Virginia Military Institute -- Slang

Scope and Contents

The collection consists of one letter (September 17, 1868) written by Virginia Military Institute Cadet Edward M. Watson to his father. Watson describes in detail the typical daily new cadet routine at VMI during the post-Civil War years. Topics include reveille, roll call, inspections, meals, study and recitation, drill and parade. The letter contains one of the earliest documented examples of term "rat" as a reference to a new cadet.

Scope and Contents The collection consists of the Civil War correspondence (18 items) of James Henry Reid. Included are 13 letters from Reid to his parents written while he was a fourth classman at the Virginia Military Institute, August - November 1862. This correspondence contains many references to wartime cadet life, including use of the term "rat" as a name for new cadets, hazing, uniforms, food, guard duty and other aspects of life ...

Scope and Contents Miscellaneous papers, bulk dating from cadetship. Include six letters from Fitzhugh to his brother containing references to cadet life (graduation; hazing "plebes"; death of Henry C. Reid, Class of 1846; Washington College students, called "minks"); handwritten issue of a cadet newspaper called "The Royal Caroline", dated March 21, 1846; VMI letter of appointment and two grades reports; invitation to Society of Cadets meeting; medical school speech; letter to Fitzhugh from Henry T. Lee...

Scope and Contents The Thomas B. Davis collection contains two items. The first is a letter from Davis to his sister, Mrs. Camillus Christian, dated March 22, 1863. This letter was written while Davis was a cadet at the Virginia Military Institute in Lexington, VA. In this letter he mentions activities at VMI, Civil War news ("a considerable cavalry fight on the Rappahannock"), the unusual late snows, and provides an early use of the term rat as a reference to new cadets ("The legislature is still cutting up...

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"),...