A Day in the Life of a UK Student: Oct. 11-12, 1910

LEXINGTON, Ky. (Oct. 10, 2014) — In celebration of the University of Kentucky sesquicentennial in 2015, UK Special Collections Research Center is releasing the diary entries of former student Virginia Clay McClure one entry at a time. The diary chronicles the day-to-day activities of McClure's junior and senior years at the State University of Kentucky (now UK) from 1910-1912. McClure's eighth and ninth diary entries, dated Oct. 11-12, 1910, chronicle a letter from home, surprise wedding and controversy on campus.

Oct. 11th. Surprise from Pearl – wasn’t expecting them to come to Lexington.

A letter from Pearl Coons is inserted here. It reads:                                          

At-Home

Mon. Morn.

Dear Virgie;

         Would certainly be glad to see you at the Phoenix Hotel about 1:30 P.M. this Wednesday, Oct. 12th for I think there is going to be something doing.

Lovingly,

Pearl Coons.

Junior class meeting, and all decide to stand by Seniors and leave school if necessary.  Paper sent around to sign, which I didn’t sign. Glad I have courage enough to face criticism – didn’t know whether I had or not. My education means too much to me to jeopardize it so rashly. Don’t know whether I’ve lost one who was a very dear friend or not, but guess I can stand it if I have to.

Oct. 12th. Very exciting time over the Freshman “little red caps with the yellow button.” Miss Chinn excused some of us to go to the mass meeting of Sophomore, Junior, and Senior classes in chapel. Everybody there, some music by Theising, [illegible name], and Neller, and then after it was found Freshman were willing to compromise, we left.

Coons-Atkinson

A pink Wrigley’s Chewing Gum wrapper is pasted in the diary at this point in the entry.

Chewing gum given me by the groom, shortly after the ceremony. Pearl looked very sweet - had such a pretty suit and hat. Emma wouldn’t see then married – couldn’t stand it. Albert looked awfully nice, too.

Address to the girls by Miss Hamilton, after which we almost all adjourned to the Gym. To the Freshman class meeting. Very serious and critical time, when three upper classes threaten to leave school if “Freshies” don’t wear caps. Robinson and Jackson very stubborn. Committee finally made a compromise by which Freshman agreed to wear the red caps, but without the “yellow button”. Feel that they have forced the Seniors to make a great concession. Got back at 10:30, no lessons studied, but very happy.

More on Virginia Clay McClure

Virginia Clay McClure, a native of Mt. Sterling, Kentucky, graduated in 1912 with an AB degree and received her master’s degree in 1928 from UK. After receiving her AB, she taught for a year at Middlesboro, Kentucky, another year at Paducah, Kentucky, and seven years in Cynthiana, Kentucky. After this, she returned to Lexington, where she taught for nine and a half years in the Fayette County schools. At this point, she took two and a half years off of work to complete her doctorate.

The first woman to receive a Ph.D. from UK, McClure said that her department chairman did not “want a woman to get a doctor’s degree.” In spite of those words, McClure received her doctoral degree in American history in 1934.

Her dissertation was “The Settlement of the Kentucky Appalachian Region,” about which “nothing had been done before.” McClure did significant original research for the dissertation and made several trips to Eastern Kentucky with Katherine Pettit, who had taught in settlement schools, including Pine Mountain School, which she helped to establish.  

McClure planned to teach at the college level but after finishing her dissertation in the midst of the depression, colleges were laying off faculty rather than hiring them. She then joined the Fayette County School system, then Lexington City Schools, and taught United States history and government at Henry Clay High School from 1934-1959. A position that she found quite rewarding.

The UK alumna and educator was very active in the community. McClure was a member of Central Christian Church and Kappa Delta Pi Honorary, Kentucky and National Retired Teachers associations, Salvation Army Auxiliary, Cardinal Hill Hospital Auxiliary and numerous historical societies. She was also a charter member of the Lexington Rose Society, twice serving as president, and was a member of the American Rose Society.

McClure passed away in 1980 at 91 years of age.

The Virginia Clay McClure papers are housed at the Special Collections Research Center and include a diary/scrapbook, a photograph album and other assorted photographs related to McClure's time as an undergraduate at State University, Lexington, Kentucky from 1910-1912. The scrapbook includes clippings, small artifacts, programs and invitations, but the bulk of the material is McClure's many personal writings. The photograph album and loose photographs also document this time period and include photographs of her UK classmates (many of whom are identified and also mentioned in her scrapbook); class trips and events (such as Arbor Day); and women playing basketball among other casual snapshots. 

This story on UK's history is presented by UK Special Collections Research Center. UK Special Collections is home to UK Libraries' collection of rare books, Kentuckiana, the Archives, the Louie B. Nunn Center for Oral History, the King Library Press, the Wendell H. Ford Public Policy Research Center, the Bert T. Combs Appalachian collection and the digital library, ExploreUK. The mission of the center is to locate and preserve materials documenting the social, cultural, economic and political history of the Commonwealth of Kentucky.
 

Diary transcriptions completed by senior Taylor Adams, Special Collections Learning Lab intern and history major from Ashland, Kentucky.

MEDIA CONTACT: Whitney Hale, 859-257-8716; whitney.hale@uky.edu