The above quote is from Patrick M. McCarthy (Class of 1971). Read the full memory below:

I came from the Chicago area. As a small child, my family lived in the city, in a neighborhood known as “Uptown”, which actually was going through a major transition when I was very young. Fast forward to a 19-year old sophomore at Brown, in 1968, just switched from ScB Engineering to the 5-year AB, ScB program, and searching for a concentration for the AB degree. I was wandering in the stacks in the Rock in some sections on social sciences, and came upon a book on Poverty in America. It talked about Appalachia and such. Flipping through the pages I came upon a chapter on Urban Poor, it talked about Chicago, I read a little more and it was talking about streets I recognized. It became clear. It was focused on Uptown. That moment I decided my AB concentration would be Urban Studies.

Three other mini-memories:
1. As an engineer with a liberal-arts side I was fascinated with the history of technology. In the Rock one day I found a copy of Newton’s “Principia”. It was amazing. Written in Latin!!! I checked it out and took it back to my room and tried to read it (altar boy, knew a little latin). Couldn’t read much, but I was amazed by the pictures!!! He actually figured out acceleration by scores of intricate drawings of things in motion, and all those drawings were by him (I assume) and in the book. It was like “Classics Illustrated” of physics and math. Only in the Rock.

2. After I decided on Urban Studies for my AB concentration, I was doing a paper for a class and wanted to do something about Providence, a city that has always fascinated and delighted me (even in the bad old days of ’67-’71). I found a book on the “Civic and Architectural Development of Providence, 1636-1950”. Authored by someone named John Hutchins Cady as I recall. Great book. Had pen and ink sketches of “the Cove” the basin that used to be at the bottom of the hill below the state house, and the Cove promenade, and just wonderful illustrations of Providence in the Victorian era.

3. One time, in doing research for an Urban Studies paper, I found books and ledgers from the US Census that went back to the Census of 1790.