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FEATURE

Shenton Celebrated at St. Paul’s Chapel

By Alex Sachare ’71
Photos By Diane Bondareff

From top, DeWitt Clinton Professor of History Eric Foner ’63, Dean Austin Quigley, Provost Alan Brinkley, Sharon Hughes (niece) and Venus Green ’90 GSAS were among the speakers at the remembrance of Professor Jim Shenton ’49 in St. Paul’s Chapel.

It was billed as a “celebration of the life of a great Columbia teacher,” and the memorial service held in St. Paul’s Chapel on October 2 to honor Professor Jim Shenton ’49 was just that. Beginning with the welcome by DeWitt Clinton Professor of History Eric Foner ’63, the tone was light and upbeat as 10 speakers offered personal, anecdotal remembrances, and two family members offered readings, one that dealt with Shenton’s renowned love of food and the other a letter of World War II memories that was published in Tom Brokaw’s An Album of Memories: Personal Histories From the Greatest Generation.

Citing Shenton’s “remarkable capacity to bring history back to life,” Dean Austin Quigley told the audience of more than 300, “Jim Shenton represented for all of us something of Columbia at its very, very best.” He spoke of his early years as dean and noted, “At alumni gatherings around the country, the question of how Columbia was doing was followed closely by how Jim Shenton was doing. I soon realized the two were inextricably intertwined.”

Provost Alan Brinkley, Shenton’s colleague in the history department, said, “There will never be another Jim Shenton, but there are hundreds of men and women whose lives were irrevocably touched by him, and that’s a legacy any of us would be honored to leave behind.” Among those is Rick MacArthur ’78, publisher of Harper’s, who said, “I never met a more vibrant and enthusiastic man. Inever left his presence without feeling uplifted and improved. I never had a better mentor or teacher.”

Anders Stephanson, James P. Shenton Associate Professor in the Core Curriculum, said, “For 25 years, Jim Shenton was my teacher, my mentor, my friend. His spirit was always with me, and I suspect it always will be. He was a teacher of boundless generosity and enthusiasm. His lectures, always delivered without notes, were masterpieces of form and content. One left in a daze.”

Foner, who became a history major after taking one of Shenton’s courses and was one of his protégés, told several funny stories about their experiences together and marveled at “how many lives Jim touched in his half-century at Columbia. His devotion to his students was amazing.” Foner also spoke of Shenton’s role in trying to intercede between students and police during the 1968 demonstrations, noting, “Jim was, in many ways and for many years, the conscience of the Columbia faculty.”

Other remembrances were delivered by David Eisenbach ’94, Alan Meckler ’67, Robert Jakoubek, Venus Green ’90 GSAS and Mae Ngai ’98 GSAS, and readings were given by Walter Shenton (brother) and Sharon Hughes (niece).

St. Paul’s Chapel

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