Author: hdubrull

Professor Salerno Takes Early Retirement


One Thing After Another has been very quiet this year. That doesn’t mean it has been quiet on campus; on the contrary, everyone has been too busy to write. But we wanted to share a major news flash with all our readers—Professor Beth Salerno will be taking early retirement this June. One Thing After Another caught up with her to talk about her 24 years on campus and this big change.

Q: You came to campus in the fall of 2000. What drew you to Saint Anselm College?

A: Well first, there was a job! I don’t think non-academics understand that when you get a PhD, you go where the job is. I applied to 50 or 60 schools around the country. I had preliminary interviews in Alabama, California, Pennsylvania, New Hampshire and three other states. But I really liked the focus at Saint Anselm—educating the whole person for a thoughtful, productive life. The department was very welcoming, and I thought I could do good work here.

Q: Did you have specific classes you were supposed to teach or could you create new ones?

A: When I first arrived, I taught four classes each semester, half of them in the Humanities Program (Portraits of Human Greatness) and half in history. I taught the US history survey (equivalent to APUSH) for many years as well as Colonial America, Jacksonian America, and American Women’s History. The Department has been very supportive of me creating new courses, including Comparative Women’s History (women in the US, Europe and Africa), Environmental History, the History of US Citizenship, New England History and Public History (which I created at the request of students who wanted to study history outside the classroom). It’s been great to explore new areas of scholarship and understand the past from different approaches.

Q: How has the history department changed since you arrived?

A: Oh, good question. I was hired by Professor Pajakowski, who was Chair at the time, and he’s been a steady presence for my whole time here. As happens in any department, some faculty have come and gone, and I’ve had the pleasure of helping to hire everyone in the department except Professors Pajakowski and Perrone (who arrived the same year I did). Technologically a lot has changed—I’ve been through slide projectors, overhead projectors, LCD projectors, and Zoom. Most students now have computers in the classroom and electronic books rather than pencils, notebooks, and paperbacks. I’ve been through three learning management systems (Blackboard, Sakai and now Canvas), and I haven’t used a blue book to give an exam in years! (I had a student recently who did not know what a blue book was, so it isn’t just me). We also changed buildings (from Bradley House to Joseph Hall)—I lucked into a great office in both and upgraded to air conditioning!

Q: What are some of your best memories from your time on the Hilltop?

A: My second year on campus, I taught the research seminar. I thought it seemed like a really strong group, and I had such fun learning about all the students’ various topics. At the end of the semester, I discovered that all but two students in the class graduated summa cum laude – and one of those two, who had been a junior, earned the Chancellor’s medal the next year! I’ve never had a class like that again. But I regularly love the research seminar and the way students blossom when they explore something that excites them (even as it totally stresses them out).

I also loved writing a blog while I was on sabbatical in South Korea. I got such amazing feedback from colleagues all over campus as I posted about teaching American history really far from home. 

I’ve gotten to serve in other roles on campus, including Chair of the History Department, founding Director of the Center for Teaching Excellence, and currently Associate Academic Dean. In these roles, I’ve gotten to work closely with colleagues, advocating for the history department, exploring new pedagogical approaches, and making changes in campus policies. As is true with students, some of my best memories are working one on one with colleagues who are passionate about making change together—it’s energizing.

Q: So, if you don’t mind my asking, why give it up? Why leave?

A: We don’t talk about retirement much in higher education. There was for a long time a sense that we would all teach until we just couldn’t anymore. But the pandemic, along with the deaths of my mom and then my father-in-law, reminded me that there is more I want to do. With the average life span topping out under 80, 40 is middle aged! Being in my 50s means I’m in my last third of life (though maybe I’ll get lucky and I’m just past half way!) I’m ready to stretch in some new directions –to be more hands-on in solving problems like climate change, rather than training students to solve them for me! There is a lot I will miss, but luckily, even for faculty, you are always welcome back to visit. And I’ve learned a lot on this campus about adapting, trying new things, and working persistently toward change.

Q: Is there anything else you want to say before you go?

A: Well, I’m not leaving until June, so I have plenty of time for last words! And my email will still work thereafter, so while I might be slower in answering, you can still reach me. But I’ll take this space to say thank you to the many students—now two decades of alumni—who have enlivened my time in the history department. I became a historian because I loved history, and I wanted to read books (and other people’s private letters) for a living. But I became a professor because I thought teaching was the best way to shape the future. Even as I now choose to shape the future in other ways, I love knowing there is a whole community of former students out there doing good work. Keep it up—and keep in touch. We all need encouragement when we head down new paths!

Dubrulle on Ridley Scott’s Napoleon


You may expect this review of Napoleon to dwell on the historical inaccuracies that occur throughout the film—especially since I’m currently teaching History 114: The French Revolution and Napoleon this semester. Such a focus, however, would lead to a long, tedious, and pedantic essay. Moreover, the inaccuracies are not the film’s greatest fault; they are intertwined with a much larger problem—a failure of storytelling. Napoleon cannot decide which tale it wishes to relate. Is it a story about Napoleon the military genius? The revolutionary authoritarian? The disruptive diplomatist? The charismatic leader? The lover and husband? The man? It’s true these various stories overlap, but a filmmaker must prioritize one, and that is exactly what Ridley Scott fails to do. Napoleon ends up becoming a pastiche of vignettes—some poorly chosen—that seeks to capture all the different faces of Napoleon. To cram these vignettes into a reasonable running time, Scott is compelled to take a variety of narrative shortcuts that include gross oversimplifications and important omissions, all of which contribute to significant distortions. The film labors mightily to forge the whole mass into a single plot through a variety of unsubtle techniques—captions identifying various historical figures, voiceovers of Napoleon reading his letters to Josephine (“I’m now marching on Moscow. . . .”), huge canvas maps draped on the floors of his palaces to show his marshals where exactly Moscow is, various historical figures pontifically declaring what must have been obvious to everyone at the time, and so on. Although the film consumes more than two-and-half hours, these contrivances are not enough to shape a coherent and meaningful narrative arc. Who Napoleon was, what his empire was all about, what made the man tick, why he was successful for so long, why he eventually failed, and why so many people were willing to follow him—all of that remains unexplained

Joaquin Phoenix’s acting is not part of the solution. One wonders if Phoenix felt compelled to use a number of quirks to portray Napoleon because the script does not seem terribly interested in interpreting the emperor or his motives. Overall, Phoenix’s ageless character appears cranky, scowling, slow-moving, and generally laconic. Even when he cavorts with Josephine, he seems like an old soul. This portrayal doesn’t add up to what we know of the real Napoleon, a restless, ambitious, and energetic man who possessed an inexhaustibly fertile mind, believed he could solve any problem, suffered from an invincible optimism, and dominated others partly through an almost hypnotic charisma.

In a film of this sort, there isn’t much space for character development among the supporting cast. Because she receives more screen time than anyone but Phoenix, Vanessa Kirby finds sufficient room to produce a credible Josephine. The film suggests that after several initial missteps, Josephine skillfully played what few cards she had to maintain her autonomy in a terribly unequal relationship. For the empress, it seems, the only thing worse than remaining in the marriage was to be expelled from it. Here, as elsewhere, though, Scott only scratches the surface in depicting a complicated relationship.

Other secondary and tertiary characters have much less scope for elaboration and are condemned to play a single note. Such is the case with Alexander I (Edouard Philipponnat), who is made out simply as a callow and naïve youth (even though he was almost 30 by the time he met Napoleon at Tilsit). And then there’s the Duke of Wellington, Napoleon’s nemesis (played by a choleric Rupert Everett), who acts like a grumpy, elderly uncle who’s never been impressed by anything in his life. Calaincourt (Ben Miles), Emperor Francis II (Miles Jupp), Metternich (Tom Godwin), and Talleyrand (Paul Rhys), yes, even Talleyrand, flit across the screen, dry as dust, like mummies. The general idea seems to be that wooden acting passes for early 19th-century aristocratic manners.

If the film’s greatest fault is its failure to say something significant about Napoleon, the greatest disappointments are the battle scenes. Nick Schager has written a piece in the Daily Beast entitled, “’Napoleon’ Proves That Ridley Scott is Our Greatest War Director.” Schager rests his case on Gladiator, Black Hawk Down, Kingdom of Heaven, Exodus: Gods and Kings—and Napoleon. Since not all of these are “war movies,” what he seems to mean is Scott is proficient at crafting excellent battle scenes. This is a debatable point, but comparing the opening of Gladiator to the fighting in Napoleon is instructive. The former is not exactly “realistic;” even German barbarians would have known better than to meet the Roman army for a stand-up fight in a clearing of the latter’s choosing. But the scene tells an important story. Maximus is a loyal servant of the emperor as well as the charismatic and courageous leader of a well-oiled war machine that destroys its enemies with great brutality. The barbarians’ courage avails them nothing against superior Roman discipline, organization, and tactics. If the scene is false in its details, it is true in its larger point. And it sets the table for the rest of the film.

The problem with the battles in Napoleon is they do no such thing. Yes, in the film, Napoleon is brave at Toulon and devious at Austerlitz (the Waterloo scene reveals little about the emperor). Yet Scott does not tax his audience much by revealing anything more complex about Napoleon as a military leader. Napoleon nods slightly to an underling, and huge masses of soldiers hurtle pell-mell at one another without much order to create a portentous spectacle. There is no attempt to give viewers any insight into the complexities of command in the early 19th century and Napoleon’s strengths as a general—nothing about conducting the operational art, penetrating the fog of war, reading the battlefield, and owning one’s decisions.

On social media, there is much chatter about how Napoleon will affect the public’s understanding of history. The school of thought that dwells on the film’s inaccuracies (they are, indeed, legion) worries audiences will leave theaters with a mistaken impression of the French emperor. A more charitable school hopes the movie, despite its errors, will inspire interest in the past. Both schools are wrong. Judging from the reactions of the group with whom I saw the film, it’s clear that a movie which doesn’t tell an intelligible—let alone a compelling—story cannot influence our historical understanding for better or for worse. Indeed, if anything, it may convince many that history is a boring, formless mass of details. Even worse, “Hollywood” (I place the phrase in quotes because the film was backed by Apple TV+) may draw the lesson that sweeping historical dramas are box office poison when the real problem is that such dramas have been badly made.

Professor Hugh Dubrulle

DESHAIES TAKES ON FOOD INSECURITY AT NH HUNGER SOLUTIONS


One Thing after Another recently found out that History-English double-major Brodie Deshaies ’21 (who also earned a Philosophy minor) was recently hired as Communications and Policy Manager at NH Hunger Solutions. This blog is always interested in finding out how our majors have ended up where they have as they travel on their lifelong journeys, so it seemed only natural that OTAA ask Deshaies about his career path.

Q: When you did your last interview for this blog, you were a senior in college, and you were running for the state legislature (your campaign that year culminated in success). Now, three years later, you are the Communications and Policy Manager at NH Hunger Solutions. How did you get from Point A to Point B?

A: I was originally elected to the New Hampshire House in 2020, during my senior year at Saint Anselm College. I enjoyed my service in the state legislature, but it was emotionally taxing. I ended up having a very competitive primary that made statewide news. Governor Chris Sununu and former Congressman and current State Senate President Jeb Bradley endorsed me in that primary. I still lost.

After I lost, I decided to stop working as a contracted worker on political campaigns and find a new job. My fiancée, Grace (Class of 2022), found the position at NH Hunger Solutions on the NH Center for Nonprofits’ website. I had strong connections with NH Hunger Solutions from my work and advocacy as a State Representative to expand access to school meals for children in NH. It was a natural fit.

Q: What exactly are your responsibilities at NH Hunger Solutions? Were there significant ways in which your college experiences prepared you for the position you currently occupy?

A: I am responsible for all our communications efforts and supporting partners’ communications efforts as well. I am also responsible for managing our policy work and advocacy. Saint Anselm College prepared me for this work by improving my communication and writing skills and forcing me to think critically and objectively about problems before solving them. The education I received at Saint Anselm College made me a more well-rounded person.

Q: NH Hunger Solutions lists four priorities on the home page of its website. In what ways do you, as the communications and policy manager, help the organization attain these goals?

A: It is essential we properly frame and communicate the issue of hunger in New Hampshire. If we can’t explain why hunger is an issue in this state and convince people that they should care about hunger, then achieving our mission becomes very difficult. Once we effectively communicate and educate the public and policy makers, we must propose solutions and advocate for systems change to end hunger in New Hampshire. That systems change will help more Granite Staters access nutritious meals.

Q: You are now a library trustee for the Wolfeboro Public Library and a school board member for the Governor Wentworth Regional School District (SAU 49). How and why did you decide to serve in these capacities? Do you see these positions as somehow complementary to the work you do at NH Hunger Solutions?

A: My service as a library trustee and school board member are adjacent to my career, but not directly related. My life is very centered on public service, and I come from a family of locally elected officials. My family’s values and service influenced my decision get involved and support my community.

I am passionate about giving back to my community and volunteering in local government, whether it’s in the previously listed positions, as a ballot clerk helping run municipal elections, or attending local public hearings and participating in local community organizations like Citizens for Wolfeboro. If we sit on the sidelines, others decide how we are governed—and they don’t always make the best decisions.

My role at NH Hunger Solutions allows me to professionally support a great organization and stay involved in state-level policy making and advocacy. I can’t think of a better way to use my skills and connections than ending hunger in NH.

Q: Those of us who live in New Hampshire usually associate Wolfeboro with a) expensive lakefront properties (Mitt Romney is probably the most prominent resident) and b) the Wright Museum of World War II (which is super cool). Tell us something special or attractive about Wolfeboro that the rest of us don’t know about.

A: Wolfeboro actually has a median household income that is about 15% less than the state average. Year-round residents, who are the voters, live like any average Granite Stater.

That previous point aside, I would say there are a number of historical sites in Wolfeboro to visit. Governor John Wentworth’s summer house (1769) and the Libby Museum (1912) are two great attractions. The town docks are always a great place to enjoy an ice cream from Bailey’s Bubble or a grinder from Full Belli Deli.

History Major Benites: VP of the SGA


The History Department was gratified to learn that History major Diego Benites ’25 was elected Vice President of the Student Government Association at Saint Anselm College. The department is eager to point out that it recognized Benites’ greatness early, having hired him as a department assistant in the fall of 2022. But never mind. One Thing after Another wanted to interview Benites while his election victory was still hot news.

Q: How did you get interested in college politics and student government?

A: That’s actually a rather funny story. Going into my freshman year, I had no intention of being involved with student government. My high school passion was theater. I was part of numerous productions in high school where I worked backstage and onstage. When I first arrived on the Hilltop, I wanted to act, so I auditioned for the Abbey Players’ fall play. Unfortunately, I didn’t make the cut, and I was left with an abundance of time with nothing to do.

After that lost opportunity, I started to look for new ways to occupy my time, and it didn’t take me long before I found one. One day, I was in the coffee shop, and I ran into a friend of mine who had just won his race for the student senate. He invited me to have dinner with him and some others who had been recently elected. All of them began to talk about what they hoped to accomplish this year in student government. I was immediately enthused, and I had a desire to join them. That is when they mentioned that there was going to be a special election for the student senate coming up. Right after dinner, I emailed the SGA asking if I could run in this election, and they said yes. I didn’t think I would win, but I thought I would give it a shot.

Much to my surprise, I did win my race, and I found myself being sworn in as a class of 2025 Senator. It took me a while to find my footing in the senate. Once I did so, I began to fall in love with the organization. It has been a great honor to represent students, to serve them, and to act on their behalf.

Q: What exactly is the job of the Vice President of the Student Government Association at Saint Anselm College?

A: There are many aspects to being the Vice President of the Student Government Association. The most important one is representing the student body’s interest. This means listening to the concerns of students and bringing these concerns to the administration, faculty, and/or staff. This entails remaining in constant communication with various departments on campus and constantly taking the pulse of the student body. As the Vice President, I will also be the President of the Student Senate. I will ensure the Senate is running effectively and efficiently. Although this does seem like a daunting task to undertake, I have been privileged to witness two past Vice Presidents doing the job. I will use them as examples to assist me throughout my tenure as Vice President.

Q: Has your experience as a History major or your overall interest in history informed your political stances on campus or the way you operate politically?

A: My experience as a History major has allowed me to view problems with a wider lens while formulating and articulating my ideas well. In my previous role as the SGA Secretary of Internal Procedures, I was tasked with interpreting and enforcing our Constitution. As a History major, I gained the skill of reading documents and using them to form arguments. I ran across numerous instances in this role where I had to refer to the Constitution to figure out how to handle a situation. I don’t think I would’ve been able to do this so well if I wasn’t a History major. Being able to read and interpret texts is not the only relevant skill I learned as a History major. Studying history has taught me to be aware of past precedent and to understand how my actions can have future ramifications. In my History classes, I learned about people who either went along with the current precedent or worked to establish a new one. While in student government, I take this into account before I act. I try my best to leave some record of my reasoning behind so my successors will understand my thinking.

Q: On numerous occasions, we have discussed your home town of Tyngsboro, MA. What is Tyngsboro’s best kept secret?

A: I would say the best kept secret of Tyngsboro, MA is Tyngsboro Community Theatre. I have the privilege of serving on its board as the secretary. Our president is also a Saint Anselm History alum, Ryan McDonough. We are currently starting the audition process of our summer show, Suessical. I encourage everyone to come see it!

Rines on the Rewards of Coaching Students in TRIO Programs


One Thing After Another recently caught up with Adam Rines ’13 and asked him what he’s been up to the past several years. What he had to say was really inspiring, and we just had to share it with you.

Q: You graduated from Saint Anselm College as a History major in 2013. What do you remember most clearly from your time on the Hilltop?

A: Hospitality. When I think back to my years at Saint Anselm, I fondly remember being part of a welcoming community filled with kindhearted individuals dedicated to serving others. Whether those connections arose from the intellectual pursuits of the classroom, from the charity of helping others, or from the friendships of fellow students, service defined my experience as an Anselmian. It does not escape me that I choose to reminisce over such a banal sentiment as the spirit of goodwill on campus instead of more evocative memories like the fierce chariot races on the quad or the lamb souvlaki pocket offered every third Monday for lunch—alas, how I miss that pita! However, time and distance have made me appreciate the closeknit community built on the Hilltop, which is so hard to replicate. I have visited and been a part of many other colleges, but I have yet to find an equal to the supportive campus climate at Saint Anselm.

Q: You currently work as an Academic Coach at Horry-Georgetown Technical College. Can you tell us a little more about the job, particularly your work with first generation college students? What do you enjoy most about working in higher education?

A: I work for one of the federal TRIO programs, Student Support Services, which offers academic, personal, and career guidance to first-generation and low-income college students as well as students with disabilities. The sole focus of my job is to help our participants be successful. The definition of success varies from student to student based on their individual situations. Some students struggle in classes, some in managing the bureaucracy of higher education, and others in determining what comes after graduation. Regardless of their unique challenges, our program untangles the complex web of academia and serves as a support system for students who may lack one.

As a community college, we seek to open the doors of possibilities to our students. One of the ways our program does so is by arranging tours of four-year universities to which they may be interested in transferring. We also hope to encourage camaraderie and team building through fun activities ranging from museums and theatrical performances to bowling, paint nights, and everything in between. The best part of TRIO is that everything offered to students is absolutely free!

Helping students to recognize their own potential and to accomplish their goals is the most rewarding aspect of working in higher education. Everyone arrives at college with differing skillsets, academic abilities, and motivations for being there, but each student possesses the capacity to succeed. I work with students of all ages, from recent high school graduates to grandparents. Most of these students are the first generation in their families to seek a college degree and have the daunting task of figuring out academia alone. This inexperience can breed self-doubt; however, I have yet to meet a student who applied himself or herself and failed. College, above all, is a test of endurance, and thus, sincere effort always results in a degree. I revel in cheering my students along their way to graduation and being a source of support whenever they need.

A note to current Anselmians: I recently learned that Saint Anselm was awarded its own SSS TRIO grant and will soon host its own program on campus. I heartily recommend that those who are eligible apply as soon as it launches. It will be a wonderful opportunity to enhance your college experience and join the national TRIO community that spans millions of students from middle to graduate school.

Q: How do you think the History major helped prepare you for your career?

A: While the historical content of my degree has little bearing on my day-to-day tasks—I have yet, surprisingly, to be asked to propound on the origin of the plague of Justinian or been given a chance to explain the nuances of the Spanish Inquisition—the true legacy of my education remains the critical thinking skills honed throughout my time at Saint Anselm. I knew that if I made a claim in a paper or presentation, it needed to withstand the scrutiny of ever-questioning professors who stood ready to poke holes in sloppy arguments. The ability to examine a problem, gather evidence, evaluate conflicting opinions, and form my own conclusions has proven invaluable in resolving issues and understanding the world. History is full of lies, half-truths, and misrepresentations by those who hope to profit from a distorted view of the past. Critical thought shields against those mischievous motives by being curious, but cautious, and refusing to blindly accept easy answers. The great benefit of this approach allows for a flexible mindset that encourages changing beliefs to match the facts, and not the other way around.

Q: What do you remember about your History and general education courses at Saint Anselm? Anything that stood out about them? Any courses that you especially enjoyed?

A: Of all my courses, the one I reflected on the most in the years following graduation was one I dreaded taking at the time. As the only honors theology offered during the second semester of my senior year, I had to take Professor Pilarski’s “Women in the Old Testament” class to fulfill my degree requirements. My apprehension arose from my ignorance of and lack of interest in the topic—both terrible, misguided follies on my part. Professor Pilarski taught with such infectious passion and drive that I was mesmerized. That course became the most meaningful and impactful in my four years at Saint Anselm. It opened my mind to new concepts and allowed me to turn that once feared ignorance into personal and intellectual growth. Examining the Old Testament through the lens of women required careful consideration of small details and inferences which could be used to paint a picture of their lived experiences and roles in society. The skills necessary to perform this exegesis translated directly to the study of secondary figures and groups ignored or dismissed by historical chroniclers. Had I missed taking Professor Pilarski’s class, I would have lost a humbling lesson on the value of the liberal arts and the importance of interdisciplinary study.

While there are so many distinct memories from my history courses, I am invariably reminded of Professor Dubrulle’s senior reading seminar on Britain in WWI whenever I come across a piece of media portraying that period. I am haunted by Wilfred Owen’s poem “Dulce et Decorum est” and its descriptions of the unrelenting horrors of gas shelling and agony inflicted on young men disabused of their former notions of the splendor of war. The despair evident in Owen’s work is further punctuated by the fact that he would die one week before the signing of the Armistice. When we read this poem in class, it did not immediately stand out among the many horrific accounts of trench warfare. Over time, however, this poem found purchase in my mind and refused to leave. It stands as a permanent reminder of the brutality, inhumanity, and desperation felt by young men flung into an unimaginable hellscape. If you have not read the poem—or have not done so in a while—I recommend rectifying that by taking a moment to appreciate the brilliance and tragedy of Wilfred Owen.

Q: What most do you value about a liberal arts education?

A: The liberal arts play a central role in the quality of my education, as I had to study English, philosophy, theology, science, and a foreign language, along with my regular history classes. Without these supplemental courses, I would have been deprived of a richer understanding of the social context of how people thought (philosophy), believed (theology), and conceptualized their world (science). Past events show their vital importance when viewed through the lens of alternative disciplines. The seismic impact of the Reformation, for example, gains new meaning when current discussions in a theology class can be traced back to the writings and debates of Luther and Calvin.

A few years after I started working in higher education, I remember reflecting with a fellow alumnus about our undergraduate experience and how lucky we were to have chosen Saint Anselm. I realized the embarrassment of riches afforded us through our classes and outstanding professors. I am incredibly proud of my degree—as all Anselmians should be—as I know the amount of hard work that went into earning it and the significant accomplishment that it represents.

Pizzi Researches Legal History in the University of Nebraska’s REU Program


Last summer, History-Spanish double-major Annabella Pizzi ’25 won a spot with the University of Nebraska’s Research Experience for Undergraduates (REU) program, working on the Petitioning for Freedom: Habeas Corpus in the American West project which forms part of the Freedom Stories Digital Legal Research Lab. She was part of an undergraduate research team under Dr. Katrina Jagodinsky (History Department, University of Nebraska) whose project examines more than 8,000 habeas corpus petitions from Black, Indigenous, immigrant, institutionalized, and dependent petitioners over the long nineteenth century in the American West. For the summer, Pizzi obtained free room and board along with a stipend of $6,000.

One Thing after Another was excited to hear about Annabella’s experiences at the University of Nebraska, but the blogmaster was too overworked to post this interview in a timely fashion. But the interview is posted now, and you can hear all about what Annabella did last summer.

Q: How and when did you first get interested in history?

A: I have been interested in history from a young age. My dad was a history major and taught high school history in Boston for a while. When I was little, we used to watch documentaries and visit historical sites together. The most memorable place we saw was Plimoth Plantation for my third grade field trip. At eight years old, I was amazed to see that there were other people, besides my dad and I, who loved history! My interest only grew from there.

Q: What brought you to Saint Anselm College?

A: I really liked the tight community at Saint Anselm. This was clear to me even on my campus tour when every student was wearing some kind of Saint Anselm attire, and a bunch of students were having lunch in Dav and working together in the student center. I was also really impressed by the academics. It was clear that school was committed to both of my intended majors, History and Spanish, with the plethora of research and study abroad opportunities offered.

Q: How did you find out about the University of Nebraska’s Research Experiences for Undergraduates Program (REU)?

A: I found out about the UNL REU from my Spanish Professor, Dr. Inés Vañó- García. She had previously conducted research through the university and told me that it had just launched a new research program through their history department. She recommended that I apply.

Q: While you were in Lincoln, you worked on the Petitioning for Freedom project which formed part of the Freedom Stories Digital Legal Research Lab. Could you tell us about the project and your part in it?

A: I worked under Dr. Katrina Jagodinsky from the UNL history department. Petitioning for Freedom is her project focussing on the way that the writ of habeas corpus was used by people belonging to marginalized communities between 1812 and 1924. By the time the project was opened up to a summer research program, she and her team had already completed the first stage of research which was to visit various archives across the American west and find original habeas corpus case files. Our first task as student researchers was to take the digitized copies of the case files and encode them into a specific encoding platform. As part of the program, we were expected to create our own specific research projects based on the projects of our mentors. The transcription and encoding allowed us not only to assist Dr. Jagodinsky in creating her habeas corpus database, but also helped us learn about the different types of cases, patterns, and people. I was particularly interested in habeas corpus cases filed by Indigenous peoples. Out of the total number of cases related to Native Americans in the Petitioning for Freedom database, 50% of them were Native parents and husbands filing cases against Federal Indian Boarding Schools to regain custody of their minor children and minor wives who had been taken to these schools without consent. The title of my specific research project was “Habeas Corpus and Federal Indian Boarding School, 1879- 1924.”

Q: What did you learn from this experience?

A: I learned a lot about the American legal system and legal history. Though everyone in Petitioning for Freedom had their own individual projects, we had regular lectures on different types of research methods in the humanities. We also had weekly discussions on different communities and their experiences with the law. Some of the books we read for these discussions included Laws Harsh As Tigers: Chinese Immigrants and the Shaping of Modern Immigration Law by Lucy Salyer and States of Delinquency: Race and Science in the Making of California’s Juvenile Justice System by Miraslavo Chávez- García.

Q: You’re from Braintree, MA. Please tell us about the best-kept secret in your hometown?

A: The best-kept secret for a history major has to be the General Sylvanus Thayer House. Thayer was born in Braintree in 1785 and was named the “Father of West Point” since he was an early and important superintendent at the institution. His birth house is currently owned by the Braintree Historical Society as a museum. Every year on Braintree Day, the town opens the house and barn to the public for tours! Besides that, Kristin’s Breakfast is the best. Their specialty pancakes are all so good, but my favorite has to be the Raspberry Cheesecake.

Sigma Omega Chapter of Phi Alpha Theta Celebrates 50 years on the Hilltop. 

In 1972, the Sigma Omega Chapter of Phi Alpha Theta was established at Saint Anselm College. It was the first chapter of Phi Alpha Theta in the state of New Hampshire. The formation of the chapter began in the fall semester of 1971: students and faculty members prepared the College’s application for the national office and paid their initial dues – $12 (equivalent to $81 today, making the 2022 initiation fee of $50 look less daunting). 

On March 2, 1972, Professor Mason received word that the national office and regional chapters had approved the application. The first inductions on the Hilltop took place a month later on April 16, 1972.  Nine students (Robert Casey, William Earley, John Farley, Paul Mathews, Edward E. O’Donnell, Carmen W Picknally, Thomas Rup, Stephen Russell, Roland L. Shrull) and three faculty members (Francis Mason, John F. Looney, and Fr. Justin Vojtek, OSB) made up the charter members of the Sigma Omega Chapter. 

Over the past 50 years, 278 history majors and minors have joined the national honor society. Our students have also presented at the New England regional conference. Mr. William Earley was the first St. A’s student to present a paper entitled “The British Guarantee of Poland on 31 March 1939” at the 1973 regional conference held at Rhode Island College. Since then numerous students have presented their work at regional Phi Alpha Theta conferences, and the Sigma Omega chapter has even held two regionals – one in person in 2005 and one virtually via Zoom in 2021.

To mark the 50th anniversary of our chapter, One Thing After Another has gathered some of the early documentation regarding the formation of the Sigma Omega chapter and spoken to some of the charter members.

Frank Mason, professor emeritus and original faculty advisor to the Sigma Omega Chapter, shared the following:

When I sought a chapter for SAC, I was completing my 5th year at the college and had some hope that obtaining a chapter would bring positive attention to the department. Perhaps, it would give majors a personal goal and make them appreciate the greater historical scene. From the involvement of its members and under [Prof. Perrone’s] dedicated oversight, those hopes have been realized.  I am happy [the chapter is still ongoing] 50 years since the Dr. Metz came to make it official!  And, of course, female students were added following the college going co-ed.  Only men’s names on that charter, with its unfortunate misspelling of the college.

I, too, had some simple inductions over time. Maybe only one student initiated in my office.  But I always tried to have a rose tied with a bow of the PAT colors [blue and red]. One time I left my office with the necessary ribbons cut and laid out on my desk. When I returned, a student, thinking himself very clever, had tied the ribbons to various objects around my office.

Thomas Rupp ‘73 worked for Aetna after graduation and then started his own insurance agency.  He said:

I have many fond memories of the history department. Among them, Prof. Windhausen’s love of all things Russian and Mason’s all too prophetic insight that war’s evil “could happen again in a minute.  

Bill Earley ’73 wrote:

I have my Phi Alpha Theta certificate displayed on the wall of my home office and it does bring back great memories of being a history major at St. A’s. I truly enjoyed the European History courses taught by Professor Mason and the American History courses taught by Dr. Looney.

I still have the paper that I presented at the regional conference in Rhode Island in 1973. I remember being terrified to read the paper in front of a large group of history scholars. But every time I looked at the audience I saw Professor Mason nodding his encouragement to me and I was able to get through it.

It is hard to believe that 50 years has gone by. I had intended to pursue a master’s degree in history but was not accepted into the program that interested me. So I ended up getting an M.Ed in Special Education and became a Rehabilitation Counselor. I believe that the liberal arts education at St. A’s was a great foundation for my career in the human service field. I am glad that I majored in history and not just because it helps me with Jeopardy questions. The study of history promotes critical thinking and analytical skills. Writing and communication skills are also developed in history classes. If I had to do it over, I would still major in history.

One Thing After Another welcomes further recollections of PAT or the department from Alumni to commemorate this milestone. 

Honan Inducted into Phi Alpha Theta

On Thursday, April 21, 2022, the Saint Anselm College History Department inducted Noelle Honan ’23 (left, above), a History-Biology double-major, into the National History Honor Society Phi Alpha Theta. Assisting in the ceremony was Madison Lessard ’22 (right, above) who was inducted last year. Congratulations Noelle!

Phi Alpha Theta is a professional society whose mission is to promote the study of history through the encouragement of research, good teaching, publication, and the exchange of learning and ideas among historians. The society also seeks to bring students and teachers together for intellectual and social exchanges that promote and assist historical research and publication by members. There are 970 chapters and approximately 400,000 members in the United States. The Saint Anselm College Sigma Omega chapter was established fifty years ago in 1972.

Undergraduate students must complete a minimum of 12 semester hours (4 courses) in History with a minimum History GPA of 3.1 and a 3.0 overall GPA. Members receive four issues of The Historian and are eligible to present research at one of 35 annual regional Phi Alpha Theta regional conferences. They can also apply for funding for undergraduate and graduate scholarships and prizes

Speight ’00 on Applied History and Environmental Protection

Another Day at the Office: Tom Speight ’00 poses next to a 14,000-gallon gas tank that had been forgotten since the 1960s.

Recently, History alum Tom Speight ’00 got in touch with Professor Pajakowski. The History Department learned that Speight is now an analyst with the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection. How did he land a job in that field, and how does he use the skills he acquired as a History major? Read on as Speight explains his work!

A few years after graduation, I took an opportunity to go into the environmental field for what was supposed to be a temporary position and, somewhat to my own surprise, made a career of it. My main specialty is the investigation and cleanup of contaminated properties, a field which involves elements of geology, chemistry, toxicology, civil engineering . . . and, yes, history.

Most of my work for the first couple of years consisted of “Phase I” projects, which are due-diligence reports done as part of real estate transactions. Since a large component of a Phase I report was researching a site’s historic use, to learn whether it had been a dry cleaner, gas station, mill, landfill, foundry, or shipyard, this was a pretty good fit and also gave me the opportunity to pick up other skills that led me into first working on cleanup projects and then running the projects myself. After fifteen years working for consulting engineering companies, I joined the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection in 2019. Most of my work there involves the investigation, closure, and reuse of landfills (they make great solar farms), plus large recycling projects and assisting cities and towns with waste management. What’s usually the quickest way to locate an abandoned landfill? That’s right, historical research. It’s not the easiest or most typical career path, but it can be done.

Some of the ways a major in history prepared me for this work included:

  • documentary research methods
  • experience in quickly taking in, organizing, and understanding large amounts of information
  • writing quickly, concisely, and well—the importance of this can’t be overemphasized in any knowledge-based profession
  • knowledge of history, both in a factual sense and as a process  

There is plenty of room in the environmental field and related disciplines for this kind of “applied history,” and there are firms of consulting historians, archivists, and historic preservation experts who specialize in this kind of work as part of “brownfields” and other public works projects. For example, one former colleague of mine was responsible for compiling a detailed history tracing approximately two hundred years’ worth of industrial uses for the entire neighborhood surrounding the Gowanus Canal in Brooklyn, NY (which is now a Superfund site). This was done for two purposes; the first was to identify potential “hot spots” of contamination, such as forgotten former oil storage depots, and the second was to identify parties who could be held responsible for the cleanup work.

In 2018, I published a book (Manufactured Gas Plant Remediation: A Case Study, Taylor & Francis/CRC Press, Boca Raton, FL, 1084 pages) that I coauthored with a legendary consulting engineer and geologist, Allen Hatheway, on the history and environmental legacy of manufactured gas plants (sometimes called “gasworks” or “MGPs”). The Geological Society of America awarded our book the 2021 Burwell Award for outstanding publication in the field of engineering geology.

The first half of our book discusses the origins, equipment, operations, and business management of the gas industry as it evolved over approximately 150 years. We presented the state of Massachusetts’ gas industry as a case study (in fact, the first state-level case study anyone has done). Most of the references we used for the historical components of the book were original publications by the gas industry, such as professional journals and gasworks operations manuals, which we used to describe the industry in its own words. Some of these dated back to the 1820s. We also used historic maps and other records to locate and map approximately 170 gasworks, waste dumps, and other relevant sites, including a number that hadn’t been discovered yet, and compiled short historical summaries of each site. The second half of the book addresses technical issues such as chemical hazards, environmental regulations, and strategies for cleaning sites up for beneficial use.

For me, this was the perfect intersection of environmental work and history, because some (ok, most) environmental problems need to be put in a human context in order to figure out why something happened. The laws of physics might dictate how dissolved gasoline migrates through groundwater, but loading hazardous waste into a four-horse wagon or dump truck and driving it to the other side of town to be dumped and buried is a human action.

Why Gasworks Mattered In Urban and Industrial Development

Gasworks were industrial facilities operated by gas companies, which distilled coal to produce flammable gas, which was used for illumination (the “gas lights” of the 19th century), heating buildings, and to fuel industries for over a century, much as we use natural gas today. Virtually any city or town of size in the early 1900s had a gasworks, and larger cities often had more than one. Boston, for example, had eight gasworks, and in fact had gas service before it had municipal water service. Gas companies were an important factor in urban development worldwide during the 19th century, as the gas supply literally fueled economic development by enabling the founding of other local businesses and industries which relied on gas, and gas lighting for streets and gas services to homes helped make a town attractive to residents. The gas industry also inspired developments in engineering, business, and even law—most of the regulatory system we currently use for utilities and telecommunications was originally developed partly to regulate gas companies.

Unfortunately, while they were useful, gasworks were not pleasant places. They ran day and night, were noisy, filthy, foul-smelling, and had an unnerving potential to explode, so gasworks were usually confined to industrial areas or low-income neighborhoods on the “wrong side of the tracks.” The Springfield, MA, gasworks partly inspired the polluting Thneed factory from Dr. Seuss’ The Lorax.

The Springfield, MA Gas Light Company gasworks in the 1930s.

Making gas out of coal also generated large quantities of byproducts which provided the starting point for most of the modern chemical industry, including coke, a smokeless fuel and an essential ingredient in steelmaking, plus ammonium sulfate (a valuable fertilizer) and coal tar, which could be distilled into an amazing variety of chemicals, including creosote for preserving wood, laboratory solvents and reagents, dyes for paper and cloth (notably the “Prussian blue” pigment used in old blueprints), and pharmaceuticals. For everyone who’s seen the movie A Christmas Story, the infamous foul-tasting red soap is made with carbolic acid, a.k.a. phenol, a coal tar derivative and widely-used disinfectant.  

Why Gasworks Matter Now

The manufactured gas industry largely shut down in the United States during the 1950s, as pipelines for distributing natural gas became feasible and gas companies switched over. Most of the gasworks were demolished and the properties redeveloped for utility, industrial, or even residential use during the 1960s and 1970s. There’s an ongoing campaign to save one of the few remaining gasworks buildings in New England at the former Concord gasworks. Some of the sites that became residences helped draw attention federal and state environmental agencies’ attention to gasworks during the early 1980s, including the notorious Costa’s Dump site in Lowell, MA, where a housing complex was built on a dump site of cyanide-containing waste.

Unfortunately, most of the gas industry’s byproducts were toxic, carcinogenic or otherwise unpleasant, and gasmaking was a messy process, so gasworks operations typically created significant long-term environmental problems, including pollution of lakes and rivers, contamination of drinking water sources, contamination of soil, and off-gassing volatile compounds such as benzene (a carcinogen) into nearby buildings. State and federal laws passed after the early 1980s required the utility companies whose corporate ancestors had operated the gasworks to take responsibility for the work to address risks these sites posed to human and environmental health.

Many of the formerly wrong-side-of-the-tracks gasworks properties are now potentially valuable urban real estate, for example the Genzyme building in Cambridge, MA (formerly the Cambridge Gas Light Company), or the “Edison on the Charles” apartment complex in Waltham, MA. Given the environmental problems associated with former gasworks, however, redevelopment of these properties involves extensive remediation work to protect human health and the environment.

The Manchester, NH, gasworks, from an 1897 fire insurance map.

As a case in point (and to tie in with St A’s “A River Runs Through Us” program) Manchester’s main gasworks was located on Gas Street, close to the bank of the Merrimack River. This plant supplied the Queen City’s light, heat, and power needs from 1852 to 1952, when the city’s gas system was converted to natural gas. Coal tar discharges from the plant’s wastewater during this period contaminated the river. Cleanup work included dredging nine thousand cubic yards of coal tar-contaminated sediment from the riverbed in 2007 (enough to cover the Grappone football field in a layer of tarry muck five feet deep) plus excavating another several thousand yards of contaminated soil from the gasworks site itself. Other remedial work is still going on.

So, that’s where I am, and that’s how I got here. I hope you found it interesting. I certainly did.

Pajakowski Publishes Article on Merstallinger Case

One Thing after Another reached out to Professor Philip Pajakowski for information on his upcoming publication, “Narratives of Social Radicalism in the Merstallinger Trial,” which will appear in the 2022 issue of Austrian History Yearbook. Inquiring minds want to know.

Q. What is the Austrian History Yearbook? 

A. The Yearbook is the journal of the Society for Austrian and Habsburg History. The journal appears annually (hence the name) and publishes articles and reviews of books on all aspects of the history of the Habsburg Empire and Austrian Republic from the Middle Ages to present times. The Society is based in the United States and includes members from Austria and the successor states to the Habsburg Empire, as well as Great Britain, Germany, and other countries.

Q. What is the theme of your article? 

A. My article concerns the trial of 28 social radicals held in Vienna in March 1883. The radicals had been arrested in connection with the chloroforming and robbery of a master shoemaker, Josef Merstallinger, on July 4, 1882. When they were caught a few weeks later, the two robbers claimed they had carried their crime not out of personal greed but to raise money to support the cause of radical socialism in the empire. According to the robbers, the money was to be used to buy a secret printing press so that an underground organization of radicals could spread propaganda throughout the Austro-Hungarian Empire. Seizing on this confession, the police arrested nearly 40 known radical activists, and eventually 28 of them faced trial on charges of robbery, accessory to robbery, or high treason. The police and prosecution referred to the robbery as the first clear act of terrorism in the empire and contended that the defendants represented a branch of an international anarchist conspiracy, based in London and intent on the destruction of the social order, including the state, the church, private property, and the traditional family. The radical conspirators posed a threat to civilization. These charges culminated in a public, ten-day trial before a jury in Vienna’s provincial criminal court, and the trial received daily coverage in the newspapers of Austria and was also reported on in the press of France, Germany, Great Britain, and even America. The prosecution sought to convince the jury and the public of the dire threat the underground radical network posed to society but largely failed to do that. Instead, the defendants on trial denied knowledge of any secret society, and their attorneys presented them as simple working people who posed no danger in Austria, where the emperor’s subjects were happy and contented with their situation. According to this this view, at worst, some confused people liked to talk over wild political views while drinking in beer halls, and even the two robbers were mentally limited and had no real understanding of the radical socialist political intentions. This interpretation seems to have appealed to the public. The jury acquitted the defendants of all charges, except the robbery charge against the two men who had attacked Merstallinger, and press reports expressed relief that the trial showed that Austria really did not face an existential threat from anarchists.

Q. What does the article show us?

I would like to convey a sense of the complexity of political and legal matters in the Habsburg Empire. The empire has a well deserved reputation for authoritarian practice and stringent, even paranoid control over political activity. In some ways this case confirms that. The police turned the robbery of a shoemaker into a sign of impending social upheaval that would end civilized life in Europe. On the other hand, Viennese citizens showed a healthy skepticism about these claims. The empire also provided an institution, the public jury trial, where citizens had an opportunity to oversee state criminal charges and make important legal decisions. 

Q. How did you come to this topic? 

Somewhat by chance. I am interested in the nature of authority and governance in the Habsburg Empire and elsewhere; we can say that the empire was authoritarian, but what does that mean in specific circumstances? One relevant question is how did those in power deal with radical dissent? To what extent could people raise protests against the established order of government and society? Considering the means of maintaining public order led me to the judicial system and to trials in particular as demonstrations of authority before the community but also as events that incorporated the people in upholding the law. I looked into mentions of trials of social radicals, found the Merstallinger case, and checked into the Vienna city archive. By good luck, the case file was still present in the archival collection, and the trial also received extensive press coverage. With good source material and, I think, an interesting topic, I plan to continue writing on the trial and eventually to finish a book on the Merstallinger case and its relation to state authority and political dissent.