Identity elements
Reference code
Name and location of repository
Level of description
Title
Date(s)
- 06 October 1893 (Creation)
Extent
2 pages
Name of creator
Biographical history
Thencanic Society critic, 1893. Possibly the Rev. Milton R. Eastlack from West Virginia (the only person on FindAGrave with that name), but no definitive link is known. https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/121527613/milton-r-eastlack
Name of creator
Administrative history
A literary and debate club at the Model School from 1882 to 1917. The members (only young men) focused on improving their oratory skills, personal appearance, and general comportment, with one member serving as "Critic" to evaluate the boys' behavior during each meeting. The literary aspects of the Society led to the publication of "The Signal" in 1885--while it started as a literary magazine through the Thencanic, it quickly escaped the Society's control and became a general Normal/Model School periodical. This club ended when the Model School closed in 1917. This version of the Thencanic should not be confused with the later revival in the 1930s with college students.
Content and structure elements
Scope and content
A partially fragmented critic's report by one Milton R. Eastlack. Though sections of both pages are lost, the message is mostly comprehensible. Eastlack discusses the Society's new meeting room, corrects the orators' grammatical and rhetorical errors, and offers commentary on the students' behavior. Transcription attached.