Penn State Altoona News

Tuesday, October 13, 2009 - 488 hits

Penn State Altoona through pictures

Chancellor Lori J. Bechtel-Wherry and Kenneth Womack, interim associate dean for academic affairs, have announced that their collaborative book effort, titled "Penn State Altoona," has been released. The book commemorates the college's 70-year history through period photographs which chronicle the school’s transformation into a teaching and research institution of national acclaim.

Penn State Altoona began in 1939 as the Altoona Undergraduate Center. After relocating to the site of an abandoned amusement park in the late 1940s, the college enjoyed a rapid postwar growth spurt that culminated in 1997 with its newly minted charter as a four-year college in Penn State system.

"Penn State Altoona" includes a look back at Ivyside Recreation Park, one of Altoona’s key pre-war attractions. It features the inspired group of local citizens who built, financed, and nurtured the college through the economic woes of the Great Depression. The book explores the enrollment collapse engendered by World War II while also showing the rise and fall of the region’s railroad fortunes.

Bechtel-Wherry and Womack will sign copies of the book from 1:30 - 2:30 p.m. on Sunday, October 25, 2009 during Penn State Altoona’s 70th anniversary event outside the Aaron Building in downtown Altoona.

"Penn State Altoona" is available at area bookstores, independent retailers, and online retailers, or through Arcadia Publishing at www.arcadiapublishing.com.