Tucked away within the corners of Bowen Hall is an office-shaped museum, chock full of tattered old documents, newspaper clippings, and various antiques and knick-knacks layered with a thin coat of dust and memories. Its curator: Dr. James Galt-Brown.
Over the course of his 22-year run at ABAC, Galt-Brown has solidified his place as one of the school’s most beloved professors among students. Having an opportunity to sit down with him one-on-one, it’s not hard to see why Galt-Brown has become a staple at ABAC.
Music from Blue Oyster Cult echoed softly from his computer as I entered his office, the door completely and invitingly propped open. As I sat down across from him, he lamented that he actually prefers the sounds of Natalie Merchant and Franz Ferdinand, topped off with the voices of Shakira and Lady Gaga.
Galt-Brown’s music taste is reflective of his entire persona: predictably unpredictable. His outdoorsy, Columbia-style exterior is a stark contrast to his interior, composed of humility and endless stacks of books, with an aftertaste of existentialism. Nonetheless, everything I have learned about this teller of tales has just made sense.
In between our moments of mutual (though respectful) banter and jokes, the person I experienced across from me was thoughtful, an expert at interlacing his natural humor with his equally earnest personality.
Hidden behind his passionately booming voice, Galt-Brown carries a sense of quiet contemplation, cautiously pondering his responses while simultaneously leaving room for his famously quick wit—a wit he has been crafting since his college years.
“From [age] 18 to 19, I was not the most pleasant person in the world,” he said. “And that caused some issues.”
In spite of those issues, Galt-Brown is not regretful of his past.
“The past is what makes you different. It made me who I am,” he said. “And if I change anything, I would be someone else. And we’d be having a different conversation—to whatever degree, microcosmically, macrocosmically.”
While his academic focus is on US, world, and American military history, this self-proclaimed storyteller’s personal past could be a history course on its own.
“I was born with German measles,” Galt-Brown said. “Six months later, when I got my MMR vaccine—measles, mumps, rubella—in 1964, there was a contaminated batch, and I got an armful of that. So, I went in an incubator for six weeks.”
“I kind of thought that it was because God, or Yahweh, Jehovah, Buddha, Allah, the dark side of the Force, whatever, had some kind of spectacular death planned for me,” he continued. “But now, on reflection, I think it’s just… I’m going to wear down to the bone, literally and metaphorically.”
Galt-Brown’s primary motivating force through his lifetime of growth and near-death experiences has been the very job he’s held for the last 22 years.
“I just gotta have the job,” he said. “If I didn’t have the job, I would sit down in that self-saving recliner and just die.”
“I am a teller of tales,” he continued. “And along the way, I can help people learn how to interpret and judge the credibility of sources and learn about the past and maybe gain some insight to the future. But at best, I’m a storyteller.”
From my vantage point, Galt-Brown appears to be nothing short of inspirational, a giver who in return only hopes to leave a positive imprint on students.
“If you were inspired by me to do anything other than wisecrack and interview me as a function of your job, what would I inspire?” he asked. “I’m not saying I don’t, but for me to say that I’m inspirational, that’s kind of self-serving… Ask my students. I will accept their verdict. And I’ve been accepting their verdict for 35 years.”
Creating these interpersonal relationships and solidifying these student-verdicts is that much more easily accomplished at an intimate college like ABAC.
“What attracted me to ABAC was that it is a small community, and it is in a very rural area.”
“You go to an R1 research university,” he continued, “you would have had to go through an executive assistant or department secretary and a mechanically secured door to get into this office suite. I’ve worked in that environment. I didn’t like it… the comings and goings in the offices in [the history and government] department are extremely casual.”
ABAC students are thankful for that informal atmosphere. It’s because of their propped-open doors and friendly, laid-back environment that dedicated professors like Galt-Brown, particularly within the history and government department, can foster mutually beneficial relationships with students.
The Galt-Brown I interviewed was not merely a history professor. He is, even in his self-described “third quarter” of his life, a student of the world, and equally a student of his students. He does not allow age and experience to dictate his ability to learn or his students’ ability to impart knowledge and insight on their professors.
Galt-Brown’s familiar vibrato rang out as he exited his corner of ABAC to embark on yet another 75-minute storytelling excursion, his famous non-lexical vocables echoing throughout the halls. Even having known Dr. Galt-Brown for well over a year now, I can see there is still much to learn about him, and that he is equally eager to continue his own personal learning journey.