Like anyone who collects antiques, Bob Thomas, an auctioneer living in Urbana, Ohio, thought he was purchasing a unique looking gavel, which he could proudly display among his other collectibles. 

“I just thought it was an interesting looking piece,” he said. Little did he know that a simple pull of the knob at the handle’s base would reveal a perfectly preserved Wittenberg artifact that had been quietly tucked away for nearly 50 years.

After purchasing the gavel at a flea market, Thomas learned of the loose knob and the tightly rolled tiny scroll hidden inside the handle from the dealer. The scroll explained the purpose of the gavel:

“This is the traditional Senior Gavel, authorized and presented by the Class of 1930....The passing of this gavel from the Senior Class President to the Junior Class President is to become a tradition all part of the annual Class Day Ceremony.” The scroll further explained that the gavel was not constructed of just any wood; it actually was a combination of eight different woods collected from various locations around campus.

The knob, the scrolls noted, is made from cherry wood, and the handle is made from hickory, both from Recitation Hall. The head consists of gumwood from Ferncliff Hall, oak from Carnegie Science Hall, beech from the stadium, maple from Myers Hall, oak from the Chemistry-Psychology Building, and walnut grown on the campus. 

On the back side of the scroll, each senior class president from 1930 to 1953 signed his or her name. The gavel was then passed from the senior class president to the junior class president with instructions: “This document is to be read at the presentation and at the first Senior Class meeting,” the scroll proclaimed. The tradition of passing the gavel apparently ended, however, in 1953, the last year anyone signed the scroll. A number of class presidents from 1939 through 1953, who were contacted, also could not recall the tradition, thus furthering the mystery of the gavel’s significance in Wittenberg history.

Although the scroll lists names of individuals and locations, the name of the university is never actually mentioned, so Thomas, a Purdue University alumnus, was unaware that Recitation, Ferncliff, Carnegie and Myers Hall were all buildings on the Wittenberg campus. 

“With my luck [the gavel] was going to be from some small school in California,” he said. Only after approaching a fellow worker at International Harvester, who happened to have graduated from Wittenberg, was Thomas’ puzzle solved. He is currently in the process of donating the gavel to the Wittenberg. 

“This is history; it’s a part of [Wittenberg’s] heritage,” Thomas said. “Giving it back to Wittenberg makes me feel good.”  If anyone has information regarding the passing of the gavel, please contact Wittenberg Magazine by e-mail at wittmagazine@wittenberg.edu.

— Courtney Galliger ’04