Here at the Emerald, we have a 90-year history of archives that we can examine for the sake of institutional knowledge and historical framing. Here’s a glimpse of that Emerald history with a weekly feature, giving you a lens into what was happening this day in the past.
We’ll be trying to find stories and headlines inherently relevant to situations that persist today, as well as the occasional oddity we find in our past.
March 7, 1974

“‘Hey, have any of you guys seen my … towel?’ Yes kids, the latest college fad, streaking, has hit the University campus and even the inclement weather with the threat of snow didn’t deter these hardy lads. Here the gang gets set to take off from Caswell Hall as they get set to take off something else. Gosh, what’ll they think of next? Will this signal a rash of goldfish swallowings or phone booth stuffings? Oh isn’t it great to be young.”
We’re really not sure what “goldfish swallowings” or “phone booth stuffings” are, but this is the caption that ran under the dominant art for this day, 38 years ago. Apparently, streaking had become so “all the craze” that it earned a stand-alone photo with an, um, interesting cutline accompanying it.