CARLI Digitized Book of the Month – October 2015

Before there was Facebook, there were face books. Unlike yearbooks, comprehensive retrospectives published at the end of an academic year, these books were issued at the beginning of the year as a means of identifying students new to campus. This 1977 picture book introduces students entering the Rush Medical College Classes of 1979 and 1981.

Playing a game such as “Hot or Not” would be shallow and degrading. (Also, I’m not dumb enough to risk insulting health care professionals who might one day in the future hold my life or death in their sterile, gloved hands.) But it can be kind of entertaining to make up mock awards while clicking through the pages. Best Hair: Mark Nanney. Best Eyes: Loren Fishman. Best Smile: tough call, but I’ll go with Donn Johnson.

I won’t play the “Where Are They Now?” game, either, but the age of social media has made it easier to find and reconnect with former classmates—and, I suppose, digital collections have made it easier to find your doc’s old med school pic, if you’re curious about such a thing.

This volume was contributed by the Rush University. You can find this volume and others from CARLI participant libraries in the Internet Archive.