Wed 29 Mar 2006
There is an amazing senior thesis to be written about the members of the Williams class of ‘63 — 1863, I mean. Start here. Although I have linked to this site before, I can’t help but click through the biographies. Could Charles McAllister be related to our fellow EphBlogger Professor James McAllister? Unlikely, but not impossible. What will my paragraph say at ny 40th reunion in 2028? What will yours say?
2006-03-29 09:38:35
fascinating find!
I found two things instantly compelling:
a) the (comparably) late age of marriage.
b) the shockingly high illness and death rate. It really was a different world before antibiotics and modern medicine.
2006-03-29 17:26:02
I agree Aidan, on the prevalence of sickness and death. I understand the “students must be able to swim” requirement at the older New England schools (Brown, Williams, Amherst, etc.) is because a lot of alumni drowned in various boating accidents, floods in the schools’ early days.