HOME COMING an odyssey of resilience
Five Fragments from Four Painted Vases. Greece, Attic. c. 520-430 BCE. Cleveland Museum of Art
EPIC BEGINNINGS "Tell me about a complicated man, muse,"
Perhaps many can relate to the plight of
So begins the Odyssey of Homer, the epic
Odysseus, kept from returning to his home
so many generations of students have
by disaster after disaster. In a world
poured over in schools across the world.
ravaged by the pandemic, unprecedented
Often, when one recalls the work, the
natural disasters, and civil unrest, it is
dominant
difficult to imagine that we may ever reach
impression
is
of
fantastic
encounters: sirens, cyclopes, Circe. While these
characters
are
memorable,
one
might be surprised by how little of the poem's length the episodes constitute. The core of the epic is instead drawn not around the theme of
adventure, but of
νόστος (nostos), Greek for homecoming. It
is from this word that we derive another relevant term: nostalgia, literally an ache for one's homecoming.
our own Ithacas again. Still, we remain resilient. This virtual exhibition looks to the resilience of generations past through their own times of uncertainty,
ORAL HISTORIES
In 2020, we reached out to many Heights
"Certainly, the war was winding down but
alumni who had lived through periods of
being drafted was still a concern of many. I
discord,
remember
change,
and
uncertainty.
The
feeling
some
dread,
going
following quotes are excerpted from the
home, lying on my bed, and listening to
memories they shared.
them pull dates and numbers. When they pulled mine, I felt a great burden lifted from my shoulders as the number for my birth date was 289 and knew it was very unlikely that I would be drafted and could carry on with my student life." Dave Nadzam, class of 1971
Heights Students protest treatment of Black community, February 1990
"Both MLK Jr. and Robert Kennedy were
"I was fairly oblivious to world events
lights of hope, so the assassinations were
during Kennedy’s presidency. It was his
blows to those hopes in the ability of our
death
society to advance forward. It felt like some
protested the Vietnam War, participated at
of the basic foundations of our society were
the sit-in at the University of Chicago
coming apart at the seams. I remember
administration building, and was chased by
feeling a sense of betrayal that my parents’
the Chicago cops in Grant Park during the
generation was unable to see or act to
1968 Democratic Convention. I became
correct the injustices of the Vietnam war,
enthralled by the women’s liberation, gay
racial prejudices, political manipulations,
liberation and civil rights movements. I
and others. Now that I am the older
advocated the legalization of marijuana
generation, I can see that it takes constant
and psychedelic drugs."
ongoing work to move forward, and keep moving forward." Alan Kepner, class of 1966
that
woke
me
up
politically.
I
Dorrie Slutsker, class of 1963
A mother administers the Sabin Polio Vaccine to her Child in Youngston. 1962.
"I remember the polio epidemic quite well because I caught it and was hospitalized in a children's polio ward in the Cuyahoga County Hospital on the West side for several weeks. Yes, we were all worried and I am sure my parents felt helpless. Parents were allowed to visit for short periods twice a week and it was a very lonely time. The nurses and doctors were great and did what they could to keep us busy, within limits. We all thought the infection might have come from swimming at Euclid Beach, but who really knows. In any event, swimming in Lake Erie was banned. It was a different time then. All we had were standard public health preventative measures, as were applied with measles, mumps and chicken pox. Public health nurses visited the house at intervals and there was a placard tacked to the front door that said "QUARANTINE." It was respected and enforced. People in those days complied willingly because the general political clime was that of cooperation. WWII had recently ended and we had all participated in victory gardens, experienced rationing, metal drives, air raid drills and the like. We kids thought we were on the national team to help the country beat the disease." Dr. Arthur Lester, class of 1957
HOMECOMING
fin