In the Archives, we have three originals of this 31 ¼” x 7” panoramic photograph. In it, the Meredith College community have gathered on the original downtown campus.
An article in the March 14, 1924 Twig reported that “over three hundred Meredith girls” - plus staff - “pour(ed) out of the entrance of Main Building last Wednesday morning during chapel hour.” The writer added that the students having “no time to put on our best accoutrements…the pictures show us as we really are.”
The photograph, according to the article, was taken by Mr. Frye (actually, the name was "Fry") of Cedar Rapids, Iowa. He was likely using a Cirkut camera. Patented in 1904, the Cirkut used large format film capable of producing a 360-degree photograph up to 20 feet long. Both the camera and the film rotated on a special tripod during the exposure. Cirkut cameras were used mostly by commercial photographers to capture city views, group portraits, and special events.
While it is very difficult to identify the students, several of the faculty and staff on the front row are recognizable.
In the panoramic photo of the downtown campus, students and staff fill the foreground, with several college officials and instructors in the front row, much to the amusement of the Twig.
The article in the March 14, 1924 Twig newspaper described the scene on the lawn near the Main Building when students and faculty gathered for panoramic photographer, Mr. Fry. The date of the photograph was either Wednesday March 5th or Wednesday March 12th.
The complete story:
"The disinterested observer would have immediately become intensely interested had he beheld the amazing spectacle of over three hundred Meredith girls pouring ou of the entrance of Main building last Wednesday morning during chapel hour. And yes - the faculty was with them. As a matter of fact, they must have led the rush, for when the picture was taken, they were in the front row. The secret's out! we were not forming a posse, or chasing a thief. Mr Frye [sic], a photographer from Cedar Rapids, Iowa, had come to take a group picture of the college community, and each one wished a desirable place in the sun. We had no time to put on our best accoutrement, so the picture showed us as we really are. However, taking everything into consideration, the picture was remarkably good, and a great many orders for duplicates were given."
Dean Gregory Boomhour
Ida Poteat (Professor of Art) and Lillian Parker Wallace (Professor of History)
President Charles and Love Bell Brewer
Octavia "Son" Norwood (College Nurse.) Mrs. Norwood indiscriminately called all students "son," and it became her nickname in return.
Ernest Canady (Professor of Math), William J. Ferell (Bursar) and S.G. Riley (Professor of Math and Economics.)
A Cirkut panoramic camera, patented in 1904. It is likely that this was the type of camera used at Meredith College.
Carlyle Campbell Library
Meredith College
3800 Hillsborough St.
Raleigh, NC 27607
919-760-8532
