Concise Encyclopedia of Tufts History
Sauer, Anne
Branco, Jessica
Bennett, John
Crowley, Zachary
2000
College Pump, 1852-1944
The College Pump was located beside what is now Packard Hall, and served as an early water supply for the campus. Before the installation of a hand-pump mechanism in 1888, there were indications that the well on the site had been in use for many years. Replaced by a bubbler in the 1900s and renamed the Bubble, it was removed sometime after 1944, when the last references to it are made. | |
The pump installed in 1888 was of an eight-sided log construction with a cast iron spout. A dipper was hung on the spout for drinking, until public drinking cups were banned. The pump was frequently painted by rival classes. | |
The pump was frequently used to chastise members of the student body who were perceived to have flouted campus traditions. In the diary of Frank Smith, A1883, the entry for April 15, 1882 indicates that a student was put under the pump "for not conforming to resolutions on the campus....he saw he must submit and so went quietly."This punishment was inflicted by the sophomores, designated keepers of campus traditions. | |
In approximately 1900 the well water was found to be polluted, it was suspected by fertilizers from the college barn applied to the lawns adjacent to the well. Following that discovery, the pump was replaced with the bubbler. The Bubble became as much of a campus landmark as the pump had been, and an introduction to the bubbler was part of every freshman's orientation. | |
The last references to the bubbler are in 1944, when repairs were made to it. | |
Source: RNB7; VFI | |
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