{"61258":{"#nid":"61258","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Marilyn Somers Works to Endow Tech\u2019s Living History Program","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EAfter sixteen years of documenting the stories of nearly 800 Tech alumni and friends\u2014and serving as a passionate advocate for the program she founded to tell those stories\u2014Marilyn Somers is \u201cputting her money where her mouth is.\u201d\n\t\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ESomers, who serves as director of the \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.livinghistory.gatech.edu\u0022\u003EGeorgia Tech Living History Program\u003C\/a\u003E, has made a retirement plan provision to establish the George P. Burdell Living History Endowment Fund.\n\t\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EFounded in 1994, the Living History Program collects, preserves, and presents the history of Georgia Tech by recording on video the life stories of Georgia Tech alumni, friends and employees. Those videos are transcribed, archived and made available for research and the production of documentaries. The earliest story in the collection is from a 1915 alumnus who at 100 years of age happily sang \u201cRamblin\u2019 Wreck.\u201d\n\t\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cThe idea behind starting this endowment was to have a vehicle to enable people to feel comfortable making charitable gifts to the Living History Program and to emphasize the value of preserving Georgia Tech traditions and history,\u201d said Somers, who staffs the Program along with a full-time videographer and several part-time student workers. \u201cThat\u2019s why the endowment fund is named for George P. Burdell. I think of Burdell as belonging to all of us because he\u2019s the spirit of Georgia Tech. I want this endowment to ensure that the Living History Program will still be here a generation from now and a generation after that. I don\u2019t want the treasures we\u2019ve accumulated to disappear because of lack of funding.\u201d \n\t\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThis semester, Somers is collaborating on a new course entitled \u201cLiving History at Georgia Tech.\u201d She has also coached student orientation leaders in Tech traditions, and she never misses an opportunity to tell Tech stories in other campus venues.\n\t\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cHistory is important,\u201d Somers said. \u201cMy hope is that future generations of Tech students and alumni will avail themselves of our database and come to know the roots of this rich institution. Of all that has come before, so richly recounted by our alumni in their own words. That\u2019s why I\u2019m putting my money where my mouth is.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cblockquote\u003E\u003Cem\u003ETo inquire about making a gift in support of the Georgia Tech Living\nHistory Program, contact any development officer, or \u003C\/em\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:dorcas.wilkinson@dev.gatech.edu\u0022\u003E\u003Cem\u003Edorcas.wilkinson@dev.gatech.edu\u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cem\u003E.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/blockquote\u003E","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EAfter sixteen years of documenting the stories of nearly 800 Tech alumni and friends\u2014and serving as a passionate advocate for the program she founded to tell those stories\u2014Marilyn Somers is \u201cputting her money where her mouth is.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"She has established the George P. Burdell Living History Endowment Fund"}],"uid":"27299","created_gmt":"2010-09-28 08:55:34","changed_gmt":"2016-10-08 03:07:31","author":"Michael Hagearty","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2010-09-28T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2010-09-28T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"46047":{"id":"46047","type":"image","title":"Marilyn Somers","body":null,"created":"1449174347","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 20:25:47","changed":"1475894409","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:40:09","alt":"Marilyn Somers","file":{"fid":"190094","name":"tkn31195.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/tkn31195_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/tkn31195_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":194226,"path_740":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/tkn31195_0.jpg?itok=GBkAOsuU"}}},"media_ids":["46047"],"related_links":[{"url":"http:\/\/www.livinghistory.gatech.edu\/","title":"Georgia Tech Living History"}],"groups":[{"id":"1259","name":"Whistle"}],"categories":[{"id":"129","name":"Institute and Campus"}],"keywords":[{"id":"596","name":"Alumni Association"},{"id":"269","name":"endowment"},{"id":"10279","name":"George P. Burdell"},{"id":"10270","name":"living history"},{"id":"4596","name":"Marilyn Somers"},{"id":"197","name":"video"}],"core_research_areas":[],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[],"email":[],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}}}