PREFACE

Early in 1960, shortly after I had completed the requirements for the Ph.D. degree in history, former Dean Donald E. Deyo suggested to me that “. . . we need to get started on a thorough, scholarly history of MJC, or at least the early chapters of such a history, now, or soon, while those who remember our earliest days are known, alive, locatable, and can remember, and while documents can still be located.”¹ He was not looking towards formal publication in the near future but rather in terms of the institution’s 25th or 50th anniversary. I expressed an interest in the proposal, realizing the importance of interviewing people who had played a significant role in the founding and development of the College and who might not be around many years longer. I indicated that in order to undertake such a project, some re- leased time from teaching responsibilities was essential. Mr. Deyo agreed, although at that time he was not prepared to provide me with released time beginning in the fall of 1960. Nothing further was done about the proposal for a history of the College until the fall of 1968 when an ad hoc committee on planning the budget for the institution’s 25th anniversary celebration suggested that it would now be “a good time” to publish a short, illustrated history of the institution. President William C. Strasser accepted this suggestion and, in turn, invited me to write the history. I accepted readily his invitation and the challenge which the project presented in the research and writing.

Not only did the research involved call for the examination of official records, reports, college yearbooks, catalogs and student newspapers but also for a rather sizable correspondence and several interviews. I have had to call upon many people for assistance. Without their help and support, it would have been im- possible for me to have completed this short history within the time allotted. I am particularly grateful to the following: Mrs. Hugh G. Price, widow of the founding dean and the College’s first art instructor; Mrs. G. Beale Bloomer, a parent who had an early interest in the College; Dr. Clifford K. Beck, a former member of the Board of Trustees and now Chairman, State Board for Community Colleges; Mrs. Jesse P. Bogue, a former faculty member; Milton F. Clogg, the first president of the Student Council; William Cohen, a former faculty member and presently Head- master, Town and Country Day School, Silver Spring; Professor Donald S. Detwiler, Southern Illinois University, a former faculty member; President Donald E. Deyo, Dean Junior College, Franklin, Massachusetts, the second Dean of Montgomery College; Dr. George B. Erbstein, President of Ulster County Com- munity College, New York, former Dean of Faculty; James G. Harmon, a former faculty member; Miss Sadie G. Higgins, Assistant Dean emeritus; Dr. Bernard A. Hodinko, Vice President for Student Life, The American University, former Dean of Students; Dr. George Hodson, President, North Country Community College, Saranac Lake, New York, former President of Montgomery College; Professor Jerome W. Kloucek, University of Toledo, a member of the founding faculty of Montgomery College and later its registrar; Dr. Eileen P. Kuhns, Dean, Mount Vernon College, former Executive Dean of Montgomery College; James S. McAuliffe, Jr., an alumnus and now Vice Chairman of the College’s Board of Trustees; John W. McLeod, A.I.A.; Professor George S. Morrison, Northern Arizona University, a former faculty member; Dr. Thomas G. Pullen, Jr., former State Super- intendent of Schools; Dr. H. David Reese, Maryland State Department of Education; Professor and Mrs. Julien A. Ripley of Stanford University, former faculty members; F. Frank Rubini, Associate Director of Parks, Maryland-National Capital Park & Planning Commission, the former Director of Athletics; William I. Saunders, a former member of the Board of Trustees; Lester J. Welch, now retired, Montgomery County Board of Education; Everett H. Woodward, a former member of the Board of Trustees; Miss Golda S. Payne, Mrs. Freda Malone, Dr. Frank L. Verwiebe, Harold S. Wood, professors emeriti; and my colleagues of the faculty and administrative staff, Dr. Howard K. Ammerman, Dr. Philip H. Baldridge, Sam Cardea, Louis G. Chacos, Harvey J. Cheston, Dr. Wallace W. Culver, Stanley M. Dahlman, Dr. Mary R. Dearing, Joseph T. Doyle, Duane C. Ellison, Emery Fast, Dr. Robert B. Frieders, Mrs. Jane C. Frost, Dr. Fern A. Goss, Dr. R. Justus Hanks, Jack W. Henry, Jr., Allen H. Jones, Dr. Eric N. Labouvie, Burling H. Lowrey, Mrs. Barbara M. Masson, Dr. James R. Mock, Dr. Michael N. Morgan, Dr. Bernice P. Pierson, Mrs. Virginia G. Pinney, James T. W. Ross, Irvin H. Schieck, Mrs. Ruth J. Smock, William C. Tomlinson, Mrs. Edith F. Waterman, Stephen G. Wright, and Mrs. Lillian C. Zugby. I am especially grateful to Dr. William C. Strasser, President of the College, for his interest in and support of the project and to Mr. Robert C. Gildart, Executive Director for Procedures and Publications, whose aid was invaluable in bringing this book to publication. I am also appreciative of the help and good counsel of my wife, Lynn Waters Fox (Class of ’52). For any errors of fact or interpretation, I, of course, am alone responsible.

William Lloyd Fox

Montgomery College
Takoma Park, Maryland
August, 1970

¹Donald E. Deyo, Takoma Park, Md., memorandum, 7 Feb. 1960, to the author.