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A detailed report from the critic, with individual notes for many of the Thencanic members. Suspicions of gas leaks, loud audience members, and distractions from homework appear to have made this meeting rather memorable. Not every student mentioned could be identified. Transcription included.

Bodine, Joseph L. (Joseph Lamb), 1883-1950
Critic's Report, 18 and 21 December 1898 · Item · 1898-1899
Part of TFPL New Jersey State Normal and Model Schools at Trenton and Successor Institutions Collection

An unusual typed report, detailing the final meetings of 1898. Post notes the debate's topic, which may reflect post-Spanish-American-War discussions of the role of the media. He also mentions a challenge from the Normal [School] Debating Society, fines levied against "unruly members," and the return of a lost "opera hat." No transcription, as this is a typescript.

Post, J. Foster, ca. 1882-

This humorous report details the students' interest in a new game called "basket ball," and John Britton's oration on pies. The critic also reject's the Society President's attempt to levy a fine against him. Transcription included.

Note that the connection with Hervey Studdiford is somewhat tenuous, as he likely graduated no later than 1895. The Society did occasionally receive visits from alumni, or It may be an unnamed younger brother or relative of Hervey's. But without a first name there is no way to confirm this Studdiford's identity.

Katzenbach, Welling S. (Welling Sickle), 1884-1913
Thencanic letter from Welling S. Katzenbach, 19 September 1898 · Item · 1898
Part of TFPL New Jersey State Normal and Model Schools at Trenton and Successor Institutions Collection

Welling S. Katzenbach, who seems to have recently graduated from the Model School, congratulates the Thencanic Society on the election of new officers. He offers his opinions on the selected students, and offers some reflections on the debating society at the post-secondary institution he was attending at this time. Transcription included.

Katzenbach, Welling S. (Welling Sickle), 1884-1913
Thencanic Mock House of Representatives Journal, January - April 1897 · Item · 1897
Part of TFPL New Jersey State Normal and Model Schools at Trenton and Successor Institutions Collection

John A. Schultz, Thencanic Secretary, kept this journal of the group's mock legislature for the first months of 1897. In addition to describing the events of and bills introduced at each session of the legislature, he lists each committee, their members, and the state each member represented. Transcription included.

Schultz, John A. (John Anistaki), 1880-1959
Thencanic Reunion Booklets, 16 June 1905 · Item · 1905
Part of TFPL New Jersey State Normal and Model Schools at Trenton and Successor Institutions Collection

At the end of the 1904-1905 academic year, the Thencanic Society held a reunion banquet for its members and alumni, the product of which was this booklet. The event included a number of speeches by past Thencanic Presidents (and James M. Green). Perhaps most importantly, the booklet elaborates the names of the Thencanic's presidents through the February 1905 term. A partial transcription, covering only the autographs, is included.

A note: Trentoniana owns two copies of this booklet, which are identical aside from the autographs section. The first three pages of the attached PDF cover the entirety of the first copy, while the final page is the only unique part of the second.

Thencanic Society (Model School (Trenton, N.J.))
Thencanic Society Window Committee Reports and Receipt, February - June 1900 · Item · 1900
Part of TFPL New Jersey State Normal and Model Schools at Trenton and Successor Institutions Collection

This set of four documents details the history of the Thencanic memorial window, which sat in the "Chapel" of the Normal/Model Schools campus. Through Philadelphia glassmaker Alfred Godwin, the Society raised money from among its members and ex-members (nearly all of whom have been identified) to install a window celebrating philosophy and the Thencanic. The window cost $75.00, approximately $2,800 as of 2024. Transcriptions included.

Thencanic Society (Model School (Trenton, N.J.))