Feedback: Netflix Doc Brings Back Memories, the Impact of BU President Harold C. Case, Commencement Delayed
Feedback: Netflix Doc Brings Back Memories, the Impact of BU President Harold C. Case, Commencement Delayed
Netflix Doc Brings Back Memories
My wife, Barrie Adams Montross (SDM’78), attained her master’s degree at BU. We receive Bostonia and read it frequently. She pointed out the article “Inside a Revolutionary Summer Camp” (Summer 2020) by Amy Laskowski about a Netflix film Crip Camp: A Disability Revolution.
I was a counselor for a summer at that camp in the early ’70s. Larry Allison was a phenomenal camp director. Even though so many of the campers were very needy, we all still had a great time. “AB” (able-bodied) and “crip” counselors worked together to provide a fantastic experience for all.
I ended up being the dude ranch counselor. I drove campers to a local ranch, where we loaded the campers up on the horses and did a walk-around for a while. What an amazing experience we had.
My hat’s off to [film editor] Andrew Gersh (COM’90). Barrie and I will be watching it on Netflix tonight!
John “Moose” Montross
Burlington, Vt.
I’m honored to be mentioned by Andy in this article. Though I’ve had over a thousand students since he was in my Production 1 class, I remember him, as he stood out for his passion for film and his great work ethic. So, I’m not surprised by his success, and I’m happy for him and the important work he’s doing.
Sam Kauffman
Professor of Film, BU College of Communication
I enjoyed reading the article about Crip Camp, a documentary about a summer camp for people with disabilities, accompanied by music of the late ’60s. I viewed the film shortly before seeing the article in Bostonia. It felt very familiar to me—I worked at Camp Hemlocks, an Easter-seals camp in Trumbull, Conn., when I was an undergraduate at the University of New Hampshire, studying occupational therapy. My sister, who was also an occupational therapist, had worked there before me, and said it would be a great experience, and it was. I was hired as crafts director, but I lived in a cabin with campers, helping with toileting, dressing, and feeding, when needed. Counselors worked very hard, with time off only between sessions; we grew close to campers and to each other. It was a revolutionary time that eventually led to significant progress in the lives of many with the passage of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990.
Carole W. Dennis (Sargent’98)
Ithaca, N.Y.
The Impact of BU President Harold C. Case
I’m writing in response to your summer 2020 Bostonia (“Charles River Campus Marks 100th Anniversary”). I am the daughter-in-law of Harold C. Case, president of BU from 1951 to 1967. I’m disappointed that you gave Harold Case no credit for starting to centralize the campus on Comm Ave.
My memory is that he was the one who began to create the Comm Ave campus. For example, I’m pretty sure I remember that he moved Sargent College from Cambridge to Comm Ave and another school, possibly the College of Fine Arts, from a location adjacent to Boston Public Library to Comm Ave. There were many, many other examples of his creating a campus, including new construction.
Harold Case also was the one who identified Howard Thurman as an important spiritual leader to bring to Marsh Chapel. Thurman didn’t just arrive there, he was chosen by a foresighted leader. And of interesting historical note, Harold Case was the last Methodist minister to serve as president of BU, which, as you wrote about in this issue, was founded by the Methodist Church. (As a personal commentary, that may have been the era of the decline of the Methodist denomination.)
So these notes are in the nature of missed opportunities!
Ann Dinsmoor
Newton Highlands, Mass.
Editor’s note: Harold C. Case (STH’27, Hon.’67) was the fifth president of Boston University. He continued the postwar expansion of BU, building new dormitories and establishing the School of Fine and Applied Arts (now the College of Fine Arts), the College of Engineering, and Metropolitan College. During his tenure, Sargent College moved from Cambridge, Mass., to a new building on the Charles River Campus, Mugar Memorial Library was completed, and the Goldman School of Dental Medicine, Warren Towers, the GSU, and the Danielsen Institute opened. In 1953, Case created the African Studies Program and the same year invited the distinguished African American theologian Howard Thurman to be dean of Marsh Chapel. Thurman (Hon.’67) became the first Black dean at a mostly white American university.
Commencement Delayed
I read with interest in the summer 2020 Bostonia issue that because of COVID there was no graduation ceremony this year (“A Send-Off Like No Other for the Class of 2020”). I also enjoyed reading about the remembrances of some of the 1970 graduating class (“50 Years Later, Another Delayed Commencement”). I have another insight. I was a 1970 graduate of SED [now Wheelock College of Education & Human Development]. Our daughter, Jennifer (Gros) Berenholz (Questrom’03), was a 2003 graduate of the business school, and we gave donations to an on-campus charity. In one of their newsletters, my husband noticed that a 1970 graduate attended the 2002 graduation, and he wrote to the administration asking whether I could attend a graduation ceremony also. It was quite a thrill to march in with our daughter at her 2003 graduation ceremony. It was a meaningful experience and also afforded me the opportunity to take pictures of her from close up. BU was kind enough to send me a cap and gown, and also issued a new diploma in my married name. Both “graduations” were memorable to me.
Bonnie Case Gros (DGE’68, Wheelock’70)
Morganville, N.J.
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