No matter how many years have passed since we were students, the “back to school” season remains a distinctive time of year. The dissonance between the new academic year and the end of nature’s growing season is palpable. An opportunity for a fresh start appears as we harvest what we sowed. And somehow the urge to wear a new wool sweater or flannel shirt on an 80-degree September day always seems rational.

Thanks to a donation from the University of the South, we have a glimpse into the “back to school” experience of the second-generation Disciples leader J. S. Lamar. In 1853, Lamar left his native Georgia to attend Bethany College. Having already pursued advanced studies and passed the bar exam, Lamar felt called to ministry and moved to Bethany to study at Alexander Campbell’s college. He commenced his studies in October 1853 and graduated as valedictorian in July 1854.

Lamar chronicled his experiences at Bethany College in a diary now held by the Disciples of Christ Historical Society. Contemporary champions of the humanities will be delighted to read Alexander Campbell’s academic advice to Lamar: “Called on the Bishop this morning in relation to my studies etc. Think I had better spend most of my time in the Latin & Greek languages – needless to devote more time to Mathematics.” Lamar’s diary also reveals that college students’ anxiety is nothing new. After offering an essay to his peers for review, he wrote,“I have so little confidence in myself & so little appreciation of my own pieces that I feared it did not please them & as they expressed no opinion I concluded it was because they did not like to express a poor one.”

Lamar’s diary also contains descriptions of a camp meeting and sermons preached by Alexander Campbell, as well as his reflections about the secular and religious texts he read in his free time. And no college diary would be complete without accounts of dating. Lamar wrote about his numerous attempts at “beauing” and his commitment to read Thomas DeQuincey’s Diary of an Opium Eater to impress the ladies of western Virginia. “Now I am resolved that if any one asks me if I have read De Qu[incey’s] Opium Eater to answer in the affirmative and so if possible acquire a little of that reputation for being a litterateur.”

Whether you wrapped up your formal education in the 1940s, the 2020s, or sometime in between, we think you will find something of your own experience in J.S. Lamar’s diary. We invite you to don your new fall clothes, peruse Lamar’s diary, and savor the “back to school” season. 

Captions
Cover of the J. S. (James Sanford) Lamar diary