I know I’ve said this many times through the years, but I really do love my job here at Darlington. I get the opportunity to work with great alumni volunteers and wonderful faculty and staff and every day is different. Some weeks are more fun than others, of course, and last week was one of those weeks. As part of my role as Director of Alumni Relations, I have the opportunity to work with our J. Daniel Hanks (’27) Archives and preserve a bit of Darlington history. This past week, we received a treasure of sorts.
A family in Mulberry, Fla. had been cleaning out their grandparent’s home and discovered a 1927 Darlington School class ring! Buried in a drawer of an old Singer sewing machine was this ring with no identifying marks to indicate the rightful owner. No one in the family had attended Darlington School and they weren’t even sure Darlington still existed. After some research, they contacted our office and said they’d like to return the ring back to Darlington. We received a package with the ring inside and a wonderful letter explaining the mystery of the ring. It’s a beautiful ring with Wilcox Hall, Silver Lake, Darlington School and Founded 1905 etched on the front.
I’ve joked that if I were a novelist this would make a great beginning of a story. I’d love to know to whom this ring belonged and would like to hear their Darlington story and how the ring made its way into the sewing machine of a family in Mulberry, Fla.
Was it given to the lady of the house in romance or as payment of some sort? Was it lost and found by this family? Had it been there for 91 years? If only the ring could tell us its story!
Our archives hold many pictures, letters and other treasures that all tell a bit of the Darlington story. I am grateful to the Hanks family, the Alumni Council and some council members who have donated the funds to help us preserve Darlington’s history. I am also grateful to Ebbie Sue Doherty, her family and the folks at W. S. Badcock Corporation for taking the time to send this treasure back to Darlington!
Come discover some of Darlington’s treasures on display in the Kennedy-McCallie Library.
