Guest Author: Maddie Song ’28
Walking into the little yellow house of the Signet Society is an experience that mixes past with present. The front door, a heavy, old-fashioned aperture inlaid with gold insignia, buzzes electronically upon entrance, unlocked via phone app through the building’s new security system. The interior is a similar mix of history and modernity. In the main sitting area, traditional leather couches and sweetly faded curtains are peppered by newer touches: electric guitars near the piano and recent titles published by the society’s alumni. Framed handwritten menus of the Signet’s Annual Dinner, some dating back to the early 1900s, line the walls alongside various puns and paraphernalia featuring bees, the long-standing mascot. On the kitchen door is a bright yellow sign that reads “Bee Crossing.”
This winter, my internship centered on this union of old and new as I supported the preservation of the Signet Society’s culture. Under the guidance of Chief Administrator Liz Walker and Development and Membership Associate Ann Marie Healey, I worked on a variety of communication, archival, and classification projects while gaining insight into the rich history of the fine arts society.
My first task was redesigning the Signet’s annual newsletter. To avoid needing to hire a graphic designer with technical knowledge of the software Adobe InDesign, Liz hoped to transfer the newsletter template to Canva, a more accessible graphic design tool. I recreated versions of old layouts using the dregs of my InDesign knowledge from my high school newspaper production days. I made sure to include details like the Signet’s crest and motto, signature fonts, and flair for design.
Once the layouts of past issues were done, I created an original template that Liz and Ann Marie could populate in future years, taking inspiration from the Signet’s mascot and colors. After finishing the newsletter, I also revamped the layout for the annual appeal in similar fashion, hoping to attract additional notice from alumni donors who support the organization.
My next project worked directly with the extent of the society’s history: revising the catalogue of past and current Signet members. With over 4,000 undergraduates, alumni, and affiliates from the society’s creation in 1870 to the present, the list was lengthy and riddled with mistakes. I worked with Google Sheets and data-sorting tools to correct typos and duplicates, creating catalogues of members organized by both alphabetization and class year. When the elected president of a certain year was missing from the records, Liz and I ventured downstairs into the Signet’s archives, looking for Annual Dinner invitations that might include the absent name. As I scrolled through the list of the society’s members, I recognized the names of famous authors, comedians, and actors that had once traversed the very halls of this little yellow house.
My third task was to implement new sign-up and check-in methods for the Signet’s weekly lunches held Wednesday through Friday. I revised the form that allowed current undergraduates and affiliates to sign up for lunch, and I researched an extension that would send automated emails to remind members of their RSVPs. After thinking through the best method to take attendance at lunches that hosted both tech-savvy students and tech-challenged alumni, I designed a flashy poster that links to an online form. Hopefully, the communication aspects of the weekly lunches will be streamlined going forward.
Toward the end of the internship, we turned our attention to the archives. Along with fellow classmate Gandi Bolor-Erdene, Liz, Ann Marie, and I familiarized ourselves with the extensive files of the Signet underbelly. We combed through stacks of unsorted documents, frames, and stationery, classifying each item by year in carefully labeled folders. Despite the chill of the basement, we found plenty of sources of entertainment in our bundled coats and hats. There were saved notes from an angry alum whose political leanings did not correspond with those of an invited speaker, a plea from a prior member for compensation for a parking ticket received while visiting the society, and gratifying letters in great depth from those who enjoyed Signet festivities—all written in the elegant, formal style of antiquated correspondence. It was amazing to see the range of experiences captured in the yellowed pages of those quiet archives.
Overall, my experience at the Signet Society has been rewarding, informative, and quite fun. I have a newfound appreciation for the little yellow house on Dunster Street, along with its multitudes of humanities history and happenings from 1870 onward. I hope to stay connected to the arts and letters society, as well as to the vibrant artistic community it fosters, during my future semesters at the college. Thank you to Liz and Ann Marie for a great internship!
