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 look 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.
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Headline: Letters flood Emerald editor
Guest submissions
May 16, 1967

Letter headline: Misguided assumptions

Emerald Editor:
Since the appearance of the article in the Emerald (April 13), “Hippies stage Draw-in …,” I have observed that no one has rationally discussed what Mr. Trovato calls “the four letter word that they wrote on the sidewalk which in so many words means to engage in sexual intercourse.” …
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This letter extended to what we can approximate to be the word limit at the time (300 words) and is followed by enough letters to fill an entire page of that May 16th edition of the Emerald. Apparently, some misguided content from that April’s publication stereotyped “hippies” in a way many readers didn’t like too much. But it wasn’t just that subject that had readers riled up; several issues were discussed all over the guest submission’s page. This means we really have to restate it: An entire page was devoted to just letters. And that’s pretty cool.