Class Notes & Profiles

On the Road Again

By Samantha Soper '91

Currently an intellectual property lawyer in New Mexico and sometimes representing Native American tribes on cultural issues, Roberta Price ’68 led a very different life following her Vassar graduation. In the summer and winter of 1969, she received a grant to study New Age communities in the Southwest. After her experiences, Price decided to leave her position as a teaching fellow at SUNY-Buffalo — she hit the road to join a commune in southern Colorado. Along the way, Price chronicled her experiences and encounters through vivid, dramatic photographs. At age 23, Price attempted to publish her work. "One particularly depressing negotiation with Random House convinced me that I could not get published without giving up a great deal of editorial control of my material, without sensationalizing it, and without betraying the trust given to me by my contemporaries, who were out there participating in these idealistic, crazy, hopeful, selfish, unique experiments," said Price. So, she decided to complete this project "later." Upon turning 50, "it suddenly occurred to me that it was later, and it was time to embark on my deferred project," added Price. Thanks to Vassar’s Time-Out Grant, Price has taken a one-year leave of absence from her law practice to add a narrative to the photographs she took so many years ago.

Funds for the Time-Out Grant were donated by an anonymous alumna for alumnae/i who have reached their 40th birthday and who wish to make a career change or take time out to pursue a strongly desired endeavor but lack the financial resources to do so. Other recent winners of the Time-Out Grant include Erika Archibald ’79, who volunteered with a wide range of small non-profit organizations, and Nancy Asch ’77, a social worker who played drums in an all-girl band.

Information and application for the Time-Out Grant