Springfield College Graduate Gillian Menezes '23 Archival Processor for G. Eugene Rich and Herbert Zettl Springfield College Oral History Collection
At left, Springfield College graduate Gillian Menezes ‘23, Springfield College Faculty Emeritus Herb Zettl, and Springfield College Archivist Jeff Monseau.
By: Damon Markiewicz
Springfield College graduate Gillian Menezes '23, a history major and public history museum science minor, recently had the opportunity to serve as the archival processor of the G. Eugene Rich and Herbert Zettl Springfield College Oral History Collection, one of the newest additions to the Springfield College archives.
This experience for Menezes was part of an internship on the campus that allowed her to sharpen her skills in the historical archivable field, and build a connection with Zettl, a retired Springfield College faculty member with more than 40 years dedicated to the College. Menezes organized a three-part series with Zettl highlighting his oral history project, diving deep into his time at the College as a faculty member, while also serving as the first coach of the Springfield College women’s varsity soccer team.
“This project helped me learn the capturing process of historical archives, and I really enjoyed learning about the history of the school, learning about different perspectives over the decades,” expressed Menezes. “This experience helped me so much in my growth in public history research, and this opportunity will certainly help me down the road with the different professional opportunities that will be available to me as a college graduate.”
The oral history collection included transcriptions and audio recordings of Springfield College alumni, faculty, former presidents and coaches, conducted by both Zettl and faculty colleague G. Eugene Rich. The collection included 40 years of interviews and captures as part of Rich and Zettl’s classwork between 1970 through 2010.
“Dr. Rich was a pioneer in the oral history process before he passed away in 1983 at the age of 56,” expressed Zettl. “I wanted to carry on what he started. Individuals just love sharing their stories about Springfield College, and it’s so important to have all these great memories captured so people can understand the in-depth history at Springfield.”
In honoring Rich’s legacy, Zettl remained committed to using his history class to continue his own oral history project. Part of Zettl’s work included a project called “As I Remember Springfield,” a focus on alumni talking about the first 100 years at Springfield College. Some of the themes discussed in these oral histories included life on campus, freshman orientation, traditions of the College, changes to curriculum, and changes to the College following World War I and World War II.
As part of Zettl’s research, the oral histories represented so many great alumni, starting with Samuel Pond from the class of 1912, and ending with Chris Fabry, who graduated in 2002. Some of the other notable alumni included: Leslie Judd '20, Dorothy Audette '36, Irv Schmid '43, and John J. Costello '57.
“The alumni loved being contacted, and they expressed that this was a way for them to stay connected to the College,” explained Zettl. “Springfield College alumni just have a strong passion to keep the history of the College alive and well.”
Zettl and Rich helped capture many of the oral histories, but a large portion of the collections were student interviewers who took part in Zettl's class assignment.
“We had students interviewing their parents and grandparents as part of the project,” added Zettl. “We collected the tapes from the students and 90-percent of the students participating would transcribe the interviews themselves. You learn about how much Springfield impacted their lives during these interviews, and you understand that Springfield College is always a part of who they are.”
Maintaining oral history research is such an important piece of the puzzle in order to make sure the entire Springfield College story is being told, and future generations of alumni can learn what has led them to the present time.
“The story of Dorothy Audette, the first female full-time student at Springfield College, who graduated in 1936, is a great example of what makes this oral history research so important,” said Springfield College Archivist Jeff Monseau. “You have names of individuals and listings of when they graduated, but without preserving these oral histories, you will end up having gaps in the history of the College. Preserving these stories through oral history is so important because you can’t find these stories in the class yearbooks, this type of projects help complete the full story of Springfield College."
And as Menezes can relate, Springfield College stories are really told best by the students.
“You can do all the research you want, or read all the newspapers, but the story of Springfield College really does come from the students,” concluded Menezes. “That’s why this collection is powerful, you actually get to hear their voices and listen to their stories, real stories about what they went through at Springfield. You don’t get that real history without taking care of oral history collections like this one.”
It's a project that certainly would have made Rich very proud to be a part of as well, and this collection honors both Rich and his family.
“I certainly wish Gene was with us to see this addition to the archives,” concluded Zettl. “It’s an honor that his family trusted us to preserve this collection, and as we can see, the collection is in very good hands.”
