Fall Conference in Middlebury Vermont

Fall 2008

Volume 22, no 3

V.a.a.s.  Newsletter

Newsletter Contact Information

Flo Keyes

Castleton State College

Castleton, VT 05735

Phone: 802-468-6049

Fax: 802-468-6045

E-mail: keyesf@castleton.edu

Vermont Academy of Arts and Sciences

Newsletter Contact Information

Flo Keyes

Castleton State College

Castleton, VT 05735

Phone: 802-468-6049

Fax: 802-468-6045

E-mail: keyesf@castleton.edu

Vermont Academy of Arts and Sciences

                 On September 13, 2008, VAAS held its Fall Conference at Middlebury College.  About 30 people took advantage of the opportunity to hear Bob Buckeye, William Hart, and John McWilliams speak.

                 Tim Spears, Dean of the college, welcomed the conference attendees and set the talks in a historical context.

                 The first speaker, Bob Buckeye, presented the story of Edwin James who walked from Weybridge to Middlebury to attend the college.  James received a classical education plus training in medicine and botany.  Rather pursue a comfortable position in the East, however, James led an expedition to the Rockies.  He discovered and named 100s of plant species, was the first to climb Pike's Peak (formerly James Peak), and wrote an account of his journey. 

                 He was appalled by the treatment of Native Americans and by the senseless slaughter of buffalo.  His experiences led him to advocate for more ethical treatment of Native American groups and, later, freedom for the slaves.  Buckeye wrapped up by observing that James was about 200 years ahead of his time.

 

The second speaker was William Hart, whose subject was Martin Freeman, the first African-American college president.  Freeman was the second black graduate of Middlebury College.  At the college, he learned the importance of political awareness and action, but he felt that the US did not offer opportunities to blacks at the time. 

                 Freeman served as

President of Avery College for  a short time, but ultimately decided that blacks would have better opportunities for self-determination in Liberia.  Therefore, he moved there and worked for Liberia College.  After his death, his family moved back to the US, not following Freeman's dream of exercising rights equal to those of whites.

                 The third speaker was John McWilliams, who spoke on the address Ralph Waldo Emerson gave to the 1845 graduating class at Middlebury College.  Emerson challenged the growing trend of specialization in college studies.  He encouraged the graduates to look past their specializations to the unity that resided at the heart of scholarship.  He asked them to learn from inquiry and experience, not just texts.  To Emerson, the scholar who learned but refused to put his knowledge into practice was only a bookworm, not a scholar.

Above left: Bob Buckeye

Above: William Hart

Below: John McWilliams

 

Middlebury College Dean Tim Spears

welcomes VAAS to Middlebury College

VAAS President Lauren Howard welcomes everyone to the Fellows dinner

Read about the fall conference and the new VAAS fellows

WHAT DO RETIRED FELLOWS DO?                     by Connie Gallagher

 

                 Connell Gallagher (VAAS 1999 Fellow) retired from UVM 21 months ago and is Library Professor Emeritus at the University with free parking and a library card.  Gallagher served as University Archivist, Curator of Manuscripts, and eventually Head of Special Collections in his 36 years at UVM. He wasn’t sure what he would do besides some travel and much overdo reading.  The travel didn’t work out for a number of reasons, but he has been reading widely in art, literature and history with a few mysteries and Harry Potter thrown in. Surprisingly he does not miss his old job, one that he loved to do.  Looking back on his life, Connell was often heard to say that he had chosen the right profession and the right institution for his life’s work and had no regrets on either count.

                 Since he retired he has been doing appraisals of books and manuscripts for Vermonters who have donated collections to colleges and universities, and he has looked at everything from Civil War letters to book collections in art, and European and American

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