This piece of stained glass playing a key role in researching the history of the University of Oklahoma College of Pharmacy APhA-ASP Chapter.
By Jonathan Little
For our chapter’s APhA–ASP 50th Anniversary Celebration Poster at the APhA Annual Meeting & Exposition in Seattle this past March, it was important for me to showcase our college of pharmacy in a way that really connected the people and faces with all the hard work that is put in behind the scenes. Although the University of Oklahoma College of Pharmacy recently celebrated its 125th anniversary, I had surprisingly little information about the history of APhA here on campus.
The stained-glass discovery
I first began by contacting a few of our recent chapter presidents, and they, too, knew almost nothing about the history of APhA–ASP at our college. It quickly became apparent to me that I would have to do a bit of detective work to try to find information about how we were formed and how APhA really began.
I began to search through some old photos of the college taken in the 1980s and 1990s, but couldn’t really find anything related to APhA. I also went through a few old volumes of our college’s magazine, but again fell short of my goal to find relevant information about APhA. Through talking with a couple of sources, I got in touch with Rita Pierce, the highly respected Assistant to the Dean, and she told me that she knew of one good story regarding APhA’s development in the 1950s. Jackpot!
It turns out that we had an APhA relic just feet away from her desk. She showed me a well-kept beautiful piece of stained-glass artwork with the letters “APhA” inscribed. Rita then shared an article she wrote a few years ago about how this piece of stained glass came to the college in 1955, when we were still located in Norman, OK. National APhA had donated this item to the college of pharmacy for the efforts of R. D. Bienfang, PhD, the Chapter Advisor at the time. This item and story were exactly what I needed to connect the history of our APhA–ASP Chapter with real people who actively contributed to APhA and made a difference for pharmacy in Oklahoma years ago. The stained-glass artwork still resides at the college in the office of Dean JoLaine Draugalis, PhD, FAPhA, who is also a big supporter of APhA–ASP.
Poster ingredients
Chapter President-elect Anna Sahlstrom and I quickly got to work on the poster with renewed excitement and passion to tell our story. We used an online media design website, Canva, to organize our ideas and put our personal touch on the information. With the hardest part of finding accurate historical information out of the way, Anna and I began to take an objective view of our chapter’s impact on the college and the community.
Instead of listing every event that we have done with details, we decided to focus on big picture items that are really the backbone of our chapter. These include immunization projects, health fairs, and strong attendance at APhA–ASP meetings and conferences. We also easily agreed to include the most important people who have contributed to our chapter—our two most recent Chapter Advisors, Vincent Dennis, PharmD, BCACP, and Katherine O’Neal, PharmD, BCACP. These two professors have had a huge impact on our chapter’s success and longevity, and they deserved adequate recognition for the support they provide the students.
In Seattle, it was an honor to stand aside Anna and showcase our chapter poster together. We take pride in our accomplishments and it was humbling to show other APhA–ASP members from across the country who we are, where we’ve come from, what we’ve accomplished, and the things we have planned for the future. Furthermore, it was a great opportunity for our own chapter members to see all the hard work that we’ve put in recently being recognized and valued.
My small role in chapter history
Anna and I really enjoyed creating the APhA–ASP 50th Anniversary Celebration Poster, and it really challenged us to find out about OU’s history with APhA–ASP for ourselves. Looking back, I am so thankful that I took the time amidst a busy schedule to make this a priority because soon enough, my time as a student pharmacist will be over and projects like this will have passed me by.
This poster is another example of the many experiences that APhA–ASP has afforded me, and I am so thankful to be able to play a small part in contributing to our APhA–ASP Chapter at the University of Oklahoma.