Gunn Scholars to Present at 2022 Rooted Research Conference

Noh’s presentation, “Disability Education at The Frederick Gunn School,” examines how the school supported students with disabilities throughout its history. “I specifically focused on the support system for students with learning differences such as ADHD, dyslexia, and etc. I chose this topic because I self-identify as a disability advocate and have been involved in the disability community for a very long time. Surprisingly, my research time period ranges from Mr. Gunn’s time to today,” Noh said.

“During the research process, I have witnessed individualized focus/attention for students with learning differences, employment of professional learning specialists and educational groups, discontinuation of support services, and so much more. I have correlated the information I’ve gathered from the archives to historical information and laws such as the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (ADA) and the New Deal Program. In addition to that, I have found how the school has reacted to the foundation of The Glenholme School, a private, therapeutic boarding school in Washington, Connecticut,” Noh said, concluding, “Overall, I would like to argue that The Frederick Gunn School has supported different kinds of learners since the start of the school although there were some discontinuation of the support systems and limitation towards students with severe disabilities.”

Wright's presentation on “The Progressive Age” traces the history of the Progressive Era at The Frederick Gunn School, from approximately 1880-1920. “I initially had a broader time period in mind, but after researching about the school’s activities and The Progressive Age in general, I discovered that all of the pillars of my project could be best exemplified in The Progressive Age,” Wright said. “Those topics included: globalization, industrialization, political discontentment, and social change. The Frederick Gunn School since its inception has been a kind of fertile choke point for state and national changes and I rightly assumed that all of the intensities of the era would have a home inside the school at the time.”

Wright was able to incorporate accounts from the school newspaper, written correspondence, Gunn alumni papers, and some secondary sources into his research. “My Gunn Scholar paper now includes the school's ties to Senator Orville Platt, war preparations, ties to industry, immigration, and the frontier social change the school advocated for,” he said.

This year’s conference will feature additional presentations by invited speakers and the introduction of the 2022-23 Gunn Scholars. The Gunn Scholar Program is co-taught by Emily Gum, Assistant Head of School for Teaching and Learning, and Moira Conlan, Assistant Librarian and Archivist. Students begin the program in the fall by reading The Master of The Gunnery, a memorial tribute to Frederick Gunn by his students, to learn more about the school’s founder and its history. Conlan, who has a strong background in library archival best practices, including creating systems and strategies for organization, documentation, and preservation, also worked with the scholars on paleography, using some of the early letters that passed between Mr. Gunn, and his wife, Abigail Brinsmade, in the years before they married and started their school.

One of her goals is to make the resources in the archives more accessible for use by the Gunn Scholars Program as well as other researchers on and off campus, and to inspire more students and faculty to use the archives and learn about Mr. Gunn and the school’s history. “Adolescents in particular are such curious learners, and working with primary source materials at this age leads to strong research and critical thinking skills. This is why programs like the Connecticut History Day, the Gunn Scholars, and the Rooted Research Conference are so important,” Conlan said. 

The Rooted Research Conference was initiated in 2018 as a way to showcase the work of Gunn Scholars and others conducting local, place-based historical research. Gunn Scholars is an endowed program established in 2002 by former School Archivist and Director of Communications Paula Gibson Krimsky with a generous 50th reunion gift from the Class of 1957, which has assured the publication of Gunn Scholar research. The work of each Gunn Scholar is added to the Paula and George Krimsky Archives and Special Collections, thereby enriching the history of the school and creating opportunities for further study. Participation in the program is by application only. Students are selected at the end of the junior year. During senior year, the scholars finalize the scope of their thesis, develop a written proposal and work diligently within the school’s archives, exploring the mission and vision of Frederick Gunn through primary-source research and place-based learning. Each and every scholar has unearthed something new, either in our own archives or in others, sometimes answering questions we have not even asked, debunking myths, clarifying events, and contributing to The Frederick Gunn School’s ongoing story.

For more information about the Rooted Research Conference, please contact Assistant Librarian and Archivist Moira Conlan.