Trina Vaux ’63 has lived and worked with history—its study, its preservation, and its celebration—for most of her life. In a way, history was her birthright. “I was pretty much surrounded by history growing up,” she says. From two live-in grandmothers who resisted modernity, to her father, who belonged to “every historical society in the neighborhood,” Trina reflects that, “Wholly being steeped in that history gives you a sense of responsibility as caretaker.”

 

Through her professional work, philanthropic interests, and volunteer projects, Trina has made good on her duty as a steward of history. It’s a role she has fully embraced despite her scholarly shortcomings as a young Shipley student.

 

“I never had a very good short-term memory or a good memory for facts. So history as taught via dates was not something that I was good at,” Trina reveals. “When I got older and you could do synthesis and what’s now called interdisciplinary studies, then I was much better. What I’m really interested in is cultures as a whole and what drives them.”

 

During the last eight years, Trina has turned that interest towards Shipley, researching and writing A Daring Vision: A History of The Shipley School 1894-2018. The book was truly a dream job and labor of love for Trina, who says, “You know, it’s not really work when it’s fun.”

Learn more about A Daring Vision: A History of The Shipley School 1894-2018.