Meet Mr. Wright: The next president of Dartmouth: Wright continues his long career at Dartmouth with the job of leading the College into the 21st century
Recently appointed President of the College James Wright keeps a piece of his past on his desk in 205 Parkhurst Hall -- a piece of solid lead he removed from the roof of the Graham Mine while he was working as a powder man setting dynamite charges there. Wright, a native of Galena, Ill., grew up in a community of miners and farmers, and his summer job in the zinc mines was one of many he held while he was working his way through the University of Wisconsin at Platteville. Wright, who double majored in English and history, also worked as a bartender, janitor and night watchman, experiences he said taught him "the full appreciation of the value of education." But when Wright went to Wisconsin, he was not planning to continue his education beyond four years of college. "I expected I would come back, get a job and be a member of the [Galena] community," Wright said. Instead, encouraged by the university's young faculty and excited by history and an honors thesis he wrote about the Galena mining district, Wright decided to continue his education to the graduate level. With the help of a grant from the Dansforth Foundation, Wright financed his work towards masters and doctorate degrees at the University of Wisconsin. In the summer of 1969, after studying with eminent professor Allan Bogue, he came to Hanover with a doctorate to work as an assistant professor of history. Childhood in Galena Hanover is a far cry from Wright's native Galena, a close-knit community of about 5,000 farmers, miners and factory workers. Galena was "a local and, in retrospect, secluded place," Wright said. Most of his family lived within 15 miles of each other, and, as a child, he admired the sense of responsibility of his hard-working grandparents, Wright said. His grandfather was a zinc miner, and his father, who attended college for a semester during the Great Depression but could not complete his education due to a lack of finances, supported Wright and a brother by working as a bartender. After graduating from high school, Wright served in the Marines for three years.