Edward Mithoff Nicholas was a Phillips Academy student hailing from Columbus, Ohio, who graduated in 1899. His scrapbook chronicles his life at Andover during his senior year, from September 1898 to May 1899. The exterior of the scrapbook is a vibrant blue, with gold-embellished linings and a title, “PHILLIPS SCRAP BOOK”, also in gold. The binding of Nicholas’s scrapbook is well-worn, while the pages throughout the book are relatively intact with the exception of a few wrinkled pages and slots that indicate torn and/or missing pages.

In terms of the content, Nicholas mostly included Phillipian clippings, various programs for events on campus, and grade slips. The content is ordered chronologically, starting in September 1898. In the Phillipian clippings that Nicholas saved, there are many references to other institutions such as the Boston Latin School, Harvard University, Yale University, MIT, Williams College, and Tufts College, as Phillips Academy often competed with these schools in sports such as football, track, and baseball.

Although Nicholas collected a plethora of these sports clippings, he did not seem to have been an active participant, only a spectator. The team photos, score-keepings, sports line-ups, and other lists never mention his name. He did seem, however, to be a great sports enthusiast as he diligently kept scores for many of the matches he attended; this is evidenced by numerous penciled-in score slips scattered throughout the scrapbook. Nicholas also saved sports schedules for football, baseball, and two Andover-Exeter events held on November 12, 1898 and May 31, 1899, serving as further proof for his love of sports. Programs such as play bills for “She Stoops to Conquer”, flyers from the Mandolin Club, and dinner menus are also included. Nicholas also saved other memorabilia such as grade slips he received throughout the year, for various subjects such as American History, Trigonometry, and Latin. Nicholas was on the Honor Roll in the fall of 1898, where the list of honorees are listed in a Phillipian issue clipping he saved. Apart from sports, Nicholas also kept many Philomathean Society (Phillips Academy’s debate team) newspaper clippings. Nicholas was deeply involved in the Philomathean Society, making appearances in various Phillipian articles, and slips he kept even indicate that he held various leadership positions. Nicholas also saved the Philomathean Society’s Constitution, a small booklet that details the club’s goals and terms of initiation, renewal, and expulsion. It even goes into the different positions the club has to offer. Nicholas also was active in the Phillips Academy Gun Club, which competed with other schools to win a cup.

Nicholas returned to his hometown of Columbus and later became a real estate developer. He passed away on April 9, 1949.

by Chloe Lee, class of 2017

Scrapbook Box 68