Instagram: brockportcollegearchives

Met with the college social media person and communications head, re social media. Shared what have been doing on Facebook, and have now expanded to Instagram, as "brockportcollegearchives."

Department founding dates

A dean asked about start dates for some departments. Some, like Nursing, are relatively easy, just go through the catalogs. Others though have changed since the catalog ended, 2007, and those are taking more research. This would be a good student/intern project: a spreadsheet with all departments since, say, 1965 (when the shift to a comprehensive liberal arts school began,) to date. Date of founding, original chair... I'll start one myself actually...

Update: I just got another such request. This is really a big research project, to ID departments, their founding dates, chair persons etc. One should really start with the transition to being a comprehensive liberal arts school c1966 and work forward. I started a spreadsheet, I will also look at org charts, Middle States etc., on my own and using student help before semester ends. A lot of digging to do, but it would be a very good file to have on hand.

Victor Rojas

He was here in Foreign Languages from 1971 - c2005. I was asked for photos and information about him by someone in Advancement, who had been contacted by an emeriti (Jim Horn) writing about the history of the college program in Cuernavaca. Found some photos, will scan and send, and also will ask for a link to this blog history he is doing.

Special Olympics 40th

This year is the 40th anniversary of the holding of the International Special Olympics at Brockport in 1979. I have started a Digital Commons page, with photos and documents, and am part of a planning committee which met last week for the first time. By coincidence there was a post in "Remembering Brockport" on Facebook over the weekend about the Special Olympics and the upcoming anniversary!

1989 - 1990 Basketball (Men)

Had a request for team photos for this year. Found two and scanned, including backs with the names, and sent to the requestor.

William B. Hemmer

Advancement staff asked about him. Was a professor here 1970-90, started in "Curriculum and Instruction," then when Health Science became a dept was part of that, not sure on the dates for that. Not much else, no bio file in RG26, I got the above from the directories and catalogs, the latter also giving his credentials.

President's house or Burlingame House

Interesting, a professor emailed asking about the Burlingame House, saying that he knew someone once whose wife's family had lived there. I answered as follows:

...that is interesting about your friend's connection to the Burlingame House, now the president's house. Below is a link to a digitized edition of an old book from 1940; on p80 there is a piece about the house. Herman Burlingame, whose name denotes the house nowadays, was a professor of mathematics like you and served here at the college c1868-1890. 

https://digitalcommons.brockport.edu/local_books/2/

   I am also attaching an article from the Stylus of 1969 that gives some background. The timeline is that for many years the principal, as the head of the school was called then, lived in an apartment in the building (the predecessor building to Hartwell Hall.) Then c1890 the school bought the Harrison House, now Alumni House, and the head of the school lived there up through President Tower's time. When he retired in 1964, the building was converted from a dwelling place into a sort of office space/faculty lounge.

   President Brown at first lived in a home he purchased himself, and then in 1969 the college bought the Burlingame place on Holley Street. At the time the thought was that that was temporary, and a new house would be built on the outskirts of the village, but in the end the Burlingame House remained the home of the president until this day.