Oswego - Summer 2010

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ith an unprecedented influx of new students to Oswego State after World War II thanks to the GI Bill, President Ralph Swetman named a “Committee of Four,” the late Dorothy Mott and James Hastings ’41 as well as William Reynolds ’49 and Willard Allen ’47, to solve a pressing need for student housing. By 1947, they had secured 25 Army surplus barracks from Camp Shanks near Poughkeepsie. Dubbed “Splinter Village,” the structures sat on the bluff behind what is now Park Hall and housed about 225 people each semester. Life in Splinter Village was an adventure. David Kidd ’49 shares his experience in this excerpt from his memoir, Splinter Village: 1947-1949.

Barbara W illiams Kid d and Ginger the dog

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