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SUNY Erie Library Resource Center

A Verbal History of Erie Community College

In 1982, former Erie Community College President, James E. Shenton created audio recordings of his memoirs charting the creation of the college in 1946. This presentation allows you to listen to his recordings & read the related transcript documentation.

Explore Other New York State Historic Digital Collections

A Verbal History of Erie Community College is proudly included in the New York Heritage Digital Collections.

New York Heritage Digital Collections is a project of the Empire State Library Network. New York Heritage is a research portal for students, educators, historians, genealogists, and anyone else who is interested in learning more about the people, places and institutions of New York State. The site provides free access to more than 170 distinct digital collections, totaling hundreds of thousands of items.

Featured Resource - The SUNY Community Colleges: An Oral History of the First 30 Years

In 2006, Benjamin Weaver interviewed three early leaders of Erie Community College: Cosmo Fratello (retired professor), Greg Gillis (professor), and Dr. John Rydzik (former administrator).

These interviews and their transcripts were prepared as part of a larger project entitled: The SUNY Community Colleges: An Oral History of the First 30 Years, edited by Neal V. Robbins and published in 2007. This publication is included in the State University of New York Digital Repository.

For Further Research

The following list is not intended to be comprehensive. It represents a sampling of resources that are available online and from libraries in print format. Suggestions for the inclusion of additional resources can be made by contacting Librarian and curator of this project, Matthew Best (bestm@ecc.edu).