Perreault, Adrian.xml
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Part of Adrian Perreault Oral History
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Adrian Perreault
Marist College
Poughkeepsie, NY
Transcribed by Nancy Decker
For the Marist College and Special Collections
Transcript - Adrian Perreault
Interviewee:
Adrian Perreault
Interviewer:
Gus Nolan
Interview Date:
June 11, 2001
Location:
Fontaine Hall, Marist College Campus
Subject Headings:
Perreault, Adrian
Marist College Alumni
Marist Brothers
Greystone
Fontaine (Original)
Marist College—Faculty
Summary:
Adrian Perreault discusses his early exposers to the Marist Brothers and
what attracted him to join. He speaks about his early teaching career at the
elementary, middle, and high school levels before finishing his education
and becoming Marist Colleges head librarian. He talks about the period of
transition for the library he oversaw. Adrian is joined in the interview by
his wife Betty Perreault.
Gus Nolan:
Later, Adrian, we are going to ask you to sign a release that
what you say with us, we can use for this enterprise, if that's
agreeable.
Adrian Perreault:
As long as she signs it for me.
GN:
She will sign it for you, as long as you nod and say it's O.K., we’ll
accept that as positive. For this afternoon, we would like to focus on you.
I mean, your own life, your coming to the Marist Community, and then
your career as a librarian. Did that ever happen in terms of a choice that
you wanted to make, or was it a choice the provincial made?
AP:
Choice the provincial made. [Laughter] I arrived here in 1932 for high
school.
GN:
O.K. Let's go back earlier. When were you born?
AP:
I was born June 19, 1919.
GN:
Where?
AP:
In Haveril, Massachusetts.
GN:
O.K., and how many brothers and sisters are there in the family, or were
there any?
AP:
Eleven grew up, and we're only four today.
GN:
And where are you among the eleven?
AP:
I'm…
GN:
Are you the fifth?
AD:
I was the ninth of the eleven.
GN:
Ninth, of the eleven, so you're almost the baby of the family.
AP:
We'll see. I should say, nine of the fourteen, but three died as infants.
GN:
I see.
AP:
I was the ninth of the fourteen.
GN:
All right, and where did you go to grade school?
AP:
I went to Saint Joseph's Grade School in Haveril, Massachusetts. I had
the Brothers from the second grade until the eighth grade, and then I came
here for high school.
GN:
So, you had the Marist Brothers in your grade school years?
AP:
My second grade teacher was one of the original way, way back Brothers.
GN:
O.K.
AP:
One of those who came back in about 1910, something like that, he came
to the United States.
GN:
Did your father, was he employed in one of the mills in New England?
AP:
He was employed in a shoe factory of Haveril.
GN:
Well-known shoe factories, they have a long history. When you came to
the Brothers, where were the other members of the family? Had they gone
on, were any married at that time, or?
AP:
Oh yes, there were a couple that were married.
GN:
Uh ha. We won't go through the details, we're just getting a sense of the
Family and the growing up part, and how this all developed. A question
for a little later, historically, but were any of your family in the military?
In World War II?
AP:
World War I, my Uncle Adrian was killed in the battle of Chateau
D’Ares?
GN:
Uh ha.
AP:
On June 3, 1918.
GN:
Important point: were you baptized, Adrian?
AP:
Yes, I was.
GN:
And you became Brother Adrian, later in life.
AP:
Right.
GN:
I didn't think that happened in those days.
AP:
Yes, it did.
GN:
It did. O.K., so that was World War I, and then World War II?
AP:
Two of my, my brother Gene was in the Navy. My brother Joe was in the
Army, he spent 2.5 years in the South Pacific. My brother Roland,
who was too old for the draft, too young for World War I, too old for
World War II, he went up to Portland Navy Yard during the war to work
on building the ships. My brother Raymond, who was also too old for the
draft, he had already been in the army in between the two wars, he became
the defense transportation worker.
GN:
O.K., let's move on and get your coming to this property. You came here
to go to high school?
AP:
I came here for the high school, right.
GN:
O.K., and that was in 1930?
AP:
1932.
GN:
1932.
AP:
Let me add one little thing: Brother Frederick Charles had intended to
bring me to Tyngsboro, but when he found out my French wasn't too
good, he transferred me, he brought me here instead. Meanwhile, he had
described the Tyngsboro stone building. When I got here, I'm looking
around, where the heck is that beautiful building? It was all wooden
buildings at the time.
GN:
I see. So, you came to the Hermitage here, which was a kind of a, we have
pictures of that, and we know how fragile it was. Let's go on, then. How
many were in your class when you were going through here? Was it a
small class of 5 or 20 or how many would be in?
AP:
Well, I tell you, there were so many that they broke us up into two groups.
The older ones went to Novitiate at the end of the second year high school,
and we stayed at the Juniorate for our third year of high school.
GN:
Give us an idea of the numbers. Would there be 10, 15?
AP:
35 between the two groups.
GN:
35 between the two groups? So, 17 went on and 18 stayed back?
AP:
Something like that.
GN:
Something like that. O.K.
AP:
Do you want to know the names of some of them?
GN:
Yes.
AP:
Kiernan Brennan was in the older half, Gilbert Osmond was in the older
half.
GN:
What about Curtain?
AP:
Curtain was the baby of the whole group.
GN:
I see.
AP:
He's in my group, the second half.
GN:
Where is he today?
AP:
He's in Rosell, New Jersey, and this weekend he will be celebrating
70 years as a Brother.
GN:
Where did he spend most of his years?
AP:
Curtain
spent at least 30 years in the Philippines, teaching the
Philippines, and he spent at least three years in the Mother House. I don't
know just what he did there, but anyway, he was called there.
GN:
So, like yourself, he would have a good historical view of the campus here
in those years, having been a fellow student of yours.
AP:
Right.
GN:
O.K.
AP:
It's hard to imagine the campus because, for instance, where the original
Gate House and townhouses are, A, B, and C, B is on the site there we
used to have the pitcher’s mound of the
first camp
, as we called it. We
had three on that baseball field, we played three games together. I wasn't
a good player, so I was in camp three, so was Curtain.
GN:
I see.
AP:
Dennis Buckley, another one in my group. He ended up in camp two.
Buck Pennard, he was in camp one.
GN:
He was a superstar.
AP:
He was a superstar, right.
GN:
He was a superstar among the athletes in those days that you had here.
AP:
Walter was a pitcher, Walter Edward.
GN:
I have a little comment here: the people who have me asking these
questions, were there any nicknames among the Brothers in those days?
AP:
We had plenty of nicknames, every Brother has three names. Some of the
nicknames you never used.
GN:
We won't use them here, right.
AP:
Others used to be called by their nicknames. Some others, their nickname
was no other than their family name or Christian name, which wasn't used
much in those days.
GN:
In later years, you were called Aid.
AP:
Right.
GN:
And then sometimes Federal Aid.
AP:
Right.
GN:
And sometimes First Aid.
AP:
And Financial Aid.
GN:
Financial Aid, O.K., and Heavenly Aid was the best of them all because,
in those days, you brought wisdom to us. So, we're talking here about your
life as a young trainee, and then you’re going into the Novitiate and
becoming a Brother. Then how long were you trained here after the
Novitiate?
AP:
I had a total of seven years at this property, two years after the Novitiate,
two years of college, when there was a Marist Normal School.
GN:
So, you had two years in the Normal School, which would really be the
first two years of college.
AP:
First two years of college, so my diploma is actually from Fordham
because it was Marist Normal School, Division of Fordham University.
GN:
I see.
AP:
Everybody who finished here went on to Fordham.
GN:
O.K. Then, we want to move into the third section, which is probably the
one that we want to ask more about. Let's talk about your career as a
librarian.
AP:
You're skipping my years of teaching? [Laughter]
GN:
Oh, all right, let's go back to teaching. Where did you, where were you
first assigned?
AP:
My first assignment was the Manchester, New Hampshire, second grade.
GN:
You were a second grade teacher?
AP:
And then I was transferred to Mount Saint Michael, fourth grade, followed
by the fifth grade, two years there. Then, I went up to Saint Ann's School
of Lawrence [Mass.] for sixth grade, then two more years in Lowell, Saint
Joseph's School of Lowell High School.
GN:
You’re moving right along with your class, the original class, as it seems.
You go through grammar school and you graduated when they graduated,
and then you went on to high school? Did you ever teach in a high
school?
AP:
Two years in Lowell and two years at Saint Ann's Academy.
GN:
I see.
AP:
And then my first assignment as a librarian was at Saint Ann's Academy
for five years, followed by eight years at Mount Saint Michael Library.
GN:
O.K., Let's go back a little bit. How did it come about that you were
Assigned? Were you a great reader, or a good handler of books, or?
AP:
Well, actually “Bimbo.”
GN:
There's a nickname now that just came in. O.K., Bimbo is the name we
used for?
AP:
Brother Louis Omer.
GN:
O.K.
AP:
He was Provincial, and he was trying to get some Brothers interested in
getting library degrees, and there was a retreat and I came up. During the
retreat, a provincial always interviews all the Brothers. When I came in,
he said, "Are you going to continue in Latin?" I said, "No, I would like to
become a librarian." He said, "Oh my gosh, I've been after so many
Brothers.” Charlie Raymond and Henry Firman, were two of them that he
mentioned that I remember now. Different Brothers said no, they didn't
want to become librarians. And he said, "Here you are asking me.” So,
that's how I got transferred from New England to New York. I was full-
time teacher and I was taking four courses at Fordham at the same time.
GN:
And the courses were in library science?
AP:
No, no, they were, I was getting my Bachelor's Degree.
GN:
Oh, I see, O.K.
AP:
And then, as soon as I got my Bachelor's Degree, in June of’46, I
went to Saint John’s University. I was the first Brother, the first Marist
Brother, to attend Saint John's. One summer and one year, I got my
degree, but I didn't let on I had a degree. I took some more courses and an
extra summer and an extra fall term so that I had plenty of experience.
GN:
In these years at the academy, you were five years librarian at the
academy, with your other responsibilities. I mean, I might mention the
choir as one of them.
AP:
Oh, yes.
GP:
Tell us about the choir. The boy choristers from Saint Ann's Academy.
AP:
The boy choristers from Saint Ann's Academy used to sing at Saint
Patrick's Cathedral.
GN:
They were like angels. What was your task?
AP:
What's that?
GN:
What did you have to do? Did you teach them music?
AP:
No, they had a music teacher. I was the one in charge of discipline.
Taking the attendance records, stuff like that, and transporting them from
the school on 76
th
Street down to the Cathedral on 51
st
Street.
GN:
Tell us how that happened.
AP:
We went by bus.
GN:
Oh, not on the train?
AP:
No.
GN:
Oh, O.K., but the bus was a hired bus [was a] it was a coach.
AP:
Yes, it was a regular bus, regular city bus, you know, that was special.
GN:
And was Monsignor Green there at the time?
AP:
Monsignor William T. Green, he was the representative from the Diocese.
His title was he was the Director of Music for the Diocese. A liturgical
music. Mr. Short played the piano at the engagements at Saint Ann's.
Then, one day a week on Thursday, we went down to the Cathedral and
Dr. Charles Corbin, a Frenchman, he was the organist, he took over the
instructing the music the way he wanted it, you know what I mean?
GN:
He was Dr. Corbin if I remember.
AP:
What's that?
GN:
Dr. Corbin, at the organ.
AP:
Yes, right.
GN:
I know this because I replaced you as one of the choir masters at Saint
Patrick's Cathedral.
AP:
Oh, you took over?
GN:
Yes, well, there was a guy in between. Clem Patrick was in between.
AP:
What about, no, I remember Gerry Weiss.
GN:
Oh, Gerry Weiss was there also, right O.K., but I got in there somewhere
for five years, every Thursday and every Sunday morning. Now, we
didn’t talk about, when did they sing? They practiced on Thursday.
AP:
High mass on Sunday morning.
GN:
O.K., what time do you have to get there?
AP:
We had to get there about ten o'clock, I think it was.
GN:
Nine, for the practice.
AP:
Nine, I forget now.
GN:
Yes, nine for the practice and then ten for the mass and we would get out
about noon time.
AP:
Right.
GN:
All right, that takes care of some of the introductory things here. Moving
on to your career as a librarian, moving from Saint Ann's Academy, what
was your next library?
AP:
Mount Saint Michael.
GN:
Mount Saint Michael. Was this a new library, an old library, what was
happening there?
AP:
Actually, the library, when I got there, was in the main building on the top
floor, over the main entrance. My job was to move it into where it is now.
GN:
And where is it now?
AP:
It's in the Memorial Building, the gym building.
GN:
Right.
AP:
Brother Leo Sylvius who was Provincial, was Principal, he said, "This is
what we are going to do." I said, "No Leo, we're going to do it my way."
GN:
Oh.
AP:
He balked, I was one of the first ones to tell him no, your way is not good.
GN:
You were the librarian, you knew how the books should be moved.
AP:
He wanted the school ordered to stop. I said, “No, the third and fourth year
kids’ classrooms are close to the existing library. So, the beginning of the
period, the teachers are going to bring them to the library and we will have
a few kids, I had four kids working for me in the library in each place:
four in the old library, four in the new one. Three of these kids gave him a
pile of books and the fourth kid came and put a ticket in his book, and they
moved on to the new library. And when they were finished, they went
back to class. The second half of the period, the freshmen and seniors, the
freshmen and sophomores, they came up to the old library, they got their
pile of books and did the same thing, and back down.
GN:
It was kind of cheap labor, wasn’t it?
AP:
Cheap labor, right.
GN:
Using the students to move the books.
AP:
And then, when I saw some really strong kids, football players and the
like, I said, “Oh wait a minute, come here.” I had them move different
items.
GN:
File cabinets?
AP:
Like the card catalog and… [Laughter]
GN:
Tables and chairs?
AP:
No, the tables we didn’t take with us.
GN:
Oh, there were new tables?
AP:
We got all new tables, and new chairs. The dictionary stand and stuff like
that, you know?
GN:
Yes.
AP:
That’s what they had, and they carried. They were proud as anything.
GN:
Putting medals on themselves for being able to do that.
AP:
Yes, yes.
GN:
O.K. how many years…
AP:
Excuse me, one more thing. Leo Sylvius came up to us at 4:30 and
he said, “When are you going to be opening,” and we said, “Do you want
to take out a book? [Laughter] Look in the card catalog.” He went over,
looked in, he named something, he told the kid, and the kid got it right
away.
GN:
Same day.
AP:
And believe it or not, we had been open in the morning in the old
library until school started.
GN:
Wait a minute, you’re telling us you moved the whole library in one day?
AP:
One day at Mount Saint Michael. There were 9,000 books at the
time.
GN:
Holy moly.
AP:
Well,
look at how many kids we had, give each one ten books.
GN:
O.K., I can see it. You really took advantage of the help, and they were
willing to do it because it was better than going to class. They were
carrying books, they were being busy. How many years were you at the
Mount, then, as Librarian?
AP:
Eight years at the Mount.
GN:
O.K., and you had some interesting experiences there, but we won’t go
through them now, we’ll save that for another time. Some of the bandits
who took books out under their capes?
AP:
Oh no, that was here. [Laughter]
GN:
Oh.
AP:
Well, there was one, the same bandit at Mount Saint Michael and here.
GN:
All right, we will talk about him in time. O.K. so you have eight years at
the Mount as a librarian, and then finally you get assigned to come to
Poughkeepsie. What year did you start in Poughkeepsie as librarian?
AP:
1958.
GN:
1958, and where was the library?
AP:
The library, at that time, was in Greystone, all three floors.
GN:
All three floors: top floor, middle floor, and basement?
AP:
Right, and there was an extension in the building we just tore down.
It later became the library.
GN:
Oh, Fontaine.
AP:
Fontaine.
GN:
The old Fontaine in back of the chapel. O.K.
AP:
And four years, I’m here four years, and I moved the library into
Donnelly Hall.
GN:
After being here for four years, but let’s go back to the first year and tell
us about your staff. You had this library staff of how many?
AP:
When I came here? I was the staff.
GN:
One librarian?
AP:
One librarian.
GN:
And they said this was a college, with only one librarian?
AP:
About a hundred and something students, that’s about all, don’t forget
that.
GN:
O.K., that’s true.
AP:
And then, what was I going to say?
GN:
One librarian, where did they get the second librarian from?
AP:
A year later, they gave me a secretary.
GN: U
h ha.
AP:
Mrs. Ann Bendy?? She died about six months ago, and within a few more
months, they gave me another librarian, Mrs. Marion Nichols. She just
died this week, 86 years old.
GN:
Uh ha, O.K. Were they, was she a professional librarian?
AP:
Mrs. Nichols was a professional librarian, and you bet she was.
GN:
O.K. In your time here as the librarian, could you say something about
the running of the library? Did you have a budget that you had to make
up?
AP:
Yes, we had a budget, but it was… the library budget was going up, but it
was going up for additional salaries, it wasn’t going up for books. In fact,
in a nine year period, the budget for books alone went from 16,000
[dollars] down to 9,000 [dollars] for books and magazines.
GN:
The budget went down?
AP:
The budget went down, right.
GN:
Because the expenses were actually being put more to labor into the
hiring, the salaries of people.
AP:
Right.
GN:
That’s amazing.
AP:
Paying the kids.
GN:
All right, you had student help at the time. Who was the president when
you were the librarian here?
AP:
Linus Foy was most of the time. Dennis Murray came in towards the end.
GN:
O.K. So, when you came here, Linus was already president.
AP:
Right, well actually, Linus was appointed a few months after I got here.
Paul Ambrose hired me.
GN:
I see.
AP:
Linus took over, became president of the college about six months after I
got here.
GN:
O.K., and the reason was that Paul was assigned to go to Europe.
AP:
Paul was in Europe and became the Assistant General, so they had to find
somebody for the library.
GN:
Then, you were here how long? About four years, and you moved the
library from Greystone down to Donnelly?
AP:
That’s right.
GN:
Is that the way it went?
AP:
And 13 years later, moved it out of Donnelly into Fontaine.
GN:
Was it moved with the same rapidity that you moved at the Mount? Did
you do it in a day?
AP:
No, it took me two weeks to move the first library, and then when I moved
into Greystone, we had a company come in during a vacation period. So,
in between in the Christmas vacation, between first and second semester,
we moved the library.
GN:
O.K. Let’s get the order now. First it’s in Greystone, and then it moves
from Greystone to Donnelly.
AP:
Right.
GN:
How long is it in Donnelly?
AP:
13 years.
GN
And then from Donnelly it moves to Fontaine? They’ve redone it, they’ve
put in a floor, and they have revamped what was a study hall for the
Marist Brothers and a refectory?
AP:
Right.
GN:
I remember there was a refectory downstairs. O.K. Now, in this period,
how many more staff are you getting?
AP:
Oh, by the time I got out of here, I left four librarians and at least four or
five, maybe six clerical people and I don’t know how many students
because the students only could work ten hours a week.
GN:
So, you had the ability to kind of build up a big staff?
AP:
Right.
GN:
O.K. Was there much grief about that, when you came and asked for
another person, or was it obvious that you needed it?
AP:
Some of both, especially the first. [Laughter]
GN:
There was some grief, huh? Did you have a system for knowing how
much the library was used? Was there any kind of count system on books
in and out, or usage of books, or?
AP:
Oh yes, we had a daily record of every book that was circulated, and
magazines and so on.
GN:
Who did that? Was it the librarian? One of the clerks?
AP:
One of the clerical people.
GN:
It was their job to get the count on how much…
AP:
Each book had a card, and the kids came in and you signed out that card
stayed in the library.
GN:
Of the three libraries, which one was your favorite? Was Greystone more
fun than Donnelly, or did you like Fontaine best of all?
AP:
Fontaine. Greystone was a pain in the neck, because three different floors
and the exits, the kids could go down the stairs, take out the magazines
and…
GN:
Out the door.
AP:
Out the door, without even being seen.
GN:
Then, that brings up another point about security. When did we get a
system that you had to have the thing checked? It was a, you know, you go
through a…
AP:
When we moved to Fontaine, we insisted on a check system at the door.
GN:
So that a bell would go off if someone went out.
AP:
That’s right, an alarm would go off if you walked out with a book that
wasn’t checked out.
GN:
O.K. Then, just while we’re talking about this library and it’s
development, there are other changes being made at the college. The
college was moved from under the direction of the Marist Brothers to the
Board of Trustees.
AP:
Right.
GN:
Were you involved in any way with that? Did you, did it change your life
any in terms of budgets or personnel or anything? Or life went on, you
just reported to the president anyway.
AP:
Right. I started here, I reported to the president, and then I reported to the
academic vice dean, vice president, and then to an assistant dean, and
finally to an assistant, assistant dean.
GN:
So, they, O.K. Well then, at the same line then, the college is growing, the
faculty is growing, there’s more and more faculty and there’s more and
more staff and help and there’s more and more maintenance, and so that
general picture of growth is in all those lines, I think, we’re saying. What
would you say if someone said, what is the biggest change from when just
the Brothers were here to the coming of the lay students? Is there, did the
library lose some of the reverence that it had before? We couldn’t talk or
eat in the library? In later years, was there a breakdown of that?
AP:
I think so.
GN:
You think so.
AP:
Especially once we moved to Fontaine. We’d ask the kids, if you speak,
just speak to your table, don’t speak to the whole library.
GN:
O.K. Then the library became kind of a meeting place for study and for
groups to prepare projects and things of that sort.
AP:
Right, and we gradually increased the hours up to as late as ten o’clock at
night and exam times till midnight.
GN:
Uh ha. Were you open on Saturday?
AP:
We were open on Saturday and we were open on Sunday.
GN:
Uh ha. O.K.
AP:
We had a librarian on duty on Saturdays.
GN:
O.K. There’s a name here you might recall. Do you recall a name,
Dr. John Schroeder?
AP:
Dr. John Schroeder was the first layman hired at the college. He was
here when I got here and…
GN:
Did he use the library much?
AP:
Very much so, and his pupils did, too. He was a scholar.
GN:
Uh ha. Speaking of scholars, that reminds me of Dr. George Summer.
He was a scholar, too, wasn’t he?
AP:
Right, he’s another one that promoted the use of the library.
GN:
Right.
AP:
By his students.
GN:
Well, they did research papers and things of that sort in those days.
AP:
Right, and the history department.
GN:
O.K., and who was the outstanding person in history who would use the
library? Would it be [Ed] Cashin or…
AP:
Roscoe Balch.
GN:
Roscoe Balch right, right, O.K. These are names that are just coming out,
they’re not even here, they’re just coming out of the air. How did Brother
Paul compare to Linus Foy as college president? Well, you would only
have the end of that.
AP:
I arrived here, Paul was officially the president, but he was already in
Europe.
GN:
I see, so you really didn’t live under him.
AP:
I didn’t live under him.
GN:
O.K. Not as a president, but as an Assistant General you lived under him,
when he came to visit.
AP:
Right.
GN:
Then, how about the two presidents that you did live with? Was Foy and
Murray in about the same impact with the library?
AP:
Well, you see, with Paul we had a more of direct connection with Foy than
we did with…
GN:
Dennis Murray.
AP:
Murray. Murray had us way down the ladder.
GN:
I see. So, Foy, of course, knew you more intimately from other years.
You were in the academy with Foy, weren’t you?
AP:
I was someplace with him, I think so, yes.
GN:
O.K. One more question before we get into some personal things here;
has the change and growth in the college and on the campus, affected the
Marist ideals? Or can the Marist ideals still be maintained?
AP:
The Marist ideals can still be maintained.
GN:
O.K. Which of those, is there an emphasis on education, are we putting
out people who are minded to use libraries and books and study and things
of that sort or do you feel that that’s still there?
AP:
I think there is still some of that; but there’s pretty much emphasis now on
sports.
GN:
Yes, O.K. and libraries wouldn’t be used much for sports.
AP:
Not too much.
GN:
O.K. I’m going to ask Betty to say a few words.
Betty Perreault:
Well, I was going to ask him to tell the story of the man
who was working at the nursing home when he had his
stroke and he was put into the nursing home. A man
followed him in and said, “Brother Adrian Perreault”.
GN:
All right.
BP:
A day or so later he came in contact with him again and he said, “How did
you know my name?” He said, “I graduated from Marist,” and he said
“What year?” So he told him and he said, “Well, I wasn’t a brother at that
year,” and he said, “No, but we knew who among the faculty had been
brothers. We could tell as students.”
GN:
That’s an interesting story. Why don’t we say something about; when did
you leave the Brothers and take up life in Canterbury Gardens was it?
AP:
Not Canterbury, no.
GN:
No, what was it, I can’t remember
AP:
Heritage Gardens.
GN:
Heritage Gardens, O.K.
AP:
Heritage apartments, nineteen seventy-one.
GN:
We won’t tell them about other deals that were made that year about the
apartment; but you got a good deal if I remember.
AP:
Why don’t we tell it.
GN:
All right, go ahead.
AP:
There was a certain Gus Nolan who was getting married.
GN:
Who also had been a Brother?
AP:
Who had been a brother and had an apartment in the Heritage Gardens
and…
GN:
You were looking for an apartment.
AP:
I was looking for a place; I found that so; we each brought representatives,
women from the staff to his home and…
GN:
To kind of evaluate the estate.
AP:
Evaluate how much I would give him for the furniture and so on.
GN:
The beautiful furniture; the lovely rugs that were in place, the outstanding
lamps.
AP:
Somehow, I found out how much he had paid, he didn’t know that I knew;
[Laughter] so I took a price and he say’s “I’d be losing money on it,” “I
said look, you’ve been using that for…
GN:
For a whole year.
AP:
For a year or so; so figure on a little bit of a loss.
GN:
Well, I gave you a religious discount; you were able to get it at a good
price, you know, let’s face it. [Laughter] Then, in time, you were to get
married. Who did you marry?
AP:
Betty
GN:
She’s here, is she not? Tell us Betty, when did you first come to Marist?
BP:
I came to Marist around nineteen seventy-eight, I think. I wanted to get an
MBA and BA degree; and I did it by taking one course a semester at night
while I was working.
GN:
Was there a librarian here at the time?
BP:
I guess there was.
GN:
Not that you ever saw him, no.
BP:
I usually was in there late at night or early Sunday morning or something
and I don’t think the librarian was around at that time.
GN:
Right O.K. so you did study over the course of years and got a degree.
BP:
I think it was seven years.
GN:
Seven years.
BP:
I got my degree in nineteen eighty-eight.
GN:
O.K. in nineteen eighty-eight, O.K. and then in time you and Aid decided
you’d get married before going off to Canada for some trip or other; I
forget the details of that. What year was that?
BP:
Nineteen ninety-three we got married.
AP:
Eight years this June.
GN:
Eight years this June O.K. all right. In this situation now, through this
experience of both he having been here and you having been here; do you
occasionally meet some people who are from the Marist community? Do
you have occasion to interact with those.
BP:
Constantly.
GN:
Constantly O.K. Sometimes in markets, sometimes, where else would you
might meet them?
BP:
Well, at the GMC.
GN:
What’s that?
BP:
That’s the Greater Marist Community, which is a gathering of former
Brothers and Brothers and their…
GN:
Lovely wives.
BP:
Their lovely wives.
GN:
And they meet?
BP:
They meet once a month.
GN:
Once a month.
BP:
At each other’s houses.
GN:
You travel around to houses and?
BP:
Yes, from house to house.
GN:
Right and when was the most recent one?
BP:
Last Friday night.
GN:
Last Friday night?
BP:
You were there.
GN:
Was I? Where was this meeting?
BP:
At Joe Bell’s.
GN:
Joe Bell’s, nicknames coming in here again. Who is Joe Bell?
AP:
Brother Joseph Belanger
GN:
O.K. and where does he live?
BP:
He lives at Champagnat.
GN:
In Champagnat. If I recall, there was a view from up, from his, what
would we call it, the ante room, no, it’s the lobby really, outside his room
and we had a beautiful view of the river, north. Right, so much so, we
didn’t even pray very much, we just looked at the river; and then we drank
his tea and coffee and whatever else he had. O.K. I’m going to say we’ll
bring this to this conclusion now; only because it has to be continued, and
we don’t want it to run out too much today.
Marist College
Poughkeepsie, NY
Transcribed by Nancy Decker
For the Marist College and Special Collections
Transcript - Adrian Perreault
Interviewee:
Adrian Perreault
Interviewer:
Gus Nolan
Interview Date:
June 11, 2001
Location:
Fontaine Hall, Marist College Campus
Subject Headings:
Perreault, Adrian
Marist College Alumni
Marist Brothers
Greystone
Fontaine (Original)
Marist College—Faculty
Summary:
Adrian Perreault discusses his early exposers to the Marist Brothers and
what attracted him to join. He speaks about his early teaching career at the
elementary, middle, and high school levels before finishing his education
and becoming Marist Colleges head librarian. He talks about the period of
transition for the library he oversaw. Adrian is joined in the interview by
his wife Betty Perreault.
Gus Nolan:
Later, Adrian, we are going to ask you to sign a release that
what you say with us, we can use for this enterprise, if that's
agreeable.
Adrian Perreault:
As long as she signs it for me.
GN:
She will sign it for you, as long as you nod and say it's O.K., we’ll
accept that as positive. For this afternoon, we would like to focus on you.
I mean, your own life, your coming to the Marist Community, and then
your career as a librarian. Did that ever happen in terms of a choice that
you wanted to make, or was it a choice the provincial made?
AP:
Choice the provincial made. [Laughter] I arrived here in 1932 for high
school.
GN:
O.K. Let's go back earlier. When were you born?
AP:
I was born June 19, 1919.
GN:
Where?
AP:
In Haveril, Massachusetts.
GN:
O.K., and how many brothers and sisters are there in the family, or were
there any?
AP:
Eleven grew up, and we're only four today.
GN:
And where are you among the eleven?
AP:
I'm…
GN:
Are you the fifth?
AD:
I was the ninth of the eleven.
GN:
Ninth, of the eleven, so you're almost the baby of the family.
AP:
We'll see. I should say, nine of the fourteen, but three died as infants.
GN:
I see.
AP:
I was the ninth of the fourteen.
GN:
All right, and where did you go to grade school?
AP:
I went to Saint Joseph's Grade School in Haveril, Massachusetts. I had
the Brothers from the second grade until the eighth grade, and then I came
here for high school.
GN:
So, you had the Marist Brothers in your grade school years?
AP:
My second grade teacher was one of the original way, way back Brothers.
GN:
O.K.
AP:
One of those who came back in about 1910, something like that, he came
to the United States.
GN:
Did your father, was he employed in one of the mills in New England?
AP:
He was employed in a shoe factory of Haveril.
GN:
Well-known shoe factories, they have a long history. When you came to
the Brothers, where were the other members of the family? Had they gone
on, were any married at that time, or?
AP:
Oh yes, there were a couple that were married.
GN:
Uh ha. We won't go through the details, we're just getting a sense of the
Family and the growing up part, and how this all developed. A question
for a little later, historically, but were any of your family in the military?
In World War II?
AP:
World War I, my Uncle Adrian was killed in the battle of Chateau
D’Ares?
GN:
Uh ha.
AP:
On June 3, 1918.
GN:
Important point: were you baptized, Adrian?
AP:
Yes, I was.
GN:
And you became Brother Adrian, later in life.
AP:
Right.
GN:
I didn't think that happened in those days.
AP:
Yes, it did.
GN:
It did. O.K., so that was World War I, and then World War II?
AP:
Two of my, my brother Gene was in the Navy. My brother Joe was in the
Army, he spent 2.5 years in the South Pacific. My brother Roland,
who was too old for the draft, too young for World War I, too old for
World War II, he went up to Portland Navy Yard during the war to work
on building the ships. My brother Raymond, who was also too old for the
draft, he had already been in the army in between the two wars, he became
the defense transportation worker.
GN:
O.K., let's move on and get your coming to this property. You came here
to go to high school?
AP:
I came here for the high school, right.
GN:
O.K., and that was in 1930?
AP:
1932.
GN:
1932.
AP:
Let me add one little thing: Brother Frederick Charles had intended to
bring me to Tyngsboro, but when he found out my French wasn't too
good, he transferred me, he brought me here instead. Meanwhile, he had
described the Tyngsboro stone building. When I got here, I'm looking
around, where the heck is that beautiful building? It was all wooden
buildings at the time.
GN:
I see. So, you came to the Hermitage here, which was a kind of a, we have
pictures of that, and we know how fragile it was. Let's go on, then. How
many were in your class when you were going through here? Was it a
small class of 5 or 20 or how many would be in?
AP:
Well, I tell you, there were so many that they broke us up into two groups.
The older ones went to Novitiate at the end of the second year high school,
and we stayed at the Juniorate for our third year of high school.
GN:
Give us an idea of the numbers. Would there be 10, 15?
AP:
35 between the two groups.
GN:
35 between the two groups? So, 17 went on and 18 stayed back?
AP:
Something like that.
GN:
Something like that. O.K.
AP:
Do you want to know the names of some of them?
GN:
Yes.
AP:
Kiernan Brennan was in the older half, Gilbert Osmond was in the older
half.
GN:
What about Curtain?
AP:
Curtain was the baby of the whole group.
GN:
I see.
AP:
He's in my group, the second half.
GN:
Where is he today?
AP:
He's in Rosell, New Jersey, and this weekend he will be celebrating
70 years as a Brother.
GN:
Where did he spend most of his years?
AP:
Curtain
spent at least 30 years in the Philippines, teaching the
Philippines, and he spent at least three years in the Mother House. I don't
know just what he did there, but anyway, he was called there.
GN:
So, like yourself, he would have a good historical view of the campus here
in those years, having been a fellow student of yours.
AP:
Right.
GN:
O.K.
AP:
It's hard to imagine the campus because, for instance, where the original
Gate House and townhouses are, A, B, and C, B is on the site there we
used to have the pitcher’s mound of the
first camp
, as we called it. We
had three on that baseball field, we played three games together. I wasn't
a good player, so I was in camp three, so was Curtain.
GN:
I see.
AP:
Dennis Buckley, another one in my group. He ended up in camp two.
Buck Pennard, he was in camp one.
GN:
He was a superstar.
AP:
He was a superstar, right.
GN:
He was a superstar among the athletes in those days that you had here.
AP:
Walter was a pitcher, Walter Edward.
GN:
I have a little comment here: the people who have me asking these
questions, were there any nicknames among the Brothers in those days?
AP:
We had plenty of nicknames, every Brother has three names. Some of the
nicknames you never used.
GN:
We won't use them here, right.
AP:
Others used to be called by their nicknames. Some others, their nickname
was no other than their family name or Christian name, which wasn't used
much in those days.
GN:
In later years, you were called Aid.
AP:
Right.
GN:
And then sometimes Federal Aid.
AP:
Right.
GN:
And sometimes First Aid.
AP:
And Financial Aid.
GN:
Financial Aid, O.K., and Heavenly Aid was the best of them all because,
in those days, you brought wisdom to us. So, we're talking here about your
life as a young trainee, and then you’re going into the Novitiate and
becoming a Brother. Then how long were you trained here after the
Novitiate?
AP:
I had a total of seven years at this property, two years after the Novitiate,
two years of college, when there was a Marist Normal School.
GN:
So, you had two years in the Normal School, which would really be the
first two years of college.
AP:
First two years of college, so my diploma is actually from Fordham
because it was Marist Normal School, Division of Fordham University.
GN:
I see.
AP:
Everybody who finished here went on to Fordham.
GN:
O.K. Then, we want to move into the third section, which is probably the
one that we want to ask more about. Let's talk about your career as a
librarian.
AP:
You're skipping my years of teaching? [Laughter]
GN:
Oh, all right, let's go back to teaching. Where did you, where were you
first assigned?
AP:
My first assignment was the Manchester, New Hampshire, second grade.
GN:
You were a second grade teacher?
AP:
And then I was transferred to Mount Saint Michael, fourth grade, followed
by the fifth grade, two years there. Then, I went up to Saint Ann's School
of Lawrence [Mass.] for sixth grade, then two more years in Lowell, Saint
Joseph's School of Lowell High School.
GN:
You’re moving right along with your class, the original class, as it seems.
You go through grammar school and you graduated when they graduated,
and then you went on to high school? Did you ever teach in a high
school?
AP:
Two years in Lowell and two years at Saint Ann's Academy.
GN:
I see.
AP:
And then my first assignment as a librarian was at Saint Ann's Academy
for five years, followed by eight years at Mount Saint Michael Library.
GN:
O.K., Let's go back a little bit. How did it come about that you were
Assigned? Were you a great reader, or a good handler of books, or?
AP:
Well, actually “Bimbo.”
GN:
There's a nickname now that just came in. O.K., Bimbo is the name we
used for?
AP:
Brother Louis Omer.
GN:
O.K.
AP:
He was Provincial, and he was trying to get some Brothers interested in
getting library degrees, and there was a retreat and I came up. During the
retreat, a provincial always interviews all the Brothers. When I came in,
he said, "Are you going to continue in Latin?" I said, "No, I would like to
become a librarian." He said, "Oh my gosh, I've been after so many
Brothers.” Charlie Raymond and Henry Firman, were two of them that he
mentioned that I remember now. Different Brothers said no, they didn't
want to become librarians. And he said, "Here you are asking me.” So,
that's how I got transferred from New England to New York. I was full-
time teacher and I was taking four courses at Fordham at the same time.
GN:
And the courses were in library science?
AP:
No, no, they were, I was getting my Bachelor's Degree.
GN:
Oh, I see, O.K.
AP:
And then, as soon as I got my Bachelor's Degree, in June of’46, I
went to Saint John’s University. I was the first Brother, the first Marist
Brother, to attend Saint John's. One summer and one year, I got my
degree, but I didn't let on I had a degree. I took some more courses and an
extra summer and an extra fall term so that I had plenty of experience.
GN:
In these years at the academy, you were five years librarian at the
academy, with your other responsibilities. I mean, I might mention the
choir as one of them.
AP:
Oh, yes.
GP:
Tell us about the choir. The boy choristers from Saint Ann's Academy.
AP:
The boy choristers from Saint Ann's Academy used to sing at Saint
Patrick's Cathedral.
GN:
They were like angels. What was your task?
AP:
What's that?
GN:
What did you have to do? Did you teach them music?
AP:
No, they had a music teacher. I was the one in charge of discipline.
Taking the attendance records, stuff like that, and transporting them from
the school on 76
th
Street down to the Cathedral on 51
st
Street.
GN:
Tell us how that happened.
AP:
We went by bus.
GN:
Oh, not on the train?
AP:
No.
GN:
Oh, O.K., but the bus was a hired bus [was a] it was a coach.
AP:
Yes, it was a regular bus, regular city bus, you know, that was special.
GN:
And was Monsignor Green there at the time?
AP:
Monsignor William T. Green, he was the representative from the Diocese.
His title was he was the Director of Music for the Diocese. A liturgical
music. Mr. Short played the piano at the engagements at Saint Ann's.
Then, one day a week on Thursday, we went down to the Cathedral and
Dr. Charles Corbin, a Frenchman, he was the organist, he took over the
instructing the music the way he wanted it, you know what I mean?
GN:
He was Dr. Corbin if I remember.
AP:
What's that?
GN:
Dr. Corbin, at the organ.
AP:
Yes, right.
GN:
I know this because I replaced you as one of the choir masters at Saint
Patrick's Cathedral.
AP:
Oh, you took over?
GN:
Yes, well, there was a guy in between. Clem Patrick was in between.
AP:
What about, no, I remember Gerry Weiss.
GN:
Oh, Gerry Weiss was there also, right O.K., but I got in there somewhere
for five years, every Thursday and every Sunday morning. Now, we
didn’t talk about, when did they sing? They practiced on Thursday.
AP:
High mass on Sunday morning.
GN:
O.K., what time do you have to get there?
AP:
We had to get there about ten o'clock, I think it was.
GN:
Nine, for the practice.
AP:
Nine, I forget now.
GN:
Yes, nine for the practice and then ten for the mass and we would get out
about noon time.
AP:
Right.
GN:
All right, that takes care of some of the introductory things here. Moving
on to your career as a librarian, moving from Saint Ann's Academy, what
was your next library?
AP:
Mount Saint Michael.
GN:
Mount Saint Michael. Was this a new library, an old library, what was
happening there?
AP:
Actually, the library, when I got there, was in the main building on the top
floor, over the main entrance. My job was to move it into where it is now.
GN:
And where is it now?
AP:
It's in the Memorial Building, the gym building.
GN:
Right.
AP:
Brother Leo Sylvius who was Provincial, was Principal, he said, "This is
what we are going to do." I said, "No Leo, we're going to do it my way."
GN:
Oh.
AP:
He balked, I was one of the first ones to tell him no, your way is not good.
GN:
You were the librarian, you knew how the books should be moved.
AP:
He wanted the school ordered to stop. I said, “No, the third and fourth year
kids’ classrooms are close to the existing library. So, the beginning of the
period, the teachers are going to bring them to the library and we will have
a few kids, I had four kids working for me in the library in each place:
four in the old library, four in the new one. Three of these kids gave him a
pile of books and the fourth kid came and put a ticket in his book, and they
moved on to the new library. And when they were finished, they went
back to class. The second half of the period, the freshmen and seniors, the
freshmen and sophomores, they came up to the old library, they got their
pile of books and did the same thing, and back down.
GN:
It was kind of cheap labor, wasn’t it?
AP:
Cheap labor, right.
GN:
Using the students to move the books.
AP:
And then, when I saw some really strong kids, football players and the
like, I said, “Oh wait a minute, come here.” I had them move different
items.
GN:
File cabinets?
AP:
Like the card catalog and… [Laughter]
GN:
Tables and chairs?
AP:
No, the tables we didn’t take with us.
GN:
Oh, there were new tables?
AP:
We got all new tables, and new chairs. The dictionary stand and stuff like
that, you know?
GN:
Yes.
AP:
That’s what they had, and they carried. They were proud as anything.
GN:
Putting medals on themselves for being able to do that.
AP:
Yes, yes.
GN:
O.K. how many years…
AP:
Excuse me, one more thing. Leo Sylvius came up to us at 4:30 and
he said, “When are you going to be opening,” and we said, “Do you want
to take out a book? [Laughter] Look in the card catalog.” He went over,
looked in, he named something, he told the kid, and the kid got it right
away.
GN:
Same day.
AP:
And believe it or not, we had been open in the morning in the old
library until school started.
GN:
Wait a minute, you’re telling us you moved the whole library in one day?
AP:
One day at Mount Saint Michael. There were 9,000 books at the
time.
GN:
Holy moly.
AP:
Well,
look at how many kids we had, give each one ten books.
GN:
O.K., I can see it. You really took advantage of the help, and they were
willing to do it because it was better than going to class. They were
carrying books, they were being busy. How many years were you at the
Mount, then, as Librarian?
AP:
Eight years at the Mount.
GN:
O.K., and you had some interesting experiences there, but we won’t go
through them now, we’ll save that for another time. Some of the bandits
who took books out under their capes?
AP:
Oh no, that was here. [Laughter]
GN:
Oh.
AP:
Well, there was one, the same bandit at Mount Saint Michael and here.
GN:
All right, we will talk about him in time. O.K. so you have eight years at
the Mount as a librarian, and then finally you get assigned to come to
Poughkeepsie. What year did you start in Poughkeepsie as librarian?
AP:
1958.
GN:
1958, and where was the library?
AP:
The library, at that time, was in Greystone, all three floors.
GN:
All three floors: top floor, middle floor, and basement?
AP:
Right, and there was an extension in the building we just tore down.
It later became the library.
GN:
Oh, Fontaine.
AP:
Fontaine.
GN:
The old Fontaine in back of the chapel. O.K.
AP:
And four years, I’m here four years, and I moved the library into
Donnelly Hall.
GN:
After being here for four years, but let’s go back to the first year and tell
us about your staff. You had this library staff of how many?
AP:
When I came here? I was the staff.
GN:
One librarian?
AP:
One librarian.
GN:
And they said this was a college, with only one librarian?
AP:
About a hundred and something students, that’s about all, don’t forget
that.
GN:
O.K., that’s true.
AP:
And then, what was I going to say?
GN:
One librarian, where did they get the second librarian from?
AP:
A year later, they gave me a secretary.
GN: U
h ha.
AP:
Mrs. Ann Bendy?? She died about six months ago, and within a few more
months, they gave me another librarian, Mrs. Marion Nichols. She just
died this week, 86 years old.
GN:
Uh ha, O.K. Were they, was she a professional librarian?
AP:
Mrs. Nichols was a professional librarian, and you bet she was.
GN:
O.K. In your time here as the librarian, could you say something about
the running of the library? Did you have a budget that you had to make
up?
AP:
Yes, we had a budget, but it was… the library budget was going up, but it
was going up for additional salaries, it wasn’t going up for books. In fact,
in a nine year period, the budget for books alone went from 16,000
[dollars] down to 9,000 [dollars] for books and magazines.
GN:
The budget went down?
AP:
The budget went down, right.
GN:
Because the expenses were actually being put more to labor into the
hiring, the salaries of people.
AP:
Right.
GN:
That’s amazing.
AP:
Paying the kids.
GN:
All right, you had student help at the time. Who was the president when
you were the librarian here?
AP:
Linus Foy was most of the time. Dennis Murray came in towards the end.
GN:
O.K. So, when you came here, Linus was already president.
AP:
Right, well actually, Linus was appointed a few months after I got here.
Paul Ambrose hired me.
GN:
I see.
AP:
Linus took over, became president of the college about six months after I
got here.
GN:
O.K., and the reason was that Paul was assigned to go to Europe.
AP:
Paul was in Europe and became the Assistant General, so they had to find
somebody for the library.
GN:
Then, you were here how long? About four years, and you moved the
library from Greystone down to Donnelly?
AP:
That’s right.
GN:
Is that the way it went?
AP:
And 13 years later, moved it out of Donnelly into Fontaine.
GN:
Was it moved with the same rapidity that you moved at the Mount? Did
you do it in a day?
AP:
No, it took me two weeks to move the first library, and then when I moved
into Greystone, we had a company come in during a vacation period. So,
in between in the Christmas vacation, between first and second semester,
we moved the library.
GN:
O.K. Let’s get the order now. First it’s in Greystone, and then it moves
from Greystone to Donnelly.
AP:
Right.
GN:
How long is it in Donnelly?
AP:
13 years.
GN
And then from Donnelly it moves to Fontaine? They’ve redone it, they’ve
put in a floor, and they have revamped what was a study hall for the
Marist Brothers and a refectory?
AP:
Right.
GN:
I remember there was a refectory downstairs. O.K. Now, in this period,
how many more staff are you getting?
AP:
Oh, by the time I got out of here, I left four librarians and at least four or
five, maybe six clerical people and I don’t know how many students
because the students only could work ten hours a week.
GN:
So, you had the ability to kind of build up a big staff?
AP:
Right.
GN:
O.K. Was there much grief about that, when you came and asked for
another person, or was it obvious that you needed it?
AP:
Some of both, especially the first. [Laughter]
GN:
There was some grief, huh? Did you have a system for knowing how
much the library was used? Was there any kind of count system on books
in and out, or usage of books, or?
AP:
Oh yes, we had a daily record of every book that was circulated, and
magazines and so on.
GN:
Who did that? Was it the librarian? One of the clerks?
AP:
One of the clerical people.
GN:
It was their job to get the count on how much…
AP:
Each book had a card, and the kids came in and you signed out that card
stayed in the library.
GN:
Of the three libraries, which one was your favorite? Was Greystone more
fun than Donnelly, or did you like Fontaine best of all?
AP:
Fontaine. Greystone was a pain in the neck, because three different floors
and the exits, the kids could go down the stairs, take out the magazines
and…
GN:
Out the door.
AP:
Out the door, without even being seen.
GN:
Then, that brings up another point about security. When did we get a
system that you had to have the thing checked? It was a, you know, you go
through a…
AP:
When we moved to Fontaine, we insisted on a check system at the door.
GN:
So that a bell would go off if someone went out.
AP:
That’s right, an alarm would go off if you walked out with a book that
wasn’t checked out.
GN:
O.K. Then, just while we’re talking about this library and it’s
development, there are other changes being made at the college. The
college was moved from under the direction of the Marist Brothers to the
Board of Trustees.
AP:
Right.
GN:
Were you involved in any way with that? Did you, did it change your life
any in terms of budgets or personnel or anything? Or life went on, you
just reported to the president anyway.
AP:
Right. I started here, I reported to the president, and then I reported to the
academic vice dean, vice president, and then to an assistant dean, and
finally to an assistant, assistant dean.
GN:
So, they, O.K. Well then, at the same line then, the college is growing, the
faculty is growing, there’s more and more faculty and there’s more and
more staff and help and there’s more and more maintenance, and so that
general picture of growth is in all those lines, I think, we’re saying. What
would you say if someone said, what is the biggest change from when just
the Brothers were here to the coming of the lay students? Is there, did the
library lose some of the reverence that it had before? We couldn’t talk or
eat in the library? In later years, was there a breakdown of that?
AP:
I think so.
GN:
You think so.
AP:
Especially once we moved to Fontaine. We’d ask the kids, if you speak,
just speak to your table, don’t speak to the whole library.
GN:
O.K. Then the library became kind of a meeting place for study and for
groups to prepare projects and things of that sort.
AP:
Right, and we gradually increased the hours up to as late as ten o’clock at
night and exam times till midnight.
GN:
Uh ha. Were you open on Saturday?
AP:
We were open on Saturday and we were open on Sunday.
GN:
Uh ha. O.K.
AP:
We had a librarian on duty on Saturdays.
GN:
O.K. There’s a name here you might recall. Do you recall a name,
Dr. John Schroeder?
AP:
Dr. John Schroeder was the first layman hired at the college. He was
here when I got here and…
GN:
Did he use the library much?
AP:
Very much so, and his pupils did, too. He was a scholar.
GN:
Uh ha. Speaking of scholars, that reminds me of Dr. George Summer.
He was a scholar, too, wasn’t he?
AP:
Right, he’s another one that promoted the use of the library.
GN:
Right.
AP:
By his students.
GN:
Well, they did research papers and things of that sort in those days.
AP:
Right, and the history department.
GN:
O.K., and who was the outstanding person in history who would use the
library? Would it be [Ed] Cashin or…
AP:
Roscoe Balch.
GN:
Roscoe Balch right, right, O.K. These are names that are just coming out,
they’re not even here, they’re just coming out of the air. How did Brother
Paul compare to Linus Foy as college president? Well, you would only
have the end of that.
AP:
I arrived here, Paul was officially the president, but he was already in
Europe.
GN:
I see, so you really didn’t live under him.
AP:
I didn’t live under him.
GN:
O.K. Not as a president, but as an Assistant General you lived under him,
when he came to visit.
AP:
Right.
GN:
Then, how about the two presidents that you did live with? Was Foy and
Murray in about the same impact with the library?
AP:
Well, you see, with Paul we had a more of direct connection with Foy than
we did with…
GN:
Dennis Murray.
AP:
Murray. Murray had us way down the ladder.
GN:
I see. So, Foy, of course, knew you more intimately from other years.
You were in the academy with Foy, weren’t you?
AP:
I was someplace with him, I think so, yes.
GN:
O.K. One more question before we get into some personal things here;
has the change and growth in the college and on the campus, affected the
Marist ideals? Or can the Marist ideals still be maintained?
AP:
The Marist ideals can still be maintained.
GN:
O.K. Which of those, is there an emphasis on education, are we putting
out people who are minded to use libraries and books and study and things
of that sort or do you feel that that’s still there?
AP:
I think there is still some of that; but there’s pretty much emphasis now on
sports.
GN:
Yes, O.K. and libraries wouldn’t be used much for sports.
AP:
Not too much.
GN:
O.K. I’m going to ask Betty to say a few words.
Betty Perreault:
Well, I was going to ask him to tell the story of the man
who was working at the nursing home when he had his
stroke and he was put into the nursing home. A man
followed him in and said, “Brother Adrian Perreault”.
GN:
All right.
BP:
A day or so later he came in contact with him again and he said, “How did
you know my name?” He said, “I graduated from Marist,” and he said
“What year?” So he told him and he said, “Well, I wasn’t a brother at that
year,” and he said, “No, but we knew who among the faculty had been
brothers. We could tell as students.”
GN:
That’s an interesting story. Why don’t we say something about; when did
you leave the Brothers and take up life in Canterbury Gardens was it?
AP:
Not Canterbury, no.
GN:
No, what was it, I can’t remember
AP:
Heritage Gardens.
GN:
Heritage Gardens, O.K.
AP:
Heritage apartments, nineteen seventy-one.
GN:
We won’t tell them about other deals that were made that year about the
apartment; but you got a good deal if I remember.
AP:
Why don’t we tell it.
GN:
All right, go ahead.
AP:
There was a certain Gus Nolan who was getting married.
GN:
Who also had been a Brother?
AP:
Who had been a brother and had an apartment in the Heritage Gardens
and…
GN:
You were looking for an apartment.
AP:
I was looking for a place; I found that so; we each brought representatives,
women from the staff to his home and…
GN:
To kind of evaluate the estate.
AP:
Evaluate how much I would give him for the furniture and so on.
GN:
The beautiful furniture; the lovely rugs that were in place, the outstanding
lamps.
AP:
Somehow, I found out how much he had paid, he didn’t know that I knew;
[Laughter] so I took a price and he say’s “I’d be losing money on it,” “I
said look, you’ve been using that for…
GN:
For a whole year.
AP:
For a year or so; so figure on a little bit of a loss.
GN:
Well, I gave you a religious discount; you were able to get it at a good
price, you know, let’s face it. [Laughter] Then, in time, you were to get
married. Who did you marry?
AP:
Betty
GN:
She’s here, is she not? Tell us Betty, when did you first come to Marist?
BP:
I came to Marist around nineteen seventy-eight, I think. I wanted to get an
MBA and BA degree; and I did it by taking one course a semester at night
while I was working.
GN:
Was there a librarian here at the time?
BP:
I guess there was.
GN:
Not that you ever saw him, no.
BP:
I usually was in there late at night or early Sunday morning or something
and I don’t think the librarian was around at that time.
GN:
Right O.K. so you did study over the course of years and got a degree.
BP:
I think it was seven years.
GN:
Seven years.
BP:
I got my degree in nineteen eighty-eight.
GN:
O.K. in nineteen eighty-eight, O.K. and then in time you and Aid decided
you’d get married before going off to Canada for some trip or other; I
forget the details of that. What year was that?
BP:
Nineteen ninety-three we got married.
AP:
Eight years this June.
GN:
Eight years this June O.K. all right. In this situation now, through this
experience of both he having been here and you having been here; do you
occasionally meet some people who are from the Marist community? Do
you have occasion to interact with those.
BP:
Constantly.
GN:
Constantly O.K. Sometimes in markets, sometimes, where else would you
might meet them?
BP:
Well, at the GMC.
GN:
What’s that?
BP:
That’s the Greater Marist Community, which is a gathering of former
Brothers and Brothers and their…
GN:
Lovely wives.
BP:
Their lovely wives.
GN:
And they meet?
BP:
They meet once a month.
GN:
Once a month.
BP:
At each other’s houses.
GN:
You travel around to houses and?
BP:
Yes, from house to house.
GN:
Right and when was the most recent one?
BP:
Last Friday night.
GN:
Last Friday night?
BP:
You were there.
GN:
Was I? Where was this meeting?
BP:
At Joe Bell’s.
GN:
Joe Bell’s, nicknames coming in here again. Who is Joe Bell?
AP:
Brother Joseph Belanger
GN:
O.K. and where does he live?
BP:
He lives at Champagnat.
GN:
In Champagnat. If I recall, there was a view from up, from his, what
would we call it, the ante room, no, it’s the lobby really, outside his room
and we had a beautiful view of the river, north. Right, so much so, we
didn’t even pray very much, we just looked at the river; and then we drank
his tea and coffee and whatever else he had. O.K. I’m going to say we’ll
bring this to this conclusion now; only because it has to be continued, and
we don’t want it to run out too much today.
