The College of New Rochelle Celebrates the City of New Rochelle A Happy 325th Anniversary with a Special “Ragtime” Performance

The College of New Rochelle celebrated the City of New Rochelle's 325th anniversary and the legacy of E.L. Doctorow on Saturday, November 23, with a performance of Ragtime, the musical based on Doctorow’s 1976 novel. Judith Huntington, President of the College of New Rochelle, welcomed the audience with opening remarks, followed by remarks from Marianne Sussman, chair of the 325th Anniversary Committee, and New Rochelle Mayor Noam Bramson. Bramson presented a citation and the key to the city to Caroline Doctorow, who accepted them on behalf of her father.

President Huntington noted that The College of New Rochelle traces its history back to the turn of the century, and has been an integral part of the New Rochelle community for more than 100 years. "Our nursing students do clinical placements at Sound Shore Medical Center, our social work students do field work at nursing homes and other facilities, our education students student teach and do field work in New Rochelle schools," Huntington said. "We are so proud to call New Rochelle our home for more than a century."

Often named one of the best novels of the 20th century, Ragtime is a work of historical fiction that takes place from 1900 to 1917, and is centered around the lives of three families -- a wealthy family living on Broadview Avenue in New Rochelle; an abandoned African-American child and his depressed mother; and a Jewish single father struggling to support himself and his daughter. Doctorow wrote the novel, published in 1975, in his New Rochelle home. It won the first National Book Critics Circle Award for fiction in 1976.

In her remarks, Caroline Doctorow explained the importance of New Rochelle to E.L Doctorow professionally, "My father began his distinguished career here in this place -- sitting at a desk in an attic room in our house on Broadview Avenue, built in 1902 in the wonderful city of New Rochelle -- with nothing more than a typewriter, blank white paper and his extraordinary mind." She explained that New Rochelle was important to him on a personal level as well, “My father loved living and working in New Rochelle and raising his family here… So much so that, as we know, he immortalized New Rochelle in his master work, Ragtime."

Doctorow also paid tribute to two relatives -- E.L. Doctorow's brother, Donald Doctorow, and his wife, Elly, long-time residents of the city. Elly Doctorow was the first councilwoman in the city's history, and they were actually the reason E.L. Doctorow moved to New Rochelle.

A long-time resident of New Rochelle, E.L. Doctorow has taught at Sarah Lawrence College, the Yale School of Drama, the University of Utah, the University of California at Irvine, and Princeton University. He holds the Lewis and Loretta Glucksman chair in English and American Letters at New York University.

His novels include The Book of Daniel; World's Fair, winner of the 1986 National Book Award; Billy Bathgate, winner of the PEN/Faulkner prize, the National Book Critics Circle Award and the William Dean Howells medal of the American Academy of Arts and Letters, 1990; The Waterworks; City of God; The March, which received the 2006 PEN/Faulkner Award, the 2006 National Book Critics Circle Award and was a Pulitzer Prize finalist; Homer and Langley, 2009; and his latest novel, Andrew's Brain, to be published in January.

The ceremony took place before the 2 p.m. performance of Ragtime, which was followed by a reception to meet the actors in Mooney Center Lounge. The production ran from November 15 to 24.

"This show couldn't be more perfect for us in 2013," explained Ragtime director Laurie Peterson Castaldo. "Along with the city's celebration, our dramatic society, CNR Drama, was established in 1906, the year in which the play first takes place."  More importantly, she added, "as a college, this is a teaching moment. Ragtime reminds us of how we got to where we are."

The artistic team included music director Kurt Kelley, choreographer Juan Borona, scenic designer Raffaele A. Castaldo, costume designer Brooke Cohen and lighting designer Cecilia Durbin. A cast of 36 was drawn from New York City and environs as well as The College of New Rochelle community, and featured Erich McMillan-McCall as Coalhouse Walker Jr., Hanna Burke as Mother, and David Gautschy as Tateh.

The first Catholic college for women in New York State, The College of New Rochelle was founded in 1904 by the Ursuline Order.  Today, it comprises the all-women School of Arts & Sciences, and three schools which admit women and men: the School of New Resources (for adult learners), the School of Nursing and the Graduate School.  The main campus of the College is located in lower Westchester County, 16 miles north of New York City.  The College maintains five other campus locations in New York City.  Visit the College’s website at www.cnr.edu.