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Thursday, November 29, ZZ
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' T e were oh, so good, and oh, so proper.
If We had ideals and lived up to them. Very
w few strayed," says Arlene (Steeple) Trav-
nicek, a 1934 UNL graduate.
It was a simpler day back then 50 years ago. The
depression was in full swing and money was scarce
everywhere. A gallon of gasoline cost about 18 cents,
and a carton of cigarettes, $1. Television was an
impossible dream. Hamburgers could be bought, six
for a quarter Cokes cost 5 cents. And because of
prohibition, one could only get alcohol through local
"bootleggers."
Those days were just different. And so was UNL
and its students. Back then in 1934 the campus
was not even half the size it i3 today. Student enrol
lment was near 6,000 far from the about 24,000
students of 10S4. There was no student union. And
12th and 14th streets were not blocked off on campus.
But what was it like back then?
if alf a century later, some UNL graduates give a
t glimpse of where they were in 1934...
H "We were all going to school on a shoestring,"
says Arlene. "Nobody had much
Arlene says that before the "crash most people had
money. Enough to get by, anyhow, she says.
As a result of the depression a bank failed in
Arlene's hometown of Osceola She lost most of her
$300 savings she got 10 cents back on the dollar.
She was lucky though, her father had his money inves
ted in a different bank. As banks failed, many stu
dents had to drop out of college and return home.
Arlene lived in Alpha Chi Omega sorority all four
years of college. She paid about $50 a month, she says,
and that included her room and board. Many students
lived in sorority or fraternity houses because there
was only one residence haU for women.
r
here were tons of rooming houses," Arlene
says, but most of them were in very bad
shape. The price for a boarding room was
about $15 a month, Arlene recalls. Many rooming
houses were south of campus and along R Street, she
says.-
Rules for sorority houses were different in the
1930s, Arte.ne says. Freshman pledges were not
allowed to go out on weekdays and their weekend cur
fews were 10:30 p.m. As sophomores, the girls were
allowed to stay out until 12:30 am. during the week;
and sometimes later if they had special permission.
.One common social event, which Arlene refers to as
"Coking," is similar to today's "study break." - .
Though times were hard, Arlene says she doesn't
remember worrying about money.'
"We never let it spoil our lives," she says. "We never
talked about it a lot."
inanrial aid was, nnt imnofinnhlp fnr RtnHfnf in
H the 1930s, Arlene says, because there weren't
Children. Students whose parents could not afford to
send them to school did not go.
Trust was something one assumed, she says.
"We lived (at her home) for years and dldnt even
lock our front door " Arlene says. "For one thing we
didn't have a key to the front door."
Arlene also remembers walking alone on campus at
night without worry.
"We dldnt have to mistrust everybody."
And the two campus policemen, who almost all the
students knew by name, rarely had my "police work"
to do, Arlene says.
"It's kind of a painful thing," .sssb Artene. "It's terri
ble to have to protect yourself today every minute of
the day."
- When Arlene graduated with m EnglishLatin
degree in '34, she says she was lucky and get a job . .
right out of college. "Many kids had to go back home
(without jobs)," she said
Coofiint&ed ca Pes 11
Clockwise from top left: Arlene TravrJcek (left) ait,d
sorority sister Ulsrtha Ilershey-Clsrk stasd before the
Beta Theta Pi house in 1031. Walter Nolte in a 1934
portrait. Nolte tods;, 3 the gezsersl raanagsr of Gate
way Manor EetiresEeat Apsrtaents, eits in the helld
ing's penthocse. Corel Prolteco sits in her sosth Lin
coln horse. Travnkek tc&zy as eha peers OEt trots
behind her reading glasses.
Story by Lisa Nutting
Pfioios by Joel Sartore
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