*Photograph courtesy of the
Dickinson College Archives
Participants: Herbert Westwood Henry Budd
(Unknown) Cornelius J. Prettyman
Van Pierce Northrup
This photograph was taken in 1890 of the five men who participated on
the men's gymnastics squad. Extensive research failed, sadly, to
identify the fifth man. The four remaining participants reside out of the
state, as did many of Dickinson's students at the turn of the century.
Westwood, the man at the top of the pyramid, hailed from Camden, New Jersey
and was a freshman at the time the photograph was taken. He was a member
of the Belles Lettres Society, one of the first social organizations at
the College. It has since been disbanded. Henry Budd hailed from
the great state of Delaware, and was in his third year at the college.
He was the President of the College YMCA, to which all members of the gymnastics
team belonged. Cornelius Prettyman, standing bottom left, was a junior
who came from Upper Fairmount, Maryland. He and his younger brother Virgil
attended the college at the same time for two years. He was the Vice President
of his class, as well as a member of the Beta Theta Pi fraternity.
His athleticism went beyond the gymnasium, for he was a member of Dickinson's
varsity tennis team, which at the time was only one of three varsity sports,
alongside baseball and football which the school supported. The final
member of the group was sophomore Van Pierce Northrup from Hurlock, Maryland.
He was a member of the varsity football team who must have made an immediate
impact for he was listed as a starter. He, as well as Westwood, was a member
of Belles Lettres.
The gymnastics club, as
well as some other lesser known clubs, like the hunting club, the boating
club, the camping club, the bicycle club, a tug of war club, and even two
different eating clubs, were active on the campus and were recognized in
the 1890 edition of the yearbook Microcosm as sports offered at
Dickinson.
Sources: Dickinson College Microcosm,
1890 and 1891 All sources, research information,
and knowledge found in Dickinson College May Morris Room.
