Staff Writer
History Club members from left to right: Secretary Adriana Cedeno, Fernando Moura, Rachel Florrie Fletcher, Faculty Advisor Dr. David Koch, ‘Web-mistress’ Fannai Dixon, President Justin Tracey, Solange Fyfield and Melissa Domond.
Photograph by Tori Centopanti.
The History Club is ready to make history come alive at Housatonic after being approved February 4 by the Student Senate.
According the club’s constitution, the purpose of the club is to broaden members’ perspectives on history, particularly of Connecticut and the surrounding region, to provide history-related educational and recreational opportunities, and to serve the community.
“I want to see it become an institution here at HCC that’s a lively, vibrant organization with good student participation,” said History Professor Dr. Kevin Boylan, advisor to the club.
The club has gotten off to a great start since forming near the end of 2009, with about 30 students showing interest and its organizational members actively working to plan events.
“From what I’ve seen so far, I think we have all the elements in place to really make an impressive splash on HCC’s community,” said Assistant Professor of History Dr. David Koch, another advisor to the club.
Eventually, they’d like to take a trip to Washington, D.C. or Gettysburg, but there’s a lot of local history they can explore in the meantime.
“I think people are more familiar with, say, the battlefields of the Civil War down in Virginia than they are with the history of Connecticut,” Boylan said.
One trip that is being arranged involves visiting the Mark Twain House and Museum as well as the Harriet Beecher Stowe Center, both located in Hartford. No official date has been confirmed, but they are aiming for the week after spring break.
According to Koch, the club is interested in seeing “some of the stuff you wouldn’t find every day.” Among his suggestions is Sleeping Giant State Park in Hamden.
“It’s really a hiking trip, but [it] was actually a civilian conservation core project that was begun in the 1930’s as a Depression Era project,” he said.
The idea of inviting a civil war reenactment group on campus, or visiting one, is also being looked into.
“It’s more about what we can potentially do rather than what we’ve done so far,” said History Club President Justin Tracey, who is also the Opinions Editor for Horizons.
The most rewarding thing for Boylan is seeing the enthusiasm shown by the students. “I wish that all my students were so taken with history when I’m teaching,” he said.
“The fact is that we’re always heartened to see people finally becoming enlightened and seeing what the true best academic subject in the world is, which is of course history,” Koch said with a smile.
The idea for this club was a joint effort by Boylan and Koch.
“Our intention was to give students who had an interest in history a greater outlet for that than perhaps our curriculum could offer,” Boylan said, referring to HCC’s lack of a degree or certificate in history.
“I think it’s really filling a gap that needed to be filled,” Koch added.
Tracey got involved “accidentally” after writing an article about the club last semester. “I gained an interest in it, and I actually played a vital role in creating it and getting people to sign up,” he said.
Students interested in joining can contact the club’s officiers through their official Facebook page, which is titled ‘Housatonic Community College History Club.’
To keep up to date with their future events, trips and activities, you can also visit the Student Activities calendar on HCC’s webpage.
The club meets every second Wednesday at 3 p.m. in Room 317 of Beacon Hall.
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