The Gunnery Names Gunn Scholar 2010 - 2011
Zachary Bodnar, a rising senior at The Gunnery, has been named the Gunn Scholar for 2010-2011. The program, in its ninth year, chooses one four-year senior to pursue a year-long project of original historical research based on the contents of the school’s archives. A review panel of faculty chooses the recipient from study proposals submitted by the students in the spring of their junior year.
Zack will pursue a well-developed passion for history and particularly for military history through the Civil War letters of soldiers from The Gunnery and the town of Washington. His project is particularly pertinent as the United States begins to commemorate the 150th anniversary of the Civil War in April 2011, which is the occasion of the firing on Fort Sumter. Zack has already toured battlefields in Virginia and Pennsylvania and hopes to work with Dr. Walter Powell who edited a seminal book about Connecticut soldiers in the Civil War. Among other stories, he will pursue the presentation of a sword to Leonard Van Cott by his grateful schoolmaster and fellow pupils and the process Charles Goodyear followed to become the leader of a black regiment. In addition to the contents of The Gunnery’s archive, Zack will look the Litchfield Enquirer on microfiche at the Litchfield Historical Society, the journals of Jerome Titus at The Gunn Museum, and the award winning project of the Shepaug Valley Middle School with Abner Mitchell’s letters as well as countless others.
Zack’s project follows the pioneer project of Samantha Collum ’03 of Washington CT, who studied the love letters of Frederick and Abigail Gunn; of Mark Rhoads ’04, who studied the circumstances of an 1869 baseball photograph, Caleb Elston ’05, who studied the architecture and interior design of the Bourne administration building, Kyley Cheever '06, who studied Mr. Gunn's teaching methods and recreated a 19th-century school day, Alyse Dufour '07 who studied the photography of William H. Gibson, Class of 1866 and his relationship to the natural environment in Washington, Sara Silverman ‘08 who studied Mr. Gunn’s role in the origins of recreational camping, Ross Anderson ’09 who studied the development of Mr. Gunn’s abolitionist conscience, and Jason Boileau who studied the architectural vision of Ehrick Rossiter, Class of 1870.
Paula Krimsky
7/28/2010
Zack will pursue a well-developed passion for history and particularly for military history through the Civil War letters of soldiers from The Gunnery and the town of Washington. His project is particularly pertinent as the United States begins to commemorate the 150th anniversary of the Civil War in April 2011, which is the occasion of the firing on Fort Sumter. Zack has already toured battlefields in Virginia and Pennsylvania and hopes to work with Dr. Walter Powell who edited a seminal book about Connecticut soldiers in the Civil War. Among other stories, he will pursue the presentation of a sword to Leonard Van Cott by his grateful schoolmaster and fellow pupils and the process Charles Goodyear followed to become the leader of a black regiment. In addition to the contents of The Gunnery’s archive, Zack will look the Litchfield Enquirer on microfiche at the Litchfield Historical Society, the journals of Jerome Titus at The Gunn Museum, and the award winning project of the Shepaug Valley Middle School with Abner Mitchell’s letters as well as countless others.
Zack’s project follows the pioneer project of Samantha Collum ’03 of Washington CT, who studied the love letters of Frederick and Abigail Gunn; of Mark Rhoads ’04, who studied the circumstances of an 1869 baseball photograph, Caleb Elston ’05, who studied the architecture and interior design of the Bourne administration building, Kyley Cheever '06, who studied Mr. Gunn's teaching methods and recreated a 19th-century school day, Alyse Dufour '07 who studied the photography of William H. Gibson, Class of 1866 and his relationship to the natural environment in Washington, Sara Silverman ‘08 who studied Mr. Gunn’s role in the origins of recreational camping, Ross Anderson ’09 who studied the development of Mr. Gunn’s abolitionist conscience, and Jason Boileau who studied the architectural vision of Ehrick Rossiter, Class of 1870.
Paula Krimsky
7/28/2010
Gunn Scholar Studies the Life of a Civil War Soldier
Zack Bodnar ‘11, The Gunnery’s Gunn Scholar for 2010-2011 has experienced a unique aligning of historical forces. This year is the 150th anniversary of the start of the Civil War with the firing on Fort Sumter in April 1861. Zack has always had a predilection for the Civil War. Indeed, he has explored the battlefields with his grandfather and argued the issues with his parents almost from the beginning of his studies. Now the son of Kevin and Ruth Bodnar of Bethlehem, is poised to take his Gunn Scholar project about the war on the road.
Zack has been transcribing, annotating and explicating the letters of Charlie Goodyear, a farm laborer on the Logan Farm, who was adopted into the household of Mr. Gunn because of his love of reading. During his war service, Charlie wrote to members of the Gunn family from Fort Scott as part of the First Connecticut Heavy Artillery in the Army of the Potomac. He was trying and eventually succeeded in securing an officer’s commission in a black regiment. It is a riveting story which references other Gunnery students and Washington residents.
Zack is discovering how to tell his story and place it in context. As part of his project, he is creating a website which will present his research and be available for viewing at the summer exhibit at the Gunn Museum which will focus on the individual soldiers from Washington who fought in the Civil War. He is also learning the intricacies of exhibit preparation working weekly with Stephen Bartkus, curator of The Gunn Museum. In mid-April, he will join forces with exhibitors all over the state at the opening conference of the Connecticut commemoration of the war at Central CT State University. On May 19th, he will deliver the annual History Bites lecture for The Gunn Museum.
Zack’s project is the ninth annual following the pioneer project of Samantha Collum ’03 of Washington CT, who studied the love letters of Frederick and Abigail Gunn; of Mark Rhoads ’04, who studied the circumstances of an 1869 baseball photograph, Caleb Elston ’05, who studied the architecture andinterior design of the Bourne administration building, Kyley Cheever '06, who studied Mr. Gunn's teaching methods, Alyse Dufour ’07 who studied 19th century photography through the work of William Hamilton Gibson, Class of 1866, Sara Silverman ’08 who studied the origins of recreational camping, Ross Anderson ’09 who studied the origins of Mr. Gunn’s abolitionist conscience, and Jason Boileau ’10 who studied the architecture of Ehrick Rossiter, Class of 1870.
Paula Krimsky
1/20/2011
Zack has been transcribing, annotating and explicating the letters of Charlie Goodyear, a farm laborer on the Logan Farm, who was adopted into the household of Mr. Gunn because of his love of reading. During his war service, Charlie wrote to members of the Gunn family from Fort Scott as part of the First Connecticut Heavy Artillery in the Army of the Potomac. He was trying and eventually succeeded in securing an officer’s commission in a black regiment. It is a riveting story which references other Gunnery students and Washington residents.
Zack is discovering how to tell his story and place it in context. As part of his project, he is creating a website which will present his research and be available for viewing at the summer exhibit at the Gunn Museum which will focus on the individual soldiers from Washington who fought in the Civil War. He is also learning the intricacies of exhibit preparation working weekly with Stephen Bartkus, curator of The Gunn Museum. In mid-April, he will join forces with exhibitors all over the state at the opening conference of the Connecticut commemoration of the war at Central CT State University. On May 19th, he will deliver the annual History Bites lecture for The Gunn Museum.
Zack’s project is the ninth annual following the pioneer project of Samantha Collum ’03 of Washington CT, who studied the love letters of Frederick and Abigail Gunn; of Mark Rhoads ’04, who studied the circumstances of an 1869 baseball photograph, Caleb Elston ’05, who studied the architecture andinterior design of the Bourne administration building, Kyley Cheever '06, who studied Mr. Gunn's teaching methods, Alyse Dufour ’07 who studied 19th century photography through the work of William Hamilton Gibson, Class of 1866, Sara Silverman ’08 who studied the origins of recreational camping, Ross Anderson ’09 who studied the origins of Mr. Gunn’s abolitionist conscience, and Jason Boileau ’10 who studied the architecture of Ehrick Rossiter, Class of 1870.
Paula Krimsky
1/20/2011