{"419921":{"#nid":"419921","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Living History Program Celebrates 1,000th Interview","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EGeorgia Tech\u2019s most famous student \u2013 George P. Burdell \u2013 has achieved yet another accolade after being asked to record his story for Georgia Tech\u2019s Living History Program.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EIn fact, Burdell\u2019s interview is No. 1,000, marking a major milestone for the program, which began recording the oral histories of alumni, staff, and friends of the Institute 20 years ago.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ELiving History Director Marilyn Somers says selecting Burdell for the program\u2019s 1,000th interview was an easy choice.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cWhen one considers who is the most famous alumnus, hands down the vote goes to George P. Burdell,\u201d Somers says. \u201cHe\u2019s the most learned and constant influence we have at Georgia Tech.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EIn addition to his recent interview, Burdell also has another important tie to the Living History Program. In 2010, Somers established a fund in his name to help keep the program alive for future generations.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ERecently, an\u0026nbsp;anonymous donor contributed $100,000 to the George P. Burdell Living History Endowment Fund that will help Living History collect the next 1,000 stories about Georgia Tech.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe Living History Program was established in 1994 when Somers, then serving as director of communications for the Georgia Tech Alumni Association, received a call from a nursing home asking for a recording of the Ramblin\u2019 Wreck fight song to play at the 100th birthday party of an alumnus.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cI thought, I bet that guy has a cool story to tell,\u201d Somers says.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ESoon, Somers realized she wanted to find a way to interview aging alumni about their experiences and memories of Georgia Tech before it was too late.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EDuke Mewborn, then a member of the Alumni Association\u2019s Board of Trustees and president of Baker Audio, caught wind of the idea and liked it so much he donated recording equipment to kick off the project.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EWith just two full-time employees and the help of student interns, the Living History program keeps a brisk pace, conducting an average of 40 interviews a year around the country. On top of that, they create special commemorative videos for each class reunion and create historical documentaries about Tech figures and traditions such as legendary coach John Heisman and the Ramblin\u2019 Wreck.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201c[Georgia Tech is] such an important institution, and everything about it should be documented. Everything about it should be known,\u201d Somers says.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.gtalumni.org\/s\/1481\/alumni\/landing.aspx?sid=1481\u0026amp;gid=21\u0026amp;pgid=3460\u0022\u003ERead more about the 1,000th interview.\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.news.gatech.edu\/features\/living-history-1000th-interview\u0022\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EWatch excerpts from four special interviews selected by Somers from the collection of 1,000.\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EGeorgia Tech\u0027s Living History Program conducted its 1,000th interview, marking a major milestone for the program, which began recording the oral histories of alumni, staff, and friends of the Institute in 1994.\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Georgia Tech\u0027s Living History Program conducted its 1,000th interview, marking a major milestone for the program, which began recording the oral histories of alumni, staff, and friends of the Institute in 1994."}],"uid":"27713","created_gmt":"2015-07-06 14:14:41","changed_gmt":"2016-10-08 03:18:52","author":"Victor Rogers","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2015-07-06T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2015-07-06T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"421281":{"id":"421281","type":"image","title":"Marilyn Somers - Living History","body":null,"created":"1449254306","gmt_created":"2015-12-04 18:38:26","changed":"1475895160","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:52:40","alt":"Marilyn Somers - Living History","file":{"fid":"202671","name":"somers-1.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/somers-1_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/somers-1_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":773581,"path_740":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/somers-1_0.jpg?itok=rUl1vBGO"}},"421291":{"id":"421291","type":"image","title":"Marilyn Somers","body":null,"created":"1449254306","gmt_created":"2015-12-04 18:38:26","changed":"1638276954","gmt_changed":"2021-11-30 12:55:54","alt":"Marilyn Somers in her office in the Alumni House. ","file":{"fid":"202672","name":"somers-2.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/somers-2_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/somers-2_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":689803,"path_740":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/somers-2_0.jpg?itok=y2a8VfLT"}}},"media_ids":["421281","421291"],"related_links":[{"url":"http:\/\/livinghistory.gatech.edu\/","title":"Georgia Tech Living History Program"},{"url":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/GTLivingHistory","title":"Living History on Facebook"},{"url":"http:\/\/gtalumni.org\/","title":"Georgia Tech Alumni Association"}],"groups":[{"id":"1184","name":"Alumni Association"}],"categories":[{"id":"130","name":"Alumni"},{"id":"129","name":"Institute and Campus"}],"keywords":[{"id":"506","name":"alumni"},{"id":"596","name":"Alumni Association"},{"id":"10279","name":"George P. Burdell"},{"id":"1683","name":"history"},{"id":"10270","name":"living history"},{"id":"131071","name":"Living History Project"},{"id":"4596","name":"Marilyn Somers"}],"core_research_areas":[],"news_room_topics":[{"id":"71871","name":"Campus and Community"}],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:melissa.weinman@alumni.gatech.edu\u0022\u003EMelissa Weinman\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003C\/a\u003EAlumni Association\u003Cbr \/\u003E404-894-0750\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["melissa.weinman@alumni.gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}}}