MORNING SESSION

After calling the meeting to order at 8.15, the Chairman of the Committee on Resolutions reported as follows:

Resolved: That the Association is again deeply indebted to the College for its hospitality expressed in intangible as well as in material ways, making this meeting one of great pleasure as well as of encouragement and inspiration, and that hereby we express to the officers of the College our appreciation and heartfelt thanks.

Resovled: That we wish to recognize in a conspicuous way the interest in this meeting expressed by the oldest alumnus (for more than ten years the sole survivor of his class, the class of 1846), J. W. Barstow, M.D., of New York City; and that we recommend that his letters to the Executive Committee be published in the ALUMNI MAGAZINE in connection with the report of this meeting.

Resolved: That the secretaries here assembled, being again reminded, as always on such occasions, of the debt which the College owes to its former honored President, Doctor Tucker, extend to him our affectionate greetings and our earnest hope for his health and happiness.

Whereas: Since the last meeting of the Association of Dartmouth Secretaries, Sturgis Pishon, Secretary of the Class of 1910, has given his life to his country,

Resolved: That the members of the Secretaries Association express through the inadequate medium of words their great and abiding sorrow, that they with all the Alumni of Dartmouth have lost for all time the joy of personal contact with his rare and inspiring personality:

Their sympathy for the men of 1910 who here lost a matchless leader and moulder of the spirit of the class; their keen regret that there has gone out of the world, so soon, a versatile and radiant lover of Dartmouth, whose loyalty and love were manifest in his too short life in many ways, but nowhere more brilliantly or more usefully than in his labors of love, as Secretary of his Class.

Resolved: That the fine service which has been rendered by the men who, during the war, took temporary charge of the secretarial work of their classes, on account of the absence of the regular secretaries on war duty, is worthy of and hereby receives from us genuine praise. This is the kind of team-work which makes and greatens Dartmouth College.

This report was unanimously adopted by the Association.

Historical Data for Class Reports

RICHARD PARKHURST '16

In obtaining information of historical importance for a class report accuracy is as essential as completeness, and although many men are reticent about their own activities valuable information may often be obtained from friends and relatives. Mr. Parkhurst developed a questionnaire for obtaining the war record of his class and met with marked success in getting this information. As well as details concerning the prior occupation and military activity such general questions were included as the battles in which the men had taken part, other Dartmouth men met in the service, and any general information that might be of interest to the class. He proposed the idea of establishing a central office for tabulating the data for all classes each year and suggested that this would not only allow the secretaries to get the latest material but would also aid in keeping the alumni files up to date, This idea was referred to the Executive Committee for consideration and action, such seemed desirable, at the next meeting.

War Roll Call

The most impressive period of the whole program was the War Roll Call of the Classes. The first class called was '46 and George G. Clark '99 presented his correspondence with the sole survivor, Doctor J. W. Barstow of New York City. Although it was not expected that the class of 1846 would show a record of active military service, the two letters received from Doctor Barstow are printed here as a personal message to his brother secretaries from Dartmouth's oldest living alumnus:

New York City, March 4, 1919.

"I have duly received and with many thanks your several notices of the annual meeting at Hanover on March 14-15 of "The Association of Class Secretaries" and I have already sent word to Mr. E. F. Clark at Hanover that I shall not be able to attend that meeting stating my reasons for non-attendance—viz : that my advanced age, 93 years, and my infirm health will not allow me to attempt the long journey to Hanover in the hostile month of March.

"More than this—l have (been for more than ten years past the sole survivor of my class of 1846 and within the year I have been informed by Mr. Keyes that I am also the oldest surviving alumnus of the College.

"You will therefore see, my dear sir, that my active participation in the meeting of March 14 is quite impossible nor is it possible under the conditions to find and send a 'substitute' in my place.

"In the 73 years of my busy life since graduation in 1846, nearly all my class associations have faded from view and any items which I might add to the records and history of the class secretaries association could hardly be of any importance or interest. But my own interest in the work of the association is great.

"I am, dear sir, with thanks for your many courtesies,

"Very cordially yours, (Signed) "J. W. Barstow."

"New York City, March 11, 1919.

"I cannot fail to send you a word of thanks for your kind and courteous letter of March seventh which was duly received and with grateful pleasure.

"Surely no apology or regret was needed because of your first letter for you wrote simply a business letter of notification, but I am glad that you can appreciate my somewhat forlorn attitude toward the Secretaries Association as at present organized, being established long since my day when a 'class Secretary' was not common or thought a necessity, and not every class was thus provided.

"As I linger on at 93, stans in vinopede', as it were and dealing only with memories, and the secretary of a class of precious old ghosts to whom (if I have not forgotten all my Virgil) 'MagnaManes ter voce vocavi!

"Thanks, dear sir, for my recognition as a member of your working body and thanks to yourself for your kind thought of me in your letter and also for your promise that a copy of the proceedings of the meeting shall reach me from your secretary.

"Believe me, dear sir, "Very cordially yours, (Signed) "J. W. Barstow."

The roll was then called, from '54 with response from Mr. Kimball, through the class of '20, now in its Junior year in college.

The earlier classes frequently responded with a thrilling record of their contribution to the country during the Civil War and the classes whose members are now middle-aged had much to report with regard to the activities of sons and sons-in-law and their part in winning the war.

The most impressive reports of course came from the younger classes. It is too early and also undesirable to make comparisons between the classes but the record of all those of recent date showed an astonishingly large percentage in active service for their country. The Roll of Honor of men who had given their lives in service showed more fully how these classes had given their all.

One notable feature of this War Roll Call occurred in the response from the class of 1910 by Gay Gleason. His report took the form largely of an appreciation of Sturgis Pishon, the Secretary of the class for the two years prior to his death. Sturgis Pishon exemplified all that is best that a class secretary may do. As the alumni body is the foundation for the College, so the class organization is the foundation for the alumni body, and the success of each class depends upon the secretary, who has one of the greatest honors and responsibilities that can be conferred upon a man.

Spuddy Pishon got out the first class report in 1915, which was called "Through Fire and Water." The name was chosen from the fact that at the five-year reunion of the class the costume chosen was that of firemen and the .old hose cart was requisitioned for parading through the town. In the spring of 1917 a venture in class journalism was made under the title "Tenner Topics."' This was a miniature newspaper and it was the intention to publish one number a month. Four appeared before Pishon left for France. The annual class report was also a triumph of friendly intimacy entitled "Just Amongst Ourselves" and this appeared just before the secretary went across. It showed unusual success in getting responses from delinquent classmates. Pishen was a Phi Beta Kappa man, prominent in dramatics and in varsity football. He is known to most people as a great football man, but to 1910 will be remembered most as its class secretary. He did more for Dartmouth in this way than in any of his other capacities, great as were his services in other ways, and yet he served only two years as a class secretary.

Following the War Roll Call some discussion developed as to the difference in the war record between actual military service and the civilian work of some of the older classes. In response to asuggestion that the matter of preserving accurate war records be referred to the Executive Committee, it was moved and carried that the Executive Committee confine its efforts to the records of men who were in actual service and leave the civil records to the individual secretaries.

The Class Secretary In War Time

HAROLD G. RUGG '06

In the final paper of the session Mr. Rugg described the activities of the wartime secretary as first of all those of a normal secretary but. with, a work intensified because of the war. It has been more essential than ever before that each secretary keep in touch with every man in his class. It is not only his duty to his class and college, but also to his classmates who have been especially eager to hear news of the College. Although some have been handicapped by the fact that their secretaries were in the service, most of the classes have done excellent Work.

The College too has wanted this news of her sons and it is frequently easier for the secretaries to get this information than for the College. The efficient wartime secretary has regarded it not only a duty but a pleasure to keep in touch with his classmates in service, writing as often as he could and getting others to do the same.

Examination of the class reports from '99 down showed that '99 and '00 were perhaps the most active, though '15 deserves special mention as each of its men in service, numerous as they were, received a package at Christmas time from the class secretary or his lieutenants.

All men who have been active in this war-time secretarial work have considered it a labor of love, and have felt more than repaid by the letters of gratitude received from men in the service.

On report of the Committee on Nominations the following officers were elected for the ensuing year:

President: William S. Dana '71

Vice President: Doctor David N. Blakely '89

Secretary: Eugene F. Clark '01

Treasurer: William R. Gray '04

Executive Committee: Lafayette R. Chamberlin '05 Arthur M. Strong '92 Laurence M. Symmes '08 Richard Parkhurst '16

Directing Editor, Alumni Magazine : Eugene F. Clark '01

Editor Alumni Magazine: Homer E. Keyes '00.

The meeting was then declared adjourned.