Dillman attends Franklin and Marshall Academy (Prep School),

Millersville State Normal School (Millersville University)

and Lebanon Valley College.

Dillman Bomberger was a Lancaster County farm boy, but he was no local yokel. He was well-rounded and well-educated by the best local schools, including Franklin Academy, a prep school at Franklin and Marshall College. He attended the teachers' college at Millersville and also studied at Lebanon Valley College. 

Above: Dillman plays a duet for mandolin and tennis racket. Mandolin clubs were all the rage at Millersville and other schools during this time.

 

Above: Dillman exhibits his photographs in his room at Lebanon Valley College. He labeled this photograph "L. V. C." to identify the school.

Above: Dillman's photo of the Old Library at Millersville State Normal School (Millersville University). Today the building is named the Biemsderfer Executive Center, and is used for administration offices.

 

Above: Dillman's stuffed heron gazes up at Dillman's self-confident self-portrait.  For Dillman's Plain-sect relatives this self-image was undoubtedly too hochmutlich (prideful). But for Dillman, this self-portrait was probably "Art for art's sake", the credo of the Aesthetic Era of the late 1800s.

Above: Dillman's room during college life. Including his stuffed blue heron. (With another self-assured portrait of himself on his piano.) Taxidermy was the height of fashion during the Aesthetic Movement of the late 1800s. And so was this William-Morris-inspired wallpaper.

 

Above: On the steps of the Old Library, Millersville Normal School.

 

Above: Dillman does gymnastics.

Above and Below: Dillman did photography for Millersville publications while he was a student there.

Above: Football players on the gymnasium steps at Millersville Normal School (Millersville University). Today it is the oldest building on campus, and is a hall / theater known as Dutcher Hall, named for Dr. Dean Dutcher. 

Above: Dillman photographs a group on the steps of the former Science Building at Millersville Normal School. 

Above and below: Posing on the bridge at the lake at the Millersville teachers' school. Dillman shows off his photographs to properly-impressed friends.