Danbury, Connecticut, 06810

HERBERT F. JANICK, PH.D. Copyright @ 2002 Western Connecticut State University All rights reserved. No pare of chis book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording or by any informacion storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher. Published in July 2002 by Western Connecticut State University 181 White Street, Danbury, Connecticut, 06810 International Standard Book Number: 0-9711366-1-0 Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is available upon request. DEDICATION To my students and colleagues, who made Western Connecticut State University a place worth writing about. PREFACE The start of research on this book coincided with my retirement as a full time faculty member at Western Connecticut State University. Each semester for almost thirty years, I taught an introductory American history course to students who were fulfilling a general education requirement. I saw this assignment not as a chore, but as an opportunity to help them understand how historians "make" hisrory. My focus was not on the accumulation of any set of privileged facts, but on comprehending the way the present shapes the past. One particular memory from this three-decade educational crusade remains strong. Students were grateful, almost jubilant, whenever they encountered histO rians who told them where they were coming from and what they were trying ro do. In this Preface, I will try ro emulate those obliging historians who made my job as a teacher much easier. From the start, I have tried ro answer one basic question: "How did a tiny normal school come into existence and evolve into a comprehensive state universi ty?" Using this query as my focus eliminated the possibility, or the value, of ency clopedic coverage of the activities of all the departments, offices, clubs, and reams rhar have contributed to the life of the school over the last one hundred years. Instead, I have concentrated on people, organizations and events (on campus and off) that, in my judgment, were most responsible for, or best illustrate, the trans- III - --- --.:__-::::::;;;;,.,; = - - --= _;;;;;;___ ~ - - = = -:::-=------ - ~ ::::::::: - -:::- -= -= -- formation of the total institution. Much attention has been given in these pages to the chief executives of the school who, due to their position, were most influ ential in setting a tone and shaping overall policy. Because the school has always been a creature of the State of Connecticut, it has been necessary to explore the attitudes and actions of stare educational officials, the governor, and the members of the General Assembly. The relationship between the school and the local com munity is another essential element of this history. Although the narrative approach is often maligned today, I framed this his tory as a story. It is my effort to impose order, admittedly artificial, on hundreds of semesters of events and personalities at a single educational institution. The historian's dangerous assignment is to make choices and to reach conclusions. A review of any chapter will reveal omissions. Many will wonder, for example, how the history of the 1990s could be complete without reference to the link with the Jane Goodall Institute, without mention of the football team's first undefeated regular season in 1999, or without acknowledgment of the chemistry depart ment's certification by the American Chemical Society. My answer is that all his tory is personal, and that much interesting material about WestConn's past had to be omitted because, in my opinion, it would cloud rather than clarify the story I tried to tell. I will be content if my synthesis-far from being the last word provides a helpful context for those entering WestConn's second century. This history is based on solid documentation. The "Note on Sources" section at the end of each chapter lists the principal sources on which that chapter rests. Here I have identified and thanked the many faculty, students, and alumni who generously submitted to recorded interviews. The tapes of these sessions, along with all other data gathered in the course of my research, can be consulted in the Archives of the Ruth Haas Library. Some contributions are so significant thar my appreciation must be repeated here. President James Roach immediately recognized the importance of a univer sity history when we first discussed the subject in 1999. Since then, he has pro vided constant support for my efforts. I am especially grateful that he afforded me complete freedom to organize and write this history as I saw fit. In the mid-1970s, when I served as history department chair, Western IV Connecticut Scare College approached irs sevenry-fifrh birthday. With an eye on this anniversary, I persuaded John V. "Jack" Friel, a retired Exxon executive who had returned co school co earn his master's degree in history ar WesrConn, ro research and write this hiscory. Jack spenr a year gathering material without com pensation (he rerurned co rhe school rhe stipend provided by rhe WesrConn One Hundred Society). Though he was nor able co complete the hiscory, he carefully indexed all his data, including rapes of thirty-five inrerviews with key faculty members, adminisrracors, and community leaders, and deposited ir in rhe Archives of the Haas Library. Without this material, particularly rhe recorded interviews with individuals now no longer living, I could nor have wrirren the early chapters. Truman Warner made innumerable conrriburions co WesrConn. None were more imporranr than the massive newspaper clipping file char he assembled from the mid-1950s ro the mid-1990s. The bulk of this treasure-trove documenrs the history of Danbury and its surrounding cowns. However, five large file boxes deal wirh the hiscory of the college. Warner's diligence, coupled with his hiscorical training and sensitivity, enabled me co locate pertinent articles from otherwise unindexed local newspapers. The hiscory of Western Connecticut State University, or for that matter the history of any Danbury institution, could nor be written without reliance on local newspapers. Except for one six-year period, Danbury had a single daily newspaper, variously tided over one hundred years. The Danbury Evening Ne1vs, originally a weekly, began daily publication in 1883, under the direction of the legendary "Danbury News Man," James Monrgomery Bailey. It remained the sole Danbury newspaper unril rhe rival Danbury Times was established by hatting mogul Frank Lee in 1927. Economic woes during the Depression forced the merger of the two publications, in 1933, into the Danbury News-Times. In 1953, the Ottaway chain acquired the paper and, in 1962, eliminated "Danbury" from its name. In this book, I have cited the newspaper by the name on its masthead at the time of each reference. Three former faculty members wrote brief histories of the school, all of which were helpful to me. Longtime librarian May Greene's unpublished essay, v "Danbury Teachers College: A Brief History" (a copy is in the university Archives), sketches key events in the school's life up to 1950. Alumna and Emerita Professor of Education Charlotte Isham's "History of Western Connecticut State College" (1978), written to commemorate the school's seventy fifth anniversary, is more detailed. Emeritus Mathematics Professor Edwin Rosenberg carefully compiled "A History of Western Connecticut State University (1978-1993)" as part of the 1993 ten-year accreditation process conducted by the New England Association of Schools and Colleges. Dr. Gertrude Braun came to Danbury in 1946 and retired in 1982. During her career, she served as academic dean, academic vice president, and, on two occasions, acting president. Very little of importance took place at the college during these years that did not involve her. I thank her for sharing her extensive knowledge of WestConn's past with me in three lengthy interviews and in numerous long-distance phone conversations. The staff of the Ruth Haas Library--especially Joanne Elpern, Russ Gladstone and Vijay Nair-have been extremely helpful during the three years of research and writing. WestConn's pioneer archivist, Mary Rieke, went well beyond the call of professional duty to assist me. A former student and friend, Mary frequently located material that I would have missed and was unfailingly unruffled as I made a mess of her careful filing system. Meg Moughan, the cur rent archivist, continued co provide generous and skilled assistance, particularly in locating photographs. Librarians at many other institutions eased my task. Of this able group I want to give special thanks to state archivist Mark Jones who facilitated my use of the riches of the Connecticut State Library. The photographs in this book came from many sources. In addition to those in the Haas Library Archives, two other offices on campus, Alumni Relations and University Publications and Design, collected and preserved a significant number of historical photographs that have now been deposited in the central Archives. Helen Masterson, former director of Alumni Affairs, and her assistant, Janine Brennan, provided critical guidance in locating photographs. They also supplied me with names of alumni to interview. Peggy Stewart, the university photogra- VI pher, did more than let me rummage through the collection of photographs in the files of Publications; she advised me which photographs to include in the book and then did all of the technical manipulation necessary to prepare them for publication. A smaller number of photographs came from various other places. Former Danbury Mayor James Dyer served as the official yearbook photographer during his student days and for a few years after his graduation. He made available his carefully indexed collection of proof sheets and negatives capturing campus activities throughout the 1970s. Elizabeth Laws, class of 1942, contributed her snapshots of campus activities in the late 1930s and early 1940s.

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