Courtesy of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences
The KSC Film Studies Department owns the only known copy of a long-lost 1913 silent movie about Abraham Lincoln, When Lincoln Paid. On April 20, film professor Larry Benaquist screened the movie for the first time in nearly 100 years. When word of this historic event got out, it made news around the world and attracted an audience from far and near. Here’s a sampling of the reports:
The Keene State College Department of Music has given Mr. Rob Westerberg ’87 its Distinguished Alumni Award for 2009–10. Rob currently serves as the choral director at York High School in York, Maine, and is the director of the Portland Community Chorus. He earned a B.M. in Music Education at KSC and an M.M. in Choral Conducting from the U of Maine.
Rob will be back on campus on Thursday, November 4, 2010, and will receive the award at a Concert Band performance in the Redfern Arts Center Main Theatre at 7:30 p.m. If you know Rob, use the “comments” link to drop him a note of congratulations.
Because this historic film has sparked far more interest than we originally anticipated, we’ve moved the 4 p.m. showing on Tuesday (April 20) of When Lincoln Paid to the Mabel Brown Room in the L.P. Young Student Center to accommodate more people. We’ll show a DVD of the film there, with piano accompaniment by Jeff Rapsis, who plays piano behind silent films around New England.
Immediately after this showing, for the hard-core aficionados, we’ll show the 35mm preservation print of the film in the Putnam Theater in the Redfern Arts Center on Brickyard Pond.
The campus just learned that Charles “Chuck” Thompson, first Director of the KSC Computer Center, passed away at age 73 on December 31.
Chuck came to Keene State in 1978. In his 20 years here, he oversaw computing on campus evolve from punch cards to PCs and daily internet use. Chuck played a key role in developing Keene’s technical infrastructure and was a major contributor to the design of KSC’s voicemail system. Jim Draper, KSC Director of Purchasing, credits Chuck with the foresight and ability to understand the needs of our community. Jim explains that Chuck’s technical vision, coupled with his understanding of student needs, resulted in an exemplary voicemail-system implementation before such technology was standard.
Chuck was a graduate from the University of Nebraska (BS, Mathematics) and Rochester Institute of Technology (MBA). He had been living in Abita Springs, Louisiana.
Stand up and take a bold step (well, actually, several steps) on Saturday, April 17, to stop violence against women. The 4th Annual Walk a Mile in Her Shoes, International Men’s March to End Rape, Sexual Assault & Gender Violence is open to all men, women & children. Men are encouraged, though not required, to wear women’s shoes to support the cause.
Are you as excited as we are about Reunion Weekend, June 4, 5, & 6? Sign up online now! We’ll have some great gatherings and activities. Be a student again (all the fun, but no exams) and stay on campus in our award-winning Pondside III residence hall or the newly renovated Huntress Hall! Visit our Reunion web pages for more information!
Francis Ford as Abraham Lincoln in When Lincoln Paid (Courtesy of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences)
A couple of years ago, a local contractor was demolishing a barn in Nelson, N.H., when he came across a 35mm Monarch projector and seven reels of film. He donated his find to the Keene State College Film Society, which has determined that at least three of the films appear to be the only surviving copies of long-lost movies, including When Lincoln Paid, a film on an incident in Abraham Lincoln’s life, starring and directed by movie pioneer Francis Ford, the older brother of and greatest influence on famed director John Ford.
This brittle and damaged 30-minute two-reeler is of such historical significance that it easily won support from Tag Gallagher (author of John Ford), the George Eastman House in Rochester, NY, and the National Film Preservation Foundation, who rallied to restore the film. After being lost for 97 years, When Lincoln Paid will premiere in the Mabel Brown Room in the Student Center on Tuesday, April 20, at 4 p.m. and again in the Putnam Theater in the Redfern Arts Center,thanks to the sponsorship of the KSC Film Archives, Special Collections/Mason Library, the Film Studies Dept., and the KSC Film Society. The film is important for its historical theme, its place in film history, and for what it has to show about the techniques that influenced John Ford. The screening is free and open to the public.
Both Ford brothers were fascinated with Abraham Lincoln and made him the subject of many of their films. “There is nothing I like better than to play Lincoln. I have a big library devoted to this great man, and I have studied every phase of his remarkable character, and when I am acting the part, I can feel the man as I judge him,” Francis Ford is quoted as saying in an article by Ford scholar Tag Gallagher.
“Francis Ford is one of the most fascinating persons in film history…And he is known as the man who taught John Ford.” Gallagher said in a letter he sent in support of restoring When Lincoln Paid. Francis Ford made the first spectacular westerns in 1912, some of the first detective movies, and one of the first serials.
“Between 1912 and 1915 he played Abraham Lincoln in at least seven pictures. Alas, all of these pictures are lost. For nearly a century no one has been able to see Francis Ford as Lincoln,” Gallagher explained. “So now…to be told that I may get to see Francis Ford as Lincoln is thrilling news indeed.”
Check out these film clips from When Lincoln Paid. The first shows Confederate soldiers ambushing and pursuing John Wade, one of the film’s principal characters. The second shows Mrs. Wade pleading with Abraham Lincoln (played by Francis Ford) for the life of a young Confederate soldier.
Alums showing their KSC pride at the 1st KSC in NYC event
You are invited to join the KSC in NYC alumni group on Thursday, April 15, from 6:00–8:00 p.m. for their 2nd annual event! This year we’ll meet in the Empire Room, a brand new bar in the Empire State Building (dress code: no hats or sneakers). Take advantage of this opportunity to network with your fellow alums and share your favorite memories and stories about your time at KSC! You cover the drinks, and we cover the appetizers, but no promises on how long they will last. …
For more information, email Megan FitzGerald ’98 and Kara Grenier ’04 or visit the Facebook group “KSC in NYC.”
The best way for the Parents Association to meet the goals and challenges of supporting our students is if we know what all those goals and challenges are. So, please, share your ideas and feedback on the information, programs, and events you’d like to see us support. We really want to know what you think.
What opportunities do you see for additional information about campus programs and services? How about meeting and sharing ideas? Do you prefer to meet on campus? Regionally? What topics especially interest you? Would you participate in a webinar? Would you share your hard-won wisdom about college students with others?
Please complete our brief online questionnaire. As an incentive, we will randomly choose one name from every 25 surveys completed and send your student a Dining Commons cookiegram or pizza party. And we’ll post the survey results on the KSC Parents Association webpage later in the spring. Thank you!
With $535,000 in pledges, we’re half way towards our $1 million goal for the Alumni Center. Hooray! The lion’s share of this critical support has come from our faithful KSC alumni, but many of our generous friends and corporate partners have also pitched in. We are profoundly grateful to everyone who has responded to our need, and to our University System trustees and the College for so much of the project funds.
We are naming parts of the building in honor of those who have given naming gifts. The Class of 1958 came up with the brilliant idea of pooling their individual donations into one hefty gift to the campaign. Hence, you’ll be able to bask in the friendly warmth of the Class of 1958 Alumni Gallery Fireplace. Several generous individuals will also have their names attached to spaces in the new building. Make sure you’re here for the big dedication ceremony on June 4 during Reunion Weekend.
We’re still striving to complete this campaign this year, and wed love to include tons of alums. If you make a gift of $100 or more, we’ll put your name on our donor wall. You can make a secure pledge online, or please call now: 603 358 2375. Thanks a million!
KSC junior Jessica Spellman plays with kids at a community outreach event at a low-income apartment complex in Orlando, Fla.
For many college students, Spring Break is a time of excess and indulgence. But as KSC senior Hannah Dale reported, a couple of week-long breaks in February and March were times for some students to indulge in their excess social consciousness. They joined such programs as Alternative Spring Break and Here’s Life Inner City and fanned out across the country to build houses, set up computer labs for a women’s half-way house, improve the environment, tutor at-risk youth, and dig ditches. The students organized and led these trips, so they not only helped those in need, they also helped themselves learn some valuable lessons, including leadership skills.
Do you know any of these students? Want to give them a digital high five? Use the “comments” link below.
