Hinman College, 1969-1974

On the left is Lehman Hall, much like it looked when I arrived in September 1969. The window on the second floor, above the main entrance door, is the window for my room for most of my time at Binghamton, Lehman 214B. I started in 214A but moved back to 214B later in that first semester with one of my original room mates, Perry Montalbano, the son of an owner of a stereo store on Long Island and, for short time, an aspiring doctor. The room became available after two older Navy veterans moved off campus after a dfew weeks in the dorm. They were very much out of place, older, military veterans, quiet, studious.

This was all part of Hinman College, a five dormitory residence college at the State University of New York at Binghamton, often referred to by its previous name, Harpur College. Before that name, the school had started as Triple Cities College, named for Binghamton, John City and Endicott, part of the old industrial southern tier of New York State.

The dorm on the right, Smith Hall, was up the hill from Lehman, and I lived there in my first year of graduate school, 1973-74. That year and the accompanying experiences will be the subject of a forthcoming post. I believe that that period, that academic year, was a critical part of my formation as an adult, as an academic, and as a person. It should be an interesting story. Stay tuned...