ALISON DAVIS, EDITOR
Writer, Editor, Advocate || Class of '79
Alison’s articles have been published in the International Herald Tribune, the Chicago Tribune, and The Independent (UK), among others. Her essay “Memory Walk” appeared in the March/April ‘15 issue of Stanford magazine. She likes to write and think about what draws people together across generations, genders, and nationalities. Letters Home from Stanford is her first book.
DANIEL HARTWIG, adviser
University Archivist, Stanford University
As University Archivist Daniel is responsible for the acquisition, preservation and transmission of University records, faculty papers, and materials documenting the University's founders. Letters Home from Stanford is a fabulous project that engages alums while at the same time broadening the Stanford narrative.
JOSH SCHNEIDER, adviser
Assistant University Archivist, Stanford University
As Assistant University Archivist, Josh shares responsibility for acquiring, preserving, and providing access to Stanford University records, as well as materials documenting the campus and student life. He serves on several campus committees focusing on digital archives and new media preservation. The letters sent home by Stanford students illuminate a spectrum of campus life--from educational experiences and cultural events to individual stories of personal growth. Letters Home from Stanford offers alumni a wonderful opportunity to both reconnect with and share these Stanford memories.
Jenny Johnson, ADVISER
Collections Management and Processing Archivist, Stanford University
As Collections Management and Processing Archivist, Jenny is responsible for accessioning, cataloging, and processing university records and related faculty papers and manuscript collections, including letters, emails, and texts that are shared with the Stanford University Archives in support of Letters Home from Stanford!
NICOLE SUNAHARA, ADVISER
Director of Special Initiatives, Office of Public Affairs, Stanford University
Nicole Sunahara is leading the celebration of Stanford's 125th Anniversary in 2016. She is excited to partner with alumni, faculty, students, staff and the community to highlight the university's impact in the world through discovery and learning. Nicole finds Letters Home from Stanford a rich opportunity to experience Stanford through students' eyes over 125 years.
LAINE BRUZEK, Grad alum ADVISER and Designer
B.S. Product Design, '16 || M.S. Management Science & Engineering, '17
Laine designed the Letters Home from Stanford webpage and marketing materials while both an undergrad and grad student at the Farm. Her favorite quote is from Mabel Bartlett in 1906, during the Great San Francisco Earthquake: "Good-bye if the earth swallows us up." She’s most excited about how the book can help students understand that while their Stanford experience is unique in many ways, in other ways—not so much. Laine now lives in NYC, where she works as a Team Lead at Google Creative Lab, pitching ideas for new projects and working on creative strategy for existing ones. You can check out her design portfolio here.
JOAN LITTLE RAGNO, GRAD ALUM ADVISER
M.A. English/Creative Writing || Class of '80
Joan teaches Creative Dramatics to children in a local after-school program and serves as a community volunteer. A history buff, she has worked as a copy editor and educator, and used her writing and editing skills in many volunteer capacities while raising her family. Joan is interested in the ways Letters Home from Stanford will showcase historical differences in writing styles, illustrate both typical and unique student concerns across the years, and frame the nature of students' connections to family over time.
ALEXANDRA HENNESSY, UNDERGRAD ADVISER
Prospective Major in Public Policy or Economics || Class of ‘21
Alex is a freshman at Stanford originally from the western suburbs of Chicago. Still exploring her options for a major, she’s drawn to both Public Policy and Economics. As the Letters Home from Stanford social media intern for Winter and Spring quarters 2018, Alex has enjoyed showing our followers how Stanford has participated in American history and how campus life has changed—and hasn’t!—over time. She finds comfort in the common threads among students across generations. In particular, Alex connects with Carol Hodge, Class of 1957, who in one of her first letters home details her disappointment about some of her first grades freshman year: “I guess you could say this grade was a blow to my ego after all the A’s and B’s in high school.” —Oct. 5, 1953
Kady Richardson, undergrad adviser
American Studies & Communication || Class of '18
A Letters Home from Stanford editorial intern Winter and Spring Quarters, 2016, Kady is fascinated by how the collection examines what "Stanford" represents as an institution, home, and source of identity to its students. After reading four year's worth of letters written home by Mary Lesnett, Class of 1948, Kady felt Mary had turned into a friend. From Mary's and other's letters, Kady learned that Stanford students are (somewhat) consistent across generations—stress is certainly not a recent phenomenon, students frequent a lot of the same places, and certain social aspects of the school remain the same. Kady felt reassured and connected by knowing that many students before her often felt the same way she has during her own Stanford experience. Kady is from the Bay Area and loves following sports and fashion. When not studying or reading correspondence, she often reads novels.
EMILIA SCHRIER, Young Alum Adviser
History & English || Class of '16
Emilia is a newly minted Stanford alum, and current budding archivist at both the Hoover and the Yosemite archives. Always captivated by the power of personal stories, she loved learning about previous Stanford experiences as a Letters Home from Stanford editorial intern—especially now that her own time at the Farm is officially "history". Though Emilia envies the lively Roble social life of bygone eras, she is grateful that Stanford abandoned its policy of shutting off the lights at 10 p.m. every night. She never would have graduated without pulling many all-nighters, and wonders how Roble resident Julia Hamilton Conkling (Class of 1915) and her contemporaries found time to study and go to all those Jolly-Ups before "lights out"!
Jason Seter, undergrad adviser
History & English || Class of '18
Jason is a junior majoring in English and History, born and raised in Milwaukee, Wis. As a Letters Home from Stanford editorial intern during Winter Quarter, 2016, he gained a newfound respect for and interest in Stanford's impressive past. Jason loves to read and write, though occasionally he finds the work difficult to accomplish in this beautiful yet distracting California weather. Unless he gets Packers season tickets, he may never return to the Midwest.
KATHRYN RYDBERG, Undergrad Adviser
American Studies & Communication || Class of '19
Kathryn is a sophomore interested in American history, culture, and people. She served as the photo intern for Letters Home from Stanford last spring and summer, and thinks the upcoming collection will illuminate how the Stanford community has participated in the history of the United States as a nation as well as show the fascinating history of Stanford and the people who have made it what it is today. Her favorite letter writer is Lucy Allabach, Class of 1895. Despite the more than one hundred years separating Lucy's and her own Stanford experiences, Kathryn can relate to many of the Stanford moments that Lucy describes.
BENJAMIN DIEGO, young alum adviser
History & English || Class of '16
Ben is a recent alumnus of the History and English programs at Stanford, where he studied the art and literature of the Middle Ages. He treasures storytelling for its ability to draw people together by deepening their understanding of a common human experience. He has engaged with storytelling through Public Radio, through the Digital Humanities, and, during Winter Quarter 2016, as an editorial intern for Letters Home from Stanford. Ben's time with Letters Home took him deep into archives and brought him closer to people he has never met. He hopes to continue his work in publishing before returning to school to do an Art History PhD.
SUSAN PUTNAM CHRISTIANSEN, UNDERGRAD ALUM ADVISER
B.A. Biological Sciences, Class of '60 || M.A. Education, Class of '61
As an alumna who has also been involved with Stanford through volunteer work for SAA, weddings for Memorial Church, a collection of paintings for the Stanford Mgmt. Co. and portraits at the alumni building, and 33 years as a Stanford museum docent, Susan values enormously the continuity of our collective history. The letters and all memorabilia that contain this narrative are to be treasured, preserved, utilized. Letters Home from Stanford anchors this effort.