In its 150 years, Geneseo has seen the rise and fall of a number of literary magazines. Works like The Experimentalist, Opus, MiNT Magazine, and others are documents preserving both the culture of Geneseo at the time of their creation as well as the hard work of countless students. Although these magazines have been stored in the Special Collections in Milne Library, there is no digital repository of these magazines nor is the history of these publications known. This project seeks to change that.
Here, you will find the history of Geneseo literary magazines dating back to the first issue of The Experimentalist in 1955. Each issue is a time capsule from the era it was created, and you will find that many old issues reflect on contemporary events, from the global to the national to the local. In addition, the issues reflect the priorities of students; women’s rights, racial justice, LGBTQ+ rights, and international peace are recurring topics even across decades.
While studying and preserving an integral part of Geneseo’s history is this project’s priority, it is also important to remember the passion that went into creating these magazines. Each editor, writer, or artist that worked on a Geneseo publication deserves to have their work preserved. Therefore, this project is dedicated to them: to the editors across generations whose passion created a literary community I’m proud to be a part of.
