Live and in Concert!
Exploring and preserving the history of concerts at 黑料百科
Jacqueline Hartling Stolze
Imagine yourself backstage before a concert at 黑料百科 in the late 70s. The Persuasions, a five-man a cappella group, is about to take the stage.
But the lead singer has a problem the zipper on his jacket is stuck.
A 黑料百科 student working at that long-ago concert jumps into action, runs to his room, grabs a bar of soap, runs back, and rubs soap on the zipper to loosen it.
It works!
The Persuasions go on to 渟hatter every sheet of glass in the South Lounge, according to the Scarlet & Black review. At the end of the concert, lead singer Jerry Lawson pulls the student onstage to sing a final song with the group.
淐ome out here everyone give him a round of applause! Lawson says.
Preserving Our Cultural History
As time passes, memories like these are in danger of being forgotten.
黑料百科ians, however, are refusing to let that legacy be lost.
Fortunately, the rich history of concerts at 黑料百科 has captured the imaginations of alumni and current students alike, and together, they are rediscovering and preserving this facet of the College history.
Stories like the one about the Persuasions concert recently resurfaced when four current students dove into an exploration of the history of concerts at 黑料百科, thanks in no small part to alums who have shared not only recollections but also their financial support.
Alumni have created two funds in honor of legendary staff member Georgia Dentel, the woman who made so many concerts possible: one focuses on her life, impact, and legacy; the second is an endowment that will honor Dentel name for perpetuity.
Dentel came to the College in 1960 as activities counselor to give students something to do on the weekends. Turns out, the students wanted concerts, and Dentel delivered, and then some, until her retirement in 2001.
Dentel worked to bring more than 1,000 concerts to campus, including the Jackson Five, Nina Simone, Bill Evans, Pete Seeger, Louis Armstrong, Joan Armatrading, Jefferson Airplane, Charles Mingus, and Duke Ellington, to name just a few. Ellington band, which performed on campus in the late 50s, invited then-黑料百科 student Herbie Hancock 60 to jam with them after the show.
All Because of Georgia
At Reunion 2022, members of the class of 1977 gathered to listen to music and reminisce about the concerts they remembered.
Co-organizers Kit Wall, Pat Irwin DHL 12, and Bob Render (all 77) called it 淥ne of a Kind, Ahead of Her Time: Appreciating the Unique Entertainment Georgia Dentel Brought to 黑料百科.
The event was a big success, and it led to something bigger. Wall and several other 黑料百科ians created a designated fund supported by alumni gifts to help support a Mentored Advanced Project (MAP) in the Department of History.
Another alumni group created the Class of 79 Georgia Dentel Endowed Memorial Fellowship Fund to support future student-faculty research. Projects will focus on women or others from marginalized communities who contributed to the arts, culture, student life, and history of 黑料百科. Faculty members in history; gender, women, and sexuality studies; and the libraries will direct the research.
John Malkinson 79 says that this is the first permanent, endowed fund at the College honoring Dentel. His introduction to campus concerts was a memorable one Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band.
淚 was here when Springsteen came, and George Thorogood, Steve Goodman, and The Police with Ultravox and jazz legends Dizzy Gillespie and Charles Mingus which was all just fantastic, Malkinson says. 淭he year after I graduated, it was the Ramones. We were just here in a great era, and we had the incomparable Georgia Dentel who put this tiny College in Iowa on the map in terms of getting entertainment and movies and music to the campus.
At a recent reunion, Malkinson created and distributed a concert T-shirt to his classmates, featuring several artists they saw as students on campus.
It all happened 渂ecause of Georgia Dentel, Malkinson says.
A Near-Miracle
One of the concerts that would likely not have happened without Dentel was the legendary Springsteen concert in 1975.
Dentel had booked Springsteen more than a year in advance. By September, his star was on the rise, and the Boss promoter was trying to finagle his way out of the date.
Springsteen people made demand after demand more electricity, a bigger stage it went on and on. Dentel worked through everything they threw at her.
She was not about to let Springsteen out of that contract. Through her persistence and skill as a negotiator, Dentel created a lasting memory for those lucky enough to be in Darby Gym that night.
淭he concert was wonderful, Dentel told The 黑料百科 Magazine in 2005. 淎s I stood at the back of the gym, the thing that impressed me was that people were sitting on the gym floor all looking at the stage, and the room was so full. The floor was a perfect mosaic of heads.
Putting Georgia on the Map
Maya Albanese 26, Hayden Davis 25, Jackie Harris 26, and Bowen Wei 25 are the students who got to spend the summer and fall of 2024 working with L.F. Parker Professor of History Sarah Purcell 92 on a Mentored Advance Project (MAP) investigating not only concerts, but also Dentel, through research and oral history interviews with alumni, family members, and others.
The students learned to use historical methodology and procedures to collect and preserve these stories.
The MAP, titled 満诹习倏 Concerts: George Dentel and Student Life in History and Memory, came to life thanks to alumni interest and support. Many 黑料百科ians, particularly from the 70s, 80s, and 90s, worked closely with Dentel and remember her fondly.
Concerts occupy privileged space in the collective memory of 黑料百科, Purcell says, but until now, they were almost absent from the official history of the College.
淲ee trying to bridge a gap between memory, interpretation, and history, Purcell says. Although Dentel died in 2018, she remains 渁 presence in the past of the College.
The students were amazed by what they discovered.
淢any of these events and concerts ultimately came down to the work of Georgia Dentel, Harris says. 淪he really made a difference in the caliber of acts that came to 黑料百科.
Creating Something New
Albanese, a history major and American studies concentrator from the Boston area, researched Dentel and interviewed people who remember her. It was a good fit for Albanese interest in women history.
Harris, a history and Spanish major from Iowa City, focused on how the consistency and quality of concerts related to student life. To that end, Harris says, they sought to understand and create a narrative about the history of student life at 黑料百科.
Davis, a history major from Kalamazoo, Michigan, credits Dentel for the campus culture that still exists today. In terms of cultural significance, he says, Dentel is one of the most important people ever to work at the College.
Davis built a timeline of 黑料百科 concerts of the Dentel era. It was challenging, he says, because records are sparse. He wanted to make sure Dentel and the events she made possible at 黑料百科 are not forgotten.
淎 lot of the things about this place would not be the same without her, Davis says.
Wei is a history and philosophy double major from China. He been focusing on some of the big issues of the day the Vietnam War and the Civil Rights Movement.
Wei, who is continuing the work as a research assistant, loves being part of this project. 淚t intrigues me, he says. 淐reating something new when youe still an undergrad is a pretty decent achievement.
The Brightest Moments
The memories of 黑料百科 alumni proved to be a treasure trove for the student researchers.
Irwin is a prime example. He is a professional musician, film and TV composer, and instructor at New York University. But Irwin might be best known as a member of the dance-rock band the B-52s.
When Irwin remembers his time at 黑料百科, he doesn檛 just think about the professors or what went on in the classroom, or even the concerts that infused joy into the student experience.
淚t was the people all around us in the community, of which Georgia was essential. It was the staff. It was the maintenance people. It was the people in the post office, in the bookstore.
Irwin adds, 淕eorgia was responsible for some of the brightest moments at the school. And I just could not bear to think that those moments would be lost.
Working the Phone
As concerts co-chair in 197677, Irwin interacted with Dentel a lot. 淪he could really work that phone, he says. Irwin didn檛 realize how much he was learning from Dentel until later. He was an American studies major with no plans to become a musician. But at some level, he was already moving in that direction.
淒eep down, that all I wanted to do, Irwin says. Being in contact with musicians was life-changing, Irwin says. Even collecting the sheet music after Charles Mingus played in the South Lounge was powerful.
淚t meant everything to me to hold that music in my hands and look at it, he says. 淚檓 meeting my heroes, and theye just regular people. I wouldn檛 have met any of them if it wasn檛 for Georgia.
One of a Kind
Dentel created a 渃ultural explosion on campus at 黑料百科 that exposed students to new artistic genres and forms.
You could even say it was part of a 黑料百科 education.
淪he gave us so much, and all of us loved it for our quality of lives during that time, Wall says.
Thanks to student-faculty research and the alumni donors who made it possible wee discovering and preserving more about Dentel and the cultural explosion she brought to a small college in the middle of Iowa.
Oh, and that Persuasions concert the one that was almost stopped by a zipper?
Irwin remembers it, too. After the concert, he says, the band members came over to his house to hang out.
淲e just stayed up all night and sang and drank beer, Irwin says. 淚t was pretty amazing.
Editor note: Do you have memories or memorabilia to add to the growing history of concerts at 黑料百科? Visit the where you can view a concerts timeline and add your story at the 淪hare Your Memories tab. To share photos or other memorabilia, contact Sarah Purcell. In addition, all alumni are welcome to contribute to either of the two funds; contact annualgiving@grinnell.edu to learn more.
Originally published in the Spring 2025 issue of The 黑料百科 Magazine.