Reading between the Lines: 1922


Wielding a pen as mighty as his slide rule, Earle Cleveland Allen, E’22, filled two yearbooks with drawings chronicling student culture at the Co-operative School of Engineering.

Though many campus activities had been on hiatus during World War I, 1922 saw the return of a yearbook that showed student self-expression need no longer be deferred. Allen’s frontispieces for the Cauldron wittily depict the burgeoning range of college activities.

In fact, the very existence of the Cauldron proved the school was thriving. To reflect its expanding scope, Northeastern would change its name from “College” to “University” in 1922. Spreading the word of NU’s new identity apparently took time, however; witness the suitcase label sported by the eager-beaver frosh (above left).

Some of Allen’s other illustrations, such as the one on the right, chronicled highlights of the year, from Freshman-Sophomore rush to track-team triumphs. Secretive frats, faculty demigods, world-weary seniors: All were fair game for his irreverent pen. The artist’s own diverse interests—which ran the gamut from athletics to arts—no doubt informed his knowing eye.

Allen might have been a natural for the growing field of comic-book publishing, but he already had his sights set on the drafting table. He became a city engineer in Brockton, Massachusetts.

And he later entered the teaching profession in Chelsea, Vermont. Can’t you just picture him as the first teacher in the school’s history to be sent to the principal’s office for doodling in class?