Scope and Contents The collection consists of the diary (1883-1885) written by Virginia Military Institute Cadet Thomas J. Nottingham. It contains a consistent record of the daily cadet routine as it existed during the mid- 1880's and is an excellent source for information about student life during that era. Included are specific references to recitations, fights, dress parade, the Dialectic Society (a student debating society), YMCA, girls, baseball and football games with Washington College students ("minks"),...