CMU Calkins Hall scrapbook, Dean Sharp and Helen Keller

- October 03, 2023

CMU Calkins Hall Scrapbook, 1958-1966, dedication pages, list of attendees

Scrapbooks and other materials from CMU's Calkins Hall dormitory were transferred to us recently. Scrapbooks are a nightmare from a preservation archival perspective, but I must admit that I enjoy some of the artistic endeavors of their creators. These images are all from the earliest Calkins scrapbook, 1958-1966. It opens with documentation of the dorm's dedication in 1958. Attendees included major people for whom campus buildings are named. Many activities of students are also documented, some of which we now find funny.

Back then there were no pre-made scrapbook decorations. This scrapbook was organized and decorated by hand drawn art or colored construction paper.

For a history of Calkins see the Clarke's page on historic existing buildings, Calkins Hall Calkins started as a women's dorm, but housed men from 1959 to 1960, and women after that. Currently all four of CMU's NW quadrangle dorms, including Calkins, are closed and slated for demolition as of the last campus plan. Here are some additional photos

Dedication invitations & clippings. I don't think anyone thought about how this headline sounded

Cool numbers Let's bash a car to raise funds for the Korean Orphanages, a major CMU fundraiser in the 1950s-1960s.

Campus fallout shelter signs & notation about the Cuban missile crisis.

Elegant 1965-66 pages. Dean Sharp was Dean of Women and a major CMU role model. I just found one of her letters transcribed on the Helen Keller Archive site. Dean Sharp wrote a book to stimulate interest in the teaching profession. In 1955 she wrote to various public personalities inviting them to contribute to it. Unfortunately, Helen Keller was too busy to help Sharp. Here's a link to Sharp's transcribed letter and Keller's staff's response. Helen Keller Archives-Dean Sharp letter