Five new offerings have just been added to the Wagner College History online storefront:
- “Wagner College History Sourcebook,” curated by Lee Manchester, is a collection of all known articles written or published about Wagner College history between 1894 and 2017, with the exception of a collection of Wagner Magazine articles on the history of the Staten Island campus, which is scheduled for publication later this year.
- “Mary Delia Burr: Humanitarian, Pioneer, Visionary” (1990) by nursing professor Margaret Mary Governo is a biography of the founding dean of what is now known as the Evelyn L. Spiro School of Nursing. It was Dr. Governo’s dissertation at Columbia University Teachers College.
- “The Emerging Identity of Wagner College” (1972) by William Albert Rowen is the Indiana University School of Education doctoral dissertation of a Wagner dean.
- “Wagner College Policy Toward Constituency and Community” (1955) by Bernhard Hugo Paul Hillila, a Teachers College dissertation by a former Wagner instructor and Suomi College and Theological Seminary president — and, in later life, a Finnish-American ethnic humorist and performer — looks at the competing demands that shaped Wagner College’s development.
- And “Wagner College: The First Century” (1983) by David B. Tyler, Wagner emeritus professor of history, is a manuscript found in our archives. This attempt at a comprehensive history of Wagner College’s first hundred years of existence was created for the college’s centennial celebration. It is clearly a very early draft; it contains numerous factual errors that undoubtedly would have been corrected prior to its publication, had it been finished. We are making it available to researchers because it is, in itself, a historic relic. Of particular value are those portions of the manuscript that reflect Professor Tyler’s first-hand knowledge of certain episodes in the college’s history. We encourage researchers to read the manuscript with a critical but appreciative eye.
These have been added to the four volumes already offered in the Wagner College History online bookstore:
- “Wagner College: Four Histories,” edited by Lee Manchester, is the first book-length history of Wagner College, published in conjunction with the school’s 125th anniversary in 2008. It contains historical essays by four authors (hence, the title) who presented their work at a forum on September 12, 2008. It was revised in November 2008, and again in February 2009, to incorporate newly discovered information about the college's founders. It was revised in May 2011 to show more detailed information on the tenures of two presidents.
- “Founding Faces & Places: An Illustrated History of Wagner Memorial Lutheran College, 1869-1930,” by Lee Manchester, is a book of archival photos and interpretive material prepared to accompany an exhibition shown in the Horrmann Library’s Spotlight Gallery from September 12 through October 15, 2008, in observance of the 125th anniversary of the founding of Wagner College in 1883. It covers the period beginning in 1869, during Wagner’s “prehistory,” and runs through the last major building project to be started before the Great Depression: Main Hall, our Collegiate Gothic architectural signature, which recently underwent a complete exterior renovation.
- “Wagner Literary Magazine,” edited by Willard Maas. From 1958 to 1964, English professor Willard Maas served as the faculty editor of Wagner College’s literary magazine, previously and thereafter known as Nimbus but renamed during Maas’s editorship as Wagner Literary Magazine. This single volume contains complete facsimiles of all four issues of Maas’s Wagner Literary Magazine, plus a 1963 literary supplement, X by X. An extensive introduction explains how the magazine was put together and the impact it had — and a profile of Willard Maas, reprinted from the Fall 2013 issue of Wagner Magazine, examines the rumor that Professor Maas and his wife were the inspiration for the characters of George and Martha in Edward Albee's landmark drama, “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?” (Spoiler alert: They were!)
- “We Found Our Voice: A History of the Wagner College Choir,” by Laura Barlament. Founded as a Lutheran institution, Wagner College has a powerful choral tradition of more than 80 years. This book traces Wagner choir history from the 1930s to the present. Besides the historical narrative, it features 18 reflections by choir alumni of all generations, who describe in their own words what the Wagner College Choir meant to them. Rich in photographs and archival materials, this history brings the Wagner College Choir story to life. “The story line … [shows] how successive generations of students continued to collaborate towards the greater good and an other-centered communication through many traditions of songs. In Laura Barlament’s capable hands, what might have become as mundane as a travelogue on singing reads more like the Meistersingers’ journey.” — Richard Steen, Wagner College Choir Director, 1979–81.
All material in the Wagner College History online storefront is available at cost (with no markup) plus shipping.
