History of Early Yearbooks excerpted from 1953 Year Book

Knight & Red Herrings

There is a well-founded suspicion that in tears to come, doddering members
of the class of 53 might wonder why their volume of The Knight was only No.
26 in Campion's publishing history. 'Ette volume digits, on the contrary,
had soared to 38 by the time the '53 grads were sent out, published and
well-turned.

Start Here. The trail was laid in 1912 when The Campion hit the news-stands.
Volume 1, Number 1 states the objective very clearly on the editorial page.
"The Campion is published by the students of the College of the Sacred Heart
to stimulate literary activities among themselves." And, with prideful
humility, "WE SALUTE THE PUBLIC (Business of bowing profoundly in every
direction)." A literary quarterly, The Campion covered not only collegiate
goings-on; but watched over prep doings too. In the Spring number, May 1925,
the graduates' pictures were printed. The Campion closed down in 1925.

In compliance with necessity and demand, a supplement, the Campionette, had
been founded in 1917. But shortly afterwards, it ceased publication. Reason:
lack of paper. A second attempt was made in 1922 and this time journalism
triumphed.

What's in a Name? Now comes the mystery. Through the years the annual has
appeared under 5 different names. In 1924, apparently the trial run in
annual publishing, the product was entitled The Campion Knight. But no
record was left in 1925. Grads in 1926 seemed more industrious or
well-heeled, for they were immortalized in another volume of The Campion
Knight.

Funds were low in 1927 and plans for a yearbook abandoned. To soothe the
feelings of the seniors, the Campionette published a roto-gravure section
containing the pictures of the graduates. 1928 was passed over without
visible record of or comment on student doings.

Conundrum. Thus far the trail of The Campion Knight has been fairly simple
to follow. But the first red herring was dragged across the route when the
1929 book appeared as The Campionette. No explanation was ever made. Then,
as if to compound the conundrum, the editors of 1930's volume named their
effort The Jubilee Knight. The mystery was firmly jelled by that single
ingredient. In the next year editors made it more enigmatic as they dubbed
their production The Campionette Red Book. This 1931 volume departed from
the "hard board cover" custom and wrapped itself in heavy red paper.

Subsequent editors hacked away at the name. There was some unanimity in the
decision to stick to The Campionette as evidenced in the volumes of 1934.
The hard cover returned in 1935, as did The Campion Knight. From that year
the trail has been much clearer, and certainly well-trodden.

During the war years, (1942-1944) a hiatus appears in the skein of clues.
Because of various shortages, 3 years passed without a volume. Publication
was resumed in 1945 with a paper-covered book.

Solution. Rationing continued into 1946 so that The Campion Knight fell
hopelessly behind schedule. It was delivered upon the re-opening of the
school the following September.

Thus the mystery has been solved; 18 volumes were called The Campion Knight;
others went under titles of The Campionette (5), The Campionette Red Book
(1), The Jubilee Knight (1). That puts volume 26 on 1953's The Knight."