It’s amazing the things that are thrown out.I had a lady auditing one of my classes who presented me with a boot/pocket pistol that she and her husband retrieved from the rubbish! It was in France where he was stationed and they were walking along and just happened to notice the pistol on top of a rubbish bin. I was happy to have it. And there was Paul Hervey, a former sociology professor at Del Mar who as an undergraduate at Washington and Lee College in Virginia was working part time at the college to help defray expenses. As he was picking up rubbish for disposal he noticed old letters, really old letters, with the trash. Horrified, he returned them to the college archives admonishing them for what they had so thoughtlessly disposed of. He felt he had no right to keep them.
Closer to home, there was Clara from Aransas Pass who was enrolled in one of my night classes. I believe she was lonely and wanted to interact with people other than at a senior center. That was fine. I was glad to have her. She told me that her father had been in the Spanish American War and she had recently donated his christening outfit to the Conner Museum in Kingsville. She was a generous soul. When she brought me a Confederate ten dollar bill I didn’t tell her it was only a reproduction. And out of the blue was her intriguing invitation: “I’m cleaning out my garage. Would you like to like to come and see if there’s anything you’d like?”
The pile of newspapers was huge and surprisingly not mildewed or insect damaged. I was amazed to find the same Boston Sunday Globe supplement from when I was in junior high school. I had saved it then because of an article on finding buried treasure on Cape Cod and now I could read it again. And there was another surprise—an original copy of the Philadelphia Inquirer headlined GEN. SHERMAN’S GRAND ADVANCE dated Feb. 15, 1865, all four pages in near-perfect condition. It was great to have as a teaching tool. A book, “The History of Corpus Christi” by Mary Sutherland was also in the pile, mildewed and insect damaged but still readable. Of special interest was a handwritten account by Paul Sturm of his experience as a veterinarian in Cuba along with stereotypes. And the biggest surprise of all was a poorly written note dated 1905 from “Head Quarters of Regulators” accusing Sturm (Clara’s grandfather) of misconduct and ordering him to leave town or there would be dire consequences. It had crude drawings of a coffin and skulls. The note would make a great who-done-it article for someone.
It was close, the boot pistol, the historic letters, the Civil War newspaper and other items becoming landfill. There’s a lesson here. Someone’s trash may actually be treasure.
Norman C. Delaney PhD, retired Del Mar College professor, is both a Minnie Stevens Piper Professor Award winner and Dr. Aileen Creighton Award for Teaching Excellence winner.