History Club Trip

The History Club will be going to the Genesee Country Village and Museum (aka Mumford Historic Village) at 10 a.m. Saturday, Oct.4. If you are a member of the History Club and would like to go, you need to fill out the online SBU waiver form and emergency travel information. If you have not yet received this information, please email Alex McCumiskey for more information.

Congratulations to Jason Damon!

After a very competitive selection process, CPRC selected Jason Damon, a history and political science major, as one of this year’s InternSpotlight candidates. Jason Damon was a Policy Intern for the Knights of Columbus Public Policy Office in Washington, D.C. Congratulations!

More from One of Our Incoming Freshmen: Eric Dawson

My name is Eric Dawson and I have always had an infatuation with history. My love for history started in elementary school when we were learning about the pilgrims in first grade. I found it to be extremely interesting and ever since then I have always tried to learn more and more about history. Originally I wanted to go to college for computer science and I was looking at many schools for that. My junior year teacher was really the reason why I changed my mind. Although I had always enjoyed history, most of the teachers made their classes really dry, so I never considered it to be something I would want do in college. My junior year teacher made learning history very easy and enjoyable. A combination of this and a growing distaste for computer science, I decided to enter college as a history major. As far as choosing Bonaventure as a school, many factors went into consideration. First of all, Bonaventure has a very extensive alumni community that could help me find a job easily after college. Secondly, a lot of my friends from high school were coming here, so I thought it would be nice to have people I know when I started at a new school. Lastly, the campus of St. Bonaventure is wonderful. Not too big but it has the feel of a division one school. I had never heard a bad thing about Bonaventure from the many people I have met that went here, so I decided to attend here this fall.

More Maps

Continuing my interest in maps and such, 22 Maps and Charts that will Surprise You is interesting.  Telling a story with images (maps, charts, etc) does change things.

World War III - in 1952

This story about an alternate history of World War III is fun, "In Collier's Magazine, World War already Happened - in 1952."  It captures the gestalt of the early Cold War.

One More Reason to Take a History Class

Constitution Day tends to bring out stories about how much, or little, Americans know about the Constitution.  This is one of those stories, "Americans know surprisingly little about their government, survey finds."

Introducing Our Incoming History Majors: Amanda Brogan

I am Amanda Brogan and I’m from Syracuse, NY. I went to Bishop Ludden Jr./Sr. High School which had a class of 58 students; the entire school has about 320 In school I played both Varsity basketball (I was a shooting forward as my coach liked to call it) and softball (I was mainly an outfielder but also played 1st, 2nd catcher). I was a part of the theater department, participating in the dramas and musicals. I was Student Council Public Relations and on the yearbook and prom staff. Our school was very supportive of our boys’ basketball team, they were the State Champions in 2012 and have made the finals the last two years. We had a student section called the Bird’s Nest and we were voted the best student section in our division. We all worked hard carpooling to games, making posters and coming up with themes for each game.

A Long Time Coming: Carter Bunce, Incoming History Major

My name is Carter Bunce, and I am from Phelps, New York. Phelps is a small town, situated almost equidistant between Rochester and Syracuse in the heart of the Finger Lakes region. I have an identical twin brother, Garrett, who also attends St. Bonaventure and is a sports studies major. I also have an older sister, Marissa, who is twenty three and a graduate of Roberts Wesleyan College. I enjoy watching all types of sports, including soccer, basketball, football, and baseball, and I participated in sports throughout high school. I enjoy reading, watching documentaries, traveling, and spending time with my family and friends. I am open minded, responsible, caring and have a strong work ethic which will hopefully lead me to success during my time in college.

St. Bonaventure was the right choice for me because of the community atmosphere and size. I was drawn by how caring everyone treats each other and by the reassurance that I would get to know my professors on a better level than at a large school. Coming from a small high school, it was an easier transition knowing that there was not a large number of students per class. Also, the beauty of the campus and the pride of being a Bonnie were hard to miss out on. I have never heard a single negative comment about the school; I knew something had to be special.

History Club Meeting!

The History Club will have its first meeting of the year at 7 p.m. this coming Thursday, September 11. It will meet in the first floor Plassmann Lounge. All majors are welcome. You need to like history! Help decide what trips and activities the club will engage in this year. Last fall, the club went to the Teddy Roosevelt Inaugural site in Buffalo, followed by the Anchor Bar for wings. In the spring, the club went to the Eldred WWII museum with lunch at Red and Trudy's. Where will the club go this year? Come and find out.

A Bona History Grad in the News

Diana Phalon, a recent history graduate from St. Bonaventure, recently appeared in the Olean Times Herald. In addition to teaching social studies at Allegany-Limestone, Diana also works with aspiring softball players in the area. Read the article to find out more about what she's up to!

New York World's Fair - 1964 / 1965

I'm doing some preparation to for class, particularly teaching Jules Verne's Paris in the Twentieth Century, and this led me to look at other how others have thought about the future and technology at the 1964 World's Fair.  Above is a report on what a visitor to the fair could expect.  If you have the time, and don't mind getting sucked in, there is a Youtube channel for the Fair.  I have to say, I'm in the group wanting to know why we don't have jet packs.  You can also check out "Recalling a Vision of the Future" at the New York Times.