To the Editor:
America may have been ruthless to its original native tribes and oppressive to its Africans, but its diversity is part of its grandeur, and part of our strength. Swarthmore may seem insular in its boundaries and insulated by its grand tree cover, but within our borders, diversity reigns. Nothing indicates this more to the casual visitor than the fact that almost no two houses in Swarthmore are alike. This suggests that no two people in Swarthmore are alike. Almost all Swarthmore people and their houses are, if not “grand,” still alive and well, and diverse.
What of the abandoned house at 311 Cedar Lane? I was last inside that house over 25 years ago when two patients of mine helped Swarthmore College manage a student cultural center there. Now it is condemned. I visited its perimeter last weekend. Who built it? What is the name of its architectural style? It seems unique even among the oldest of Swarthmore houses. It seemed to be trying to speak to me about grandeur, and about diversity, but I could not understand what it was trying to say.
John Brodsky, M.D.
Swarthmore
