CROC Tries to Move the Cartouche (1975-2000)
| After its removal from Bosler in 1940, the Cartouche spent
nearly 30 years in storage and another 30 on the edge of campus. No one
seems to know why it was placed between Adams and Witwer Halls in 1968,
although the graphic representation of the putti (or naked cherubs)
may have been one factor. |
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| These figures have attracted the attention of Dickinson
students over the years, including the addition of diapers made from plaster
in the 1930's. In their place behind Witwer, the putti have had red paint
applied to portions of their anatomy. |
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The Cartouche's location during the 1970's attracted the attention
of Dickinson alumni and faculty. Professor Noel Potter recalled:
"The first I heard of the cartouche was about 1976 when Charles
Daugherty (Dickinson '61) returned to Carlisle to practice law. He used
to eat lunch and socialize with some Dickinson faculty and staff. Charlie
mentioned the cartouche at lunch and suggested that it should be returned
to its rightful place in front of Bosler Hall. Numerous conversations,
half serious, half tongue-in-cheek, led to the formation of the Committee
to Restore Our Cartouche (CROC). The ad-hoc CROC met off and on over
a number of years, and wrote several letters to successive College Treasurers
suggesting that the cartouche be moved."
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| CROC's efforts did help to get some
publicity about the plight of the Cartouche. The May 1977 issue of The
Dickinson Alumnus, featured a Weathervane column by Nancy Lee Winkelman,
director of publications, discussing CROC and the history of the Cartouche.
In 1993, an article in The Dickinsonian told the story for a later
generation of students.
See
the article in The Dickinson Alumnus.
See
the article in The Dickinsonian. |
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While CROC tried to keep the plight of the Cartouche in the eye of
the campus community, the putti languished in their place facing the Law
School. They would have to wait until a new millenium to return to their
home at the corner of High and College Streets. |
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