Alpha Delta history

A query came in about this sorority, which was started here in March 1888, it still continues at Geneseo, and that is where the questioner is from. Sent some images, the following note:

"Hi Theresa, I have a fair bit of material for Alpha Delta here in the Rose Archives. It did start here, in March 1888, and later established chapters in other of the Normal schools, including Geneseo, where they still continue. Here at Brockport though all the old Normal school fraternities and sororities were closed out in 1938-39. They had had rooms in the old building, a new complex was built, and the then principal of the school didn’t include rooms for them, essentially shutting them down, so they all ended here in 1939. If you’d like to visit sometime and look at the materials I have that would be fine, let me know."

History African & African American Studies Dept

Request from visiting prof in that department asking about its history, prompted by my Daily Eagle post recently on the establishment of departments in the '60s. There is some material in the archives, in brief the story is that one of the demands of the Black Student Liberation Front of the late '60s was the establishment of a "Black Studies" department. That unit was started in 1970-71, with Felix Okoye as founding member and chair.


Sent her a Stylus article from '71, advised what materials we have etc. One suggestion was that Ena Farley is still around, an early and long time member of the department, an oral history interview with her would be a great thing to do.

RASCAL

Attended this RRLC archives special interest group today for first time. Nice bunch, seems like will be informative and useful. Meeting was at U of R, which is an amazing facility and large staff compared to my poor little archives, lol.

Janette Reynolds original photo!

Very happy discovery this morning. Met Rosie Rich and Kathy Goetz at Seymour Library, where they're going through boxes of Eunice Chesnut's files from MM House. Quite a few good things there for the college archives, including the discovery of a folder which had the original of a blurry copy shot in the old 1899 yearbook of Janette Reynolds 1873, the first real librarian at Brockport!

Little Library and Stylus

Contacted by Stylus reporter re little library piece in Daily Eagle. Replied with pics, some info, offered to meet with them...


Update: just met with reporter Siomara Germain. She conducted an in depth interview with me about the project, and seemed quite interested by the Friends group.

Jacob Tooker, Principal 1846-1848

Was surprised today by an email from the Albany Institute of History and Art in a couple of ways. The first was that the writer said they had a bible with an inscription inside the cover noting it as a gift from the students of the Brockport Collegiate Institute to Jacob Tooker, who was principal for two years. The writer asked if I'd like it for the archives, since it has no connection to Albany etc. and of course I do. The other thing is that the writer asked if I'd gone to high school in Delmar NY, which I had, I recognized his name, younger brother of a girl I dated 40+ years ago!

History of adapted PE

A student looking to start a thesis on the history of adapted PE contacted me, wanting to use the archives. This is great, have been hoping someone would show interest in that area. Joe Winnick, who is such a significant figure in the field, is still around, and I may see about having this student interview him.

Rosie Rich

Rosie Rich is helping Kathy Goetz go through things from the Morgan Manning house, essentially they have been dismantling the massive local history collections and files Eunice Chesnut built over the years. I am getting a lot of college related material, other stuff is going to the Emily Knapp Museum etc. The MM House itself is going to concentrate on the history of the house, family, reaper company etc.




It makes sense really. When the whole thing was set up in the '60s, there weren't many local historians or groups around. Eunice in many ways became de facto historian for Brockport and the area. But now that there has been an active college archives for years, groups like the Brockport Community Museum, a revitalized village museum and so on it probably makes good sense for the house to be more of a house museum, and not do all this other.


Update: got first batch from Rosie the other day, some amazing stuff, e.g. a transcript of an oral history interview with Floy DeLancey, who recounts coming here with her husband Blaine in 1934!

Interns

Need to check in with some folks, it is going to be a full house this spring, I think I am going to have four students each doing a 3 credit internship this semester!

Writers Forum

Val from The Port wanted photos of Writers Forum for a collage for the February issue. Had some scanned, scanned a few more, some nice '70s shots in that set of slides.

Bergen Swamp films

Exciting discovery, secretary from Env Science called, she is member of Bergen Swamp Society and apparently they discovered some 16mm films that sound like the original films of the swamp c1969 that we only have VHS tapes of. The president is going to contact me, re digitization, copyright issues... Wonderful discovery, the VHS are poor quality copies, but if these are in decent shape, very significant stuff. Jean Bobear was the prof here who made them, are copyrighted by the college.

Roy Bubb '53

Brad Schreiber from advancement asked about him. He is not only a grad, but was a professor in Education c1961-1985, and supports a scholarship. I couldn't find a lot on him, some basic bio info, but then I did discover a folder of his hand written letters to his professor Dorothy Foster relating his student teaching experiences at the old "Clarkson Grammar School," which would have been in the brick academy building by the Clarkson church on Ridge Rd.

Baseball box score

Part of the fun of archives, one question is on a 19th century principal and his background, the next is about baseball scores for a particular game in 1970-71! Will search athletics files, Stylus... The player was Ernie Kittelberger '74.


Update: I just can't find anything. The Athletics records I have are pretty extensive, but focus primarily on varsity, not junior varsity level teams. For the period in question all the baseball records are of the varsity team. Nothing in Stylus either for '71 frosh baseball games.

Charles MacLean query

Had another query from the historian of Gamma Sigma re MacLean and his background. He was particularly interested in when MacLean graduated from University of Rochester (he went there after Clarkson Academy and our Collegiate Institute, c1850s.) Part of his interest was wondering if while at U of R MacLean had been part of the "Delphic" society there, and had been inspired by that to start Gamma Sigma at Brockport in 1870.


Have contacted U of R archives, am looking through some things here...

Lynda Cochrane, Dance

Was a response to the Daily Eagle post re 50th anniversaries, wanted to know more about her department (1967). They actually have some of their own archival materials scanned and in Digital Commons, sent her a link. Also shared some other info.

Pictures of 5 championship wrestling teams

From Athletics, for a request they received from an outside group. Found some, still looking for a couple, it is hit and miss with athletics stuff. Some years Jim D. shot pics of all the teams, some years not, some were done by free lancers and we may not have the photos...

Pieces for next issue of The Port

Wrote two little pieces, a paragraph each, on establishment of Collegiate Institute by local citizens, and history of living on campus. Supplied a couple images too.

EDI435 from 1992

Catalog course description request, from a prof here via Logan. Scanned and sent to them.

Physics Department

Eric Monier emailed re my Daily Eagle post about 50th anniversaries. Apparently Dick Mancuso had t-shirts made up some years ago for the department with the date 1974 on them, and Eric wanted to reconcile that date with the c1967 date in my post. I checked, and in the '67-68 catalog there was a department of physics, so that supports my post, and the schedule from the '66 plan I sent with it. Not sure what the '74 date meant for Dick. Checked that catalog, and nothing special for physics there that I saw, I thought like some other departments they might have had a masters in the works, and just no longer do, but I didn't see that.

50th anniversaries

Nicole Dumbleton called from Advancement, asking about 50th anniversaries of departments, something we and others there have discussed in the past. I'd said before I'd do some sort of list or statement on that, and said I would do it now.


It's one of those things where I had a general idea of the story, but not all the details. After a few hours digging I had a better idea, the 1966 academic plan was especially helpful. As it said there the college for many years had been a "one-purpose" school, to train teachers, but when President Brown came in 1965 we got the nod to move from Teachers College to College of Arts and Science, to expand from having essentially two massive departments, one for "GE" and the other for "PE," and to go to something very much like what we have today, a wide range of autonomous departments offering many different subject degrees.


In that same era, 1965-68, many other long standing groups came into being. It's when the old Faculty Student Association was broken up into the Faculty Senate and the Brockport Student Government, when we went from having a small group of "watchmen" to having a professional police force etc. It is really when the college of today first took shape.

More old Normal

Gordy had some more questions about the layout of the old Normal school. I scanned some pictures from the first Saga yearbook, 1929, and the one time effort from 1899. Some interesting images there, wish I had the original prints, or even the negatives!


I sent him those, along with the map from the inside of the 1934 Saga. I wish years ago when starting this work I had sat down with some of the surviving Normal school grads and gone over some photos of the building, getting a better feel for it. It did come up incidentally in oral histories, but I never thought to focus on it so.

The Port

For next issue, am doing two little pieces, one on establishment of the BCI by local people, and another on where students lived over the years.

Color of the old Normal school?

From Gordy Fox, who is building the model BSNS "little library." I sent him a color post card of the building c1907. Said from what I know it was built of Medina sandstone, some quarried on Canal Rd where Holley goes across Redman. That stone is a greyish color with hints of red.

Mary Jane Holmes

Email from local teacher and Morgan Manning House board member who is researching MJH for a presentation and wanted to know some things, including whereabouts of any of her physical possessions. Gave him Sarah Cedeno's email, said the MJH room in the village museum has the most of whatever survives of her things.

Cathy Craft, history school

She's a media specialist here, works with Dave, was looking for material on the earlier history of the school, so to start sent her email outling BCI history, links to some docs in DC, images like those from the MacVicar photo set and so forth.