Class of 1859 pre-Civil
War class, possibly 1859, posing in front of Van Nest Hall, in one
of the earliest wet-plate photos in the Rutgers collection. Compared
to the late-nineteenth-century and early- twentieth-century students,
there is nothing specifically collegiate, or even particularly youthful,
about their dress; they could be any non-working-class young men of
the period. Not until the 1870s and 1880s did college students begin
to distinguish themselves from other youths and mark the differences
in their clothing.
pre-Civil
War class, possibly 1859, posing in front of Van Nest Hall, in one
of the earliest wet-plate photos in the Rutgers collection. Compared
to the late-nineteenth-century and early- twentieth-century students,
there is nothing specifically collegiate, or even particularly youthful,
about their dress; they could be any non-working-class young men of
the period. Not until the 1870s and 1880s did college students begin
to distinguish themselves from other youths and mark the differences
in their clothing.