Flowers as Currency

Flowers play important roles in many traditions at Sweet Briar. For example, daisies are carried up to monument hill and placed on Daisy William’s grave, nature sanctuaries house a large number of flora, and the school is named after a type of rose. Therefore, I propose that Sweet Briar start using a new type of currency, one unique to Sweet Briar and relevant to her traditions. This currency would be created from species of flowers that grow on the Sweet Briar campus. Since flowers are already of some worth to the students, faculty, and staff from traditions, and the beauty of nature is also valued by most here, this will be a suitable currency.

            The flowers used will be grown on campus. They will be of the rose, daisy, and buttercup species. The types of roses used will be the multiflora rose (Rosa multiflora), the pasture rose (Rosa carolina), and the sweet brier rose (Rosa eglanteria). The ox-eyed daisy (Chrysanthemum leucanthemum) and the hooked buttercup (Ranunculus recurvatus) will be the other flowers used.

In order for the flowers to last as currency, they will be pressed dry and placed between two square pieces of wax paper. The roses will be in wax paper that is two-and-a-half inches by two-and-a-half inches. The daisy will be in paper two inches by two inches, and the buttercup will be in paper an inch by an inch.

To make them truly Sweet Briar currency, a small piece of paper with the Sweet Briar emblem on it will be placed between the wax paper to the left of the flower. The Sweet Briar emblem itself recognizes the important families in the college’s history with the Fletcher and Amherst coats of arms, and it also presents the school motto. The motto mentions earning roses, another sign that the rose bears value, or at least symbolizes value, at Sweet Briar.

The values of the roses as currency are derived from several factors. The main factor is where the rose can be found on campus. The multiflora rose is found on at least 13 spots on campus, most of which are close to main campus. These spots include Guion Woods, Carry Nature Sanctuary, Williams Creek Sanctuary, and Monument Hill, along with growing in cleared areas such as fields and pastures. Because of its abundance and proximity to campus, the multiflora rose has the least value out of all the flowers. It also has little relevance to Sweet Briar traditions. One multiflora rose could buy you a pencil or other small school supplies in the Book Shop. Three could get you a drink at Daisy’s Café. The multiflora rose will be the smallest “denomination” of the flower currency.

The daisy, however, plays important roles in Sweet Briar traditions, so even though it is also found in over 12 places on campus—mostly in the same places as the multiflora rose, it is valued more than the multiflora rose. Parents give their first-year daisies and daisies are carried up to Daisy’s grave, not to mention that Daisy is the ghost that haunts Sweet Briar. One daisy could get you a meal at Prothro or the Bistro.

The flower with the next value is the pasture rose, as it grows at 10 different places on campus, and is also more aesthetically pleasing than the multiflora rose. The pasture rose is bright pink as opposed to the white multiflora rose. In order to avoid confusion, it is important to note that the pasture rose is a darker pink than the Sweet Brier rose, which is a light pink. One pasture rose could get you one paperback book in the Book Shop.

The second highest valued flower is the hooked buttercup, a flower that only grows in six spots on campus including Kentucky Ridge, Paul Mountain, and Williams Creek Sanctuary. These places are at the very edges of campus property and are far away from main campus. One buttercup could get you larger text books from the Book Shop or pay for a block ride of riding lessons.

Lastly, the Sweet Brier rose holds the greatest value because it is both rare— growing in only three spots—and is also the namesake of the college. The places it grows are the Carry Nature Reserve, Williams Creek Nature Reserve, and occasionally in cleared spaces such as fields. This particular rose is the college’s namesake because it was of value to Elijah Fletcher’s wife, Maria. We can only assume that its beauty was valuable to Maria. One sweet brier rose could buy the most expensive text books at the Book Shop or it could also buy a computer.

A dinner at Prothro might be bought with one daisy; books would have to be purchased with a number of sweet brier roses; a parking ticket might have to be paid with a pasture rose or buttercup, depending on the severity. Of course, this entails the use of a huge number of these flowers, which may endanger them. That’s why the administration of Sweet Briar would be in charge of circulating the flowers, and would only create new currency during the late spring or early summer when the flowers were available. Care would have to be taken to make sure not too many flowers were cut from the plants, or, a green house could be provided for the purpose of growing these flowers. However, that takes away some of their value, which is partially derived from their location on campus.

The use of flowers as currency will probably not cause a huge differences between social and economic classes, although, the wealthier students may get to have more decorated wallets. Maybe the flowers will also be used as decoration when they are not being used for monetary transaction. If that is the case, then richer students will be able to do more decorating. A sign of wealth could be the use of the flower currency as bookmarks and dorm decorations.

These flowers would be given to students in the beginning of the school year and turned in during all breaks. Students choose to give a set amount of American money that will be changed into flowers before arriving on campus. There will be an online account keeping track of how many flowers each student has so she will not have to carry around all of her money. There will be machines around campus where students can take out more flowers. The machines will identify students by fingerprints and will know if the student has any more flowers in their online account. Once the student graduates, all flowers can be turned in and the school will give the student the equivalent of the flowers in cash.

Using flower currency has little practical use as a consumable commodity, but gains more value because of this. Consumable commodities such as food usually end up rotting or being eaten after a certain amount of time. They do not store value very well. (Weatherford1997: 22). My proposed currency, however, cannot be eaten and will be persevered in a way that insures its long-term usage. Pressing flowers has been used for centuries; very relevant examples are the pressed flowers found in Daisy’s journal. Wax paper is also very durable, and will ensure that the flower itself does not deteriorate.

The value of the currency comes more from sentimental values. Due to this, it would be important for students, faculty, and staff at Sweet Briar to fully embrace the values placed on flowers. A deeper knowledge and respect of the college’s past and traditions may be necessary to convince people of the currencies value. An appreciation of where these flowers come from, especially in relation to main campus, and the effect of the flowers on the landscape might also be necessary. It is often seen in smaller, isolated groups, that a certain currency will be chosen based on values that only those people have. For example, tribes in Fiji used whale teeth as a means of exchange because they “… play an important role in the ceremonial life and the prestige system of the people” (Weatherford 1997: 23). The Fiji tribes could not use whale teeth as means of trade with outside traders, however, because other people did not see the value in them. The flower currency would be similar to whale teeth in that only people with connections to Sweet Briar would see the value in it as a currency.

This is not necessarily a bad thing. Sweet Briar is very isolated and most transactions students make are within the campus. Since the college’s currency will not be tied to any outside currency, and therefore not feel any effects from these currencies such as inflation. Sweet Briar is such a small community that it will be relatively easy to regulate the flow of currency. Students would have no need to take the currency off campus, so the collection of flowers at the end of each semester would not be too great a challenge. This collection would allow the administration to fix any worn or broken flowers and let them gauge if any more flowers would need to be placed into or out of circulation. Tabs would be taken on the flowers students currently had and those flowers would be given back to them once classes resumed. The isolation and regulation would keep the market value for flower currency relatively stable.

A Sweet Briar flower currency would do little to buy one’s happiness, unless, of course, pressed flowers were one’s source of happiness in life. Perhaps the currency could make the Sweet Briar experience more fulfilling in the sense that people might feel more connection to the school and the land, and therefore value them more. Learning about the Fletcher-Williams family and the habitats where some of the school’s most prized flowers grow may create that connection. Other students, however, might think that it is a waste of time to learn these things while they could be learning the material they came to college to learn. Since Sweet Briar strives to be a tight-knit community that is deeply rooted in its past and landscape, I think the majority of students would appreciate a currency that was tied these distinctive aspects of our school.

Works Cited

Edwards, Ernest P. and Edwards, Mabel T. “An Annotated List of the Wild Vascular Plants of the Sweet Briar College Property.” Sweet Briar College Natural History Series. June 28, 1991. Web. September 9, 2012. <http://nature.sbc.edu/EdwardsEdwards1991_SBCPlantList.pdf>

Weatherford, Jack. The History of Money. Three Rivers Press. New York, New York, 1997.

Sweet Briar House, Signora Hollins, and Sweet Briar Crops

Sweet Briar House

            The big, yellow house that is so familiar on campus today went through many changes in its lifetime. When the original farmhouse was built is unknown, most likely in the early 1800s, although it is known that it was built by the Crews/Crouse family and auctioned off in 1830 as Locust Ridge. Elijah Fletcher, of course, bought this house and the surrounding plantation and renovated it into an Italian Villa. This renovation was of great interest to his two daughters, Elizabeth and Indiana. He also mentions in his letters that he hires white workers for the first time to complete this job. The two, three story towers were added on during renovation, as well as the balcony that spans the front of the house, and the yellow paint. Mostly, the house’s design has been untouched since 1851, although the main entrance had to be redone after a fire in 1927.

http://www.tusculum.sbc.edu/SweetBriarPlantation/NationalRegister_SweetBriarHouse.pdf

http://www.tusculum.sbc.edu/SweetBriarPlantation/history_FletcherLetters.shtml

           

Signora Hollins

            Very little is known about the African American individuals who lived at Sweet Briar before and after the war. One individual we do know about is Signora Hollins who came to Sweet Briar as a young girl in 1874. Her Aunt had been hired as a cook for the Williams. Signora recalls her time at Sweet Briar as very isolated. She was friends with the only other person her age: Daisy. After Daisy’s death she moved to the north, but returned years later. She has been present during two famous encounters with Sweet Briar ghosts. She claimed to have seen Miss. Indie many times while she was a cook at Sweet Briar. In 1916, Miss Indie apparently told her that the silver was hidden in the walls of one of the bedrooms. Sure enough, there was silver there. Signora was also on campus during the dedication of the Daisy Williams Gym, when the medallion of Daisy was found. She died in 1954 at the age of 88.

http://www.tusculum.sbc.edu/africanamericans/bio_SHollins.shtml

Barefoot, Daniel W. Haunted Halls of Ivy: Ghosts of Southern Colleges and Universities. John F. Blair, Sept. 5, 2004. Pg. 172. Web. http://books.google.com/books?id=Jk1G91Gp2CIC&pg=PA172&lpg=PA172&dq=%22Signora+Hollins%22&source=bl&ots=UB3FFx_7cY&sig=aOLBo65-F2wGYdTgGbVnU3-I-PI&hl=en&sa=X&ei=ifeqULO5DKiy0AGJ64C4Cg&ved=0CEcQ6AEwBQ#v=onepage&q=%22Signora%20Hollins%22&f=false

           

What Did Sweet Briar Produce?

             Often plantations are thought to produce only one crop. At Sweet Briar, and many other plantations, however, a large number of crops were produced. The main ones Elijah mentions in his letters are corn, wheat, and tobacco. The plantation was also home to a multitude of animals. There were riding horses, carriage horses, plow horses, cattle which migrated from mountain pastures to Sweet Briar pastures throughout the year, chickens and ducks kept by Elizabeth, and pigs. These animals were fed some of the corn harvested at Sweet Briar. Most crops were sold in Lynchburg, though Elijah took care to always have a good supply on the plantation for his family and slaves. Animals were also slaughtered in the middle of each month, some meat was sold and some went to members of Elijah’s family, such as his brother Timothy. It is evident through Elijah’s detailed letters that the prices of these commodities were constantly shifting based on scarcity. Sometimes a wet summer or early freeze drove prices up, while nice growing seasons kept the prices down.

http://www.tusculum.sbc.edu/SweetBriarPlantation/history_FletcherLetters.shtml

SBC Ghost Stories

            I was pleasantly surprised by the old ghost stories the Chung Mungs put together. I came into the experience expecting it to be overly dramatic and slightly spooky, but most of the stories were sweet and not creepy. Looking back on it, I suppose I should not have been surprised, especially since I knew the stories were from the college’s early years. It makes sense that these stories weren’t creepy due to the college’s rural location—I’m sure no one wanted to start promoting weird stories that would scare people away. During the early years, Miss. Indie and Daisy were probably thought about and mentioned even more than they are today. These days they are simply people who passed away a very long time ago, figures from our history books, but to the faculty and students of the newly founded Sweet Briar, Miss. Indie, at least, would have been a woman some people actually knew. I am sure these ghost stories were a way of keeping the memories of them alive.

            There was a fairly good amount of historical accuracy within most of the stories. Daisy’s harp, which we still have, was mentioned in quite a few of the stories, along with her portrait still hanging in Sweet Briar House, and her garden. I think that the death of Miss. Indie had happened so recently that people might have found it disrespectful to use untrue historical references. The stories themselves, whether the authors really believed they happened or not, were not disrespectful to the deceased. I saw them as a way of honoring Daisy and Miss. Indie, a way that showed that the members of Sweet Briar still saw the spirits of their founders living on. 

Visiting the SlaveCabin

            I visited the slave cabin on Wednesday October 24th after much trouble in getting the key. I am really glad Professor Rainville recently opened up the cabin for students to visit. My first impression of the cabin was that it was bigger than I expected it to be. Yes, it would be way too small for ten people to live in it, but I was expecting it to be smaller. I was also surprised at how not old the first floor felt. That was probably due to the pretty coat of white paint and the outlets. The loft felt much older, though I was expecting it to open up to the lower room and not be so big. I suspect the loft felt older because the original siding seemed to be used, and downstairs the walls were plaster. I would love to see this cabin reverted back to its 19th century state, I think it would really emphasize what you are standing in if it looked and felt the way the people living in it back then saw and felt it.

The beams on the ceiling which have the square nails.

Crooked stairway to the loft. 

The loft.

View of the lower level of the cabin.

The loft

19th Century Kitchen

             During the late 19th century, gas and electricity were just starting to be introduced into the kitchen. Most middle-class families would've had gas or coal fired stoves. The kitchen I am designing will have a cast iron stove that runs off of coal. 

http://www.clemson.edu/caah/history/facultypages/PamMack/lec323/household.htm

This cast iron stove needs about 300 pounds of coal and 5 and a half hours of maintenance per week. Since so much coal is required, a coal skuttle will also be in my kitchen.

http://gallery.nen.gov.uk/asset94837_2878-.html

There will also be a preparation table, where food is prepared, and a separate dining table, both made of wood. Along with my preparation table, there will be utensils such as beaters, wooden spoons, rolling pins, and sifters.

http://gallery.nen.gov.uk/asset76376_2282-.html

http://gallery.nen.gov.uk/asset76373_2282-.html

 Pots and pans will also be necessary. These tin and copper pots are nice, since they can be used on either a coal-fired stove or electric or gas stove.

http://researcharchive.calacademy.org/research/anthropology/kitchen/tech.html

 Eating utensils will be plain and fashioned out of a cheap metal. Glass cups and pitchers will be used for liquids.

The Story of Writing

A cake. That's how my struggles first began. A cake with frosting and sprinkles and gumdrops and licorice and gummy bears and jelly beans and M&Ms and a pickle. More specifically, I suppose it was the pickle that started those struggles. See, I had to be the pickle. I had to let the thoughts of me, the pickle, flow effortlessly onto some sheet of paper, which then had to be carefully typed and then edited and then submitted to my Enriched Language Arts teachers.

This assignment, as well as many others, did not go so well for me. I was taking ELA in fifth and sixth grade, and although I had many fantastic ideas and a wild imagination, I could never seem to capture them with words. It was my deepest dream to be able to express the passion I felt, the beauty I saw. I wanted others to feel and see it it too. I wanted to connect with other people through words, beautiful, inspiring words. Yet my writing always felt dry, boring, and clunky. It wasn't until I wrote my last story ever for the class that something clicked. I cant explain what happened, I just couldn't keep my pen from flowing with words about a girl with golden eyes named Annabel who was trying to save the world. My teachers returned the assignment to me with a good grade and a note recommending I try out for the middle school writing team. I took their advice and ended up making the team. From there, my writing improved and my love of it grew and grew.

One of my favorite experiences that I gained from writing was New Stages, a play series my high school puts on every year. New Stages features six or seven student written, one-act plays that are directed by students and, of course, performed by students. Normally, only upperclassmen's plays get selected, but the year I was a sophomore, my play was one of the selected plays. It was an amazing experience, seeing something I'd created in my head actually happening. It was also extremely rewarding when my play made people laugh, and then, when people came up to me and told me how much they had enjoyed it. This experience reinforced my desire to be a writer. Ideally, I want to write fiction and plays, but I also don't mind writing nonfiction. This is why I want to find someway to combine my love of writing with my interest in environmental science. And then, maybe I could still write fiction on the side.

A picture of the cast and I

A trail through the woods at my summer camp. The beauty of the land here always inspires me to write.

The Sweet Briar Slave Cabin: What Does it Mean Today?             

            Being from the north, I wasn’texactly sure how I should feel about going to school at what once was aplantation. I suppose it made me feel a bit uncomfortable; especially because Ididn’t know how touchy a subject it would be among the students, staff, andadministrators. Today, though, I admire how dedicated this college is to itspast. We remember the white founders of the college, as well as the blackpopulation that lived and worked here, and without whom, there probably wouldnot have been a Sweet Briar College.

            Uponhearing that there was a grand plantation mansion complete with slave cabin inbackyard at my college, I immediately thought that when I stepped on campus, Iwould feel like I had been transported into one of those romanticized Civil Warmovies we watched in eighth grade American History. I thought that this slavecabin would literally be a disintegrating shack, made out of poorly piecedtogether logs and complete with a dirt floor. This impression was probably frommy prior, eighth grade knowledge that slave living quarters were absolutelyhorrendous and border-lining unlivable. When I saw the cabin for the firsttime, on a walk for my Honors Variant class, I was shocked at how notdilapidated it looked. The green roof really shocked me. Who knew slave cabinshad such pretty metal roofs?! As it turns out, they didn’t, which I found outlater during Pizza With Parker.      

            PizzaWith Parker was when I learned most of my prior knowledge about the slavecabin. Along with learning that the roof was not original, I also learned that thiswas the oldest standing slave cabin known, Sterling Jones, who had made some ofthe bricks used in the earlier buildings, lived in the cabin with his family,and that new research questioned whether this building had been a slave cabinat all. I also knew that there was a second floor or rather, loft, and that thecabin was kept locked most of the time. This disappointed me, since I wasbecoming more and more curious about the cabin as I learned more and more aboutSweet Briar history.

            Afterhearing Mr. McGill and Dr. Rainville speak on this tiny cabin, and learningwhat was original and what was added and what it was used for in the 20s andthen the 30s and so forth, I’ve come to appreciate it more. I’m also a littleskeptical of it, though. Was it truly a slave cabin? If it wasn’t, I don’t wantto treat it at as such, for some reason that doesn’t seem respectful or rightto me. However, I realize that it may be impossible to discover the use of thecabin back in antebellum times.

Either way, Ithink this building holds great importance to the Sweet Briar community, and italways has. The historical buildings are a constant reminder of our past, apast filled with interesting and important people of all races. Since we are soclosely linked to our founders through our many traditions and ghost stories,it is only right that we also remember the others that called this place theirhome. It is important to acknowledge the past, no matter how embarrassing anddreadful it may be. This way, such mistakes will not be repeated, and we cancelebrate the great improvements in our society.

I would like toknow how previous generations viewed the slave cabin. Was it referred to as“The Slave Cabin” back when the college first started? I would assume not, andif so, when did it first gain that name? Did the people using it as the AlumnaeOffice realize what their office was? What about the students that used it as alounge back in the 80s? The idea of using it as a lounge today seemspreposterous! It’s so old and, frankly, it would feel weird to relax in such aplace. How much research was done on it before Dr. Rainville started studyingit? Was there any interest in its history or the people that lived there beforeshe came along?

Personally, Iwould love to see the cabin restored to its original form and left as such. Anyinformation posted about the cabin should be posted outside, and a bit a waysfrom it, like the sign already posted there. I feel like I get the most out ofhistorical objects/buildings/etc. when I am allowed to interact with them intheir true form. I welcome information, but I would either like to read aboutit before the experience, or have someone relay the information throughtalking.

Especially becausethe slave cabin is a direct connection to the people who once lived and workedhere, and it is such a powerful symbol of its time, I think it should be viewedas a memorial. Ideally, I think the slave burial ground and the cabin shouldhave a similar reflective and respectful feel. And also be so unchanged fromtheir original forms so one could easily imagine that she were at Sweet Briarwhen it was a working plantation. The cabin should be a place where people cango to reflect on what the house means to them, this school, and the country asa whole. Students should be made aware of its history, and others that comethrough the college should know of it as well. I also think that the cabinshould always be open, this would further encourage students to visit it. Theproper precautions, of course, must be taken to ensure that the cabin ismaintained and not harmed by the many visitors it would receive.  This cabin is an important part of our history;it should be more accessible to those who are interested in it.