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LMOST FOUR YEARS AGO, Footlick began camping out in the College library’s special collections department and conducting hundreds of interviews that would allow him to tell the College’s story from the arrival of President Howard Lowry in 1944 to Spring 2012. Special collections librarian Denise Monbarren notes, “This happened at the right time. A number of people interviewed have since died; their voices would have been lost.” Those voices include Viola Startzman Robertson, Al Van Wie, Ken Plusquellec, and Clare Adel Schreiber. Three readers provided feedback throughout the process: emeritus trustees Gene Bay ’59, a Presbyterian minister and social action leader, and Robert Tignor ’55, professor emeritus of history at Princeton University; and Mary Neagoy ’83, vice chair of the College’s Board of Trustees, who has worked in corporate communications for institutions as diverse as Ms. Magazine, NBC, and the National Basketball Association. Footlick was also guided in the process by a self-imposed rule. “This book would be fair, accurate, but would not
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“This happened at the right time. A number of people interviewed have since died; their voices would have been lost.” DE N ISE MON BAR R E N embarrass the College or anyone connected with it,” he says. But he hastens to add that the book is not “peaches-andcream-and-everything’s-wonderful.” He does not shy away, for example, from telling the stories of the financial crisis of 1966 or the failed presidential search of 1995. One of his guidelines has changed slightly, he says. When he began the process, his goal was for his readers to be surprised by what they learned from the history. “I wanted them to say ‘Gee, I didn’t know that!’ at least 10 times. Now I want them to say ‘Gee, I didn’t know that!’ 100 times. I’ve been astonished at how much information has been available and how many times I’ve been surprised. “I loved every minute of this enterprise—the interviews, poring over old Indexes and Voices. This has been fun.” KC
5 Jerry Footlick ’56 has completed work on a new history of the College, to be released this spring. PHOTO BY KAROL CROSBIE
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