3 10 162 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Celebration Description An account of the resource Speeches from the Celebration of Roy's Life, December 9, 2007, George Mason University, Arlington campus, Arlington, VA. Document A resource containing textual data. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre text. Text Any textual data included in the document. For the past two years I worked closely with Roy as the administrative assistant for the Center. In spite of the fact that most of my work was on the clerical and mundane side- budgets to update, forms to have signed- I now recognize that my job entailed more than just merging cells on a spreadsheet. Working at the Center and with Roy, day to day, couldn’t fit a classical job description of an administrative assistant and I should have been more mindful of the response I got when I asked during my interview what a typical day was like- no day is typical. No matter what came up during the day or the night before at 10pm, I always tried to brew a pot of coffee before Roy arrived. There are many fond memories that I have of Roy. Whenever, I think about my time at the Center, there are two things that come to mind first, black jeans and Roy’s walk. I know that there’s been a lot of talk about Roy’s red shirts but I always remember the black jeans. His apparel choice was about as consistent as a cup of coffee in his hands. There was one occasion when Roy came in wearing blue jeans. I was stunned. Absolutely baffled. I couldn’t process Roy in blue jeans- it totally blew my mind! After a couple of minutes, I recovered and we proceeded to launch into one of the many hundreds of conversations we had about budgets. I’d have to say about eighty percent of our conversations dealt with Center finances, but i don’t want to bore you with that! Roy had a very unique gait. He shuffled a bit; had a slight roundness in his shoulders (I’m sure from years of walking around reading or responding to emails on his Treo). I always knew when he was approaching, - which leads the first item I want to share about working with Roy. Walking… Roy had a habit of starting a conversation at my desk and towards the end of his thoughts (while I clearly wasn’t aware of) he would begin walking away, his back towards me, still speaking– I couldn’t enhance my hearing ability so after a couple of conversations where this would happen- I started to stand while speaking with him- that way I could follow him and thus ensure that I wouldn’t miss any detail. Details were very important- being uber-prepared was de rigueur. When I had my first event to plan on my own, I was incredibly nervous. I wanted to do everything right and make sure that the event went off without a hitch. I booked the room, sent out emails, provided directions, and ordered food. I did everything that I needed to and assured Roy that everything was prepared, snafu-proof... Fast forward to the event, the catering was to arrive at 5:45. By 5:46, Roy discreetly made his way to the back of the room and asked me about the food. My worst fear materialized when I called the restaurant and they were surprised to hear from me- isn’t the event tomorrow? I almost choked. I did not want to tell Roy. I, at the point, didn’t know how he would react. Thankfully, he remained composed when I told him the situation but he was clearly flustered- he paced about, kept going in and out of the building, and had me call the restaurant about every five minutes. After the longest thirty minutes of my newly professional life the food arrived- we had leftovers for a week in the office and I self-imposed a double-check policy on all future events. Also, my personal moratorium on Moroccan food stands. Checking-in was a regular aspect of communication between Roy and I… every week, sometimes every day, a new problem presented itself or issue arose- Roy would explain the situation, his desired outcome and then I would figure out the rest. He definitely had a lot of faith in my ability to find a solution- but I had to think on my toes… I didn’t havemuch time before Roy would come back for an update sometimes within a half hour of presenting the issue! If I couldn’t get in touch with anyone or the situation got more complicated- Roy’s response was usually the same- “oi!” followed by, “let me know if I can do anything.” I quickly made best friends with my phone and memorized the most relevant numbers- it was clear that I couldn’t wait for the rest of the world or Mason to catch up, and as in most academic settings there is a lot of bureaucracy to wade through, but that didn’t stop Roy and subsequently didn’t stop me from, I wouldn’t use the word “harassing” but persistently contacting someone until I got an answer! I’m sure that I tested a few people’s nerves but I realized that was beside the point- we had a purpose, we didn’t want to waste any time, and no one was hurt in the process! And, to clarify, no decisions were ever made in haste- everything was well thought out it’s just that Roy worked about ten times faster than everyone else. Roy knew how to quell most potential roadblocks or issues. It wasn’t working the system, per se; we didn’t break any rules, perhaps we bent the rules a little… but I’d characterize it as resourcefulness and determination to remain committed to the Center’s mission. He never pushed his agenda to a point of overstepping bounds or treaded on any toes- we just made a lot of phone calls! Roy was very patient, especially since I had little experience in accounting and a lot of trouble sitting still. He was lenient with deadlines, in my case- a few extra days to finish updating budgets, and always considerate when I made mistakes. I knew Roy was busy, but he never failed to take the time to talk with me- he invariably had an answer for any question that I asked. The only things that were predictable about Roy were his attire, his lunch order of a ham sandwich and apple, and his never-ending battle with the projector. Everything else... Thanks! Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context 128 Title A name given to the resource As Roy's assistant... Language A language of the resource eng Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource You must be 13 years of age or older to submit material to us. Your submission of material constitutes your permission for, and consent to, its dissemination and use in connection with Thanks, Roy in all media in perpetuity. If you have so indicated on the form, your material will be published on Thanks, Roy (with or without your name, depending on what you have indicated). Otherwise, your response will only be available to approved researchers using Thanks, Roy. The material you submit must have been created by you, wholly original, and shall not be copied from or based, in whole or in part, upon any other photographic, literary, or other material, except to the extent that such material is in the public domain. Further, submitted material must not violate any confidentiality, privacy, security or other laws. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Heather Velez Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Heather Velez Type The nature or genre of the resource Document redshirt hamsandwich https://www.thanksroy.org/files/original/e34a4f3a838b048a0677c1575adabe59.jpg dc5f344de676d7c9aa3747435fa6e500 Omeka Image File The metadata element set that was included in the `files_images` table in previous versions of Omeka. These elements are common to all image files. Bit Depth 8 Channels 3 Height 2298 Width 3456 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Celebration Description An account of the resource Speeches from the Celebration of Roy's Life, December 9, 2007, George Mason University, Arlington campus, Arlington, VA. Still Image A static visual representation. Examples of still images are: paintings, drawings, graphic designs, plans and maps. Recommended best practice is to assign the type "text" to images of textual materials. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context 201 Title A name given to the resource Betsy Blackmar Speaking at Roy's Celebration Language A language of the resource eng Type The nature or genre of the resource Still Image https://www.thanksroy.org/files/original/3631c12e777fd4545e3a2d2e5b2ebe40.jpg 6aa776d582421b76be7dd6d6720d7723 Omeka Image File The metadata element set that was included in the `files_images` table in previous versions of Omeka. These elements are common to all image files. Bit Depth 8 Channels 3 Height 2298 Width 3456 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Celebration Description An account of the resource Speeches from the Celebration of Roy's Life, December 9, 2007, George Mason University, Arlington campus, Arlington, VA. Still Image A static visual representation. Examples of still images are: paintings, drawings, graphic designs, plans and maps. Recommended best practice is to assign the type "text" to images of textual materials. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context 229 Title A name given to the resource Betsy Blackmar Speaking at Roy's Celebration Language A language of the resource eng Type The nature or genre of the resource Still Image https://www.thanksroy.org/files/original/e725892ca13c4e1a3511116ebfd9a170.jpg bd40c55f1439a2ca5cb57945ce59a4ba Omeka Image File The metadata element set that was included in the `files_images` table in previous versions of Omeka. These elements are common to all image files. Bit Depth 8 Channels 3 Height 387 Width 639 Still Image A static visual representation. Examples of still images are: paintings, drawings, graphic designs, plans and maps. Recommended best practice is to assign the type "text" to images of textual materials. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context 16 Title A name given to the resource CHNM running group Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource You must be 13 years of age or older to submit material to us. Your submission of material constitutes your permission for, and consent to, its dissemination and use in connection with <em>Thanks, Roy</em> in all media in perpetuity. If you have so indicated on the form, your material will be published on <em>Thanks, Roy</em> (with or without your name, depending on what you have indicated). Otherwise, your response will only be available to approved researchers using <em>Thanks, Roy</em>. The material you submit must have been created by you, wholly original, and shall not be copied from or based, in whole or in part, upon any other photographic, literary, or other material, except to the extent that such material is in the public domain. Further, submitted material must not violate any confidentiality, privacy, security or other laws. By submitting material to <em>Thanks, Roy</em> you release, discharge, and agree to hold harmless <em>Thanks, Roy</em> and persons acting under its permission or authority, including a public library or archive to which the collection might be donated for purposes of long-term preservation, from any claims or liability arising out the <em>Thanks, Roy</em>\'s use of the material, including, without limitation, claims for violation of privacy, defamation, or misrepresentation. <em>Thanks, Roy</em> has no obligation to use your material. You will be sent via email a copy of your contribution to <em>Thanks, Roy</em>. We cannot return any material you submit to us so be sure to keep a copy. <em>Thanks, Roy</em> will not share your email address or any other information with commercial vendors. Description An account of the resource A group photo of CHNMers from a GMU three-mile run in the spring of 2006. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Roy Rosenzweig Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Dan Cohen Type The nature or genre of the resource Still Image chnm Document A resource containing textual data. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre text. Text Any textual data included in the document. Coffee with Roy March 29, 2008 In thinking about what to say this morning, in thinking about Roy and the Center for History and New Media, I looked through the hundreds of entries on the Thanks, Roy website, many from former and current CHNMers, and was once again struck by the eloquence, the humor, the passion for social justice, and the incredible work ethic that comes through—all things that Roy both embodied and fostered in others. I also looked at the tags and the themes that had emerged. Some were to be expected—coffee, history and digital history, the ever-present red (or maroon) shirt and jeans. Many others were also no surprise to those who knew and worked with Roy—decency, kindness, generosity, humility. One tag that drew my attention was “driving.” It reminded me of a drive I took with Roy shortly after I started working at CHNM. We were flying to New York City to meet with Josh, Ellen, and Pennee about History Matters. Roy and Deborah lived close to National Airport, so I drove from my home in Maryland, parked at their house, and Roy drove us to the airport. On the way, Roy started telling a complicated, engaging story about the “ins and outs” of publishing Who Built America—the curious twists and turns, the quirky individuals and intrigues along the way. Somewhere in there, we exited the GW Parkway and entered the airport, the circular drive that takes you past the various parking garages, the passenger drop off, the rental cars. And as Roy talked and drove, we passed the rental cars, the departures and arrivals, and the parking terminals A, B, and C. And we drove right back out of the airport and onto the parkway. Roy was a devoted storyteller and deeply engaged in many interesting, intellectual ideas at any given moment. In this case, Roy’s passion for making history public, making it available and accessible, for telling the stories of ordinary people, and his fascination with the sometimes convoluted path that it took to do so led to a new way of reaching the airport, but one that worked in the end nonetheless. We found our way back to the airport and made the plane in plenty of time. Working with Roy for more than 7 years at CHNM, I came to appreciate and cherish that some days were like this. That getting from point A to point B might take an unexpected path. But whatever the path, Roy had the remarkable ability to stay focused on the important things in life—people, history, and open access to the past—through untold histories as well as through technology. In day-to-day work, sometimes get distracted by annoyances or minor setbacks, but Roy always had the truly admirable ability to keep things in perspective, to focus on the larger meaning of the work. In a discipline known for the work of individuals, Roy was dedicated to collaboration (another popular tag on Thanks, Roy) and to breaking down traditional boundaries. Roy remained committed to the process of collaboration, even when it was slower and messier than working alone, as it usually is. In part, I think it is because Roy knew the advantages of bringing together a range of minds and ideas, of sharing and discussing. But he also truly enjoyed working with people—talking, listening, developing ideas collaboratively. As CHNM grew from one full time employee, Elena, and a few graduate assistants to a staff of more than 40, this got harder to do. Roy’s days were filled, truly packed from beginning to end, with email, meetings, problems to be resolved, grants to be written, and ideas to be grappled with. But he always made time to get to know each person who was hired, to help them make connections and plan their futures; to make sure that they felt welcome and a part of the larger purpose of CHNM and its work. Roy signed his emails “Take Care, Roy” and this he always did—of the past and of the present, of the stories and the people. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context 255 Title A name given to the resource Coffee with Roy, Roy and CHNM"" Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource You must be 13 years of age or older to submit material to us. Your submission of material constitutes your permission for, and consent to, its dissemination and use in connection with Thanks, Roy in all media in perpetuity. If you have so indicated on the form, your material will be published on Thanks, Roy (with or without your name, depending on what you have indicated). Otherwise, your response will only be available to approved researchers using Thanks, Roy. The material you submit must have been created by you, wholly original, and shall not be copied from or based, in whole or in part, upon any other photographic, literary, or other material, except to the extent that such material is in the public domain. Further, submitted material must not violate any confidentiality, privacy, security or other laws. By submitting material to Thanks, Roy you release, discharge, and agree to hold harmless Thanks, Roy and persons acting under its permission or authority, including a public library or archive to which the collection might be donated for purposes of long-term preservation, from any claims or liability arising out the Thanks, Roy's use of the material, including, without limitation, claims for violation of privacy, defamation, or misrepresentation. Thanks, Roy has no obligation to use your material. You will be sent via email a copy of your contribution to Thanks, Roy. We cannot return any material you submit to us so be sure to keep a copy. Thanks, Roy will not share your email address or any other information with commercial vendors. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Kelly Schrum Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Kelly Schrum Type The nature or genre of the resource Document chnm Coffee with Roy driving Document A resource containing textual data. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre text. Text Any textual data included in the document. I played comic second fiddle to Roy at George Mason for years. It was really obvious from the first time I met Roy that he was a really smart. You could see that right away. But a lot of academics are really smart—smart is sort of cheap in the way a beauty queen is beautiful—it’s look at me, and primping. And Roy wasn’t smart in that way; he was smart in a very unusual way. He was smart in the way he approached building community. George Mason was a wonderful place to work. Our Department was terrifically collegial and pleasant, and most of that was due to Roy. It was the way Roy worked. He had enormous respect for people in that department. When I got there--George Mason is kind of a preposterous place in some ways. Well, all Universities are a little preposterous. But it reflected its origins as kind of a branch campus of UVA, and a lot of the faculty in that department had no pretensions to doing any research at all. They didn’t think of themselves as researchers, they were teachers primarily, and my training of course—I thought I was a hotshot academic—was to be contemptuous of that kind of thing. You now—that’s not what it’s about, it’s about the research. And Roy never reflected that attitude: although he himself was prodigious in his work he always treated all his colleagues at George Mason with enormous courtesy and respect he built a culture of mutual respect that was really striking. It wasn’t one of those two-tiered systems where one person gets all the influence…well actually it was: Roy got all the influence, but other than that it was pretty good! But the way he got it is what’s interesting. I had come from a department where Jr. faculty were forced to enlist themselves in feuds that dated back to the Taft administration; their origins were lost in the mists of time: there was none of that at George Mason. None of that was enabled. And I think how did he do it? We had department meetings about three times a semester and they were remarkably pleasant. They were usually funny they were usually short, but whenever things did get a little heated or a little tense, or there’d be a problem that’d be particularly knotty, everybody would start to look at Roy, who usually wasn’t saying much. My job was to make smart-ass comments; his job was to sit quietly, and then you’d see people start to look at Roy. “What’s Roy going to say?” “What’s Roy gonna say?” And then he would invariably say something that was extremely useful. Unlike most of us he didn’t take the opportunity to speak as a chance to lay waste to his opponents or settle old scores or denounce: he didn’t do any of that stuff; he would come up with some effective solution But he would never say the solution: he would always say “well, you know, we could do this.” And people would say “hey, we could! That would be really good!” And pretty soon, that’s what we would be doing. Now, I don’t want to make him sound like some kind of saint—he wasn’t some kind of some kind of namby pamby goody goody guy either: he had a scathing wit, as you all know. He was happy to settle grudges and lay waste to his opponents after the meeting was over, he was happy to do that sort of thing, and it was a lot of fun, actually, I loved those moments. But the thing that was most—as you now, he was a noodge, he never quit when he wanted to make something happen. He had no concept this thing you call the “weekend” or this thing you call “the holiday.” I once got a request from him to have a meeting—on Christmas day. And I said “Roy I’m gonna be in Philadelphia visiting my family on Christmas day” and he said, “well, could we do a phone conference?” No, we can’t do a phone conference. The thing that was most annoying about Roy, which was, I think was the key to how he worked was he would never tell you what he wanted. I was happy—I realized early n that Roy was usually right. I had extravagant schemes, and elaborate interpretations that were beautiful castle sin the air, Roy had practical solutions, and he was almost always right and I figured that out fairly early and I’d want to say “Roy, look, just tell me what you want to do, and I‘ll go along; I’m happy to go along with you; just tell me what you want to do. And he never would, because he loved the idea of consensus, and he would move mountains to create the illusion that everybody agreed happily and spontaneously. This is sort of what he did; he would do everything to make that happen, He really believed in it. It must have been very difficult in some way to be Roy: to know the right thing to do, and be surrounded by lunatics who had no idea what the right thing—imagine the burden that must be! But he would work patiently to bring about this consensus, and the way he did it was not, in the community of George Mason, making his own agenda or his own personal grievance the first order of business. And that’s why he would never tell me where he wanted to end up. Partly he didn’t always know, but partly he didn’t want to make his agenda the first order of business; he didn’t want to make denouncing his opponents the first order of business, he didn’t want to make posturing what it was all about., So he built this culture that was extraordinarily collegiate, extraordinarily pleasant, extraordinarily comfortable. He did the scut work that people of his stature typically didn’t do. You now, we had a picnic every year; Roy would stay after to clean up. He was humble in that way—he didn’t put on the airs that someone of his stature was entitled to. In that way too he didn’t put himself forward: he didn’t put his own agenda and his own opinions forward. It was an extraordinary experience to be in a department with him: it was for e a completely new way of looking t how academics can conduct themselves, and how the life of a department can be conducted. It was extraordinary—I thought you had to be sort of bitter and infighting—I thought it was a requirement for the job! And it was a revelation to see otherwise. Every day at George Mason, every day, people walk around and say: “What would Roy do? What are we going to do with this problem? What would Roy do? How would Roy get to the answer?” It’s extremely difficult to do, but it’s a question we’ll never stop asking ourselves. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context 257 Title A name given to the resource Coffee with Roy, Roy and George Mason University"" Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource You must be 13 years of age or older to submit material to us. Your submission of material constitutes your permission for, and consent to, its dissemination and use in connection with Thanks, Roy in all media in perpetuity. If you have so indicated on the form, your material will be published on Thanks, Roy (with or without your name, depending on what you have indicated). Otherwise, your response will only be available to approved researchers using Thanks, Roy. The material you submit must have been created by you, wholly original, and shall not be copied from or based, in whole or in part, upon any other photographic, literary, or other material, except to the extent that such material is in the public domain. Further, submitted material must not violate any confidentiality, privacy, security or other laws. By submitting material to Thanks, Roy you release, discharge, and agree to hold harmless Thanks, Roy and persons acting under its permission or authority, including a public library or archive to which the collection might be donated for purposes of long-term preservation, from any claims or liability arising out the Thanks, Roy's use of the material, including, without limitation, claims for violation of privacy, defamation, or misrepresentation. Thanks, Roy has no obligation to use your material. You will be sent via email a copy of your contribution to Thanks, Roy. We cannot return any material you submit to us so be sure to keep a copy. Thanks, Roy will not share your email address or any other information with commercial vendors. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Michael OMalley Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Michael OMalley Type The nature or genre of the resource Document Coffee with Roy collaboration community building Department Meetings George Mason University History Department Mediator Document A resource containing textual data. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre text. Text Any textual data included in the document. Transcription of remarks made at the OAH session, “Morning Coffee with Roy Rosenzweig: A Remembrance,” on March 29 by Barbara Ashbrook, National Endowment for the Humanities. Good morning. I was invited to talk about Roy and the National Endowment for the Humanities. I suppose most of you know what we do? (laughter) We give grants, and we give grants with your money, and so we use great care when we give those grants. Within this framework, Roy enjoyed legendary success as a seeker of grant funds, and I think what is even more important, his projects were always the kind that grant makers could point to with great pride. I consulted before I came here the old NEH database-- printed something out. I see that Roy first appears on the list (laughter) for a fellowship he won in 1982 to write a social history of Frederick Law Olmsted’s public parks. Then, in 1986, his knack for collaboration kicks in, I guess, and it gets a boost with a collaborative research grant for a project on the Central Park. Now, I’m not going to march you through the rest of this list of Roy’s way to seven figures and beyond, shall we say, (laughter) from the NEH. And of course this list that I have doesn’t count the numerous grants where Roy was a key partner but not a director, often working in collaboration with his friends at the American Social History Project and their wonderful New Media Classroom workshops and seminars which have reached hundreds of teachers and changed lives. However, that next project, the third one that shows up on my database list, means a lot to me because this was his first grant from the Education division – the first of a good many grants. And from this, I figure it must have been late 1994 or early in 1995 when two guys showed up in my office. Now, that would be Steve Brier and Roy Rosenzweig. And at the time I thought, “Oh boy, here comes trouble, (laughter) just the kind of trouble I love to have!” because what makes working at the Endowment so exciting is, of course, your scholarship, your energy, the experiences that you have as teachers that you share, and your sense of developments in the field. That’s what makes it wonderful. Well, these two guys were telling me something pretty interesting about what they were doing with technology, and it sounded like a good thing because some of what had been done before wasn’t really so great, but . . . I didn’t know it at the time, but Roy and Steve were opening the door to a whole new way of working in the humanities. We funded that CD-ROM – that Who Built America, question mark – and later, History Matters, and projects on the French Revolution, and projects in world history, all of these projects in which Roy’s leadership was so crucial to their success. I will also mention the Challenge Grant which Roy put together which would give the beginning of a permanent endowment for the Center for History and New Media, and I believe this is part of his lasting legacy, too. When Roy began his career as a professional historian, I doubt that he imagined he would end up making history himself, and that he would be one of those builders of America -- the best parts of America – but, in fact, that is just what he did. And so, on behalf of the National Endowment for the Humanities, I want to say “thanks, Roy” for giving us the opportunity and the privilege of playing a supporting role in your life’s work (applause). Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context 259 Title A name given to the resource Coffee with Roy, Roy and the National Endowment for the Humanities"" Language A language of the resource eng Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Barbara Ashbrook, National Endowment for the Humanities Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2008-03-29 Type The nature or genre of the resource Document Coffee with Roy Grants NEH Document A resource containing textual data. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre text. Text Any textual data included in the document. “Roy as New Media Historian” OAH, March 29, 2008 Yesterday was my birthday and something didn’t happen that I had come to rely on for the past quarter century: I didn’t receive a wonderfully witty and politically astute card from Roy wishing me a happy birthday. That kindness and attention to personal detail were the essence of our dear friend and colleague and one of the things I will sorely miss in the years to come. I don’t think you can separate Roy and his various identities as historian, as we are trying to do here today, from the quintessential fact that he was an unusually kind and generous human being. That generosity extended to all of Roy’s connections and relationships, whether he was reading and editing, multiple times, thick manuscripts; writing untold numbers of job references and letters of recommendation for students, colleagues, and friends; or engaging in serious gossip about the historical profession and the personal quirks and idiosyncrasies of its self-involved and self-regarding practitioners. My job today is to talk about Roy as a new media historian. But to do that I need first to establish what I see as five essential truths and political commitments that defined Roy’s entire career: • broadening the subject of historical inquiry; • fighting for the democratic possibilities of doing and communicating history; • overcoming the theoretical obfuscations that marred so much scholarly writing; • finding new ways and presentational forms to convey historical ideas to a broad public audience; and, most of all, • working collaboratively. Roy loved to collaborate, which was especially evident in his early and vigorous embrace of new media as a form that could reshape the way we thought and learned about the past. Roy and I entered the wonderful world of computers together, buying matching Kaypro II computers in 1982, Roy to do academic work and my ASHP colleagues and me to write the WBA? textbook. Our early shared use of computers led us to start poking around the emerging field of computer controlled media in the late 1980s. I was down in Arlington visiting some time around 1989 and Roy and I took the Metro into DC near Union Station to visit an exhibit of computer controlled training programs that some company or museum had on display. Out of that experience emerged the idea to use new media to do a new kind of history. We’d been doing films and videos at ASHP (Roy was a valued consultant on these productions) but the computer opened new and seemingly limitless vistas for teaching and learning and for working collaboratively. Roy immediately grasped that new media, because of its complexity and technical demands, necessitated collaboration. He was thrilled at that prospect. I guess my fondest memories of working with Roy as a new media historian go back to the origins of our first new media venture, which centered on researching and writing the considerable amount of text that introduced and framed the rich multimedia content of the Who Built America? CD-ROMs that we (meaning the American Social History Project and Roy) conceived and developed together. Much of that writing took place in Roy’s book-lined and paper-strewn office in Roy and Deborah’s Jackson St. house in Arlington. I’d move in for a week or two at a time to work closely with Roy, which consisted of being chained (metaphorically speaking) to a computer all day and well into every evening, working with the kind of intensity, focus and sheer sense of discovery that defined everything that Roy did. I could never manage to keep up with Roy’s output or his brilliant historical insights (I don’t think any of his collaborators did), though I tried damned hard to do so. I learned pretty quickly that the best thing you could do was push yourself, work hard and then sit back and appreciate Roy’s incredible ability to work harder and produce more. Even our hard working team of a dozen or more comrades at ASHP was not enough to keep up with Roy, leading him to create and head up his own new media history operation at GMU, the Center for History and New Media. And, as I think about it, even Roy’s CHNM colleagues, who numbered more than three dozen before he died, can no doubt attest that they couldn’t keep up with Roy, either. I know I speak for all ASHPers and CHNMers when I say that to have been able to collaborate with Roy on imagining and realizing history in new media was a privilege, allowing us all to engage in a common project that helped redefine the way history was thought about and presented. Roy’s influence will be felt for years to come in the profession and beyond. I am certain that he will be remembered not only for his staggering intellectual output, but also for the endearing friendship and support that he offered to so many people, inside the profession and far beyond it. Thanks, Roy, not only for your brilliant intellect and tireless work ethic, but much more for your extraordinary generosity of spirit and for your kind heart. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context 256 Title A name given to the resource Coffee with Roy, Roy as New Media Historian"" Language A language of the resource eng Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource You must be 13 years of age or older to submit material to us. Your submission of material constitutes your permission for, and consent to, its dissemination and use in connection with Thanks, Roy in all media in perpetuity. If you have so indicated on the form, your material will be published on Thanks, Roy (with or without your name, depending on what you have indicated). Otherwise, your response will only be available to approved researchers using Thanks, Roy. The material you submit must have been created by you, wholly original, and shall not be copied from or based, in whole or in part, upon any other photographic, literary, or other material, except to the extent that such material is in the public domain. Further, submitted material must not violate any confidentiality, privacy, security or other laws. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Steve Brier Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Steve Brier Type The nature or genre of the resource Document chnm generosity new media productivity. ashp roy who built america https://www.thanksroy.org/files/original/f8fb6bea6c052e06fa9c620834392d14.jpg c3b91f004866573d091425bb1e9af836 Omeka Image File The metadata element set that was included in the `files_images` table in previous versions of Omeka. 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Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context 237 Title A name given to the resource Dan Cohen Speaking at Roy's Celebration Language A language of the resource eng Type The nature or genre of the resource Still Image https://www.thanksroy.org/files/original/638d716cfa93ce60920e8d9b518fb511.jpg 790edc1123c7b7363413d30c2413c3bf Omeka Image File The metadata element set that was included in the `files_images` table in previous versions of Omeka. These elements are common to all image files. Bit Depth 8 Channels 3 Height 2298 Width 3456 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Celebration Description An account of the resource Speeches from the Celebration of Roy's Life, December 9, 2007, George Mason University, Arlington campus, Arlington, VA. Still Image A static visual representation. Examples of still images are: paintings, drawings, graphic designs, plans and maps. Recommended best practice is to assign the type "text" to images of textual materials. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context 248 Title A name given to the resource Dan Cohen Speaking at Roy's Celebration Language A language of the resource eng Type The nature or genre of the resource Still Image