Bryan Rommel-Ruiz Publishes “American History Goes to the Movies”

Associate Professor of History Bryan Rommel-Ruiz has a new book out, titled “American History Goes to the Movies: Hollywood and the American Experience.” The research and writing for the book evolved from the film and history class that he teaches at Colorado College. Using films from many different genres, the book draws together movies that depict the Civil War, the Wild West, the assassination of JFK, and the events of 9/11, to show how viewers use movies to make sense of the past. “American History Goes to the Movies” addresses not only how we render history for popular enjoyment, but also how Hollywood’s renderings of America influence the way Americans see themselves and how they make sense of the world.

80 Years Later, Original Shove Dedication Program Presented to CC

On Oct. 17, 1930, eight-year-old Bob Funk attended the cornerstone dedication at Shove Memorial Chapel with his mother and two brothers. Funk’s great-uncle, Horace Mitchell, was the grand master of the Masonic Lodge and, as such, was to lay the cornerstone.
Almost exactly 80 years later, on Sept. 10, 2010, Funk returned to CC and presented the original programs to Chaplain Bruce Coriell,

The dedication programs were in excellent condition, despite the turns Funk’s life had taken. He moved to New Jersey, enlisted in the Army, and served in Italy. After the war, Funk worked for duPont before enrolling in Rutgers University in 1951. He later asked a dean at Rutgers to recommend a smaller school, and the dean, learning that Funk was from Colorado Springs, told him CC was one of the best schools in the country. Funk transferred and graduated from Colorado College in 1954 at age 32.

Funk attends St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church in Denver, as does CC Trustee Bill Campbell ’67. When Funk learned Campbell was a CC alum, he asked Campbell to help him return the programs to the college. Campbell helped arrange the September visit to CC, the first time Funk had been back in decades. Funk and Campbell met with President Dick Celeste, toured the Cornerstone Arts Center, and visited Cutler Hall (where both rang the tower bell).

Funk and Campbell also went to Shove Memorial Chapel, where Funk gave the two programs to Coriell, and was presented with a book about the chapel. Funk also reviewed a collection of historical photos of the chapel ceremonies, and was able to find his mother, brothers, and himself in the front row of the guests.

Funk also recalled his impressions of the ceremony to augment the chapel’s records, including the fact that there were two dedication ceremonies. In the morning faculty members led a dedication of the four stones imported from England that are now in the lower part of the front wall of Pilgrim Chapel, located in southeast corner of Shove Chapel. The stones came from a parish church in Gatton, where a Shove ancestor served as parish priest in the 1600s; Winchester Cathedral, which inspired the architect’s design for Shove; Christ Church at Oxford; and King’s College in Cambridge.

Later that afternoon, the Masons led the program to dedicate the cornerstone, which was laid at the northwest corner of Shove Memorial Chapel. It is readily visible on the left as one enters Shove from the main, western-facing entrance. Coriell says, however, that until a few years ago, the cornerstone was obscured by heavy evergreen foliage.

Shove Memorial Chapel was completed the following year, and dedicated on Nov. 24, 1931.