Department of History

In 2006, Robin Parry was invited by a friend to attend a jazz fest in New Orleans. As she soaked in the city’s rich music and cultural heritage, she was struck by the level of destruction and decay wrought by Hurricane Katrina, particularly in the city’s Ninth Ward. But rather than stand idly by, Parry grabbed a hammer and pitched in to do her part.

Upon arriving home in Philadelphia, Parry was still taken by all that she had seen and was determined to do more. Shortly thereafter, she founded Philly to New Orleans, a nonprofit organization which held local benefit concerts to send Philadelphia artists and musicians to New Orleans to volunteer with local community-service organizations. Touching down in The Big Easy, the musicians worked to rebuild homes for displaced musicians, restore music venues and work on much-needed post-Katrina projects throughout the city. “If I say I’m going to do it, then I do it,” says Parry, a resident of Maple Shade. “I don’t say, ‘I want to do it,’ I say, ‘This is what I am going to do.’ Then I move mountains to get it done.”

Such was the case in 2010, when Parry decided to return to college after a 26-year hiatus. Too late? Not a chance, she says. Impossible? She doesn’t know the meaning of the word. Three years later, Parry will celebrate another personal triumph, as she graduates on May 23 with a bachelor’s degree in history from Rutgers–Camden. Highlighting her grit and determination, she will serve as a keynote speaker during the commencement ceremony for the Faculty of Arts and Sciences. “It is such a great way to end the whole experience,” she says, making a gesture as if she’s wrapping a present in a bow.

Initially Parry enrolled at Rutgers–Camden intending to study physics and earn her teaching certification. However, the more that she delved into history, she was inspired to learn more about the world around her, and how past events help to shape the current landscape. “History has made me more prepared to grapple with the issues that we face in society today,” says Parry. “It’s been like peeling an onion. As I learned one thing, I fell through the rabbit hole and wanted to learn more and more.”

Parry adds that she has been personally inspired as well. Her eyes light up as she shares her current research, focusing on St. Teresa of Avila and 16^th-century mystics.  Perhaps the comparisons aren’t obvious at first, but for Parry, St. Teresa is someone to whom she can really relate. “There is so much in her that reminds me of myself,” says Parry, the founding vice president of the Rutgers–Camden History Club. “She didn’t really come around until her 50s, and started making major reform movements. I see a lot in her that is inspiring.”

Indeed, Parry, who recently celebrated her 50th birthday, has made some major reforms of her own since she attended college at Temple University in the early 1980s. In 1984, Parry left school to help support her husband, Steve, who was in a Philadelphia-based glam band called Heaven’s Edge. She recalls that she did what she could to make ends meet, which included tending bar and planning events at 23rd Street Café in Philadelphia. The band finally released its first album in 1990, the year the couple’s first child, Sarah, was born.

Parry and her husband then welcomed two more children, Emma and Michael, into the family, and Parry focused on raising the kids. After the couple separated in 1998, Parry stayed connected to the music industry in the Philly area. She began booking bands, as well as managed Doc Watson’s in Philadelphia, which inspired her to set out on her own.  In 2001, she opened her own nightclub, Club Nostradamus, at 17th and Green Streets.

As Parry recalls, some people thought that she was crazy to risk the venture. However, she adds, defying convention has been the hallmark of her most rewarding achievements. “I step out and do the things that you don’t expect,” says Parry, who occasionally took college courses, such as entrepreneurship and business law, to help with her enterprises. “The things that people have told me you aren’t supposed to do have been the greatest accomplishments of my entire life.”

Despite the club’s small size, Parry succeeded in booking some major acts. Among them were Regina Spektor, Lotus, Peek-A-Boo Revue, Birdie Busch, and Amos Lee, whom Parry says got his start there. The big secret to her success? “I just asked,” she says.  “I would send the musicians an e-mail saying, ‘I have this little place, it’s unassuming, but you can do whatever you want,’ and they were interested. I think that they just appreciated me being genuine and up front with them.”

With three small children at home, the club eventually became too demanding to manage and Parry closed its doors. She subsequently began booking shows and tending bar at World Café Live, on the University of Pennsylvania campus, in 2005. A year later, she used her connections in the local music and radio industries and launched Philly to New Orleans. Over the next four years, the organization would touch the lives of countless musicians and residents in New Orleans. It was also responsible for introducing the Philly area to New Orleans artists such as Trombone Shorty and The Rebirth Brass Band.

In addition, Parry was the music coordinator for the Philadelphia Flower Show in 2008, the year that they featured New Orleans, booking daily shows on the Bourbon Street stage. Among the acts to appear were New Orleans band Big Sam’s Funky Nation, Philly band The Wild Bohemians, and Camden’s own UCC Royal Brass Band.

Robin Parry and her daughter, Emma

For all of Parry’s successes, her bachelor’s degree was still the one goal that had always eluded her. She still remembers the words of her father, who told her that education makes someone a better person. Above all, Parry was intent on proving that she could do it – both to herself and to her children. “It was hanging over my head, and I knew how important it was for my kids,” she says. “It was hard for me to tell them that they had to do it when I hadn’t done it myself. It was a race to get done before them and it worked.” Incidentally, two of Parry’s children are now following in her footsteps at Rutgers. Her daughter, Emma, is a sophomore at Rutgers–Camden, while her son, Michael, was recently accepted to Rutgers–New Brunswick.

These days, Parry is enjoying what she calls the “Robin Parry Part II” phase of her life. She continues to tend bar and book acts at World Café Live to help pay her way through school. She also still does work to support New Orleans musicians, and books shows for them at the club. Wanting for years to be a singer, Parry also sang lead for a band called Robin and the Hot Flashes. While the band is currently on hiatus, she can be found on the weekends sitting in with local bands such as Outloud and Big Bang. “I am reinventing myself with age,” she says with a laugh.

With a bachelor’s degree in the books, Parry acknowledges that she feels more emboldened than ever to do anything she puts her mind to. “When I was a single, poor, middle-aged woman who decided to open a nightclub, and booked some of the biggest acts to play in Philadelphia, everyone thought I was out of my mind,” she says. “Now that I have that degree, I really don’t have any doubt that, whatever catches my passion next, I’ll be able to do it.”