In March, we asked our alumni: "What's the #1 lesson you took away from your history education at Rochester?" Here's what they said:
Sandra Beckman (BA ’57): “I was there during the reign of great professors, Dr. Benda, Dr. Coates, Dr. May, Dr. Van Deusen, and Dr. R. Wade, but it was the words of then newly doctorated Charles Vevier, who your question brought to mind. His unforgettable, eternally applicable, and often repeated words were... ‘We just ain’t outta the woods yet.’”
Douglass Butler (BA ’10): “Dr. Kaeuper taught me so many lessons but the one that sticks out the most is a willingness to find various windows into the past. I learned how to use Medieval literature to more fully understand that social world from Dr. Kaeuper. I also want to add that I learned that there was a community of scholars that accepted me. I will never forget the opportunity I had as an undergrad to sit in on some of the grad students’ presentations.”
Sandra Sack Donahue (BA ’66): “The history and literature of any nation or group are intricately intertwined.”
Billy Dratel (BA ’77): “Because we learned actual history, warts and all, it’s given me a perspective on life that students learning social justice history (like now) sorely lack.”
William P. Fletcher (BA ’77): “‘The most important part of a good undergraduate education is learning a decent disrespect for the written word.’ (Perez Zagorin, Colloquium spring 1977) There were many other lessons as well !!!”
Peter Gencarelli, MD (BA ’73): “I learned that I was not as smart, quick, talented, and exceptional as I thought I was. Coming from a high school where I was a ‘big fish’ in a little pond, the U of R taught me that even though I had many good qualities, hard work was an terribly essential part of success in life.
Fred Holbrook (BA ’61): “I acquired a love for reading history which continues in this my 83rd year.”
Michael Lee Jacobs (BA ’66): “To truly understand and appreciate the nature, scope, and scale of events one needs to be sensitive to the context within which the events take place.”
Judith Kerman (BA ’67): “My way of thinking was shaped more by my undergraduate UR education than by my doctorate (elsewhere), especially the tendency to see almost everything in a historical context and from multiple angles. History as I encountered it at UR focused on culture and process, not on names, dates and wars.”
George Mack (BA ’66): “Comprehending a significant historical event or time occurs only after reviewing numerous primary and secondary sources, and only after synthesizing the matter so that another individual can reach a generalized understanding of the topic and can ask probing questions.”
Donald Messina (BA ’56, MA ’57): “From UR Professor John Christopher I learned to read more carefully his book on Western History. Then from Prof. Arthur James May, in his history course on the start of World War I, I was impressed by 1) the very personal touch he gave in recounting the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand by the Serbian terrorist Gavrilo Princip. I grew more appreciative of one telling anecdotes and sort of personal accounts of events. 2) Dr. May also taught and admired the in-depth research that goes into any recorded event, such as my master's essay on the ‘Role of Fascist Italy in the Spanish Civil War.’ I received a nice note from Dr. May urging me to go on for my doctorate after giving me an A- for the essay. 3) The long term effects of doing this essay motivated me to give a detailed talk on ‘The Role of Fascist Italy in the Spanish Civil War’ at the Italian ‘Casa Italiana’ which has been recorded on video and is always available at the Nazareth College library.
Jeanne McDougall (BA ’91): “It's never too late to embark on the pursuit of history.”
Scott Reisinger (BA ’80, MA ’87): “Always look critically at a position or situation--stand above the rancor and strive for rationality.”
Bill Robinson (BA ’72): “As my path to history was uncovered by realizing early enough that science was not my calling, the biggest lesson for me was to trust my intuition and have confidence to make an important change when I knew it was right. And it was most certainly right!”
Paul Siff (PhD ’69): “‘Be judicious’ in the use and interpretation of primary sources. This was the seminar admonition frequently given by Glyndon Van Deusen when we worked on the Seward papers. Some of us in the seminar slyly worked ‘judicious’ and ‘injudicious’ into our papers wherever possible. I don't think Prof. Van Deusen caught on to our little game.”
Sue Spector (BA ’62): “Dr. Richard Wade’s interesting history of the American City.”