Kindred Spirits of Conblo

The “Kindred Spirits of Conblo” or perhaps just “Conblo” was an unsanctioned student group that existed some time in the late 1920s – early 1930s. The second student dormitory was completed in 1924. This made room for a growing population of students, including students from outside the Grand Rapids area. As student life on campus developed, several student organizations formed. Sanctioned student organizations such as the Phytozoon Society and the Knicker Klub registered with the administration, had an assigned faculty member sponsor, and appeared in the Prism. Unsanctioned organizations such as the Kindred Spirits of Conblo or “The Friggers” operated like a secret society and did not appear in official Calvin publications. The urn in this collection is undated but has a list of what are presumably the members of the society which are as many as 16. The list is comprised of nicknames as follows: Pete, Stob, Jans, Dobbin, Bill, Dolphin, Jack, Beetle, Brinkie, Roach, Red, Tip, Adie, Peo, Kid, and Dutch. Jans has been identified as the donor’s father, Ted Jansma. Tip has been identified as the donor’s relative, Syd Youngsma (see [url=https://archives.calvin.edu/index.php?p=collections/findingaid&id=115&q=syd+youngsma]Coll/342[/url]). Other identifications include Brinkie as J Herbert Brink and tentative identification of Pete as Peter De Vries (see [url=https://archives.calvin.edu/index.php?p=collections/findingaid&id=71&q=peter+de+vries]Coll/069[/url]). This group is briefly mentioned in the book, Offering Hearts, Shaping Lives: A History of Calvin College 1876-1966 by Henry Ryskamp in Chapter 9: Faculty and Student Relationships. The subsection “Students” names a few of the members: Peter De Vries, Red Huiner, and Syd Youngsma and refers to a group as “Conblas.”

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