Cannioto '36, First Masters Degree Recipient!

   Alexander Cannioto '36, pictured here, was the first person to be awarded a Masters degree at Brockport, receiving the Masters in Education in January 1950. He was a 1936 graduate of the old Brockport Normal School, which then was a three year program giving a license to teach, but not a bachelors degree. He finished the work for a bachelors and received that in 1945. At the time he received his masters degree, he was teaching in the East Rochester school district. This is a great example of the rapid changes happening in Brockport in that era, when within a few years the school had gone from being a Normal school to a Teachers College granting the bachelors to giving masters degrees starting in 1950.

   In his Normal school years Alexander had been very active. He was in the Phi Alpha Zeta fraternity, Magpies (the drama group,) Blanket Tax Committee (forerunner to the student government of today,) he was on the baseball team, managed the basketball team and was class president.

William Lennon

  

William Lennon, pictured here about 1875, was a science teacher at Brockport, and later the vice-principal (i.e. vice-president) from 1869-1911. A native of Rensselaerville in Albany County, he was born in 1838, went to high school in Binghamton, and attended Genesee College in Lima NY (which later became a part of Syracuse University.)

   He was a keen meteorologist and maintained a weather station at the school for many years; thus the meteorology program of today has a long history at Brockport! He had many other scientific interests, and was mentioned in the local paper in 1901 as demonstrating "wireless telegraphy equipment." Lennon was a member of several scientific associations, including the American Association for the Advancement of Science. Today's Lennon Hall is named after him.

   He was close to the students; in his obituary from 1913 it noted that "No interested student, no matter how backward, was refused assistance, and no teacher more thoroughly enjoyed the innocent pranks of pupils than did Professor Lennon." He maintained close ties with alumni as well. The beginnings of today's Alumni Association go back to several different groups, for example one that met in the New York City area, and another which was for those in western New York. Lennon was a regular and sought after visitor to the annual meetings of both groups.

   Just today a brief history Professor Lennon wrote of the school in 1907 was placed in our Digital Commons.

Memorial Day: "To The Boys In Service"

From the 1944 Saga yearbook. Pictured below are three of the young men on the page; you may visit the digitized version of the 1944 yearbook to see more. 

To The Boys In Service: Those were tense, exciting days when you left our class for the Armed Forces. But through your letters and occasional furlough visits, a loyal part of you has remained at B.S.T.C. You are marching, now, in uniform. Soon we who stayed behind will march in cap and gown. Together we are marching toward the inevitable victory.

The Saga Yearbook: now online!

The college archives is pleased to announce that the Saga yearbook is now online through 1950. We will resume digitizing it this coming fall, and hope to be up through 1970 or more this time next year. If you would like a higher quality image of a a page or an image from one of the yearbooks contact Charlie Cowling, ccowling@brockport.edu.

More Fannie Barrier

Researcher who'd contacted me before was in today. Is prepping for a presentation at this summer NY history conference on Fannie Barrier, particularly her speech at the 1893 World Parliment of Religion. Researcher is from Seneca Falls and associated with the Women's Rights Museum there, and is interested in nominating Fannie B. for a place in the hall of fame there!

Stage XVI

Students of more recent years don't know what Stage XVI was, but many of you may remember it, perhaps even lived there. It was a student apartment style housing complex at the west end of campus. All that remains of it today is the parking lots along the railroad tracks by the playing fields. They were a distinct group of buildings with their metal exteriors, but the complex only operated a relatively brief time, from the late 1970s to the early 1990s. It was sited unfortunately in an area that was prone to water problems, and the drainage of the area wasn't well prepared. Over the years water seeping into the foundations and walls made the maintainance of the buildings difficult, and it was finally decided to close them and demolish the complex, which was done in the mid 1990s.

Here is a picture of the complex in its heyday; if any readers out there have snapshots of the complex, especially the interiors, or stories to share of it, please do contact the archivist, Charlie Cowling, ccowling@brockport.edu.

Old School Technology

We recently received back 250 images that had been digitized for us through a grant. They were made from the 4x5" negatives the archives has thousands of, and that cover approximately 1949-1965. What we had digitized was only a small sample set. Pictured here is a student posing with something contemporary students have likely never seen in person, let alone handled, a movie projector! Isn't that Brockport State jacket great too? If anyone knows who this student is, please post a comment or email Charlie Cowling at ccowling@brockport.edu.