Master Storyteller Shares Westminster's 150-Year History in Latest Book
Posted on Friday, January 11, 2002
The public is invited to attend a book signing at the All-Campus Birthday Cake Bash, Tuesday, Jan. 22, from 1:30-3:30 p.m. in Orr Auditorium. The Westminster Story 1852-2002: Glorious, Grand & True is available at the Westminster College Bookstore, (724) 946-7216.
This is not the first time Gamble has written about the history of Westminster College. The first edition was published in 1952 during the centennial celebration, was revised in 1977 during Westminster's 125 birthday, and in 1992 an additional 15 years was added to this year-by-year chronological story of events.
"For many years I have wanted to rewrite the history and break away from the limitations imposed by the year-in-review format," said Gamble. "I wanted to cover major story lines coherently rather than in annual fragment. With the approach of 2002, thanks to good health, plenty of time and some help from my family, I finally got that opportunity. This text is written for the reader who wants a readable account of how the College grew."
"This work includes the growing pains, as well as the positive things about Westminster," continued Gamble "Most changes were positive, but not all. We never used to have a problem finding a place to park."
Paul's son, Richard, a 1963 graduate of Westminster College, "brought a computer and experience gleaned from 20 years of magazine editing," that helped his father with this labor of love.
"Any historian needs to find the right balance between reporting events and interpreting," said Gamble, who has personally known the last eight Westminster College presidents. "That balance is certainly influenced in this case by my close association with the subject and the sheer accumulation of decades of memories. If a reader suspects a bias and a tendency to present the College in a favorable light, they are probably right."
"My strong ties go on, and the longer they continue the more devoted I am to Westminster," Gamble said.
"As a small child trying to come to terms with the adult world around me, I became
aware of an invisible presence in our family of something called Westminster College," said Gamble, a 1932 Westminster College graduate. "Later, when I could understand that my Grandmother Gamble was in the first regular graduating class, that her father was one of the founders, and that my father and his brother and sister were also graduates, I realized why I had been hearing fond and frequent references to Westminster."
Even Gamble's three children and their spouses are Westminster graduates, as well as one of his grandsons-that makes six generations of Gambles graduating from Westminster. The Gamble family has served Westminster in many other ways including his Great Grandfather William Dickey, who "traversed western Pennsylvania on horseback raising funds to build Westminster," and Gamble's father who "served a 20-year stint on the Board of Trustees."
Paul has served Westminster, too. In 1946, Gamble took time from his busy radio career to teach radio courses part time, and in 1949 he returned full-time when President Will W. Orr hired him as executive secretary of alumni to write and edit the College magazine, The Blue and White. In 1960, Gambles' success in developing alumni support led to Orr's naming him as his personal assistant, and in 1965 Gamble returned to teaching, this time in the English Department, where he stayed for 12 years.
"The highlight of my career at Westminster was teaching English," said Gamble. "I just loved that, and I'm so thankful that I had a chance to teach."
After three years of retirement, Gamble "just felt lost" so he took a part-time position as curator of the archives in 1980, where he stayed until his second retirement in 2000. He and his wife, Anna Mary, reside in New Wilmington.
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