JOHN KING LORD

It is given to few men to become so completely identified with a cause or an institution that even during their lifetime they embody the spirit of the place and become a tradition. Such a man was John K. Lord to many generations of Dartmouth students, and affectionately known by them as "Johnnie K." Men now in middle life met a personality in the class room already familiar to them because Professor Lord had also been the instructor of their fathers. And returning year after year they have never failed to renew the early associations.

When Professor Lord's ancestry and background are recalled it is not surprising that he became so intimate a part of Dartmouth's life. His father was the oldest son of President Nathan Lord, one of eight brothers, all of whom were graduates of Dartmouth College. It was inevitable that from earliest days the child's thoughts and interests should be directed towards Hanover. His father, who was a clergyman in Cincinnati, died of cholera when his youngest child was an infant doubtless sacrificing himself in his labors for the community. The widowed mother then brought the youngest children to her own father's home, that of a country doctor in Hardwick, Ve.rmont. It was here that Professor Lord spent his childhood learning the lessons of industry and frugality in a God-fearing New England home.

When the time for entering college arrived in 1864 it was obvious that he must go to Dartmouth. President Lord was still in office and seven Dartmouth uncles were carrying its. influence through the family. Much of Professor Lord's college course was spent in the President's home and the respect and affe,ction inspired by this association are plainly indicated in later years. Following graduation and one year of teaching at Appleton Academy in New Ipswich, New Hampshire, Professor Lord returned to Dartmouth as a member of its faculty in 1869 and for fifty-seven years thereafter was a continuous and vital force in its affairs.

To most Dartmouth men Professor Lord will be reme.mbered as the teacher. In the earlier days when the spirit of classicism ruled the college world most of the students sat in his classroom. The, memory is a vivid one—of apprehension if the student were unprepared, for no bluffing could avail in these classes—of satisfaction and the feeling of accomplishment when real effort had been made. There were no dull moments in these Latin classes and the rapid fire of questions demanded a constant alertness. Nor was there ever question in the minds of the students as to the knowledge or scholarship of their instructor. This was evident from the first day in the classroom and was further emphasized by the scholarly editions of Cicero's Laelius and several of the books of Livy as well as the Atlas of the Geography and History of the Ancient World, the translation of Hertzberg's "Geschichte der Romer im Alterthum" and numerous articles in encyclopaedias and elsewhere. It was characteristic of the man, too, that in the early eighties, in times when scholarship was not sought as actively as later, Professor Lord spent a year of study in Italy and Germany taking his family with him for the year abroad. The ability and accuracy of the teacher could not help imparting itself in some degree to the pupil.

In the Parkhurst Administration Building hangs a portrait of Professor Lord, a masterpiece from the brush of Joseph DeCamp. It is fittingly titled "John K. Lord, Teacher" and in a marvellous manner the artist has caught the spirit of the man at the desk as seen from the student's benches.

Throughout his life, Professor Lord's influence was constantly felt at the. center of Dartmouth affairs. His colleagues on the faculty recall his clear and forceful but aways gracious arguments in faculty meetings. For sixteen years he was acting president of this body and his long experience gave his opinions much authority. He also served for many years as a member of the Administration Committee of the faculty, in effect an executive body controlling the discipline of the College.

In the, troubled days between the administrations of President Bartlett and President Tucker, Professor Lord served ably and loyally as the acting president of the College and on the election of President Tucker he supported the new administration with equal generosity and loyalty.

When after forty-seven years of continuous teaching service he retired from active work it was a natural and inevitable selection that the trustees should ask him to serve on the governing board of the College. The, year after his retirement from teaching in 1916 he was elected a life trustee, and perhaps his last official act was the preparation of the minutes of the June meeting of the Board of Trustees of which he served as clerk and valued counsellor.

Always it is desirable to have a man on the Board of Trustees intimately acquainted with the college life and familiar with the background from which various questions of local policy emerge to be passed upon by the Board. Such a man, for maximum usefulness, needs to be essentially one capable of understanding the significance of intangible things while at the same time forming opinion and taking action on the basis of broad general principles. Such a man likewise needs to be understanding of and sympathetic with the policies of the, administrative head of the College and needs to be one in turn whose judgment the President and Faculty can respect, else the great good available in his membership on the Board will be lost and, instead, great injury may accrue.

It would be difficult to imagine a man more completely fulfilling these specifications than was Professor Lord. It has been the frequent testimony of the President and members of the Board that his intimate knowledge of situations in the past which have created precedent, his kee,nness of perception in regard to the present changing conditions in the educational world and his unflinching courage and progressive spirit have rendered him an invaluable associate to members of the Board and have constituted him a trustee of irreplaceable value for times like these.

But perhaps Professor Lord will be best remembered by future Dartmouth men as the historian of the College. His brotherin-law, Frederick Chase, the treasurer of the College, had nearly completed the first volume of the history of the College and town on his death in 1890. The task of completing and editing this volume devolved upon Professor Lord, and in 1913 he completed the second volume carrying the history of the College through the administration of President Tucker. Professor Lord's knowledge of the College and town was accurate and thorough and his assistance was constantly sought on matters pertaining to the earlycollegedays. At the time of his death he had nearly completed the preparation of a volume on the history of the town of Hanover.

Active in the life of the College Professor Lord was equally so in the life of his class. On the death of its-long-time secretary, Professor C. F. Emerson, he assumed the, duties of this office and carried it oh without a break. At the annual meetings of the Secretaries Association in Hanover he was constant in attendance and helpful and influential in the discussions. He will be greatly missed by his fellow secretaries.

Professor Lord's interest in the life of the community was all-e,mbracing. He joined the church during his sophomore year in college and supported it actively throughout his life—at home by his labors in its various activities and after leaving Hanover retaining his membership and keen interest.

His work for the village schools was notable and a labor of love. Be.fore the days of superintendents and trained principals he served on the school board and took a large part in raising the standards of instruction. His knowledge of the curriculum and the problems of transition from school to college were reflected in the improved work of the schools. Apart from active service on the school board his continued interest in community affairs was evidenced by his service for a period as moderator of the village precinct. His interests and influence extended also outside of Hanover in the field of secondary education as he served for a number of years on the board of trustees of Brewster Free Academy at Wolfeboro, Ne.w Hampshire.

As in the case of the church and the schools the hospital claimed Professor Lord's sympathy and labors. The Mary Hitchcock Memorial Hospital serves not only the needs of the town and college but also of a wide surrounding territory. Its facilities and resources are always in great demand and sometimes they are strained almost to the. breaking-point. Nowhere to more advantage than here, as chairman of the hospital board of truste.es, did Pro- fessor Lord show his ability as an organizer and an executive, and as in all his public service it was efifort gladly given. He will also be remembered as the historian of the first twenty-five years of the Hospital.

From his childhood days in Vermont Professor Lord retained an intense love of the out-cloors. In earlier days a golfer and in later years driving in his car over the countryside he loved so much, but from early life until his last day he loved above all to fish the mountain stre.ams. He would not have had it otherwise than that his last afternoon should have been spent on one of the. beautiful brooks among the Sandwich mountains to return at the close of the day to the familiar and well-loved spot where he had lived for so many summers.

Mention, even if all too brief, must be made of Professor Lord's friendly solicitude in the welfare of others. On the death of President Nathan Lord his two daughters, Mrs. Palmer and Mrs. Moody, were left in the old home facing the Campus. Professor Lord felt a special responsibility for their welfare and was a constant visitor to their house to give such assistance as he could. In a similar way, and perhaps assuming even more responsibility, he took the place of a fosterfather to the family of his brother-in-law Frederick Chase ,on the latter's death in 1890. Many besides those of the more immediate family have cause to remember his friendly sympathy during college days or later. The writer of these lines remembers with gratitude the friendliness with which he as a homesick freshman was welcomed into Professor Lord's home for his first Sunday dinner in Hanover.

Members of the class of 1901 will long remember Professor Lord's appearance before them at the recent Commencement. It was his last public appearance and in accepting for the trustees the painting of President Hopkins he spoke with the ease and graciousness that always characterized him. He was particularly close to 1901, in part from the student days in the classroom, but even more because one of the best-liked and most promising member of the class, who was also one of the first to leave its ranks, had married his only daughter.

Professor Lord is survived by Mrs. .Lord and his four children, John King, Jr. '95, a lawyer in St. Louis, Frederick Pomeroy '9B, Professor of Anatomy in the Dartmouth Medical School, Mrs. Laura Lord Scales, Warden of Smith College, and Arthur Hardy 'lO associated with Ginn & Company, in Boston.

It was characteristic of Professor Lord that he was active for the College up to the very end. His own contribution to Dartmouth was a life of devotion to its best interests and a distinguished record of accomplishment in its affjairs. He made himself a part of the College that he loved. His memory will linger in the place he served so well and in the hearts of its graduates.

John King Lord '68

At the head of Franconia Notch