Historians find secret notes and doodles behind 200-year-old school walls, and the caricatures are hilarious
During renovation, the construction workers cleared the old, rotting wood floor and walls, and then the old letters were uncovered.
While renovating a 200-year-old building, workers were surprised to find a bunch of secret notes and drawings hidden under the floors and walls from students in the early 1800s, ABC 6 reported. The building, in fact, was constructed in 1806 and was used as a private high school. Eventually, it became part of the University of Southern Maine, and now students use it as a studio space. However, a part of history always remained intact in the place.
During renovation, the construction workers cleared the old, rotting wood floor and walls, and then the old letters were uncovered. Apparently, the students used to pass them to each other during classes. "This is sort of like the text messages or Snapchats they're sending in the middle of class that they shouldn't be," Dr. Libby Bischof, University of Southern Maine historian, said. The notes were basically a very casual interaction between students. For instance, "'Do you want to meet me down by the swing? Or should we take a walk? These sorts of things.' It is really about the social life of students," Susie Bock, Coordinator of Special Collections, said. "It's a little discussion, a little mini essay on apple blossoms and how lovely they are," Bock added. While most notes were 'not so serious' conversations between the students, some also included drawings."There are also really funny caricatures of teachers, sort of focusing on prominent features like big noses," Bischof said. The letters also revealed what life looked like for students 200 years ago.
As per the report, Bock is working on cleaning and preparing the notes for exhibition and possible digitization so that a wider audience can access the notes. "Interpretation of the primary resources is going to change, but that's why it's important to keep the primary resources. It's an important piece of keeping history from being erased," Bock said.
What started as a routine renovation work suddenly turned into something truly special for another couple. Well, Aimee Oliver and her husband stumbled upon a handwritten letter from 1993. When they read it, they realized it was written by Kirstie Neal, a previous tenant of the same property, who had left it there. When Kirstie had written the letter, she and her ex-husband were only 24. In her letter, addressed to the future residents, she shared how the property was in a bad condition when they first moved in. "I hope you enjoy living here as much as we do, and all your downs are small and all your ups are big," she added.
Moving on, Kirstie mentioned the rent she and her ex-husband paid while living there, and surprisingly, it was only £27,000. The Facebook post reached Andy, Kirstie's former husband, and he commented on it. "Well, now. The Andy in the letter is me. We stayed in the flat until 1996 (I think) when we moved to a house in Lancing. Unfortunately, we didn’t stay together, but we did remain good friends. We had 2 children who are now in their mid-20s," he wrote.
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