FROM THE EDITOR’S DESK

Rerum scriptor (the Latin term for “historian” – literally, “the writer of things”), according to our dictionary editors, also conveys the sub-meanings of “actual things,” “realities,” and “basic contents” – a panoply of identifications that would seem to cover much of the working credo of an Archivist-Historian whose principal mission is to collect, select, restore, collate, and safely house materials pertinent to the past, present, and future years of the life of the institution under whose aegis he or she operates.

The purpose of Rerum Scriptor is to afford our friends, our colleagues, our alumni, and our students the opportunity of reading some of the letters, “minutes,” essays, and sermons composed by persons whose ideas and ideals shaped the early years of the College, giving it vision, energy, and a genuine sense of mission.

We plan to organize each issue of Rerum around a person or a group of persons whose influence was not only widespread during their years of College service, but of such potency that it continues to shape the institution they once served.

The choice of Janet Carpenter as our initial honoree seems wholly appropriate, for this outstanding lady was connected with the College from the earliest years of its existence: as the daughter of one of its supporters, as a student, as a faculty member, and finally as one of its most highly regarded emeriti. Fortunately for us, Janet Carpenter was also a writer of considerable stature. Her prose is marked by both clarity and charm; and she left for her Alma Mater an indelible trail of influence nearly five decades long. In this issue of Rerum Scriptor we celebrate her vision.