The above quote is from Jeffrey D. Jones—Class of 1968. Read the full memory below:

The Rock opened my freshman year and is full of good memories. Probably one of the most significant was barricading myself in a carrel in my junior year to write a paper on the New England Anti-Slavery Response to the Mexican War. I still have it, with Professor Thomas’s comments, mostly good ones. That experience made me realize I should have majored in history, but it was too late. About 15 years later, however, it led to an MA in American History from Villanova. I thought it was yet another in my collection of unmarketable degrees, but it actually led to writing several articles and books on American Baptist history.

Jane Strom—Class of 1987— shared the following memory:

I remember being cautioned to call it “The Rock” and not “The John!” Guess “The Rock” stuck.

The above quote is from David Bickford—Class of 1987. Read the full memory below:

My fondest memory of the Rock is the view of the Providence skyline from the south-facing windows. No matter what I was reading or studying, I always found a seat facing south so that I could enjoy a view of the city, both its historic buildings and its modern office towers, whenever my eyes needed a break. Now that I have been a librarian for a quarter century and have become the director of an academic library at another institution, I’m proud to say I manage a facility with views as impressive as those I saw from the Rock. It took me 25 years to get there, but it’s inspiring to have the same quality of view that I enjoyed as an undergraduate.

The above quote is from Ellen Zieselman—Class of 1987. Read her full memory below:

What I remember most was the difference between studying at the Rock and the SciLi in the 80s. At the SciLi as you walked around past the carrels people would look up and scowl at you seeming to say, “Why are you walking so loudly, I am trying to work here!” At the Rock, by contrast, people would look up pleadingly as if to say, “Don’t I know you? Won’t you stop and chat so I don’t have to keep working?” Needless to say, I studied mainly at the Rock and as an Art History Major I spent a lot of hours hoping someone would walk by that I knew.

The above quote is from Sundy (Barbara) Smith—Class of 1968. Read her full memory below:

Fall semester 1965 and I was taking my first creative writing class, taught by the kind and accepting scholar Park Honan. With only maybe ten students, we were in one of the windowless meeting rooms in the upper floors of the Rock. It was a late afternoon, maybe a Friday. Class went as usual, but fifteen minutes before the end, Mr. Honan took a paper from his briefcase. Without an introduction, he began to read out loud. It was a story about an adolescent girl getting her first bra. When he finished he paused dramatically. “THAT,” he said “Is a story. Class dismissed.” And without a word we got up and left. The story was mine and that moment at the Rockefeller Library changed my life.

The above quote is from Dee Michel—Class of 1974. Read the full memory below:

I loved the outside reading garden that you could get to from the Humanities Reading Room. It was disappointing not to be able to use it when the Rock was closed. But one day I discovered how to edge my way around the outside of the building and arrive at the top of the steps that went down into the garden. That garden was my favorite space at Brown.

My junior year, I was a student assistant in the Circulation Department, and was on the substitute list during the summer between junior and senior year. I was in a bad car accident over the summer and the first thing I said when being rolled down the hallway on a stretcher was, “Someone needs to call the Rock and tell them I won’t be able to make my shift as a substitute.”

The following Rock memory was submitted anonymously by a graduate of the class of 1983:

There was this saying carved into a carrel:
“I would rather have a bottle in front of me than a frontal lobotomy”.
This generated a lot of comments.

The above quote is from Robert Pope—Class of 1974. Read his full memory below:

As a freshman, coming from the South, I was looking forward to experiencing seasons up here in New England. That first Fall at Brown, I was working at the Rock (in the Circulation department). One particular Friday afternoon in October, it had started to snow as I went into the library to start my shift. When I left some hours later, it was still snowing! And everything looked incredible! And it snowed all weekend long—and everything looked even more incredible! (As I get older, I still appreciate seasons, and even Winter; but I feel like the season gets longer and longer as I get older. Don’t know if it’s true or just me. I do get tired of it sooner! But…) I (still) live in Providence, and I vividly remember my first real winterness—and The Rock.

The above quote is from Ellen Psychas—Class of 1990. Read her full memory below:

I had a carrell for some reason—perhaps because I did so many independent studies—on the chilly 4th floor. During my final semester, somebody starting leaving me anonymous carrell notes with snatches of verse I liked, mostly Romantics, Seamus Heany, and ee cummings. It took me a month to figure out that my secret muse was the guy I’d been sitting next to in English lit classes for over a year. Apparently, he had a crush on me but was too shy to commit to more than secret verse offerings. We dated happily for our last couple months at Brown, then went out separate ways, me to teach English in Japan, he to the Peace Corps in Africa. Sigh.

The above quote is from Emily Mann—Class of 1980. Read her full memory below:

The most immediate memory is a bit strange. While studying on the lower level (flush with the ground) I looked up one spring day to see a man in a trench coat outside. My first thought was lost professor or CIA operative? He was clearly not a student. I was a bit confused. I had been reading intensely. Then he decided it was show time….starkers underneath. I’ll never forget it!