| Date(s): | August 4, 1919 |
| Location(s): | Summit Springs Hotel, South Poland, Main | Greenville Womans College |
| Tag(s): | Student, Greenville Womans College, Public Transport, Leisure, Scrapbook, Student Life |
| Course: | “Urban and Suburban America,” Furman University |
| Rating: | No votes. |
Students at Greenville Woman's College often documented their social life in a scrapbook. While many of these books did not stand the test of time or were kept private by future generations, some ended up in the archives of Furman University. One of these scrapbooks belonged to Mary Margaret Walker; born in Greer, South Carolina, Walker attended the College as an undergraduate from 1919 to 1923 and participated in many extracurricular events. Her personal collection is illustrative of how she spent her time at Greenville Woman's College.
Walker's scrapbook is filled with tickets to events, amongst them one to the Camp Kennebec Annual Charity Show of 1919. This record stands out because it is valid for an event that did not take place in the nearby area, but instead in a hotel located over one thousand miles away: in order to see the show, Walker had to travel to South Poland, Maine. The pathway between Greenville and South Poland was long, and dominant ideas about the vulnerability of women in the 1920s often prevented them from undertaking such a dangerous journey. Supervision was a pre-requisite for almost every occasion; at one time, a student was expelled for ''going out from the college in company of a young man more than once.''
Along with the ticket and program for the show (which included short plays and a dance) was a ticket stub for the train, which guaranteed first class passage to Maine. Due to persistent ideas about the safety of women, it is reasonable to believe that Walker was accompanied by other students who would attend the event with her. At the time, cars were gradually becoming part of daily life but were not yet a basic need; instead, the train and the omnibus were ''the dominant models of transportation.'' This did not mean, however, that these forms of transportation were recommendable. Regarded as ''uncomfortable, inconvenient, and expensive,'' they were an uneasy way to travel for daily commuter, and other forms of travel such as the horsecar were more popular.
Going to the Charity Show was one of the planned and more ''elaborate entertainments'': often, cultural events were held on campus and it is unclear whether or not the College was associated with the show in South Poland. This ticket, however, shows that female students – albeit still having to adhere to certain rules and expectations – very well could extend their urban pathway with the help of public transportation.