Today I will feature a light-hearted piece that I wrote for my Inner Circle group. Gotta get on the road to UW and then Parent Group
The Yale Barrier
I just returned from my third research trip to New
Haven. I’m always hot on the trail of
information about my great great grandfather Maier Zunder. A successful public
man with a brilliant mind.
When I mention my destination, people assume that I’m going
to Yale University, located in New Haven.
Actually no. I’m hanging out at
the Ethnic Heritage Center where the Jewish Historical Society shares space
with several other ethnic societies in a metal building on the campus of
Southern Connecticut State University.
Looks like it should be a machine shop.
Or the New Haven Historical Society known by the In Crowd as
‘The Colony’. The rich person’s
historical society housed in a mansion built for them in 1920 on stylish
Whitney Avenue.
Or now at the Institute Library. A throwback to the 19th Century if
I’ve ever seen one. A private library on
the upstairs downtown building. I just
love that place. You are truly in
another era with the wood floors and the big tables and old fashioned alcove
bookcases. I’m a member!
But Yale? The elephant
in the living room? I kind of doubt that
information about my local late nineteenth century guys are there. But how can I ignore it?
This trip, my brother Charlie is with me to do comprehensively
photograph the Zunder family notebooks.
Especially the part that we think were kept by Maier himself. My cousin, Mary Ann, along for the ride as
always.
I announce that we’re breaking the Yale Barrier this
trip. We ask our usual suspects for
ideas. Archives & Manuscripts,
suggests Will of the Institute Library.
Marvin at Jewish Historical Society suggest Judy Schiff, she’s the head
archivist for all of Yale, says Marvin.
I call and they say I can walk in and talk to an archivist.
So with great resolve, the three of us set out to Yale on a
very cold wintry morning. We figure out
where the Sterling Memorial Library is, mess around the downtown streets, find
parking and take on Yale. The main hall
of the library is huge with tons of stained glass and beautiful woodwork,
intimidating. But we are strong, we will
not flinch. We find Archives and
Manuscripts, walk in and ask for Judy Schiff.
She’s sitting right there! I
explain my connection through Marvin.
She’s unimpressed by my proudly displayed “Connecticut History”. She’s helpful; doesn’t think there’s
much. Generally the archivists had
decided that local papers should go to the Colony. Yes, yes, I think there’s more there than
I’ve been able to find.
She shows me how to search and gets me registered. If I can find some boxes and request them by
1:45, I can come back the next day to look at them. And we have the extra day! Hot dog, I’m on it. So I work away, don’t find that much, a few
things and also decide to look at nineteenth century scrapbooks.
But it’s lunchtime.
It’s a long cold walk to the street.
Maybe some place on-campus. I ask
the archivists, sure the nearest cafeteria is just in the next building,the law
school. Why not? We walk into the next door building, plenty
of security here and we realize that we are at Yale Law school. With alumni like Barack Obama and Hilary
Clinton. We go to the dining hall. All kinds of really really smart people
having really really smart conversations.
We go for it. Buy some
lunch. Sit at a table and we cannot believe
how important we feel just by being there.
We consider how we can work this into a conversation next week. “When I was at the Yale Law School, I….”
The next day my brother and I return and go through boxes of
crazy stuff and eat lunch at the Law School again. My brother declares he thinks they don’t look
as smart today. I disagree, there’s more
older people looking distinguished.
I didn’t get that much of interest. My brother says that we might conclude that
there’s not much ‘low hanging fruit’ at Yale.
But the Yale Barrier HAS been broken; we have breached it!
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