What did generations of Indiana University students think about their years on campusthe faculty, courses, administration, pressing social issues, and each other? Through student writings and art featured inThe Well House Reader,the Bloomington campus across the years vividly and sometimes whimsically comes to life.

Featuring selections from more than 150 years of student writing,The Well House Reader, edited Donald J. Gray, demonstrates how students voiced their views and opinions through their contributions to campus magazines and yearbooks. From the use of satiric couplets to ridicule university president Cyrus Nutt in 1872, parody and caricature to mock the Ku Klux Klan in 1924, and long form essays to complain about the university administration in the 1960s, IU students always made their opinions clear. They wrote burlesques to mock their teachers, essays to honor them, and short stories about the satisfaction and sadness of graduation and departure from their beloved alma mater.

Poignant and revealing,The Well House Reader offers unforgettable glimpses of Indiana University through the eyes and experiences of its students across the decades.

Donald J. Gray is Culbertson Professor of English Emeritus at Indiana University. He has served as editor ofCollege English andVictorian Studies. At Indiana University, Professor Gray received the university's Distinguished Teaching Award, its Distinguished Service Award, the President's Medal of Excellence, and the Bicentennial Medal for his distinguished service to the university.

IntroductionPart One: The Campus and the Town"To Kirkwood Hall,"Arbutus 1895FromA Hoosier Holiday, Theodore Dreiser 1916"The Atmosphere of Indiana University, by Two Overseas Men,"The Hoosier 1920"It's in the Air," Ernie Pyle, Indiana Daily Student 1922FromThe Stardust Road, Hoagie Carmichael 1946"Visions at Midnight," Ed Savola,Folio 1945"The Mighty Jordan," Martin Kinman,Folio 1946"Bloomington A Sketch," Louise Foster,Folio 1939"Dundee of Bloomingshire,"The Date 1947"Hiawatha 1948,"The Crimson Bull 1948"Rats, Waterbuckets, and Screaming," Bob Towns,The Date 1946"Yank on Bloomington Square," Hargis Westerfield,Folio 1947"Small Town Hippie Comics," art by R. T. Reece,The Spectator 1969"A Block Away From There," Erin Chapman,Canvas 2009"Parking Lot at the Student Union," Steven Johnson,Canvas 2016-17"Frigid Venus" Gemma Lad,Labyrinth 1992Part Two: Students"Extracts from a Student's Diary," William Hicks,Folio1936"The Simple But Touching Ballad of the Farmer Lad Who Changed,"The Hoosier 1919FromInitiation, George Shively 1925"The End of the Very First Week," Roselda Zimmerman,Folio 1937"I Hate College Boys; I Love College Girls,"The Vagabond 1924"The College Student, Juvenile Sophisticate," Nathan Davis,The Vagabond 1926-27"Woiking Goil," Elizabeth Flora,The Bored Walk 1931"Won'erful Nell," Frank Smith,The Vagabond 1925Cover,The Bored Walk, art by Shannon M. Johnson 1935"Grasping Their Hard-Earned Sheepskins,"The Bored Walk 1933"Taking Aim," Meredith Morgan,Labyrinth 2005"New Pens, Check," Adriana Valtierra,Collins Columns 2012"The Best Time of My Life," Mary-Katherine Lemon,Collins Columns 2012"Entirely Too Much Personal Information,"' Allison Neal,Collins Columns 2019Cover, "Books That Shaped Us," art by Margaret Schnabel,Collins Columns 2019"Books, Babes, and Best Sellers,"Margaret Schnabel, Collins Columns 2019Part Three: Faculty and Courses"Departments," art by George Brehm,Arbutus 1903"A Skinner Box Named Meyer,"The Crimson Bull1954FromCollege Humor, Don Herold 1929"But Ted, I Didn't Know." Cover ofThe Bored Walk (March 1940), art by Normabelle Heiman"Carl Eigenmann," art inArbutus 1899"Textbooks Unbound," Mike Schwimmer,The Crimson Bull 1954"The Physics-ical Side of Love," Myrtle V. SchnellerFolio 1944"A Geometry Test," Sieglinde Lim,Collins Columns1994"Precipice," John W. Stein,Folio 1939"25 Reasons Why You Should Attend Summer Sessions," ad inThe Crimson Bull1949"This Is What I Do in Class." FromCollins Columns, Feb. 15, 2012, art by Emily FranciscoPart Four: Romance and Sex"For Man Is a Giddy Thing," Grace Smith,Arbutus 1903"At the Well House," Gilbert Swaim,The Bored Walk 1932"So Then I Said," art by Doan Helm,The Crimson Bull 1948"Instant Idyll," Garry Emmons,Quarry 1972"Just Friends," Tim DohrerLabyrinth1990"Bloomington Lawyer," Betsy TandyQuarry 1974"One Night Stand," Collinda Taylor,Labyrinth2007"Yes, These People Exist," Emily Francisco,Collins Columns2012Part Five: Protests"Our President's Origin,"The Dagger 1875"The Klu Klux Klan,"The Vagabond 1924"Dirge for the Khaki Youth,"The Bored Walk1940"No!" Richard Reed,Folio 1939"Education or Mass Production," Albert C. Loshe,Folio1942"Tolerance: Will It Be Future Perfect?" Jayne Walpole.The Date 1946"Concerto," Bernice Cohen,Folio 1944FromThe Translator, John Crowley 2002"Oh No! CRUD Strikes Again,"The Spectator 1970Cover,The Spectator,art by R. T. Reese 1970"Voice," Jim Carr,Quarry 1973"The 60s in the 80s Almost," Dave Bender,Arbutus 1987Part Six: Departures"Sea of Life," art by Don HeroldArbutus1911"On Entering the Campus,"Arbutus 1915"There's Another Side of College," Robert Smith,Arbutus1983"The Bird," John Shuster,Labyrinth 2000Appendix: Student Magazines at Indiana University BloomingtonAcknowledgments