This year is the 100-year anniversary of the first awarding of the Bernard Daly scholarship. I learned about the scholarship in the early 1980s from my OSU colleague Dan Dunham, who grew up in Lakeview and received the scholarship in 1954. The story of Bernard Daly and his scholarship stuck with me and many years later at an OSU alumni gathering I attended while serving as dean of OSU’s College of Education, I met Sue (Ogle) Densmore. When Sue mentioned that she was from Lakeview, I asked about the scholarship and learned that Sue and both of her sisters had been recipients, and so were their parents, Jim and Dorothy Ogle. At the time, I was planning to step down as dean and return to a faculty position before retiring, and I was looking for a research project I could start and possibly work on in retirement. When Sue suggested I go to the annual breakfast her parents hosted at their ranch on Labor Day weekend, I jumped at the opportunity.
That visit in 2010 was the beginning of my research on the scholarship and its remarkable impact. It’s been quite a journey over this past decade – more than a hundred interviews; a web-based survey; searches through archival records; many Facebook and blog posts; and a bicycle ride across the country, stopping to interview Daly recipients along the way. What started out as a research project turned into book. It’s taken me a while but with the help of many people, Bernard Daly’s Promise: The Enduring Legacy of a Place-based Scholarship, will be published by OSU Press in June of this year, in time for the special 100-year celebration that will be held in Lakeview June 24 – 26.
Note: Today, January 5th, marks another anniversary. Early in the morning on January 5th of 1920, Bernard Daly died while on a train to San Francisco where he was to be treated by medical specialists. He was accompanied by Dr. Charles Liethead, his Lakeview physician; Fred Reynolds, his longtime business partner; and Pearl Hall, the love of his life. Daly never made it to San Francisco. He died en route, near Livermore, California, at 5:30 a.m. on Monday, January 5. On the following Sunday, a crowd of about seven hundred—almost everyone who lived in or near Lakeview—attended his memorial service. Bernard Daly’s legacy lives on through the people and communities that have been impacted by his scholarship.
Bernard Daly’s Promise is now available for pre-order through OSU Press with a 20% discount and free shipping (Promo Code SP22).
