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By Tiffany Lam Special to the Almanac
After completing her studies at Stanford University, Menlo Park resident Pamela Gullard didn’t have a lot of formal education in English or history under her belt. In fact, her bachelor’s degree was in philosophy.
Yet, with a passion for writing and a steadfast interest in listening to people’s stories, Ms. Gullard has had a successful career as a writer.
“When I graduated, I worked at any job I could as a writer,” she said. “I worked at the Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences at Stanford, wrote for a magazine in San Jose, did freelance work, and published short fiction stories.”
For Ms. Gullard, this wasn’t just work, but a way to improve her writing skills.
“I think the best education in writing is writing,” she said. “I made sure I wrote every single day.”
In addition to writing a collection of short stories, Ms. Gullard has co-authored books with Portola Valley resident Nancy Lund on the histories of local cities, including Atherton, Portola Valley, and Palo Alto.
Now, Ms. Gullard has another history book to her credit with the publication last month of “Through the Gates: Eighty-five Years of Menlo College and its Times.” An instructor of writing and literature for eight years as an adjunct lecturer at the private college, located in Atherton off El Camino Real, Ms. Gullard began writing the book three years ago, she said.
When asked about her interest in history, she explained that it’s less cut and dried than one might assume. “It doesn’t interest me to have a collection of facts,” she said. “What interests me is the perspective people have on these facts, and the stories they tell about their lives.”
In her new book, such stories were gleaned from material submitted by Menlo College alumni. “One thing that moved me deeply were these reminiscences, sent from alumni from as early as the 40s,” she said. “These stories bring history alive.”
After former Menlo College president James Kelly approached Ms. Gullard to write the book, she set out on “a journey of discovering stories” about the school, she noted in the book’s acknowledgments. She researched archives in the college’s library as well as the San Mateo Historical Association’s library, the San Francisco Historical Center, and the Redwood City Library.
The college was founded in 1927 as a two-year school for men only, and has transformed into a fully integrated four-year, co-ed school, according to Ms. Gullard. “I was interested in these transformations two-year to four-year, being only men to women being admitted in 1971,” she said. “It’s expanded from this narrow demographic to this large, interesting population.”
One of the highlights of her discoveries was coming across recorded conversations in the college’s archives of deliberations between 1969 and 1970 on whether or not women should be admitted. “It was fascinating to read the committee reports and hear these men grappling with something they didn’t fully understand,” said Ms. Gullard.
“I also wanted to set the history of Menlo College within the history of California and the nation how the times affected the college, and vice versa,” she said.
The book is organized by decade and integrates more than 100 alumni reminiscences, 150 photographs, and profiles on significant Menlo College figures.
Go to menlo.edu/through-the-gates to order a copy of the book for $49.95. Copies will also be available at Kepler’s bookstore at 1010 El Camino Real in Menlo Park.
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