Endowed Scholarships—Marianne and Peter B. Flint '50
After the death of her beloved husband, Marianne Flint chose to honor his memory by establishing the Peter B. Flint 1950 Memorial Scholarship Fund. For the past two decades this scholarship has supported Haverford students with demonstrated financial need, giving preference given to students of "principled character and personality who display leadership qualities and conscientiousness and who are history or political science majors." Marianne loved hearing from the recipients of the Flint Scholarship. Periodically she made additional contributions to the fund and, upon her passing in 2014, left a sizeable bequest to the Haverford scholarship fund bearing her husband's name.
The Flints were an urbane couple. She was an artist living in Greenwich Village before meeting the man who would become her husband. In time she would exhibit her drawings and paintings, occasionally making a sale. Peter took his first job following graduation from Haverford as a news clerk at The New York Times. Over the succeeding two and a half years he covered various areas, including the Editorial page department, the Foreign Desk, the City Desk, and the Washington Bureau. While in Washington in 1953-1954, he attended several of the monthly luncheons of what then was called the Haverford Society of Washington. Peter was drafted in 1954 and assigned to Orleans, France, where he served eighteen months as a reporter and feature writer for the Communications Zone Headquarters newspaper and the Public Information Office. After an honorable discharge from the Army, Peter returned to The New York Times, this time to the Press Section at the United Nations in New York.
From his new post at the United Nations, Peter wrote to the Alumni Secretary of Haverford, Bennett Cooper, in November 1956, providing an updated address and expressing thanks for "sending the Haverford News to France for all those months."
Subsequent posts at The Times included the Metropolitan desk and the general assignment desk. Peter compiled the Daily Times News Summary and did national reporting during Watergate. He served in broadcasting and covered the New Jersey Courts in Newark. In the course of these assignments, he interviewed an array of distinguished personalities.
Also at The Times and on a free-lance basis, Peter wrote the obituaries of prominent artists and actors-including those of Alfred Hitchcock, Sammy Davis Jr., Joan Crawford and Greta Garbo. Peter would become known and remembered for the obituaries he penned on behalf of luminaries that were published under his name. For instance, Peter described the late Alfred Hitchcock as "the portly, cherubic director who invariably progressed from deceptively commonplace trifles of life to shattering revelations, and with elegant style and structure, he pervaded mundane events and scenes with a haunting mood of mounting anxiety."
Peter earned a master's degree in 1963 in Education and Film at New York University. His writing not only reflected his reputation of having a virtually encyclopedic knowledge of thousands of movies, cast directors, and producers. It also revealed the talents of a journalist who, after stating succinctly the unadulterated facts of an individual's demise, broke out of the genre of obituary to elaborate with astute and precise detail and sometimes at great length-upon the person's character, strengths, accomplishments, and occasional foibles. He brought rigor, respect, and candor to the role of accounting for the life of the famous and the way that each individual chose to live. If not by one's own hand or that of a trusted relative or friend, some might have wished to have their own life's paths mediated by and memorialized in the judicious, sometimes colorful, and always thoughtfully chosen words of Peter B. Flint. Peter retired in 1991 and died four years later of lung cancer. He was 67.
Marianne took great pride in her husband's professional accomplishments and also in the life that they had shared. After their marriage in 1970, the couple (who did not have children) moved to Glen Ridge, New Jersey, an historic, gas-lighted community outside of Manhattan. They filled their eleven-room home with antiques from Peter's family according to Marianne, had come over on the "second Mayflower." Over the years and toward the end of her life, Marianne, welcoming and friendly by nature, found herself reluctant to venture out though was always receptive to a telephone call. As accomplished as Peter was a journalist, Marianne was a conversationalist. She kept abreast of local and national news through reading and watching documentaries and vigorously expressed her stand on a host of current events and issues. She would have been immensely proud of the Haverford students, now alumni, whom she helped to nurture so that they, like Peter and herself, became active and discerning citizens of the world-in education, law, the arts, at nonprofits with far-reaching missions such as the Red Cross and Save the Children, and in other pursuits.
Ironically, or perhaps intentionally, an obituary for Marianne is not in the public record. She leaves a legacy of love for her husband through the Peter B. Flint Memorial 1950 Scholarship Fund at Haverford. Highlighted below are several recipients of the Flint Scholarship and their thoughts about having been selected for this recognition that helped to make their Haverford education possible. Clearly, the impact on each was profound while they were students at Haverford and evident in where they are today.
Rebecca Preiss Odom ‘02
A history major with an interest in European and 20th century Russian history and a desire to pursue graduate work in museum studies, Becky spent a semester studying at St. Andrews University in Scotland as part of her Haverford experience. She also served as assistant junior varsity soccer coach and sang in the chorale. In spite of these achievements and impressive aspirations, Becky was surprised and honored to be selected from among her accomplished classmates to receive the Peter B. Flint Memorial 1950 Scholarship, which helped her to continue her studies at Haverford. Becky went on to earn a master's in History Museum Studies and a doctorate in American Studies, and today she is a curator of history at the Ohio History Connection in Columbus.
Thy Nguyen ‘05
Thy Nguyen transferred to Haverford. A member of the men's track team and school record holder in the 55m high hurdles, Thy majored in history as a prelude to law school. Thy candidly acknowledged that the Fund "helped me accomplish what my parents could not, to attend and graduate from college....my time at Haverford has not only made me a smarter person, but a better person." Today Thy is an attorney in Singapore.
Tamar Hoffman ‘16
Tamar applied to Haverford for early decision. A political science major with a concentration in peace, justice, and human rights, Tamar conscientiously took advantage of all of the opportunities Haverford afforded her-including serving as an Honor Council co-chair, interning off campus at the American Civil Liberties Union, participating in a trip to the Arizona borderlands to learn about migration through the Center for Peace and Global Citizenship, and also working as a receptionist in the Dean's Office. Tamar received the Peter B. Flint 1950 Memorial Scholarship for two consecutive years, "enabling [her] education at Haverford." Today Tamar is a post-bac fellow at Haverford House in Philadelphia. As part of her Haverford House fellowship, she works as a paralegal at Community Legal Services Housing Unit.