Somers Receives Lifetime Achievement Award
Marilyn Somers was the director of the Georgia Tech Living History Program. In this photo she is reviewing letters written from a Tech student to his parents in 1915, and the Blueprint yearbook from the same year, in her office in the Alumni House.
Over the course of 26 years with the Georgia Tech Living History Program, Marilyn Somers interviewed 1,192 alumni including astronauts, captains of industry, and former President Jimmy Carter. Somers was recently honored by the Georgia Historical Records Advisory Council with the 2021 Award for Excellence in Lifetime Achievement for her unwavering dedication to preserving the history of the Institute.
“I’m very grateful to be recognized when I thought my career was in the rearview mirror,” said Somers, who retired in December 2020. For her, the best parts of the job included working with students, meeting interesting people, and saving the stories told by Tech alumni. Somers and the Living History team would give each interviewee’s family a transcript and a link to the video of the interview.
“What I didn’t realize at the very beginning is that to be able to say, ‘Here is your loved one’s story’ is a great gift to give to the families,” she said.
The Living History Program was established in 1994 when Somers, then director of communications for the Georgia Tech Alumni Association, received a call from a nursing home asking for a recording of the Ramblin’ Wreck fight song to play at the 100th birthday party of an alumnus.
To commemorate Somers’ work and honor her dedication, the Marilyn Somers Living History Program Collection (1994-2020) has been unveiled. The collection is housed in the Georgia Tech Archives and Special Collections and can be found at Collection: Marilyn Somers Living History Program Collection | Archives and Special Collections (gatech.edu)