96. The Daltonian

Beginning in 1933, the student newspaper has been published continuously for 80+ years. Volume I, No. II, December 1933.

There’s perhaps no better window into life at Dalton than the pages of The Daltonian. Beginning in 1933 as an 8.5 x 11 inch tabloid, the student newspaper has been published continuously for 80+ years.

In the ’80s and ’90s, students would huddle around early Apple and IBM computers, at night and on weekends. We prepared the pages by hand, cutting and pasting column inches.

Although we certainly did not appreciate it, and how could we have, what made service on The Daltonian so special was the independence of it all. It is hard now to grasp just how free we were — without meaningful review or censorship by, it seemed, anyone at all.

The Daltonian covered it all: Dalton’s proudest moments — like the decision to enroll boys, the First Program expansion, the Dalton chorus singing at Carnegie Hall, the baseball team playing at Shea Stadium, and the opening of the Physical Education facility. And the more forgettable moments — scandals around alcohol use on a student ski trip and at unsupervised loft parties to the outspoken ’80s talk show host Morton Downey, Jr. storming out of a student assembly, profanity and all.

Informed Sources, a gossip column-style rundown of life at Dalton, often ran unattributed items. Whether that was a good idea is almost beside the point, because we learned to manage the power of the pen responsibly — while having more than a little fun. And thank goodness, as far as we know, things worked out just fine.
—Nick Goldin ’92, The Daltonian, Editor-in-Chief 1991–92