Professor O’Connor
Still Sharing Knowledge
By Kathy Kurtz Ferrari
Staff Writer
7/7/11
After sharing his love of American history with students at Boston College for a half-century, retired professor Thomas O’Connor now spends his time enlightening residents of Fuller Village.

His new neighbors are benefiting from a decision O’Connor and his wife Mary made a few years ago to move to Milton after selling their home in Braintree, where they lived for 50 years.

“It took us a while to get used to it here, but now we love it,” O’Connor said.

Sitting in one of the comfortable rooms off the lobby of the Brush Hill Road section of Fuller Village, O’Connor, who looks younger than his 88 years, easily rattles off tidbits of Civil War history with a visitor on a recent morning.

It’s a bit of a mini-version of his monthly lectures for which he has become famous at Fuller. While there is no set schedule for the Sunday evening lectures, O’Connor always draws a crowd. Topics center on Boston-area history, tapping into factual tidbits O’Connor has tucked away, after writing books such as “The Athens of America: Boston, 1825-1845,” released in 2006.

“Tom O’Connor has added to the richness of our community,” said Deborah Felton, executive director of Fuller Village.

Recently, the lecture series, held in the Brush Hill Road section, dealt with the home front during the Civil War. This year marks the 150th anniversary of the beginning of the war, so O’Connor, the author of the book “Civil War Boston: Home Front and Battlefield,” has become somewhat in demand for various speaking engagements.

He is also often quoted in regard to Boston history, and in 1986, he was named by President Ronald Reagan to serve on the commission for the bicentennial of the Constitution. “They’ve been very good to me here, letting me speak, generally once a month,” O’Connor said, relaxing in a comfortable chair. “The turnout has been very good, with good numbers to come and listen.”

The lectures usually run about 50 minutes, and are open to the public.

“I’m really surprised at the turnout. The only time there’s a little dip is if the [New England] Patriots are playing,” O’Connor said. “Then it’s about 80 percent women.”

O’Connor is also an authority on BC, where he served as the chairman of the history department from 1962 to 1970, and faculty assistant to the president from 1970 to 1972. In 1999, he became the college’s historian.

O’Connor remembered his decision to accept the historian position after his retirement, when asked by the Rev. William Leahy, BC’s president.

“I thought to myself, ‘That sounds like no heavy lifting,’” O’Connor joked. “It’s a half-time position. I go in three days a week.”

The arrangement has worked out well for both parties. O’Connor often gets calls from college officials or others looking for details on the school’s past.

“Tom O’Connor is not only a treasure for Boston College – he’s a treasure for Boston and all who love American history,” said Jack Dunn, director of public affairs for BC. “When he was a history professor here, he was our most beloved professor.”

O’Connor’s own education at BC was interrupted by his service in World War II. He received a bachelor’s degree in 1949 and a master’s degree in 1950, along with a doctorate from Boston University. He has written more than 15 books on various episodes in history.

He and his wife have two children who both graduated from BC. Daughter Jeanne O’Connor Green and her husband live in town, on Robbins Street.

“And here we are. It couldn’t be better,” O’Connor said.

For more information about O’Connor’s Sunday lectures, call Fuller Village’s Lisa Coover at (617) 361-2116.