An alumni couple celebrates their love for the library by giving back.

Not many people can say that their college diploma is signed by their father-in-law, but Linda Marston ’75, ’89 PhD can count herself among them. Her husband, Dennis Bromery ’86, ’88 MEd, is the son of the late Randolph W. Bromery ’79 Hon, who served as chancellor when Linda was an undergraduate.

Marston and Chancellor Bromery would go on to have a professional connection as well.

“He was president at Springfield College, where I worked for 24 years,” she says. “I had my UMass diploma—signed by Chancellor Bromery—on my office wall when I worked at Springfield College, during and after he was president.”

Marston came to UMass from Needham, Massachusetts, a first-generation college student who, she says, had “no idea” what graduate school was. It was a UMass professor’s influence that led her to pursue graduate studies, earning a master’s degree from Tufts University before returning to UMass for her PhD.

“At the end of the political sociology class, the professor said, ‘I’m teaching a master’s level course in research, if anybody wants to take it,’” she says. “I was the only one who did, and he told me afterward that I did better than a lot of his master’s students.”

Marston became the professor’s undergraduate research assistant, and her research led to a journal article in which he gave her co-authorship. The article, which was about gun ownership in the United States, is still cited today as the first research of its kind on the subject.

“Eventually, because of UMass, I got my PhD in sociology,” she says. “It was quite a start.”

Dennis Bromery was born in Washington, D.C., and moved to Amherst in 1967, when his father, a geophysicist, became a professor at UMass, later serving as the university’s first Black chancellor, a role he held from 1971 to 1979.

After serving in the military, Dennis went to UMass on the GI Bill, earning a bachelor’s degree in legal studies and a Master of Education in Educational Policy, Research, and Administration. His familiarity with the university through his father was part of the reason he decided to attend.

“I knew UMass, knew people here,” he says. “It was a wonderful experience.”

UMass also brought Linda and Dennis together: the couple met when they were both working in Housing Services. Linda held a graduate student role, and Dennis worked in telecommunications.

A shared passion for the library

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Today, Marston and Bromery are dedicated alumni with a passion for the university’s W. E. B. Du Bois Library. You can frequently find the couple at celebratory library events, especially the lectures by prominent visiting and emerging scholars offered by the Du Bois Center on the 22nd floor.

Not only do they love the library for its engaging events, but they also deeply appreciate the significance of the library’s namesake. Marston says that W. E. B. Du Bois’s impact on the field of sociology, which she first learned about at UMass, cannot be overstated.

“I had a [UMass] professor who recognized Du Bois as one of the founding fathers of sociology even before the field of sociology did,” she says. “Du Bois’s significance as a scholar needs to be continually recognized for its relevance to modern conditions.”

The couple’s connections to the Du Bois Library are also personal: it was Dennis’s father who acquired the Du Bois papers for the library during his time as UMass Amherst chancellor. The papers, among other distinguished collections, are now housed in the library’s Robert S. Cox Special Collections and University Archives (SCUA) Research Center.

Supporting the library they love

Long-time donors to UMass, Bromery and Marston give back to the university because, they say, the university gave them so much and continues to connect with them.

“My parents taught me that however you can give back—donating your time, donating your money, donating your blood—you should always be giving back,” Marston says. “It’s important and resonant for me to give back in a way that will keep giving back.”

When the couple decided to include UMass in their estate plan, it seemed natural to establish the Dennis R. Bromery and Dr. Linda L. Marston Fund, which will provide lasting support for the university library they love so much.

“We focused our support on the library because of the historic significance of the Du Bois Archives and other Special Collections that Robert Cox, the Du Bois Center, and others have been able to attract.

Marston ’75, ’89 PhD

“I think history is very important, and people’s understanding of history is probably even more important,” Bromery says. “Robert Cox was such an influence, and SCUA is continuing to attract papers and artifacts of national and worldwide relevance. We need to make sure that continues.”

Support UMass Amherst Libraries with a gift to the Dean’s Excellence Fund.