Dartmouth Black Lives (DBL) uses oral history and archival research to highlight the history of Black intellectual life and community building at Dartmouth College. This project draws inspiration from the July 2020 open letter authored by Dartmouth Black faculty, staff, and students. In keeping with the goals outlined in that letter, DBL aims to support and advance new efforts to reckon with the structural racism, White supremacy, and anti-Blackness that have plagued Dartmouth since its founding.
To this end, DBL is a collaborative and community-based project that aims to bring Dartmouth students, alumni, staff, and faculty together via the practice of oral history. For more information about Dartmouth Black Lives, please visit the DBL website. (Via DBL Homepage)
Where He Grew Up: Around New York City
Resided In: Kassel, Western Germany; Lubeck, Western Germany; post-Dartmouth, New York City, South Pasadena and Long Beach, California
Hobbies: Reading, writing, inventing
High School: Brooklyn Technical High School
Major: Psychology
Favorite Activity: Crew, Dartmouth Christian Union
Graduate Study: BMed, Dartmouth, 1967; MD, Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons, 1969
Awards and Milestones: “Soldier of the Month”; Board Certification in Orthopedic Surgery—43rd such person to achieve that distinction. (Back then there was not one per state); Pilot’s licenses (Single Engine land and sea, Multi Engine, Instrument Airplane)
Publications, Achievements, Interests: Flying with the Flying Samaritans and delivering babies in rural Mexico; my adopt-a-school program; first patent, current writing
Working or Retired: Currently engaged in office practice and grandfathering
Travel: Europe, Caribbean, extensive US in small planes
Alumni Activities: Medical School class alumni council representative
Children: Niles J. Buckner, 1964; Sven A. Buckner, 1967
Grandchildren: Malia, Faith, and Liberty (who Dr. Buckner expects to attend Dartmouth and become a veterinarian)
Unique Hanover Memory: I still remember the first day of crew. We ran for what seemed like hours and then did wind sprints and calisthenics. The next day; everything in my body hurt except my hair, my fingernails, and toenails. I remember the beautiful dogs that wandered around the campus. They would visit the dining hall, and students would feed them entire steaks off their plates. I learned of kwashiorkor and the starving children in Biafra and untouchability in India and realized that those dogs ate better than half the people on the planet. I also recall the great debates that would pop up like little thunderstorms in the entrance to Topliff Hall. These would often continue for days. But most of all, I remember my many classmates from whom I learned so much more of the world than I had been exposed to in my upbringing. In spite of the fact that at that time we “didn’t recognize” China, and in one of the debates I asked how can you “not recognize” nearly a billion people? We have come full circle.
Historical witness: I recall meeting Roy Wilkins, Malcolm X, and even George Wallace. I recall chopping wood for a farmer and being invited in for a piece of apple pie (and also being chased off with a shotgun) and the pleasure of doing something for another human being without any “payback.” I recall hearing spoken poetry (something I had never heard before).
Impact on Society: One of the most impactful things I have done, other than being a role model for other slum dogs, was my adopt-a-school program that cut the dropout rate in the elementary schools of one small city.
Via Dartmouth '62 50th Reunion Book.
Being a student of the DBL Project has been nothing short of impactful. In this role, I have experienced Dartmouth's history in an entirely new light. Oral history stands as a differentiated vehicle to reach the past, with the hopeful promise of a raw, authentic story. What better way to tell history than by asking those who lived it?
I had the honor of interviewing Dr. John Buckner '62. What made the interview most special was our automatic connection via Dartmouth as a physical space: we ate at the same dining hall, we crossed the same Green to class, we studied in the same library. While bonding over our common campus was powerful for me, what resonated even more were the memorable moments Dr. Buckner shared from his time in Hanover. Some were pleasant while others not, some simple while others more complex — but each holds an equally important place in the institution's archive.
I would first like to thank Dr. Buckner for being a part of this collection and working with me to make this exhibit a reality. Thank you for bringing me along with your oral history. I am so fortunate to bear witness to your story.
I would also like to thank my professors, Prof. Julia Rabig and Prof. Mara Gregory, for their impressive dedication to the Dartmouth Black Lives Project and their support to the students involved. You both were so incredibly helpful during the entirety of this process, which is definitely more intensive than meets the eye!
Lastly, I'd like to express my appreciation for my classmates who also contributed to the DBL Project. It was a pleasure to work alongside you all, and rewarding to see all of our exhibits come together. I am excited for future students to partake in this course and add their own oral history exhibits to the Project.
It has been a distinct highlight of my Dartmouth experience to contribute to something bigger than myself. Thank you for viewing this exhibit!
- Katie Elders ‘23
