Discovering the Past
Richard Koplin ’64 has continued to use Skillman Library and to work with Diane Shaw, who introduced him to research on David McDonogh 1844, the College’s first African American graduate. Koplin and his daughter, Russell Arden Koplin, authored a presentation titled “A Transcendent Life: The Story of David K. McDonogh” given at the September 2008 dedication of Transcendence, a campus sculpture honoring McDonogh, who was born a slave in Louisiana and freed shortly after arriving at Lafayette. “Over the past several years, we began to develop an understanding of David’s remarkable story. Diane’s work has been extremely fastidious and detailed,” Koplin says. He and Shaw are considering a film project on McDonogh led by Andy Smith, associate professor of English and chair of film and media studies.
Richard Koplin ’64
- B.S., biology
- M.D., New York Medical College
- Director, Cataract Division; Clinical Associate Professor, New York Eye and Ear Infirmary, New York, N.Y.