An important component of the research for this project were oral histories from Dr. Crawley’s Centennial History, which told the story of the first 100 years of UMW’s campus and community.
Taking inspiration from these stories, we conducted our own oral histories with members of the UMW community, including students, faculty, and alumni. Each one focuses on a different person’s experience at the University, exploring topics ranging from frisbee tournaments to the library smoking room!
A former reference librarian who worked at UMW for 40 years, Jack Bales, shares stories from the Simpson Library, including the move from Trinkle Library to Simpson. He also goes into detail about how much change the library has gone through since he’s been there, including the transition from hard copies to digital databases and a library smoking room.
Current junior and student leader of the Campus Christian Community, Grace Corriveau, discusses her experiences as a student at UMW and talks about how the CCC has helped her. Her favorite on campus spots to relax and study in are the Simpson Library and Eagle’s Nest.
Jodie Hayob-Matzke, geology professor and department chair, talks about the development of the geology department since the increase in faculty, and how that has affected the curriculum. One of the most important changes to the department was the initial building of the Jepson Science Center, as well as the addition.
Alumni Hugh Lowry shares stories from his time at Mary Washington College in the ’70s as a townie. He discusses the Mary Washington Frisbee Club’s history, and the banning of frisbee from campus. He also discusses the development of campus including his flowering magnolia that was cut down on Ball Circle.
Computer science professor Jennifer Polack shares stories about the development of the computer science program in the last twenty years. She also speaks about how computer science will be recognized in the future in as a major, as well as how UMW has physically changed over time.
Elizabeth Snader has been a campus minister of the Campus Christian Community since summer of 2019. In her oral history, she discusses navigating the CCC meetings through the pandemic. She also describes some important values of the CCC and their future goals for helping the community.
As a current senior and editor-in-chief of the school newspaper The Weekly Ringer, Norah Walsh shares her UMW experience of working on staff for the newspaper and delves into the story about the staff clubhouse, as well as discussing some controversial columns, and what has arisen from them.