West Point Cadet Library personnel and a self-titled "arm-chair historian," have teamed up to bring added historical appeal to the U.S. Military Academy’s Bicentennial.

Stan Graham, a retired IBM executive, teacher and creator of classroom historical material, has labored to produce a learning tool called "West Point Scenes Remembered." The CD was created by Graham’s company, Century Publishing.

"Together, we have put together a CD-ROM and several exhibits in the special collections and archives division of the Cadet Library for people to see West Point as it was compared to how it is today," Graham explained.

A graduate of Columbia University in New York City, Graham said he discovered a sale on old illustrated books during his senior year and it started a life-long practice of collecting. As he later traveled to Europe on business trips, he was able to enhance his personal collection with illustrated series from London, Paris and other cities.

"Most of the books I collected focused on text, and the illustrations were not in context with the material they were shown with," he said. "That’s why I’ve taken a different approach than most authors -- my books and films are based on the prints of illustrations and include text only to help explain what the art signifies. What I like to do is present material to the viewer, who can interpret it for themselves -- to get them more involved in thinking about what they’re seeing."

That is the basis of the "West Point Scenes Remembered" CD.

"The Special Collections people here have been a great help. I approached USMA Historian Dr. Stephen Grove about converting one of my projects -- "Hudson Scenes Remembered" into one focusing more on West Point. He thought it was a great idea, and using the prints in the collection here, we have compiled a show of more than 1162 illustrations and old photographs that can be easily accessed via simple menu options," Graham said.

Archives technician Alicia Mauldin, said, "The show contains a lot of old, interesting images from our archives and even a few from [Graham’s] own books. This CD will give you a good sense of USMA’s past, and I think it’ll be a good educational tool."

The CD includes old and new illustrations, placed side-by-side, so the viewer can see scenes that take place at the same locations, but are more than a century apart.

Examples include depictions of Flirtation Walk, the Cadet Chapel, ships passing West Point on the Hudson River and many views of cadet life.

Graham identified another benefit of using CD technology for the presentation.

"A nice thing about using CD with PowerPoint programming is that it’s alterable," he explained. "If a cadet has images of himself or of his life here, he can use a computer to add them into the presentation. He can actually put himself in there to show others how he has lived with the same precedent that other cadets have for centuries."

The exhibits -- on the third and fourth floors of the Cadet Library -- are due to open in early February and remain open for a month. The eight glass cases used will hold books open to illustrated pages, prints of old images and manuscripts of cadet letters from years and decades past.

Graham said the CD is now available for purchase at the West Point Visitors Center, the Cadet Book Store and Museum.