in publication until 1973. In the first decades of the 20th century, other publications at Amherst were mostly short-running humor magazines; many did not make it past the first edition. They included The Amherst Muck-Rake (1908 and a product of its era) and The Four-Leaf Clover (1912-1913). The Lord Jeff revived the humor and campus-interest genre in 1920, running until 1935. (For selections from publications during the mid-20th century, see Analekta.)

Touchstone, an illustrated magazine (1936-1949) chronicled the activities of the college's diminished student body during the war years, as did The Gazette of Amherst College (1943-1944) and The Jeff (1944-1946). The Sabrina continued the humor and photography of Touchstone in themed editions, running intermittently between 1956 and 2001. The 1950s also saw the advent of Scrutiny, a collection of student reviews and rankings of professors, which continues in website form today. A Review, later Amherst Review, another long-running literary publication, began in 1958 and ran with some gaps through 2005.

The 1960s and 1970s saw several experiments in creative and literary magazines, including one called Experimental Magazine (1963); the most prominent were Io (1965-1967) and Paideia (1965-1974). The advent of the internet has brought easier access to outside publications and has brought the focus of the remaining student publications more squarely on campus life and student literary and artistic work.

Extent

65 Linear feet (46 records storage boxes, 4 archives box, 2 half archives boxes, 13 oversize flat boxes, 11 newspaper boxes)

Language of Materials

English

Abstract

A collection of literary, humor and news publications, largely written and edited by Amherst College students and alumni, but also including Five-College publications and publications edited by the college for students and alumni.

Arrangement

This collection is organized into six series:

  1. Series 1: Student publications [1829-present]
  2. Series 2: The Amherst Student [1868-present]
  3. Series 3: Olio [1859-present]
  4. Series 4: Alumni Publications [1911-present]
  5. Series 5: Class and Reunion Publications [1852-2014]
  6. Series 6: Five College Publications [1970-present]

Student Publications Timeline

1829
La Critique
1831
Alexandrian Eclectic Review
1831-1832
The Sprite
1832-1833
The Shrine
1833-1834
The Guest
1837-1840
Horae Collegianae
1847
College Dial
1848
College Cucumber
1849-1851
The Indicator, first series
1852
The Scorpion
1853
Amherst Collegiate Magazine
1855-1858
College Olio
1856
Amherst Aurora
1859-1861
Ichnolite
1859-present
Olio
1861
Thursday Evening Item
1862
College Magazine
1868-present
Amherst Student
1878
Electric Pen
1883
“The Student” mock issue
1887-1910
Amherst Literary Monthly
1893
The Bat
1908
The Amherst Muck-Rake
1910-1920
Amherst Monthly
1911
The Amherst Can
1912-1913
Amherst Four Leaf Clover
1912
The Kidder
1912
The Toothpick
1918
Shrapnel
1920-1935
Lord Jeff
1920-1928
Amherst Writing
1922
Amherst Faculty
1923
Baby Jeff
1928-1932
Amherst Literary Magazine, first series
1932
Amherst Spectator
1932
Heritage
1934
Amherst Stripper
1936-1949
Touchstone
1938
College Story Club
1943-1944
Gazette of Amherst College
1944-1946
The Jeff
1946
Medusa
1948
Horn Book
1950-2001 (with gaps)
Sabrina
1951-1954
Context
1954
Analekta
1955-1973
Amherst Literary Magazine, second series
1955-1956
Spiritus Mundi
1956-[2015]
Scrutiny
1958-1962
Amherst Review
1963
Experimental Magazine
1965-1974
Paideia
1972-1974
Amytherst
[1974-1979]
Polemic
1974-1981
A Review
1974
Stone Edge
1975
Tubs of Slaw
1976
Elephant and Castle
1976
Pinden Nancho
1976-1977
The Point
1977-1983
Writing at Amherst
1979
Humanitas
1979-1988
In Other Words
1979-1980
Subterranean Guide to Amherst College
1981-2005
Amherst Review
1981-1982
Backbone Flute
1981
Image
1982
Amherst Symposium
1982-1984
Polyglossos
1983-1984
Sidelines
1984-1986
Clarion
1985-1994
Amherst Spectator
1985
Insight
[circa 1985]
The Opposite Sex
1985-1986
Adelphian
1987-2006
Prism
1988-1996
Madness This
1988
New Mag
1989-1992
Amherst College Paperback
1989
For Art’s Sake
1990
Points of View
1991
Independent
1991
The Rage
1993-2002
A Further Room
1993-2001
Capitol Pages
1993
The Smallpox Blanket
1993-1994
Soap Box
1994-1995
Citizen Poke [online only]
1995
Amherst College Students for Life
1995
The Round File
1996-1997
Anseo
1996-present
The Indicator, second series
1996-2000
Sports Amherst
1997-2004
Amherst Spectator
1997-2000
Rara Avis
1998
Chalk Talk
[1998]
R. Plumm’s
1999
Pushkin Was
2000
Amherst Journal of Biomedical Ethics
[2000]
Frames
2001-2019
Circus
2002-2005
The Hamster/ Amherst Hamster
2003-2006
The Meredith
2004
Amherst Humanitarian
2005-2009
Amherst Story Project
2006-2010
Thoughts of Amherst
2007-2015
Amherst Element
2007-2011
Frame
2008
AmhPub
2008
Gender Trouble
2008
Pepper
2009
Interdisciplinary Undergraduate Law Journal
[circa 2009]
Crisis
2010
Offensive Line
2010
Identity
2010-2014
Quick Brown Fox
2011-2018
AC Voice (previously she-BOMB) [online only]
2012
It Happens Here
2012-present
Amherst Muck-Rake [online only]
2013
What's Left at Amherst [online only]
2014-2016
Amherst Soul [online only]
2014
Fuck Yeah Amherst College [online only]
2015-2016
Gaia
2015
Taste Magazine
2015
Humans of Amherst College [online only]
2015-2020
Disorientation Guide
2016
AC Beat
[2017]
samizdat

Processing Information

Title-level abstracts in this finding aid were written by Amherst College's 2016 summer Digital Scholarship interns: Jennifer Lee (AC 2016), William Harvey (AC 2018), Phuong-Nghi Pham (AC 2018), and Norah Oteri (AC 2018). Interns worked with the collection to explore how Amherst College students respond to the world around them and to learn about archival research and data visualization. Their projects are available online (see External Documents below).

Genre / Form

Author
Mariah Leavitt, Archives and Special Collections Specialist.
Date
2012
Language of description
English
Script of description
Latin

Repository Details

Part of the Amherst College Archives and Special Collections Repository

Contact:
Amherst College Archives & Special Collections
Robert Frost Library
61 Quadrangle Drive
Amherst MA 01002-5000
(413) 542-2299