We hope everyone had a good time at the 2024 Meliora Weekend! There were so many great events across campus. It was wonderful to see our alumni and friends at the open house. We had alumni and current students sharing stories before and after our Department lecture. The lecture, "'God's Great Plough': The Cultural History of Glaciers and the Origins of Modern Climate Science", given by Professors Stewart Weaver and Tanya Bakhmetyeva was very well attended and enjoyed by all. Don't forget you can learn more about their recent research adventures here, "On thinning ice". See more photos and updates from UR Alumni Relations.

(Photo credit: UR Alumni Relations)

Check out these reading suggestions from the Department for the upcoming cold weather!

October & Novembers' Question is:

How has studying history influenced your perspective on current events?

Robert Kirschbaum (BA '70) has been selected to receive a 2024-25 Fellowship Grant in the Art category from the Memorial Foundation for Jewish Culture, in support of his “Ashlar Series” of etching and relief prints.  These grants are designed to assist Jewish individuals and/or organizations in carrying out independent, scholarly, literary, or art projects in a field of Jewish specialization, and contribute to the ongoing preservation and creation of global Jewish culture. Kirschbaum is currently a Professor of Fine Arts at Trinity College, Hartford.

Susan O. Shapiro (BA '74) received her BA in History from UR in 1974 and went on to get her PhD in Classics at the University of Texas at Austin in 1992.  She has recently published a Latin review grammar with the University of Oklahoma Press, titled Latin Redux: a Second Year Grammar Review.

Jeffrey Reznick (BA '92), PhD, Senior Historian at the National Library of Medicine, National Institutes of Health, and author of “Toward a Civil Society: Bernarr Cooper and the Bureau of Mass Communications of the New York State Education Department,” was featured in New York Archives Magazine (Fall 2024) for his discussion on Cooper’s profound influence on educational television. In the article, Reznick delves into Cooper’s leadership in producing Vegetable Soup—a groundbreaking 1970s children’s series aimed at promoting racial tolerance. Cooper’s efforts resulted in over 1,500 educational programs that were widely distributed to schools and libraries. Reznick invites you to read his previous New York Archives Magazine article about Vegetable Soup, and explore the AAPB’s Vegetable Soup Collection to discover how this visionary program fostered critical social changes.

Mark S. Zaid (BA History and Political Science, '89) was presented the Robert F. Metzdorf Award at a Meliora Weekend reception. 

Francis R. Grebe (BA '54) longtime member of the History Alumni Advisory Committee, age 92, of Arbordeau in Devon, died on September 12, 2024, at the Canterbury Skilled Nursing facility of White Horse Village.  Mr. Grebe was born in Rochester, New York, to Albert J. and Mary Flannery Grebe.  He graduated from the University of Rochester (Phi Beta Kappa) and the University of Michigan Law School.  He was admitted to practice law in Michigan, Illinois, and New York.  For over 50 years, Mr. Grebe was involved in estate and financial planning and the financial management of wealth, particularly for individuals with very large estates.  He was associated throughout his career with some of the most prominent wealth managers.  He was active in the management of the Family Complex section of the Girard Bank and managed the Personal Trust Division of Philadelphia National Bank before becoming Executive Vice President of the U.S. Trust Company of Florida.  He was also a partner of the Main Line Trust Company, which later became Davidson Trust Company based in Devon.  Most recently he was affiliated with the Pennsylvania Trust Company (now the Fiduciary Trust Company International of Pennsylvania) from which he retired at age 85.  Mr. Grebe was active in several charitable and cultural institutions.  He was a long-time board member of the Athenaeum of Philadelphia, having joined the board in 1974 and serving until he retired to emeriti status in 2021.  He also served on the boards of the Associated Services for the Blind of Philadelphia and Family Services of Montgomery County, both of which he served for a time as board chairman.  For a number of years he was a trustee of the Guthrie Clinic in Sayre, Pennsylvania, where he was the last remaining trustee who had worked personally with the late philanthropist, Emily B. Guthrie (1890-1976).  He also served for a time as a trustee of the Meshewa Farm Foundation in Cincinnati, Ohio, and the Sylvan Foundation.  Mr. Grebe was a member of the Genesee Valley Club, Rochester, NY, and was a member of the New York State Bar Association and its Trusts & Estates Committee and its Elderly Law Committee.  Mr. Grebe was predeceased by his wife, Jean Sampson Lindsay Grebe, and his step-daughter, Jean S. Lindsay, and is survived by his step-sons, Alexander M. Lindsay IV and James Lindsay, as well as by several nieces and nephews. 

Interested in mentoring current students? Want to make connections with other history alumni? Join the History Career Connections Program!

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