The Bell Ringer's time capsule

By Madi Oglesby | Opinion editor

One afternoon, as I was walking out of my Rock ‘n Roll class, I received an email. As I’m sure we’ve all noticed, the floors in the JSAC have been under construction for the past few months. Well, it was the Bell Ringer office’s turn that day, and the advisors required some help with unloading the filing cabinets to prepare for the new carpeting. 

To be completely honest, I almost didn’t show up. I was craving a coffee, and I was fighting off the 9 a.m. exhaustion. However, on the way to grab my coffee, I felt a pang of guilt for not showing up— especially considering I would probably just spend the rest of the day sleeping anyway. So, I grabbed my drink and headed back to the Summerville Campus. 

Unbeknownst to me, as I headed towards the Bell Ringer office, I was about to embark upon one of the most exciting adventures of my college journey. 

My main job that day was to unload the newspapers from the filing cabinet, save 5 of each, and put the leftovers in a stack. Each newspaper told stories from the past, even little stories that the writers may not have expected to live on past their time.

Being the history nerd I am, seeing this news frozen in time was astounding to me. I saw so many interesting things, some of which definitely showed the complete culture shift from a couple of decades ago until now. 

For those that may not know, the Bell Ringer student newspaper started in 1967. For some reason, I wasn’t expecting to find any newspapers from that year, so when I did, you can imagine my excitement. 

After I stopped freaking out, I was able to read a bit into the paper and see what problems or headlines they were worried about in 1967. One of the first stories I found was a parking feature piece, something that is still extremely relevant today. It was especially exciting because I had just written a parking piece the week before. 

However, the most head-turning thing that I saw in this edition was a column called “Bell Ringer Beauty”. This column was a regular occurrence, I found, until at least 1970. In it, the staff would choose a lady on campus, photograph her, and ask her questions about her life. They were fairly basic questions, but just enough to let the audience see her personality a bit. Then labeling her as the “Bell Ringer Beauty” for that edition. 

This caught my attention for the most part because this is something that would probably not fly very well in modern society. It would be considered “objectifying women” or something of that nature. So, it was particularly fascinating to see that this did not raise any eyebrows in the late 60s, as it would now. 

Another thing that I noticed in the early editions of the Bell Ringer was a story written for the paper by none other than George A. Christenberry himself– Augusta College’s President, at the time. It was a piece about the importance of being a student and succeeding in your endeavors. This was super amazing to see because of seeing how far his name has carried since his time as president. 

Finally, perhaps my favorite part about my plundering in the office (just to call it what it was), was watching history unfold on the pages. I came across a newspaper that was released only three days after 9/11, an article highlighting the students’ feelings on the attack. It was captivating, having an almost firsthand look into the fear and confusion that this event caused, especially from the perspective of these young adults.

I also was able to find an edition released right after the Boston Marathon Bombing, telling of a run that was carried out in Augusta to raise money for the damages caused during the attack. The event even featured some speakers who had finished the race right before the bombs went off. It was beautiful to see how the country came together in the midst of these times of terror and chaos. 

Journalism truly is the art of documenting history in real time, and I am very lucky to have been able to see some of it so many years later. Maybe in another 40 years, a student will look back at my parking piece and laugh because they relate just as much. 

The Bell Ringer office held so much history in its drawers. I am so happy that I was able to open up this time capsule that these writers– spanning decades– unknowingly created. 

Contact Madi Oglesby at auoglesby@augusta.edu.