{"@context":"http://iiif.io/api/presentation/3/context.json","id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/iiif/5t3fx75g1d/manifest","type":"Manifest","label":{"en":["Gary Leo Oral History"]},"logo":"https://d9jk7wjtjpu5g.cloudfront.net/organizations/logo_images/000/000/010/original/Aviary_QPLlogo_192x192.png?1578574261","metadata":[{"label":{"en":["Description"]},"value":{"en":["\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eSummary of Full Interview\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eGary Leo speaks with interviewer Rebecca Rushfield about how his time as a student at Queens College from 1959 to 1963 provided him with leadership skills and experience that changed the trajectory of his life.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e \u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eLeo recalls moving to Kew Gardens Hills as a 10-year-old in the 1950s. Leo attended Parsons Junior High School and Forest Hills High School, but he explains that he didn't truly find himself or develop friends until he got to Queens College. At Queens College, Leo along with a group of other students started their own house plan, a type of men's or women's social organization which was active and popular at Queens College in the late 1950s to the early 1970s, similar to but conceived as more inclusive alternatives to fraternities or sororities. Leo became president of his house plan (which was named Big House) and coordinated sports programs for all house plans at Queens College. Although his grades were modest, Leo found self confidence and fulfillment in his leadership roles organizing student activities.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e \u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eAfter graduating from Queens College, Leo became Director of Student Activities and Director of the Student Center at Montclair State College. He has also served in numerous leadership roles in nonprofit organizations, including National President and CEO of the ALS Association. Leo speaks about attending house plan reunion events since 2003, his appreciation for the quality of education and opportunities that Queens College has provided him, and his fond memories of growing up in Kew Gardens Hills near Flushing Meadows Corona Park.\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003eTo learn more about the history of house plans at Queens College, visit \u003ca href=\"https://qcarchives.libraryhost.com/resources/queens_college_house_plans_collection\"\u003ehttps://qcarchives.libraryhost.com/resources/queens_college_house_plans_collection\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/p\u003e (supplement)"]}},{"label":{"en":["Rights Statement"]},"value":{"en":["\u003cp\u003eCC BY-NC-SA Contact digitalarchives@queenslibrary.org for research and reproduction requests.\u003c/p\u003e"]}},{"label":{"en":["Source Metadata URI"]},"value":{"en":["http://digitalarchives.queenslibrary.org/search/browse/43513"]}},{"label":{"en":["Date"]},"value":{"en":["2022-10-06 (created)"]}},{"label":{"en":["Tags"]},"value":{"en":["Queens College Alumni"]}},{"label":{"en":["Type"]},"value":{"en":["Video"]}},{"label":{"en":["Agent"]},"value":{"en":["Gary Leo (Interviewee)","Rebecca Rushfield (Interviewer)"]}},{"label":{"en":["Coverage"]},"value":{"en":["1950s-2022 (temporal)","Kew Gardens Hills, Rego Park, Elmhurst, and Queens College, Queens, NY (spatial)"]}},{"label":{"en":["Language"]},"value":{"en":["English"]}}],"summary":{"en":["\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eSummary of Full Interview\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eGary Leo speaks with interviewer Rebecca Rushfield about how his time as a student at Queens College from 1959 to 1963 provided him with leadership skills and experience that changed the trajectory of his life.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eLeo recalls moving to Kew Gardens Hills as a 10-year-old in the 1950s. Leo attended Parsons Junior High School and Forest Hills High School, but he explains that he didn't truly find himself or develop friends until he got to Queens College. At Queens College, Leo along with a group of other students started their own house plan, a type of men's or women's social organization which was active and popular at Queens College in the late 1950s to the early 1970s, similar to but conceived as more inclusive alternatives to fraternities or sororities. Leo became president of his house plan (which was named Big House) and coordinated sports programs for all house plans at Queens College. Although his grades were modest, Leo found self confidence and fulfillment in his leadership roles organizing student activities.\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003eAfter graduating from Queens College, Leo became Director of Student Activities and Director of the Student Center at Montclair State College. He has also served in numerous leadership roles in nonprofit organizations, including National President and CEO of the ALS Association. Leo speaks about attending house plan reunion events since 2003, his appreciation for the quality of education and opportunities that Queens College has provided him, and his fond memories of growing up in Kew Gardens Hills near Flushing Meadows Corona Park.\u003c/p\u003e","\u003cp\u003eTo learn more about the history of house plans at Queens College, visit \u003ca href=\"https://qcarchives.libraryhost.com/resources/queens_college_house_plans_collection\"\u003ehttps://qcarchives.libraryhost.com/resources/queens_college_house_plans_collection\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/p\u003e"]},"requiredStatement":{"label":{"en":["Attribution"]},"value":{"en":["\u003cp\u003eCC BY-NC-SA Contact digitalarchives@queenslibrary.org for research and reproduction requests.\u003c/p\u003e"]}},"provider":[{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/aboutus","type":"Agent","label":{"en":["Queens Public Library"]},"homepage":[{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/","type":"Text","label":{"en":["Queens Public Library"]},"format":"text/html"}],"logo":[{"id":"https://d9jk7wjtjpu5g.cloudfront.net/organizations/logo_images/000/000/010/original/Aviary_QPLlogo_192x192.png?1578574261","type":"Image"}]}],"thumbnail":[{"id":"https://d9jk7wjtjpu5g.cloudfront.net/collection_resource_files/thumbnails/000/245/971/small/leo_gary_20221006_composite2.jpg?1721327453","type":"Image","format":"image/jpeg"}],"items":[{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/131498/file/245971","type":"Canvas","label":{"en":["Media File 1 of 1 - leo_gary_20221006_edit.mp4"]},"duration":4447.10893,"width":640,"height":360,"thumbnail":[{"id":"https://d9jk7wjtjpu5g.cloudfront.net/collection_resource_files/thumbnails/000/245/971/small/leo_gary_20221006_composite2.jpg?1721327453","type":"Image","format":"image/jpeg"}],"items":[{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/131498/file/245971/content/1","type":"AnnotationPage","items":[{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/131498/file/245971/content/1/annotation/1","type":"Annotation","motivation":"painting","body":{"id":"https://aviary-p-queenslibrary.s3.wasabisys.com/collection_resource_files/resource_files/000/245/971/original/leo_gary_20221006_edit.mp4?1721318641","type":"Video","format":"video/mp4","duration":4447.10893,"width":640,"height":360},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/131498/file/245971","metadata":[]}]}],"annotations":[{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/131498/file/245971/transcript/68589","type":"AnnotationPage","label":{"en":["Full Transcript [Transcript]"]},"items":[{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/131498/file/245971/transcript/68589/annotation/1","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Gary Leo: Take your lead.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/131498/file/245971#t=0.0,1.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/131498/file/245971/transcript/68589/annotation/2","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Rebecca Rushfield: OK. Today is Thursday, October 6, 2022. I am Rebecca Rushfield. I am interviewing Gary Leo about his time at Queens College, his life in Queens, and anything after that, that was affected by Queens College. See Gary, this is for Queens Library's Queens Memory Project, so it focuses on people who lived in Queens, worked in Queens, went to school in Queens. So while we can deal with other parts of your life, the focus will be Queens.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/131498/file/245971#t=1.0,42.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/131498/file/245971/transcript/68589/annotation/3","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Gary Leo: Very good.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/131498/file/245971#t=42.0,43.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/131498/file/245971/transcript/68589/annotation/4","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Rebecca Rushfield: OK. So, I see from your bio that you were born in the Bronx, but moved to Queens in the 1950s.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/131498/file/245971#t=43.0,51.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/131498/file/245971/transcript/68589/annotation/5","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Gary Leo: Correct. Yeah.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/131498/file/245971#t=51.0,53.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/131498/file/245971/transcript/68589/annotation/6","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Rebecca Rushfield: How old? You were a little boy then, or—","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/131498/file/245971#t=53.0,56.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/131498/file/245971/transcript/68589/annotation/7","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Gary Leo: I was 10 years old when we moved to Kew Gardens Hills to a garden apartment. Off of Jewel Avenue. It was 67-48 136th Street. They're now condominiums—","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/131498/file/245971#t=56.0,75.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/131498/file/245971/transcript/68589/annotation/8","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Rebecca Rushfield: Right.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/131498/file/245971#t=75.0,76.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/131498/file/245971/transcript/68589/annotation/9","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Gary Leo: They had just been built and we moved there. It was me, my brother—my older brother, Jerry—and my parents and my grandmother, who lived with us for 10 years in Queens.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/131498/file/245971#t=76.0,92.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/131498/file/245971/transcript/68589/annotation/10","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Rebecca Rushfield: Mm-hmm. And so when you got to Queens, you, where did you go to school?","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/131498/file/245971#t=92.0,97.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/131498/file/245971/transcript/68589/annotation/11","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Gary Leo: Well, it was called, Kew, it's Queens, New York, but it was Kew Gardens Hills, so that was the new, I guess, the promotion, Kew Gardens Hills. So I went to Parsons Junior—let's see. I was 10 years old, so I went to Parsons Junior High School, but I don't remember what grade school I went to. I remember it was—the one in the Bronx, but the one in—but the memories I can go back to is Parsons Junior High School. And then Forest Hills High School—","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/131498/file/245971#t=97.0,137.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/131498/file/245971/transcript/68589/annotation/12","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Rebecca Rushfield: It's funny because you were—","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/131498/file/245971#t=137.0,137.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/131498/file/245971/transcript/68589/annotation/13","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Gary Leo: Yeah, go ahead—","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/131498/file/245971#t=137.0,137.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/131498/file/245971/transcript/68589/annotation/14","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Rebecca Rushfield: No, I was thinking you lived closer to Campbell Junior High School. Unless it wasn't built then.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/131498/file/245971#t=137.0,142.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/131498/file/245971/transcript/68589/annotation/15","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Gary Leo: It probably wasn't built then, because I went to Parsons Junior High School. That's for sure. So maybe it was, there was one built later on, but I ended up going to Parsons Junior High School. And then—","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/131498/file/245971#t=142.0,154.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/131498/file/245971/transcript/68589/annotation/16","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Rebecca Rushfield: So how did, do you remember how you got to school? Did you walk all the way? Or was, did you take the public bus or—","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/131498/file/245971#t=154.0,161.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/131498/file/245971/transcript/68589/annotation/17","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Gary Leo: Bus. We, my parents were focused on integrating their lives, being able to financially support ourselves and, and so they really weren't much available. Either I walked to school—but I think Parsons was a little bit too far to walk from Kew Gardens Hills. So there was a bus on Jewel Avenue that went up and probably took me there, but again, it's quite a number [crosstalk]. So, it's, I'm sorry, 70 years ago. So it's a long time ago, so I don't recall exactly how I got to—","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/131498/file/245971#t=161.0,204.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/131498/file/245971/transcript/68589/annotation/18","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Rebecca Rushfield: School.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/131498/file/245971#t=204.0,205.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/131498/file/245971/transcript/68589/annotation/19","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Gary Leo: To school. But I do—I mean I have recollections of before then, for whatever reason, but Parsons Junior High—then, when I graduated there, and I think junior high was through ninth grade. It was seventh, eighth, and ninth, and then 10th grade to 12th was high school. And I went to Forest Hills High School—","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/131498/file/245971#t=205.0,229.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/131498/file/245971/transcript/68589/annotation/20","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Rebecca Rushfield: Uh huh—","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/131498/file/245971#t=229.0,230.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/131498/file/245971/transcript/68589/annotation/21","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Gary Leo: And by the way—","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/131498/file/245971#t=230.0,232.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/131498/file/245971/transcript/68589/annotation/22","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Rebecca Rushfield: Forest Hills High School—","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/131498/file/245971#t=232.0,233.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/131498/file/245971/transcript/68589/annotation/23","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Gary Leo: Yeah, go ahead.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/131498/file/245971#t=233.0,235.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/131498/file/245971/transcript/68589/annotation/24","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Rebecca Rushfield: No, I think, from what I recall, that Forest Hills High School had a really good reputation in those days?","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/131498/file/245971#t=235.0,243.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/131498/file/245971/transcript/68589/annotation/25","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Gary Leo: Forest Hills High School was one of the premier schools academically. Athletically it was good, but not as good as other teams in New York. But it was a very good school. It, and ethnically at the time, it was heavily Jewish, population of Jewish students. There were others, of course, but that area was where people, you went to the school where you lived, and it was a highly Jewish area. So, at the time, so, and there were other creatives there. I mean, when I went to high school—and he ended up at Queens College—was Paul Simon was in the same high school at Forest Hills High School. And then ultimately when he graduated, he also attended Queens College—","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/131498/file/245971#t=243.0,291.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/131498/file/245971/transcript/68589/annotation/26","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Rebecca Rushfield: Right, were you friends with him in high school or college, or not?","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/131498/file/245971#t=291.0,295.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/131498/file/245971/transcript/68589/annotation/27","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Gary Leo: No, I had met him a couple of times, but not really friends with Paul. There was another group that he had become friends with. No.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/131498/file/245971#t=295.0,304.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/131498/file/245971/transcript/68589/annotation/28","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Rebecca Rushfield: Right, so I'm curious, like you and your friends from junior high all went to high school together and then went—did most of you go to Queens College? Was that sort of the path?","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/131498/file/245971#t=304.0,317.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/131498/file/245971/transcript/68589/annotation/29","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Gary Leo: Let me just say that friends is a very interesting concept. I don't have friends from junior high school at all, and there was one friend in high school that I had, but I was pretty shy. I was a shy young kid. And so I pretty much stayed to myself. I did not—it was doing business, it was just doing my homework and being at school. And so I didn't have a lot of friends, both in junior high school and high school. It all started to—when we get there—it all started to deflower, I'll say, or to find myself when I started Queens College. And that's the whole really where my life and both shaping my life, of course, was shaped when you're younger, but where really shaped me in terms of how I would move forward in my life.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/131498/file/245971#t=317.0,372.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/131498/file/245971/transcript/68589/annotation/30","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Rebecca Rushfield: So, was it a given that you were going to Queens College?","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/131498/file/245971#t=372.0,377.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/131498/file/245971/transcript/68589/annotation/31","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Gary Leo: No, it wasn't—","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/131498/file/245971#t=377.0,378.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/131498/file/245971/transcript/68589/annotation/32","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Rebecca Rushfield: I mean, [unclear]—","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/131498/file/245971#t=378.0,380.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/131498/file/245971/transcript/68589/annotation/33","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Gary Leo: In those years—let's see, in the '50s, you're talking about having come out of World War II, and then you had the Korean War. And my parents were in the—my father was in the retail business in New York City with yard goods, notions, dress maker supplies, and we didn't have so much money. So their focus was just, was really survival. Having enough money to live, keep up with the Jones's or the Schwartz's—whatever you wanna say. And, and so they kind of left me to my own, pathway. And they said, \"If you wanna go to college, we don't have any money for you to go to college. You know, you figure it out.\" So they had no input into the selection of Queens College, but it was the closest to where I was. It had a stellar reputation. And so there was never really any alternative that I considered other than enrolling or—and I was a B student in, in high school. Much, actually, better than when I went to college because I got too involved in other things in college. [laughter] But I was a B student in high school and had a, I think an 85.6 GPA, which was a solid B, and it was sufficient to be qualified and to be able to enter Queens College. And living somewhere else wasn't an option. You know, living, going somewhere else, or going to out-of-state college or a college you paid for, it just simply wasn't an option financially. So, Queens College was the best option.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/131498/file/245971#t=380.0,494.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/131498/file/245971/transcript/68589/annotation/34","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Rebecca Rushfield: I noticed that it says you moved to Elmhurst just about the time you were in college.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/131498/file/245971#t=494.0,500.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/131498/file/245971/transcript/68589/annotation/35","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Gary Leo: Yeah. What, what happened was that in Kew Gardens Hills—actually we moved, before Elmhurst, we moved to Rego Park. And the reason we moved to Rego Park was that I think that my mother was kind of more upwardly mobile than my dad. My dad could have stayed in the Bronx because the apartment was less expensive, but the neighborhood was changing, and my mother encouraged him. So we moved to Queens, to Kew Gardens Hills. It was a very modest home. She wanted more room, a little bit fancier. So we moved to Rego Park off of 99th Street to a place called Saxon Hall. And my grandmother moved with us. And I think, I suspect that she was helping to pay the rent for this new, more upgraded apartment or living situation. But soon after we moved—which I guess was 1960 or 19—yeah, between '59 and '60, soon after we moved to Rego Park, my grandmother had a heart attack and passed away. And so my parents were faced with having to find a place that was less expensive. So they moved—my mother, at the time, was working as a, or she had gotten the opportunity to work in administration or as a secretary at Elmhurst General Hospital. So, very close by which she could walk to work. I don't know my mother walked anywhere. But she went to, she worked at Elmhurst General Hospital. And I was at Queens. I had started Queens College—","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/131498/file/245971#t=500.0,608.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/131498/file/245971/transcript/68589/annotation/36","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Rebecca Rushfield: Right. 'Cause I'm thinking, when you lived in Kew Gardens Hills, you were right there, and then you had to move, then you had to commute to college more.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/131498/file/245971#t=608.0,617.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/131498/file/245971/transcript/68589/annotation/37","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Gary Leo: Yeah. You know, it's funny because I kind of remember walking to Queens College, but I don't, I remember, I thought I remembered walking from Queens College, from Kew Gardens Hills. So it may have been at some point—let's see, I started QC in 1959, so—","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/131498/file/245971#t=617.0,640.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/131498/file/245971/transcript/68589/annotation/38","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Rebecca Rushfield: Oh, so before you moved. Yeah.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/131498/file/245971#t=640.0,642.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/131498/file/245971/transcript/68589/annotation/39","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Gary Leo: So we'd moved after that. So for the first year or so, I did walk to QC because I remember the, I could actually see the—walk through the neighborhoods up to Main Street, cross Main Street, down Main Street, and I don't even know the street names today, but, and then up to the college. So I walked in my freshman year. I walked to QC. And in 1960 it was, I got a hand down car from my brother. So I had a 1954 Dodge that was used, that my brother, I got from my brother because he went into the National Guard. So he left the car behind. And that was a big—","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/131498/file/245971#t=642.0,690.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/131498/file/245971/transcript/68589/annotation/40","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Rebecca Rushfield: So you were able to drive.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/131498/file/245971#t=690.0,691.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/131498/file/245971/transcript/68589/annotation/41","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Gary Leo: For mobility and prestige too, because not many of my colleagues are, co-students had cars. But I did. So I had a least, let's call 'em wheels versus cars because it was a, [laughter] it was kind of like driving a box, a metal box, but I loved it.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/131498/file/245971#t=691.0,714.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/131498/file/245971/transcript/68589/annotation/42","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Rebecca Rushfield: OK. So you come to Queens College in '59. Did you know anyone there? Or when you came, were you expecting—","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/131498/file/245971#t=714.0,722.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/131498/file/245971/transcript/68589/annotation/43","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Gary Leo: This is the, this is where my life took off basically. My life took off and I owe my life, my path, my profession, my education, my best, my pretty much everything to the benefit I had by attending Queens College. I'm very appreciative of my having, to have that opportunity. So when I got there, I knew one guy casually from Forest Hills High School. As I said, I didn't have a lot of friends there, but I knew one guy, and his name was David Abramson. And, and by the way, that's 1959, so it's 63 years later and we are still friends. We've never lost touch in all those years since we started Queens College together. And at the time he was, also he lived in Forest Hills, but he like me didn't know anything about QC other than it was a good school and it was, it was provided for free to continue your education. And so we kind of—I met him. I didn't know him well. I met him at the campus. And at that point, we were looking to how we would, other than the academic side, how we would get integrated or assimilated to the college scene. And, and we learned about this notion of clubs and particularly men's and women's clubs that were there to support social life. And—","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/131498/file/245971#t=722.0,830.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/131498/file/245971/transcript/68589/annotation/44","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Rebecca Rushfield: Were those the house plans?","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/131498/file/245971#t=830.0,831.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/131498/file/245971/transcript/68589/annotation/45","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Gary Leo: Yes—","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/131498/file/245971#t=831.0,831.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/131498/file/245971/transcript/68589/annotation/46","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Rebecca Rushfield: Those were the house plans. Were there also fraternities and sororities? Or just house plans?","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/131498/file/245971#t=831.0,835.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/131498/file/245971/transcript/68589/annotation/47","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Gary Leo: Yeah, there were all, there was fraternities, sororities, house plans, and of course, all the clubs that were related to academic studies and interests. So, it could have been a science club or an archaeology club, or a chess club. I don't remember what existed. But for me, it was a, there was, I was athletic, I liked sports. So for me, the idea was that it would be good to have as somewhere where I could participate in sports, and there would be other friends that I would make at school other than going to class and meeting people you sit next to and talk to them about school work and things like that. So there were, we learned I guess in the orientation process that there were these house plans and that there were existing ones, but there were also the opportunity, if you had enough men to come together, you could form your own house plan. A new one.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/131498/file/245971#t=835.0,899.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/131498/file/245971/transcript/68589/annotation/48","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Gary Leo: And so I don't remember who was instrumental in that, but the fact was that we did go that route. We decided to form our own men's group to be able to participate in activities on the campus. And I remember that we weren't sure how to name it. So, 'cause there were, the names were Random House, and that like the book publishing company. And there were, there was—so one guy said, \"Hey, why don't, you know, it's like we're prisoners here. Why don't we call ourselves the Big House? Like, we're all in prison, big, the Big House, you know, the Big House is going to prison.\" So, as a joke, laughing, I guess at the time, we put our name in as Big House, and we became that house plan.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/131498/file/245971#t=899.0,958.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/131498/file/245971/transcript/68589/annotation/49","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Gary Leo: And the beauty of house plans versus fraternity, sororities, was there was no pledging. There was no—the way that you formed it was talking with others in your group. In this case, men who had similar interests, who seemed, they may, some may be athletic in nature—which was important to our group—but they may not be. And you would talk to 'em, find out if they were a good person, what their goals were. And then, and you had to be sponsored. So it would be someone who knew someone, so that there would be some connection to if they joined. That they would have someone that would help them to integrate and feel comfortable with the rest of the men in the group. And so we formed—yeah, do you have a question?","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/131498/file/245971#t=958.0,1007.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/131498/file/245971/transcript/68589/annotation/50","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Rebecca Rushfield: I was wondering, so where did you meet? Did you meet on the campus?","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/131498/file/245971#t=1007.0,1011.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/131498/file/245971/transcript/68589/annotation/51","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Gary Leo: Yeah—","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/131498/file/245971#t=1011.0,1011.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/131498/file/245971/transcript/68589/annotation/52","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Rebecca Rushfield: Did you meet off campus?","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/131498/file/245971#t=1011.0,1013.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/131498/file/245971/transcript/68589/annotation/53","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Gary Leo: So it was like one of those things where I may have known Dave Abramson, and then he knew someone, and they knew someone, and they knew someone, man, that they went to school with at Francis Lewis High School, or one of the other schools, or—and so it was kind of like, it just built from word of mouth of, \"Hey, there's a bunch of men that are forming a new group, new men's group. It's called Big House. And they're looking for new members.\" And Queens College was small at the time. I think our total student population at the time was 5,000. So it couldn't—in the freshman class so, 1,200, if you say half of those were women, or, then you talk about 600 as a potential. So there weren't, but there were enough to form, 20 or 30 men to form this group. And we interviewed. And a lot of it was based on, are you interested in—because when you were part of the house plan, there were numbers of ways that, the primary way of house plans, what their effect was, was socialization. Was to have events and parties and meet female or, female house plans that have events. It was kinda like social thing primarily for that. But, we also had the opportunity to compete in intramural activities, sports. And in fact, after one year, either our first year or second year, we won—our house plan won the championship for the campus for sports. And that was, so it was something we were very proud of, because it was multiple sports you had. It was basketball, baseball, bowling and tennis. And so we had enough of, of a corpus of men and critical mass to be able to compete and succeed.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/131498/file/245971#t=1013.0,1135.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/131498/file/245971/transcript/68589/annotation/54","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Gary Leo: The joke about the men—there was also something we called QC Follies, which was skits that were put on, musical skits every year. But we never ever did it particularly well then because Paul Simon wrote original music, produced magnificent shows, and was far and beyond something that anyone could match. So they—[unclear] which was the fraternity he belonged to—they won every year. And that was the big joke. Well, why go in there? So we did stupid, silly things, and, but we participated. And it was, that was the whole notion, participation, integration into the college scene. And I think that's important even today, that students have that opportunity to find a way to use all the aspects of education and personal growth so that they become better citizens and more well educated.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/131498/file/245971#t=1135.0,1200.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/131498/file/245971/transcript/68589/annotation/55","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Gary Leo: And QC was, at the time, it was academically oriented. In fact, 50 percent or half of our credits needed to be in something called LLA, Language, Literature and Arts. And in, and after two years, you had to take an LLA exam to make sure you were proficient. And so you had to study art, and you had to study history and music. And then you were tested on that. You also were required to take a language for two years. And so you learned a language, and then you were tested after two years in that. There were a lot of requirements [crosstalk] two year test called the Comprehensive, it was something called Comprehensive Capabilities Exam or something, the CCE or something like that.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/131498/file/245971#t=1200.0,1251.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/131498/file/245971/transcript/68589/annotation/56","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Rebecca Rushfield: What would happen if you didn't, what would happen if you didn't pass it?","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/131498/file/245971#t=1251.0,1256.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/131498/file/245971/transcript/68589/annotation/57","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Gary Leo: You didn't qualify to graduate. You had to pass it to graduate. Whether the—","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/131498/file/245971#t=1256.0,1261.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/131498/file/245971/transcript/68589/annotation/58","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Rebecca Rushfield: But, could you take it again?","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/131498/file/245971#t=1261.0,1263.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/131498/file/245971/transcript/68589/annotation/59","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Gary Leo: I don't know. I passed it so I don't know. I assume that, that you could take it again until you passed it. But, there was a lot of angst and, about that process. But in retrospect, it also was, every man that, even today who I talk to, are appreciative that we had the opportunity to be fully educated—not just in perhaps something that would lead to a career, but as better, well rounded intelligent human beings. And so we were quite happy with the fact that—in retrospect, of course, not when we were going through it, but—","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/131498/file/245971#t=1263.0,1310.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/131498/file/245971/transcript/68589/annotation/60","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Rebecca Rushfield: Right, right.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/131498/file/245971#t=1310.0,1311.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/131498/file/245971/transcript/68589/annotation/61","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Gary Leo: So that was the house plans. There's, there's many other aspects to—","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/131498/file/245971#t=1311.0,1319.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/131498/file/245971/transcript/68589/annotation/62","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Rebecca Rushfield: But, can I ask, can I ask you about the house plan? Did you as a group of guys, did you help each other like if someone had had a course before, did you share notes? Did you—","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/131498/file/245971#t=1319.0,1330.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/131498/file/245971/transcript/68589/annotation/63","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Gary Leo: Yeah, I mean, obviously with 30 or 40 men in the group, and it kept building each year—we added more men—but the, to the extent that we were in the similar classes, we would do that. But there were guys who were going for pre-med. There were guys going for—when I say pre-med, it wasn't a pre-med class, but were doing more of the science—","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/131498/file/245971#t=1330.0,1357.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/131498/file/245971/transcript/68589/annotation/64","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Rebecca Rushfield: Right, Right. It was the science—","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/131498/file/245971#t=1357.0,1359.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/131498/file/245971/transcript/68589/annotation/65","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Gary Leo: Science courses and the, chemistry and physics and, biology. And then there were those of us who were in, perhaps, more the accounting or social or psychological or those kinds of classes. I was an economics major, my weakest subject, but that's the way I, it fell out. And but we all were, yeah, to the extent that we might have been in classes together, there was always sharing. We were sharing and, and I think most importantly, there was the opportunity to feel supported. Feel supported in every way. So if they didn't themselves have some level of being able to help you in a particular way, they would know someone that they could refer you to that would help you in a way. So, yeah, so the, it was a very important support system for you to have while you were going to a four year college.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/131498/file/245971#t=1359.0,1422.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/131498/file/245971/transcript/68589/annotation/66","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Rebecca Rushfield: Now, did you have a place on the campus that you could hang out together, or was it off campus?","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/131498/file/245971#t=1422.0,1429.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/131498/file/245971/transcript/68589/annotation/67","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Gary Leo: Well, no, we did have, we obviously had rooms on the campus. Ultimately I think our third year, my junior year of college, we rented a, it actually was a, we rented in somewhere in Flushing, we rented a, it was actually a glass windowed place with a basement. And it was a store, a storefront. We rented a storefront and we had our parties in the basement of the storefront. But it was short lived. But we, it was our, we weren't in a fraternity, but it was our fraternity house. It was our place. No one lived there, but we all hung out there after class, or at the end of the day. We would go there, hang out and tell stories or jokes or whatever. And, there was, we'd bring in food and then we would have our social parties there as well on the weekends or whenever we would have them.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/131498/file/245971#t=1429.0,1487.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/131498/file/245971/transcript/68589/annotation/68","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Gary Leo: But I wanna go back for a second about—so there were the house plans, and then there was something called Central House Plan. Central House Plan, or CHP, was the organizing group, the kind of the central group that coordinated all of these men's and women's groups on campus. Coordinated the house plans. And our freshman year after we formed Big House—'cause we got the information from them about how to form a house plan and everything else—our freshman year, a gentleman showed up in one of our meetings. His name was Howard Papish. He was a year ahead of me. And he said, \"I am the Head of Central House Plan.\" And we were all standing. He said \"We would like to engage some of you men to become involved with us. And is there anyone here who would be willing to become a representative for sports to coordinate our sports programs for Central House Plan?\" No one responded. None of the men wanted.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/131498/file/245971#t=1487.0,1554.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/131498/file/245971/transcript/68589/annotation/69","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Gary Leo: And I [phone rings]—meekly raised my hand figuring, I don't know, I guess I can do that. And that was the beginning of changing me as a man, maturing me, and allowing me to have—maybe it's a little bit overstated or a little bit too nostalgic or emotional. But it was the opportunity to risk—and I had never done that before—to risk doing something, which changed my life. Because I found out in doing that, that I could run sports activities for an organization. That I could be respected or look or found useful. That I had leadership abilities. And that was like a launching pad for me to get involved in so many things in the campus on a leadership level.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/131498/file/245971#t=1554.0,1634.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/131498/file/245971/transcript/68589/annotation/70","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Gary Leo: And the payback being the immense gratification that things got done and got done well. And that was fulfilling for me, for whatever reasons. And I took off. So I became this Athletic Representative. Second year I became—of the Central House Plan—I became the Associate, the Assistant Chair of the group. At the same time I was moving forward in the house plan. The second year of our house plan—either the second or third year—I became the President of the House Plan. So I kept—","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/131498/file/245971#t=1634.0,1680.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/131498/file/245971/transcript/68589/annotation/71","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Rebecca Rushfield: This must have taken up so much of your time. When did you have time for classes? I'm thinking you're organizing sports programs and things.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/131498/file/245971#t=1680.0,1690.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/131498/file/245971/transcript/68589/annotation/72","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Gary Leo: Let me say to you that it's absolutely true, and so the academic side of my education didn't go as well as potentially it could have. My parents didn't care. So they were just glad I was, or I don't even know if they were glad, but they knew I was in college and I was getting my education. And they weren't opposed to it, but they weren't promoting it. They were just surviving life. So I—they didn't look at my grades or anything, but my grades were modest. They were—I graduated Queens College with a C plus average and didn't think I was much of a student, but I was a leader. And I loved—that was life learning to be a leader. And by [crosstalk] that manifested itself—","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/131498/file/245971#t=1690.0,1738.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/131498/file/245971/transcript/68589/annotation/73","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Rebecca Rushfield: I'm sure that served you very well.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/131498/file/245971#t=1738.0,1741.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/131498/file/245971/transcript/68589/annotation/74","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Gary Leo: It, absolutely important. I did much better when I went to graduate school. I've gone, I went to two graduate schools afterwards. I got, I went right on after Queens College to—and I'll explain why—I went onto New York University in a program that I joined because of Queens College and because of my having been a leader at Queens College. So my grades weren't particularly great in those years because I was focused on all of the responsibilities to lead these organizations and to enjoy myself. But I did enough work to get by. So I was—","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/131498/file/245971#t=1741.0,1788.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/131498/file/245971/transcript/68589/annotation/75","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Rebecca Rushfield: So how did you come to do economics if you said it was your worst subject?","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/131498/file/245971#t=1788.0,1793.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/131498/file/245971/transcript/68589/annotation/76","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Gary Leo: Well, as a young person, young man, I didn't know what I wanted to do. You know, I was coming to college with no expectation of a career. I was 18 years old. Probably somewhat immature. So I didn't know what I wanted to be. And when I started it, I think it was—I don't know if it was specifically, but I was focused, say, \"Well, I'll probably be an accountant.\" Or no, I started with something more basic. It was economics. I started with economics and it was basic. I figured, \"Oh, it's economics. Everyone needs economics. I'll study economics.\" I hated economics, so I switched to accounting, to being an accountant. I hated that more. So I switched back to economics because I wasn't sure what I wanted to be. But, what happened is that because of my involvement in the aspects of running organizational life on campus—running the Central House Plan Organization, and leadership, running my own Big House as President—that it, there was immense payback or, and the feeling of feeling good, that I was accomplishing things. That I had leadership skills.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/131498/file/245971#t=1793.0,1868.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/131498/file/245971/transcript/68589/annotation/77","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Gary Leo: So I was considered a leader. I won the Masonic—they had six Masonic Awards at those times. There were six given on the campus. I won one of those. I was named Who's Who Among Students. I mean, if they looked at, if they had to look at my academic side, they would have said, who's not who [laughs] on campus.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/131498/file/245971#t=1868.0,1886.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/131498/file/245971/transcript/68589/annotation/78","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Rebecca Rushfield: That's funny. Because my father went to Queens exactly the years you were there, but he went back to school as someone in his thirties. So his whole experience of Queens College was different from yours. He was there just to, take the courses, get the degree. He was working.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/131498/file/245971#t=1886.0,1906.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/131498/file/245971/transcript/68589/annotation/79","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Gary Leo: That was a whole, yeah. Was he married?","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/131498/file/245971#t=1906.0,1909.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/131498/file/245971/transcript/68589/annotation/80","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Rebecca Rushfield: Yes. And we were born, we were born, my brother and I. So it—","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/131498/file/245971#t=1909.0,1913.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/131498/file/245971/transcript/68589/annotation/81","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Gary Leo: I had that experience when I went back for my second master's degree. I was married and I had kids, and I went back for another degree. And it was totally different. I was focused on career and how that was gonna help me and my family life and integrating family life with education. So I had that, your dad's experience—but later on. Because I was just right out of having been in high school. But the fact of where Queens College affected me was the opportunity to lead, to be a leader. And to have the confidence to be able to know—because I was very shy, I—to know that, hey, you have leadership ability, you have, you can do this. So, what did I, when I came to the second or third year in college, said, \"What do I wanna do?\"","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/131498/file/245971#t=1913.0,1967.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/131498/file/245971/transcript/68589/annotation/82","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Gary Leo: I said, \"You know, I wanna continue to do this. I want to be Head of House Plans forever. I wanna—I have so much fun doing this and I'm good at it.\" And there was a program at New York University called Student Personnel Services in Higher Education, and a specific degree in that, and, it was a master's degree, College Union Management. Management of college unions across the country. And there were many in residential schools of these organizations that were student unions, student centers on campuses throughout the United States, where they needed professionals to help the students organize and to run programs. And I thought, that's cool. That's, I, you know, find out what you enjoy doing in life and find someone to pay you to do it. That was perfect. I loved leading, running activities. I'm gonna do that for my life path.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/131498/file/245971#t=1967.0,2031.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/131498/file/245971/transcript/68589/annotation/83","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Gary Leo: And the economics degree was just to be that I could graduate in four years so that I didn't have extra credits or—by changing my majors. So I continued on and finished my degree on time. And I—there were a number, there was another program, not only New York University, there was one similar in Indiana University which was probably the, considered one of the top schools in the United States in this. Now, remember, I was a kind of a very modest, not a particularly good academic student, but I had such leadership skills, capabilities and credentials that they would consider me at these schools. And in fact, I enrolled at Indiana University, but then NYU offered me a internship where I could go there at NYU and they would, the internship would be to work at the student center in a job. And it was 1965. I'm sorry, 1963. I was earning $75 a week plus free tuition at NYU. So $75 and free tuition. [phone rings] Let me just tell this person. [unclear] I don't know why I have to disconnect my phone. It was free tuition, $75 a week.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/131498/file/245971#t=2031.0,2126.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/131498/file/245971/transcript/68589/annotation/84","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Rebecca Rushfield: Oh, that was wonderful—","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/131498/file/245971#t=2126.0,2126.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/131498/file/245971/transcript/68589/annotation/85","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Gary Leo: Yeah. Oh my God. I mean, $75 a week in 1963. I don't know what that would be equivalent today, but—","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/131498/file/245971#t=2126.0,2132.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/131498/file/245971/transcript/68589/annotation/86","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Rebecca Rushfield: [unclear] Free tuition is probably wonderful—","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/131498/file/245971#t=2132.0,2136.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/131498/file/245971/transcript/68589/annotation/87","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Gary Leo: Yeah, but free tuition at NYU. It was $55 a credit, so it wasn't somewhat what it is today, but $55 a credit. So it was still cheap. NYU didn't have reputation it has today, a much better academic institution, but I, so I dropped out of the Indiana University and I enrolled at NYU to do what I was doing at Queens College. To continue to run student programs, student activities. And it was a two year program. The second year earned $88 a week plus free tuition. And then when I graduated I got married and I took my first job as Director of Student Activities and Director of the Student Center at Montclair State College, which is now Montclair State University.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/131498/file/245971#t=2136.0,2197.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/131498/file/245971/transcript/68589/annotation/88","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Gary Leo: And so I embarked from Queens College on my path that I got from raising my hand to be the athletic representative. I got a pathway to, again what—and I'll state it because it's important. Find out what you enjoy doing in life and find someone to pay you to do it. And that was my philosophy at the time. And, just a basic—and for three years, I was very active and I was Assistant Professor of Education. I was 25 years old. And I was full time Director of Student Activities and working with concerts and lectures and meeting some outstanding people from all kinds of fields and working with the students and student government and things like that. And it was very fulfilling. And I did that for three years. And then I kind of had the opportunity to move to a different career path, which I did—which is not relevant to Queens or Queens College. But, it's relevant to me.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/131498/file/245971#t=2197.0,2268.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/131498/file/245971/transcript/68589/annotation/89","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Gary Leo: But ultimately I moved into a nonprofit social service organization, which was similar, running organizational activities. It was primarily in the Jewish community. It was the Jewish community, YMYWHA [Young Men's and Young Women's Hebrew Association] Movement, which I was in for 19 years or so. And having ultimately become the Executive Director of the Jewish Community Centers of San Diego, which—and then, ultimately, moving from there to working for a technological institute, The Technion, which was located in Haifa, Israel. And then, from there, becoming the, on the management team of Cedars-Sinai Medical Center as a leader there running a 2 billion dollar hospital. So raising your hands sometimes works for the good, but—","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/131498/file/245971#t=2268.0,2334.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/131498/file/245971/transcript/68589/annotation/90","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Rebecca Rushfield: I see a TED talk in this, in just raising your hands, I could see. Do you give like motivational talks to young people?","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/131498/file/245971#t=2334.0,2345.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/131498/file/245971/transcript/68589/annotation/91","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Gary Leo: Well, I don't do it anymore. I mean, because from there—and it was also, part of this was how do you live life with purpose. And my purpose was always about making a difference and improving our world. And so ultimately from even being a Senior Vice President at a major hospital, I left there because I just wanted to do something else, I thought. And I became the National President, CEO for the ALS Association. Dealing with the—dealing with ALS, the dreadful disease where people live from two to five years—and becoming the National CEO and President to try to find answers for research and to help. So all of this, thank you Queens College. I mean, that was living my life to the fullest and giving back and making a difference. And it feels like, Rebecca, that everything happened in one year. All of this is, how did this go by so quickly, at this stage in my life. But Queens College was the core, it was the central force that, where I discovered myself, my capabilities, and where I felt nurtured to the extent that, it was the launching pad.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/131498/file/245971#t=2345.0,2448.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/131498/file/245971/transcript/68589/annotation/92","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Rebecca Rushfield: Can I ask, I was wondering like the, the friends you made in the house plan. Have you stayed, all of you stayed in touch, or many of you stayed in touch over the years? And what happens, what—","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/131498/file/245971#t=2448.0,2460.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/131498/file/245971/transcript/68589/annotation/93","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Gary Leo: So the house plan—remember we, I left in '63, and the men moved on to their careers and we would have some contact. I ended up moving to, from New York to New Jersey, and sounds like it's far away, not really, but it was far enough away where I wasn't near the guys—","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/131498/file/245971#t=2460.0,2486.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/131498/file/245971/transcript/68589/annotation/94","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Rebecca Rushfield: It's psychologically far.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/131498/file/245971#t=2486.0,2488.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/131498/file/245971/transcript/68589/annotation/95","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Gary Leo: Yeah. But there were some that I had been more close with than others that I did see on a regular basis over the years, or had different relationships, or personal relationships with. And two of whom I saw right before they passed, who were younger than me. They were a year younger and graduated a year after me, but I was friendly with them and later in life. So the connection, the strength of the connection never got lost. The strength of our friendship never lost. And we had—I graduated '63, in 2003, so 40 years later, we had our first reunion of this group—and it was like unbelievable. We could hardly breathe seeing each other after all those years. The stories that flowed. The memories that came of it, you know. Probably, it felt even better than it was when we lived the experience of being together.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/131498/file/245971#t=2488.0,2554.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/131498/file/245971/transcript/68589/annotation/96","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Gary Leo: But, that was in 2003. And, or—and then we had another one in 2008. And then another one in 2015. And now it's gonna be 60 years later and we're having another one in June of '23, where, of the—and we've lost 15 men have died since our class. Some who are after us, but members of the house plan, and some important guys. When I say important, they were larger than life, leaders of our group. And they're gone. Or they were big personalities in our group, and they've moved on. And—","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/131498/file/245971#t=2554.0,2605.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/131498/file/245971/transcript/68589/annotation/97","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Rebecca Rushfield: Do you think that many of you have—because I spoke to, I've spoken to a few college alumni, especially like a woman who said at age 19, she—house plans allowed her to plan and run benefit events. And how that helped her in her life. Do you think that the experience of leadership helped many of you sort of develop and grow and become—","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/131498/file/245971#t=2605.0,2629.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/131498/file/245971/transcript/68589/annotation/98","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Gary Leo: Oh, yeah. I think that—I can't speak for obviously all the other men, but I think that everyone felt like the basis of our professional lives and our careers was built on the quality of the education we received. And this isn't the commercial for Queens College from the past, or the current, it just is—","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/131498/file/245971#t=2629.0,2655.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/131498/file/245971/transcript/68589/annotation/99","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Rebecca Rushfield: It should though—","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/131498/file/245971#t=2655.0,2657.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/131498/file/245971/transcript/68589/annotation/100","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Gary Leo: It's a fact that we got it and we were paying $24 a semester when we were there to get that. So this immense appreciation of the fact that we were able to have that kind of opportunity. And many of the men moved into very high level careers. There were lawyers—and many moved into service. There were a number of the men who became teachers. And their careers were in education in New York, in New York City. So, Queens College was benefiting the City by having produced men and women who were going back and taking roles in education. My first cousin went to Queens College and became a teacher in New York for 30 years. So she gave back, and she also believed that her education was a major factor in leading her. And then there were guys who became physicians, a number who became physicians, lawyers. As I said, Nat Leventhal became head of the Lincoln Center for Performing Arts for 17 years, or 16 years. I mean, these are quality people.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/131498/file/245971#t=2657.0,2745.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/131498/file/245971/transcript/68589/annotation/101","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Rebecca Rushfield: It's interesting because I entered Queens College in 1972, and there was not a house plan, fraternity, sorority at that time. It's like, it came, it blossomed, it disappeared—","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/131498/file/245971#t=2745.0,2762.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/131498/file/245971/transcript/68589/annotation/102","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Gary Leo: Yeah—","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/131498/file/245971#t=2762.0,2762.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/131498/file/245971/transcript/68589/annotation/103","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Rebecca Rushfield: Do you think it was a matter of the times?","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/131498/file/245971#t=2762.0,2766.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/131498/file/245971/transcript/68589/annotation/104","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Gary Leo: Yeah—","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/131498/file/245971#t=2766.0,2766.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/131498/file/245971/transcript/68589/annotation/105","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Rebecca Rushfield: Because it seemed to go well for people and—","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/131498/file/245971#t=2766.0,2771.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/131498/file/245971/transcript/68589/annotation/106","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Gary Leo: When we were, if you, I think it absolutely was a matter of the times, because I think when you had the Vietnam War, which I was already—I had graduated in '63. Graduated, graduate degree in '65. Married. Lived trying to build my life and career, and Vietnam was going on. And I did not get drafted 'cause I was, I was married and had kids. But that changed the tenor of what was going on in the world. And my experience even after I graduated Queens College, and NYU, and my graduate work, and I went to work in 1965, I worked on the campus in, in New Jersey, things were changing. You were having protests. There were protest singers. There was change taking place. There was the development of the anti-war movement.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/131498/file/245971#t=2771.0,2832.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/131498/file/245971/transcript/68589/annotation/107","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Gary Leo: And so the notion of what was important—even though there were issues of importance, like equality, when I was at Queens College. You know, we had Andrew Goodman and going down to the south and—there were always, that existed as well, but in the sixties—what was important was societal change for the students. And it happened again cyclically with Berkeley later on. And, and so college campuses will mirror society and mirror what's going on, and the needs for that campus are gonna become different. You know, it's not important to socialize. It's more important to make change and stop a war that's killing our soldiers. And whatever it is, the society will come back and interact to shape and to direct the activities on a campus. And so I think that that had a huge effect. That it wasn't quite as important to go to parties and to—I mean, intramurals I'm sure took place. Athletic competition took place no matter what. But, it just died out. But fraternities did stay on. It was the house plans that ended up—","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/131498/file/245971#t=2832.0,2916.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/131498/file/245971/transcript/68589/annotation/108","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Gary Leo: I have to take a quick break. I'll be right back, alright? Just give me two minutes.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/131498/file/245971#t=2916.0,2924.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/131498/file/245971/transcript/68589/annotation/109","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Gary Leo: I'm back, sorry about that—","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/131498/file/245971#t=2924.0,2927.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/131498/file/245971/transcript/68589/annotation/110","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Rebecca Rushfield: No problem. No, I'm thinking, while socializing may not have seemed as important, it seems like the house plan gave individuals an opportunity to excel and something like that was lost when the social—","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/131498/file/245971#t=2927.0,2947.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/131498/file/245971/transcript/68589/annotation/111","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Gary Leo: I think that may be the case, but I'm not sure that there's not other ways that people found to do that. So there may have been no longer the social groups that were reliant upon for organizing opportunities to meet individuals of the opposite sex. But it, the groups or the activities that, where people were coming together to protest the war, or to manifest something else, there would be a void and sometimes something fills that void. So, I think the void probably was filled by something else. I don't know the years afterwards. You know, from say the early sixties. '63, '64. '64 they were still, our guys were still very active. '65, it was still in existence. So I think it was probably coming with the war movement and the anti-war movement. And I think that students would find something else to fill the void that was not there for the socialization. It may have been they met people who had common interests through clubs and other means. And some missed out. So, I don't know. But for me, I only can do my experience.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/131498/file/245971#t=2947.0,3032.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/131498/file/245971/transcript/68589/annotation/112","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Rebecca Rushfield: Mm-hmm. Can I ask, in terms of social life, did you meet your wife through the—","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/131498/file/245971#t=3032.0,3040.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/131498/file/245971/transcript/68589/annotation/113","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Gary Leo: No—","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/131498/file/245971#t=3040.0,3040.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/131498/file/245971/transcript/68589/annotation/114","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Rebecca Rushfield: Clubs and house? No. Okay—","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/131498/file/245971#t=3040.0,3041.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/131498/file/245971/transcript/68589/annotation/115","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Gary Leo: I mean I told you—","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/131498/file/245971#t=3041.0,3043.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/131498/file/245971/transcript/68589/annotation/116","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Rebecca Rushfield: 'Cause I know some people I spoke to—","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/131498/file/245971#t=3043.0,3044.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/131498/file/245971/transcript/68589/annotation/117","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Gary Leo: I told you that my academic life suffered. But my social life, I was totally focused on running things, not—as much as I participated, I think from a few levels. One is that maturity wise, I wasn't ready for, or, even though I married young—I was 23 going on 24—I wasn't ready for a relationship. I had never dated. My first date was at Queens College. And it was more looking at equality of working with women that were there, and the focus for women, many women, was to meet their potential—that was different times—to meet their potential spouse and build their family and to be educated and all those other things. They weren't as career focused and career minded as in, later on. And, and certainly in today's world where they have stepped up to be very much a part of every aspect of our society through their education and through their professional aspirations. So, but for me at that time I wasn't ready mature wise, as—I would wanna just play basketball and run organizations and to find where I was going. So, I may have had one or two dates, but I didn't meet my spouse there. I was introduced to my spouse by someone who was there on the campus, but she went to Hunter College.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/131498/file/245971#t=3044.0,3141.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/131498/file/245971/transcript/68589/annotation/118","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Rebecca Rushfield: Ah. Got it. Okay. Also, if I can ask, just in general, your relationship to the borough of Queens. You know, when you lived there, when you moved from it. Or it was just a place where you happened to live.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/131498/file/245971#t=3141.0,3156.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/131498/file/245971/transcript/68589/annotation/119","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Gary Leo: No, Queens to me—","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/131498/file/245971#t=3156.0,3157.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/131498/file/245971/transcript/68589/annotation/120","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Rebecca Rushfield: Do you have memories of Queens?","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/131498/file/245971#t=3157.0,3159.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/131498/file/245971/transcript/68589/annotation/121","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Gary Leo: Yes, I have. Okay. So—","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/131498/file/245971#t=3159.0,3164.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/131498/file/245971/transcript/68589/annotation/122","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Rebecca Rushfield: Like the World's Fair or something like that?","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/131498/file/245971#t=3164.0,3166.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/131498/file/245971/transcript/68589/annotation/123","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Gary Leo: Ohhh yeah. Well first of all, the neighborhood. Kew Gardens Hills was garden apartments. They had squares and in the backs of our, where we lived, there were garages which became walls for ball playing. You know, we would play ball in the backyards there by the garages. Bounce our balls off there. Run and play tag. And so Kew Gardens Hills was a wonderful place, and a lot of our other family members, my cousins moved to the same location. And so we had family. So it was almost like in a way, in this huge square. And I actually went back and saw a photo of the square 'cause you can see on Google Earth of where I lived on 67-48 136th Street, and I saw the front door of my garden apartment. And so it was a very important time in Queens and that aspect of it developing as a borough that would attract—just like Brooklyn later on is and the recent years has become for New York City—Queens was the place where it was more upwardly mobile. And you would, it was a little more expensive than the Bronx, but it was kind of like the place you would go to before Long Island. That would be, for a level of showing your success and everything else. But we had great times with the neighborhood because of the fact that it was so gardeny and had a lot of grass and those aspects. And everything was convenient. Stores were convenient. You could walk to stores on Main Street. The bus transportation was great. For me, I lived along Park Drive East, and Park Drive East led to something that you don't see as much in suburban life, which was the play yard, the basketball play yard.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/131498/file/245971#t=3166.0,3285.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/131498/file/245971/transcript/68589/annotation/124","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Gary Leo: And that used to be my focus of going, was to walk down to Park Drive East and walk along the water and go to the play yard to play basketball. And that was a major part of just the neighborhood basketball play yard to go to and just be with people. It was safe. It was fun. It was competitive. It was the opportunity. And, I remember too, even as a younger kid before I was doing that, my grandmother who lived with me, who was European from Russia-Poland, I would take her down to the water in Flushing. You know, the, Flushing Meadow right by Kew Gardens Hills, with a fishing rod. And we would, she would, she—I wouldn't eat it, but she, we would catch goldfish and she would gefilte them. Make gefilte goldfish. And my father loved it, even though I wouldn't eat it 'cause it was too many bones in it. But she would take the fish and actually, we would eat it—not me, but my mother and father would eat. So I have the memories. And then the World's Fair came. And we could walk there. It was not a short walk, but we could walk there, and, along the water. And, of course, I remember LaGuardia Airport. The planes coming over and all the time and the noise of the planes. And, it's kind of like, I was just telling someone this, they said that after a while you don't even know that they're there. You don't hear them. And—","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/131498/file/245971#t=3285.0,3387.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/131498/file/245971/transcript/68589/annotation/125","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Rebecca Rushfield: Right. What's interesting when you say that is, because I still live in, I live in Queens. Still near the college. I grew up there. And during the pandemic for that first couple of months when there were no planes, all of a sudden you realized it was quiet. And then when planes started to fly again, each time was like, what's that noise?","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/131498/file/245971#t=3387.0,3410.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/131498/file/245971/transcript/68589/annotation/126","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Gary Leo: Yeah—","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/131498/file/245971#t=3410.0,3410.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/131498/file/245971/transcript/68589/annotation/127","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Rebecca Rushfield: And then after a while, you get used to it again.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/131498/file/245971#t=3410.0,3414.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/131498/file/245971/transcript/68589/annotation/128","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Gary Leo: Well, I said that, I moved. I live at the beach in Los Angeles and the South Bay, and there's a—there's kind of like one of those things on the water to float that has a bell on it. And, to alert the boats that are coming too close to the shore. And it's banging all the time. Dang, dang. And when I moved in, I said to my neighbor, I said, \"How do you take that awful bell that's going 24/7?\" And he said, \"What bell?\" And when I've lived here four years and people asked me, \"What about that?\" I said, \"What bell?\" So it becomes something that you just don't, your mind for whatever reason is able to shift and to tune out so to speak those, those kinds of things. So I don't—but at the time, the planes coming over for LaGuardia Airport. But I was very—Queens was important. Then when I moved to Rego Park, that was like upscale. That was like—Saxon Hall was a new building. It was a high rise. It was a luxurious apartment. We could walk to Alexander's—the shop, the store. We were close by to everything. And I was still a student. And then we went, moved to Elmhurst. Similarly, it was a smaller apartment. I had a small area in the apartment because my parents didn't have the funds to—","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/131498/file/245971#t=3414.0,3508.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/131498/file/245971/transcript/68589/annotation/129","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Rebecca Rushfield: Was Elmhurst an older neighborhood?","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/131498/file/245971#t=3508.0,3513.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/131498/file/245971/transcript/68589/annotation/130","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Gary Leo: Yeah, it was an older neighborhood, but our building was pretty good. Our building wasn't that old and—but it was a very small apartment. I think my parents were struggling financially, and so they wanted to downgrade their rent, which was their biggest cost. So, I lived in a room which was basically the dining room on the side where they put up a wall, and there was no window. And so I was there—I remember that living in this kind of like this box for the last couple years of my college life. But Queens to me was a beautiful place to grow up. And had a lot of the city attributes of, play yards—they weren't called play yards. They were called—basketball—","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/131498/file/245971#t=3513.0,3572.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/131498/file/245971/transcript/68589/annotation/131","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Rebecca Rushfield: Playgrounds?","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/131498/file/245971#t=3572.0,3573.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/131498/file/245971/transcript/68589/annotation/132","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Gary Leo: Playgrounds, Yeah, sorry, playgrounds. There was playgrounds that were there. And even in graduate school, I moved to Manhattan and, the Lower East, you know, I was living in, near NYU, and everything was available, so I was kind of ready for that after I had finished Queens College. And, yeah, but Queens was, is a—I don't know what it is today—but it was, everything was nearby and we could walk to transportation, which was great. It was the bus on Jewel Avenue that took you straight across to—probably still running today—that took you straight across the water, Flushing over to the other side to Forest Hills.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/131498/file/245971#t=3573.0,3618.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/131498/file/245971/transcript/68589/annotation/133","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Rebecca Rushfield: Although it's interesting, the Metropolitan [Transportation] Authority wants to redo all of the buses in Queens and change the routes and just total upheaval, so I don't know what's gonna be, if that path, there still will be a bus down Jewel Avenue, but it's gonna go differently, or—I don't know. But we'll see if that happens.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/131498/file/245971#t=3618.0,3645.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/131498/file/245971/transcript/68589/annotation/134","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Gary Leo: Yeah, and the other thing that was important was my friends lived in Forest Hills, so I remember, and at Queens College we did—we had experiences as men. We met through the house plan. We would go and do things together. So there would be events, in Queens. And I remember going to Queens Boulevard. Let's talk about Queens Boulevard for a second. And in Forest Hills—Queens Boulevard was like, kind of like a mall. And there were store after store after store. And I remember that the men from Big House used to get together and we'd meet up on Queens Boulevard and we would go to a certain delicatessen and we would order a corned beef sandwich. And I remember a corned beef sandwich with french fries and a drink was 75 cents. You know, obviously we're talking a long time ago.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/131498/file/245971#t=3645.0,3705.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/131498/file/245971/transcript/68589/annotation/135","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Gary Leo: And when I go to, if I go to a delicatessen and see a corned beef sandwich for, 10 bucks, and that's without the french fries and the soda. It's $20 to go, to get the same thing for it, cost of 75 cents. And so the experiences of what Queens in and of itself offered with neighborhoods, and neighborhoods were, where it was all happening and where people were living and dining. And we had our, there was an event that, remember somewhere along Queens Boulevard. It was some kind of formal, I think it was my, I went to, oh, it was my junior high—in Queens—my junior high, Parsons Junior High. The one date I had was someone, some girl needed a date for the prom, junior high prom—not even high school prom. And I remember, so junior high prom, I was—say, seventh to ninth, so I [graduated] high school at 18—so I was 15 years old, and we went out to a club. It was, that's where they had the event. And I remember, I was taking this girl that was, was doing a favor. I remember that they, the, it was in this nightclub charged at the time in 1956, 75 cents for a Coke—","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/131498/file/245971#t=3705.0,3795.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/131498/file/245971/transcript/68589/annotation/136","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Rebecca Rushfield: Ooo, that's alot.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/131498/file/245971#t=3795.0,3799.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/131498/file/245971/transcript/68589/annotation/137","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Gary Leo: And I was almost blown—and to remember that these many years later. To remember that a Coca-Cola was 75 cents to go on a date.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/131498/file/245971#t=3799.0,3812.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/131498/file/245971/transcript/68589/annotation/138","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Rebecca Rushfield: That's a fortune.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/131498/file/245971#t=3812.0,3812.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/131498/file/245971/transcript/68589/annotation/139","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Gary Leo: I know. That was a fortune. 75 cents for a Coke. That was 1956, so I don't know what that would make it today. But it was a nightclub and we were—","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/131498/file/245971#t=3812.0,3825.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/131498/file/245971/transcript/68589/annotation/140","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Rebecca Rushfield: After we finish, I'm gonna look up, there's this wonderful website called Westegg.com/inflation, and it's an inflation calculator. So you put in the amount and the year, and it will tell you what, what it would be equivalent to now.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/131498/file/245971#t=3825.0,3842.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/131498/file/245971/transcript/68589/annotation/141","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Gary Leo: West—","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/131498/file/245971#t=3842.0,3843.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/131498/file/245971/transcript/68589/annotation/142","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Rebecca Rushfield: It's fascinating. It's very—","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/131498/file/245971#t=3843.0,3844.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/131498/file/245971/transcript/68589/annotation/143","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Gary Leo: It's called West—","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/131498/file/245971#t=3844.0,3849.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/131498/file/245971/transcript/68589/annotation/144","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Rebecca Rushfield: West Egg, W-E-S-T-E-G-G.com/inflation.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/131498/file/245971#t=3849.0,3857.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/131498/file/245971/transcript/68589/annotation/145","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Gary Leo: Okay. Got it. I got it. The inflation category. Alright, calculator.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/131498/file/245971#t=3857.0,3863.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/131498/file/245971/transcript/68589/annotation/146","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Rebecca Rushfield: Alright. So put in 75 cents in 1956. I'm dying to hear what it is now.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/131498/file/245971#t=3863.0,3871.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/131498/file/245971/transcript/68589/annotation/147","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Gary Leo: Hold on. I'm going to tell you. I'm going to tell you—","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/131498/file/245971#t=3871.0,3871.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/131498/file/245971/transcript/68589/annotation/148","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Rebecca Rushfield: Okay—","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/131498/file/245971#t=3871.0,3871.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/131498/file/245971/transcript/68589/annotation/149","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Gary Leo: It only goes to 2021—","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/131498/file/245971#t=3871.0,3884.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/131498/file/245971/transcript/68589/annotation/150","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Rebecca Rushfield: Alright, but that's close enough—","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/131498/file/245971#t=3884.0,3888.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/131498/file/245971/transcript/68589/annotation/151","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Gary Leo: Let's see. So it was '56, 1956. Only numbers. So they, alright. So—","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/131498/file/245971#t=3888.0,3902.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/131498/file/245971/transcript/68589/annotation/152","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Rebecca Rushfield: One dollar—","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/131498/file/245971#t=3902.0,3904.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/131498/file/245971/transcript/68589/annotation/153","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Gary Leo: A dollar in '56 would be considered 10 bucks. A little over 10 cents today so, $10 today, dollar. So 75 cents, so it was 7 dollars and 50 cents. That's what it was the equivalent.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/131498/file/245971#t=3904.0,3923.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/131498/file/245971/transcript/68589/annotation/154","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Rebecca Rushfield: That's a lot—","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/131498/file/245971#t=3923.0,3925.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/131498/file/245971/transcript/68589/annotation/155","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Gary Leo: For a soda—","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/131498/file/245971#t=3925.0,3925.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/131498/file/245971/transcript/68589/annotation/156","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Rebecca Rushfield: That's expensive for a Coke—","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/131498/file/245971#t=3925.0,3927.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/131498/file/245971/transcript/68589/annotation/157","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Gary Leo: What did I know from being a 15 year old? But I remember it was 75 cents for a Diet Coke, or for a Coca-Cola. We didn't drink Diet Coke then, but—","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/131498/file/245971#t=3927.0,3940.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/131498/file/245971/transcript/68589/annotation/158","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Rebecca Rushfield: But that's what a Coca-Cola, the equivalent of what it costs in an expensive restaurant now. That was a very expensive place—","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/131498/file/245971#t=3940.0,3949.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/131498/file/245971/transcript/68589/annotation/159","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Gary Leo: It would be $7.50 if you go to an expensive restaurant. Yeah, probably if you went for, like one of the places in Manhattan, trendy places, and you ask for Diet Coke, it might be 5, 6 bucks. But anyway, doesn't matter. But I do have that memory of—","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/131498/file/245971#t=3949.0,3973.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/131498/file/245971/transcript/68589/annotation/160","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Rebecca Rushfield: That's interesting [unclear] understand why because it was so expensive. I don't wanna keep you longer than I need to, but if there's anything else you wanna say about Queens or Queens College or your life after—","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/131498/file/245971#t=3973.0,3986.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/131498/file/245971/transcript/68589/annotation/161","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Gary Leo: Sure. Yeah, I, just again, I've said it many times, I want to express my appreciation to Queens College for the quality of the education and the life experiences that it afforded me. I'm a nostalgic person, but I'm also a realist. And I recognize the importance of education. I didn't go into all of the professors we had and the—","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/131498/file/245971#t=3986.0,4020.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/131498/file/245971/transcript/68589/annotation/162","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Rebecca Rushfield: Well if there were any who stand out, you're welcome to speak about them.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/131498/file/245971#t=4020.0,4026.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/131498/file/245971/transcript/68589/annotation/163","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Gary Leo: Not really, because it's, they've kind of gone into the shade, unfortunately. I mean, I remember President Stokes—I remember who he was, but I don't remember any of the courses or classes and teachers I may have had. I remember the buildings on the campus. That was the other thing. It was the beauty of the campus, which we haven't addressed. The older buildings, which are still there, were just so beautiful and historic. And the old cafeteria. The facilities supported our life. So we would get together. We'd all meet in the caf—we called it the caf—we'd meet in the cafeteria. And that was a central place for us during the school day. And that was a great place. The gymnasium, I remember, our teams and sports and competing and things like that. So it gave you the full experience of college without living there, of course, but it gave you the full breadth and depth of a college experience that, again, was offered as a immense, incredible, incredible gift to others.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/131498/file/245971#t=4026.0,4106.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/131498/file/245971/transcript/68589/annotation/164","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Rebecca Rushfield: I guess there were no temp buildings there then, were there?","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/131498/file/245971#t=4106.0,4110.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/131498/file/245971/transcript/68589/annotation/165","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Gary Leo: Not that I recall—","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/131498/file/245971#t=4110.0,4112.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/131498/file/245971/transcript/68589/annotation/166","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Rebecca Rushfield: No. So they came later, the temp buildings that were there for 30 years.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/131498/file/245971#t=4112.0,4117.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/131498/file/245971/transcript/68589/annotation/167","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Gary Leo: No, but I want to tell one experience that I had, and this will be the last story. First day of Queens College, I went to a class called CC-I. It was CC-I, CC-II, Contemporary Civilization. It was one of the required classes. And that was a philosophy—going back into philosophy—and I had never studied it in high school. And I was assigned the classroom of Remsen Hall, I think in 29 is the number I used. And I get to Remsen Hall to go to my class, and I can't find the room, Remsen 29. And on the first floor it's Remsen 100, it's 112, 115. Where's—and I'm looking and I'm shy to ask. Finally I ask. They don't know. You know, Remsen 29. Finally, someone says, \"Oh, I think that's in the basement.\" And I go down to the basement and there were lots of, like support rooms, but there was a classroom 29. Remsen Hall 29. And the, in the basement. And I walk in. It was contemporary civilization. I was 15 minutes late to my first class, contemporary civilization. I walk in, they're talking. The professor's talking about someone named Plato. And I said I was 15 minutes late and I never caught up. That's a joke. I never caught up. I, he gave us the book to read. I went home. Two hours of reading six pages of Republic, and I didn't understand a word of it. Wasn't prepared. I didn't know what it meant. And that was my first class ever at Queens College. And my first experience of [laughs] of learning. So that's it. It was—again, immense appreciation of Queens College.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/131498/file/245971#t=4117.0,4236.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/131498/file/245971/transcript/68589/annotation/168","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Rebecca Rushfield: Right. No, I'm thinking that's one of the differences now. That someone before they start college can go online, find maps of every building, see where their room is, and will never have that experience of panicking, where is my room?","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/131498/file/245971#t=4236.0,4251.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/131498/file/245971/transcript/68589/annotation/169","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Gary Leo: Right, exactly. Yeah. And, where the [crosstalk]. Yeah?","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/131498/file/245971#t=4251.0,4256.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/131498/file/245971/transcript/68589/annotation/170","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Rebecca Rushfield: What was registration like back in the old days when you had to do it in person?","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/131498/file/245971#t=4256.0,4264.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/131498/file/245971/transcript/68589/annotation/171","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Gary Leo: Well, it was never, registration was, as I recall it—well, remember it was much, much smaller. But we went to a room. I think it was the gymnasium or something like that and there were tables across the gym that you could go to and you could sign in for certain classes, and you had to figure out what class was what time to build your schedule. I kind of remember that—it wasn't traumatic, but it was a, it took time and effort to do it versus things that are done on, online today, or are in advance today, with computers. So yeah, there was—","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/131498/file/245971#t=4264.0,4310.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/131498/file/245971/transcript/68589/annotation/172","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Rebecca Rushfield: But I remember when I went to Queens College—which is a number of years after you—there was, but still doing it by table, you would finally get to the front of one line, get the course you wanted, but by that point the course in another department that you wanted was all—","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/131498/file/245971#t=4310.0,4329.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/131498/file/245971/transcript/68589/annotation/173","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Gary Leo: Was closed.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/131498/file/245971#t=4329.0,4330.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/131498/file/245971/transcript/68589/annotation/174","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Rebecca Rushfield: Closed out. So then you would have to—and you'd end up with a class at eight and a class at four.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/131498/file/245971#t=4330.0,4335.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/131498/file/245971/transcript/68589/annotation/175","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Gary Leo: Yeah. Well, we had the same thing. Now that you say that, Rebecca, it was the same, it was the same thing. So you might have one day where you thought it would be a totally free day, no classes, and then you had to have one class that day because it was the only time you could get it. So, yeah, I remember that. So that was—what year did you go?","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/131498/file/245971#t=4335.0,4355.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/131498/file/245971/transcript/68589/annotation/176","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Rebecca Rushfield: '72 to '76.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/131498/file/245971#t=4355.0,4361.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/131498/file/245971/transcript/68589/annotation/177","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Gary Leo: Okay. '72 to '76. That's almost 10 years after me. Yeah.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/131498/file/245971#t=4361.0,4366.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/131498/file/245971/transcript/68589/annotation/178","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Rebecca Rushfield: Right. That's what the horror of registration is, and then when you finally got up to be a junior or senior, at least in your major you got to register first—","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/131498/file/245971#t=4366.0,4380.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/131498/file/245971/transcript/68589/annotation/179","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Gary Leo: Right.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/131498/file/245971#t=4380.0,4381.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/131498/file/245971/transcript/68589/annotation/180","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Rebecca Rushfield: You got those classes.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/131498/file/245971#t=4381.0,4383.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/131498/file/245971/transcript/68589/annotation/181","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Gary Leo: That's right. Yep. Absolutely. Well, look it, yeah, I—we'll see what happens. I would love to see if I can get more of these guys to do more of these.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/131498/file/245971#t=4383.0,4397.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/131498/file/245971/transcript/68589/annotation/182","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Rebecca Rushfield: That would be wonderful. And I hope that your reunion comes to pass this coming June.","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/131498/file/245971#t=4397.0,4404.0"},{"id":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/131498/file/245971/transcript/68589/annotation/183","type":"Annotation","motivation":"transcribing","body":{"type":"TextualBody","value":"Gary Leo: Well, it's funny. It's like—it's so funny, it's like this, there's this commercial on tv. It says, where they show this Progressive commercial where they said, \"You're becoming more like your parents.\" You know, like—that's a horrible thing that you're acting like your parents. And one guy on this reunion said, \"Well, I'm not sure if we have it at night I can drive at night.\" You know? And it's almost like, how, like, that's my parents. It couldn't, later in their life, they couldn't drive at night 'cause they didn't see so well. And now it's my generation. So there you go. Well, thank you so much, Rebecca.\n\nTRANSCRIPTION END","format":"text/plain"},"target":"https://queenslibrary.aviaryplatform.com/collections/21/collection_resources/131498/file/245971#t=4404.0,4447.10893"}]}]}]}