Lake Fred – at the heart of Stockton University
The South Jersey Culture & History center presents another of its occasional publications, “Naming Lake Fred”: the story of how the central lake of Stockton University received its prosaic name, Fred.
Materials gathered from the Bjork Library, Special Collections & Archives and interviews with early alums and faculty inform this detailed essay by Tom Kinsella. Enjoy.
Naming Lake Fred
pdf-format (7.1 mb)
Hello Alums and friends of early Stockton. My apologies for the long silence. The site has been quiet, but work is being done.
Over the past few weeks I’ve been focusing on a piece about the naming of Lake Fred. I’m hoping to be done by early September and will place an announcement here.
The main news is that I have met the elusive “Fred Sommers,” who in some versions of the Lake Fred naming story christened the Lake with his name. It’s a long story, with some twists and turns, but I’d be happy to learn even more. Do any of you out there remember Fred Sommers from the first year and a half at Stockton? Did you know him? Can you let me know your memories about him and or the Lake Naming (however you remember the story)? If you have alternate versions of the naming story (not about an itinerant student named Fred walking around the lake at all hours), I’d like to know them, too. I have a good amount of information, but it was a long time ago and I’m always looking for more. You can send any info to Thomas.Kinsella@stockton.edu.
Many thanks,
Tom
This blog is dedicated to capturing slices of life on the north shore of Lake Fred during the 1970s into the early 1980s — a time period when the cabins, which predated the arrival of the College, still stood and helped to foster a vibrant on-campus community.
It is one thread of a larger project with the goal of researching the history of Stockton’s 1600 acre campus from earliest times through today. We would like to know more about the cabins and their use. If you have stories, anecdotes, or pictures to share about campus life during this time, especially associated Lake Fred, Lake Pam or the surrounding forest lands, please send them to Thomas.Kinsella@stockton.edu.
Jamming in a cabin
One of the cabins in 1978
