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Washington's Dispatches

Washington College

Mrs. Kitching’s Crab Salad and Pickled Watermelon Rind

05/09/2023

In the southeast corner of the state of Maryland, 10 miles off the coast of Crisfield and straddling the Maryland/Virginia line, lies Smith Island, the last inhabited island in Maryland not accessible by bridge.

  • Crab
  • Life on the Eastern Shore
  • Smith Island
  • Archives
Washington College

19th Century Dictionary Wars

05/02/2023

Dictionaries. Clifton Miller library has hundreds of them. There are dictionaries on law, costumes, and statistics. However, in the mid 19th century, the struggle was to become THE dictionary of the English language.

  • Criticism
  • Dictionaries
  • Lexicons
  • Archives
May Day celebration

“Hey Hey, it’s the First of May…….”

04/28/2023

…. So begins a rhyme my mother remembered from her college days in the mid-1950s. “…outdoor (fill in the blank) is now okay!”

  • May Day
  • Washington College Traditions
  • Archives
Washington College

1788 Dedication of Washington College

04/25/2023

Washington College was established in 1782 but it took six years for a building to be constructed specifically for the college. Rakestraw and Hicks of Philadelphia created the plans for a four-story building with two wings, which would cost $28,000 to build.

  • Commencement
  • Dedication
  • Original College Building
  • Archives
Colonial Recipes

Colonial Recipes

04/18/2023

From the outside, Washington College’s copy of “Colonial recipes from old Virginia and Maryland Manors” by Maude A. Bomberger is not much to look at. Sure, the font on the spine and cover is kind of neat, there’s a cute drawing of a country estate on the front, and the cloth is a nice shade of blue. But the wear and tear on the spine are evident, the binding is clearly loose, and who wants to eat like an American colonist, anyway?

  • Archives
  • Rare Books
  • Recipes
Washington College

A Middle Dutch Psalter

04/11/2023

A small oddity found in the rare book room at Miller Library has left us with a little mystery; It is a small book measuring only five inches by three and a half inches but with over four hundred hand-written pages.

  • Illuminated Manuscripts
  • Medieval
  • Netherlands
  • Psalters
  • Archives
Washington College

Every Bookplate a Mystery - Eugene Field

04/04/2023

Clifton Miller Library’s Rare Book Room contains many books donated by other charitable libraries, former professors, alumni, and students. The bookplates tell the story of their former owners. However, many of the bookplates themselves are a mystery.

  • Rare Books
  • Bookplates
Washington College

Two Truths and a Lie about Washington College

03/31/2023

In celebration of April Fool’s Day, we present to our readers two truths and a lie about Washington College history and tradition. See if you can guess which are which! Just for fun, the lie will contain a grain of truth!

  • April Fool's
Washington College

Kathleen Carpenter: Mother of Freshwater Ecology

03/28/2023

Washington College’s excellence in Environmental Science has deep roots. It is possible that the local environment attracted Dr. Kathleen E. Carpenter, sometimes called the Mother of Freshwater Ecology, to the Eastern Shore and Washington College.

  • CES
  • Ecology
  • Kathleen Carpenter
  • Archives
Washington College

Every Bookplate a Mystery

03/24/2023

Clifton Miller Library’s Rare Book Room contains many books donated by other charitable libraries, former professors, alumni, and students. The bookplates tell the story of their former owners. However, many of the bookplates themselves are a mystery.

  • Rare Books
  • Bookplates