Quincy University librarians recently discovered a collection of letters dating back to 1940, giving a glimpse into the complaints of parents of previous students. Among these are a lot of letters from one parent in particular who voiced an unusual complaint and addressed it directly to the QU president. Many parents sent letters about their concerns regarding their children’s academic studies and sports but these letters stuck out to the QU librarians.

“They’re letter in February of 1940 from a Dr. C. B. Vonemey. A very disgruntled and opinionated parent writing to a President Reverend John Cobell,” Lindsey Witt, instructional librarian at Brenner Library said.

In the letter, the parent expressed concern over how heavily peppered the food was in the dining halls, claiming it made it difficult for his son to concentrate on his coursework. The parent’s frustrations were very clear by the language used, suggesting that if the university didn’t address the issue, it could impact his son’s academic performance. The parent even suggested that pepper was something introduced to distract people from their responsibilities to engage in sexual activity. The archives do not include any response from the president, leaving one to wonder whether this culinary complaint was ever addressed.

Witt recited the following from one of his letters.

“Among some of the testaments Conrad made to us about the Quincy College Regime was that many of the meals at the college are very heavily peppered so that he cannot partake of them,” Witt said. “He relayed that during one our meals and I can assure you I was shocked and very vexed.”

The letter is one of many housed in the university’s well-maintained archives, the collection of the archives beyond that is quite extensive, containing Catholic memorabilia, archived newspapers from the university’s former student publication, The Falcon, as well as records of every student who attended the university until 1975.

Maintaining the condition of letters and other artifacts is no small feat. The archives contain correspondence dating back decades, and the librarians at Brenner Library are working their way through them. Each letter tells a story, and while some are amusing — like the disgruntled parent’s peppery complaint — others provide deep insight into the challenges and triumphs of past students and faculty.

“It’s a real privilege when you’re working in archives and find something like this,” Witt said. “Like you find the records of, you know, the everyday thing, but every so often you find something that’s just wacky.”

QU students are welcome to explore the archives, either for academic research or out of curiosity. Brenner Library’s librarians plan to keep discovering interesting and amusing letters and artifacts and encourages students to ask questions and use it as research about QU’s history.