A little something from Pembroke…for those of you who find themselves homebound

By popular demand, following last month’s initial edition of Pembroke Screen Gems (http://pcfna.org/?p=1605), your editors are pleased to submit a follow-up of Pembroke-related video and audio clips (see links, below) to entertain yourself and stay connected to Pembroke during these perilous times.

Over the centuries a good number of notable Pembrokians have had a powerful impact on the United States.  This edition of Pembroke Screen Gems focuses on four: J.R.R. Tolkien; Roger Bannister, J. William Fulbright; and William Blackstone.

We welcome any suggestions for future editions!

J.R.R TOLKIEN – J. R. R. Tolkien was a Fellow of Pembroke from 1925 to 1945 and maintained a relationship with College into the 1970’s. Tolkien wrote The Hobbit and the first two volumes of The Lord of the Rings during his time at Pembroke.  What’s that got to do with the United States, you may ask?  Well, aside from the fact that virtually every American has read his books, your editor had the privilege one evening of being escorted by Mr. Tolkien to High Table where we shared a delightful dinner, followed by post-prandial vintage port and conversation in the SCR.  But that’s a story for another occasion.

Pembroke’s Andy Orchard is the current  Rawlinson and Bosworth Professor of Anglo-Saxon at Oxford, a position formerly held by Mr. Tolkien himself.

Here’s a wonderful BBC interview from 1968 of Mr. Tolkien in his own words. Need we say more?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XR-4vMEiQ_U

“TOLKIEN” – The 2019 feature biopic starring Nicholas Hoult is available for streaming on HBO and other platforms.

SIR ROGER BANNISTER –  Sir Roger Bannister, who served as Pembroke’s Master from 1985 to 1993, had an especially close relationship with North American Pembrokians.  It was at Sir Roger’s request that the Pembroke College Foundation was organized in 1985 to foster ties between College and its North American Old Members.  As Master, he visited the United States numerous times to meet with the Foundation’s Trustees.

Sir Roger was the most celebrated British athlete of the twentieth century; his first sub-four-minute mile is credited by many as the greatest individual sports achievement of the century.

Here’s Sir Roger calling the legendary race, in his own words:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wTXoTnp_5sI

https://www.guinnessworldrecords.com/records/hall-of-fame/first-sub-four-minute-mile/

WILLIAM FULBRIGHT – Bill Fulbright, ‘25, came up to Pembroke as a Rhodes Scholar from Arkansas in 1925. In 1942, he was elected as a Democrat to the U.S. House of Representatives campaigning against the then-popular “America First” isolationist foreign policy and in in favor of an internationalist policy favoring American global engagement and leadership, a point of view inspired by his Pembroke tutor, lifelong friend, and Pembroke Master, R. B. McCallum.  Fulbright went on to serve for 30 years in the U.S. Senate, 15 of which as Chair of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.  He is perhaps best remembered as the founder of the eponymous Fulbright programs, the most widely recognized scholarships in the world.

Initially a supporter of the United States war in Vietnam, Sen. Fulbright later turned sharply against it.  In this 1966 television interview, Sen. Fulbright reflects on Vietnam, the Cold War, and US-Chinese relations:

https://www.criticalpast.com/video/65675026731_William-J-Fulbright_after-Opium-War_rectify-wrong-beliefs_Cuban-War

In this clip, Sen. Fulbright explains the value of the Fulbright fellowships:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2gR4Cf51mFs

WILLIAM BLACKSTONE – We Pembrokians take pride that the great English jurist, William Blackstone, ‘1738, is a Pembrokian, and are rightfully proud of original Blackstone works held in Pembroke College Library’s rare book collection.  But less well-known are Blackstone’s seminal contributions to American jurisprudence.

Indeed, Blackstone is considered by many as the father of American law.  He was enormously influential in the drafting of the Unites States Constitution.  His Commentaries were cited by Madison, Hamilton, Jefferson, and others many times during the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia in 1789.  American lawyers in the early years of the republic relied on Blackstone as the primary and often only source of the common law.  When Abraham Lincoln was once asked ‘how does one learn the law,’ he replied, “The mode is very simple. Begin with Blackstone’s Commentaries, and then read it carefully through, say twice.”

In this 2016 lecture, Professor Wilfrid Prest, a noted Blackstone scholar and author of Blackstone and his Commentaries: Biography, History and Law, draws a portrait of Blackstone’s life, time, and works:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S7rAsqLUi28

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