Presidential historian to share research

    Anyone who has ever wondered about what really goes on during a presidential inauguration should attend Dr. Paul Boller’s speech this Friday.

    Boller will speak Nov. 9 in the Student Center Corner on the NE Campus during the 10:10-11:05 a.m. and 11:15 a.m.-12:10 p.m. class periods. Student activities and the history department will sponsor his visit.

    Boller is a noted author and historian, who has instructed history courses at the University of Massachusetts at Boston, Southern Methodist University and Texas Christian University.

    Presidential Inaugurations, Boller’s newest book, will be the major topic of his presentation.

    “Boller is the most knowledgeable observer of American presidents,” his publisher said.

    Presidential Inaugurations highlights inaugural moments from 1789 to 2001.

    Boller offers a behind-the-scenes look at an Informal, anecdotal history of presidential inaugurations.

    Boller notes that inaugurations have historically reflected their participants and follow a set of precedents established by Washington and altered or maintained over the course of many generations.

    Not unlike today’s modern Olympics, the inauguration has numerous components, and Boller investigates many of them.

    One anecdote he details in his book concerns Ulysses S. Grant’s first inaugural ball. The night of the ball was so cold that canaries brought to enliven the dance froze to death quietly in their cages.

    Besides giving his audience other anecdotes, Boller will discuss the history and planning of inaugurations.