Digital Collections: Alumni & News Magazines

To search any of the magazines, open the issue you wish to view. Press CTRL+F on the keyboard at the same time to open a search box. Type in the word you are looking for in the box, and it will navigate to each instance of that word in the issue.

All magazines were digitized by Dani Allen, Class of 2013, at 150ppi and 8-bit gray. Any pages in color were digitized at 150 ppi and 24-bit color.

Issues from Autumn 2019-Present can be found here.

The publication of college news magazines began with the College Literary Societies. These early publications included information on students, alumni, and sports, and often chronicled big campus events including commencements, groundbreakings, and the opening of new campus buildings. However, the main purpose of the publications was to highlight poetry and prose, poets and authors, and literary society meetings and contests.

In the 1880s, the literary societies joined together and published one magazine: The College Monthly. The magazine included news about students, alumni, and faculty, and published souvenir issues for several of the Western Maryland College commencements. It was not until May 1921 that the College administration began to publish The Bulletin, a newsletter which was sent to all former students. Although the promise of the newsletter was to keep alumni informed, it focused on capital campaigns and sports. There was very little news about alums until 1927, when an alumni section was added.

By the mid 1950s, The Bulletin's format changed to one similar to a news magazine, with full articles by and about alumni, professors, and students, with more photographs and features. In 1961, Western Maryland College Magazine replaced The Bulletin. A few years later, the name was changed to The Hill. The name and format were changed under the College's sixth President, Dr. Ralph John (1972-1984). The newspaper, News From the Hill, included short articles about events, and faculty/staff, but most of the paper was dedicated to the section "Alumni News."

The magazine went through two changes during President Robert Chambers' tenure (1984-2000). First, the College joined the Johns Hopkins Alumni Magazine Consortium to share editorial responsibility and production costs. Glossy and colorful, The Hill's new series included articles from Consortium members as well as the familiar departments, which included "News from the Hill," "Alumni News," "Class Notes," and "Sports." In 1989, the College dropped out of the Consortium, and The Hill was devoted entirely to the events, students, alumni, and faculty of Western Maryland College.

In the spring of 2002, The Hill announced the College's name change to McDaniel College, and in 2006, the format was changed again. In the new, larger format, the index was split into two sections. The first section listed in-depth articles and the second section listed departments, items that appear in every issue. A narrative introducing persons in the extended McDaniel College Family. named "First Person," was added to the regular department features.

Edited by the Communications and Marketing Department, The Hill remains the foremost news publication connecting students, faculty, staff, and alumni with each other and with the College. It has won many awards for its in-depth articles. The magazine is an excellent resource to researchers interested in genealogy, dates of buildings, events, and the history of the College.

The magazine digital project was initiated to aid in research of the College's magazines for information about the the College's History. Magazines were scanned at 150ppi, 8bit gray or 24bit color. This project was not for preservation. All physical magazines used in this project are available for research in the McDaniel College Archives.