Friday, February 19, 2010

Ernest Hopkins Oral History

A black and white photograph of man seated with a book in front of a fire. A large dog is on the rug in front of him.The College's ongoing custom of conducting oral history interviews with Dartmouth's retired presidents was begun back in the winter of 1958 when then Librarian of the College and Dean of Libraries Edward Connery Lathem '51 sat down with Dartmouth's eleventh president, Ernest Martin Hopkins.  Dean Lathem, with assistance from several alumni and former Hopkins staffers, interviewed the former president over a period of approximately six years, both here in Hanover and at his summer home in Maine.

A black and white photograph showing a seated crowd of well-dressed men and women.Rauner Library has recently begun the process of bringing these Hopkins interviews into the digital age so that his voice may join the voices of those presidents who succeeded him in the twentieth century: John Sloan Dickey, John G. Kemeny, David T. McLaughlin and James O. Freedman.  (President Emeritus James E. Wright will soon follow.)  Transcripts of the first ten hours of the more than 35 hours of recordings are now available online and more will soon become available.  These transcripts are straight from the original 10" reels, without editing or indexing.   They reveal a man whom many credit with moving Dartmouth into the twentieth century.  He also was a good storyteller.  Listen and see for yourself.
A black and white photograph of three smiling men standing together outside.

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