In May of 1940, the family moved again, this time to the United States, where Gundersheimer spent a year with a foster family in Henniker, N.H. After that year Gundersheimer and his parents settled in Philadelphia for the rest of his childhood. Though his family struggled financially for the first few years, as a child Gundersheimer was very busy: violin lessons, Hebrew school (where the famous linguist, philosopher, political activist, and author Noam Chomsky taught young Gundersheimer in the fourth and fifth grades), a "brief flirtation with football," and weekly trips to the local library occupied his time. By the time Gundersheimer was in high school his family was on more stable financial ground.
Experiencing Amherst
Amherst was Gundersheimer's first choice among the five colleges he applied to. His junior high principal was an alumnus of the College, Herman Wessel '19, and had Gundersheimer "pegged" for Amherst. He introduced young Gundersheimer to the idea of attending the College. Wessel even drove Gundersheimer to an interview with "the legendary Eugene F. 'Bill' Wilson."
After sitting in on a Lawrence Packard-a popular and well-known head of Amherst's history department-lecture, Gundersheimer decided to apply to the College. He said, "that was it."
He knew Amherst was the right college for him, but he needed to be accepted. He waited through the long decision process and finally received his acceptance letter from Amherst along with a generous financial aid scholarship. His financial aid package and campus jobs made him financially independent from his parents. "If I had really understood the rigors of the curriculum in those days, I might have taken an easier path, which would have meant going to practically any other school except MIT or Caltech," recalled Gundersheimer. "Thank goodness, I didn't."
He majored in history but he was also highly interested in Greek, Latin and English; his transcript reflects these interests. He wrote his thesis on Machiavelli, and would have liked to, but did not have the chance, to pursue his many other interests like political science, economics and psychology. He was forced to pursue these subjects in his later educational career.
Though he studied under many great teachers in his four years at the College, he claims to have "missed even more." In addition to his classes, he also spent a lot of his spare time in the stacks of Converse Library, where he immersed himself in psychoanalytic literature by Freud, Jung, Hartman, Erikson, Maslow and Karl Abraham. "I guess I was trying to figure out some things about myself," joked Gundersheimer. "All that probably helped make me a slightly more interesting historian."
Besides his intellectual pursuits Gundersheimer had his own news show on the college radio station WAMH, spent a couple years as a drama critic for The Amherst Student, contributed to The Amherst Review, a journal of undergraduate scholarship, and participated in intramural sports. The dating scene was also time-consuming, especially considering many students didn't have a car. But most of his time was dedicated to his education and campus jobs.
Additionally he was an active member and President of Phi Alpha Psi (now Drew). One of his many favorite memories of Amherst is the "very mild hazing" he experienced as a pledge to his fraternity during his freshman year. Around midnight on a starry spring night, the pledges to Phi Alpha Psi were all rounded up, blindfolded and driven to a remote spot on Route 2. According to Gundersheimer, "it was a safer, more innocent time." Soon cars stopped to help the pledges and they hitchhiked back to campus. Once they arrived safely on campus they let the air out of all the tires of the cars parked in the Phi Alpha Psi parking lot. Most of the pledges made it to chapel a few hours later.
Gundersheimer says that his four years at the College were "transformative." "What can be greater," he pondered, "than learning how to live and work independently, discover lifelong interests, make enduring friendships, and live in an environment that honors and supports all that?"
Life after Amherst
Thought he admits now that it might have been a good idea to take a break from school, Gundersheimer "kept riding the academic train." After graduating from Amherst he was awarded a Woodrow Wilson Fellowship, with which he attended Harvard University. At Harvard he earned his Ph.D. in history in four years. During his years at Harvard he spent one research year in France during the Algerian war. He was forced to learn to live with bombs exploding constantly and the French police bullying "anyone who looked vaguely North African." Because of his Rotary Fellowship he was able to share his experiences in France and inform people of the disastrous conditions of the French universities when he spoke at Rotary Clubs all over Philadelphia. "They couldn't have been surprised when the student riots broke out in '68," said Gundersheimer.
After his four years, he opted to continue his involvement with the university through a post-doctoral fellowship that sent him to Italy for one year. Following his post-doctoral year with Harvard he took a professorship at Pennsylvania State University, where he taught until 1984. He was also a visiting professor at Johns Hopkins University, Swarthmore College and the Academic College of Tel Aviv and, more recently, at Amherst, Williams College and George Washington University.
Gundersheimer served as Director of the Folger Shakespeare Library for 18 years. The library is a world-leading research library and "one of the most endearing human communities" Gundersheimer has ever experienced. He enjoyed working with the "lively, dedicated, [and] productive" staff at the Folger library.
The library is a center for activity among interested scholars traveling from all over the world who can participate in an atmosphere rich with educational, literary, musical, theatrical and social activities. Because of his position as director he was always in contact with Amherst trustees, who administer the library. Gundersheimer considered the continual contact with the "interesting and accomplished" Amherst trustees an additional benefit. Reflecting on his years in charge of the Folger: "It was great to be able to help the place build its collections, attract new talent at all levels, and grow its resources, while having a unique, non-partisan window on the complex world of official Washington."
Living in Williamstown
Gundersheimer now lives near Williams College; he simply enjoys living in "a beautiful college town with one stoplight, no parking meters and a lot of good art, libraries, music and sports." In fact there are many Amherst alums living near Williams (the resident orthopedist for the Ephs is an Amherst alum). "It's wrong to let Williams alums have all the good real estate," Dr. Gundersheimer joked. When he compares the two colleges he sees many more similarities than differences. "These colleges emerge from the same crucible," he says, and claims that is what drives their "intense, familiar" rivalry. Both colleges have a hardworking, intelligent faculty, staff, and student body. However, he admits that Amherst appears to be "edgier intellectually and socially" than Williams.
Now Gundersheimer is working on two books as well as serving on the board for a few non-profit organizations, and indulging in hobbies such as "hiking, fishing, bicycling, reading, and generally chilling." He also spends time traveling, and will be in Tunisia this year during Homecoming Weekend.
Looking back at his Amherst experience, Gundersheimer has one piece of advice for current students: "The words inscribed over the entry to the Abbaye de Theleme, Francois Rabelais' imaginary coed monastery: Fay ce-que vouldras. Do what you want to do."