Virginia Alumni Meet
If Andy Gustafson, loyal resident of Virginia Beach, had happened to make any sort of prediction concerning the beauties of Nature that awaited President Hopkins at the end of the trip that took Dartmouth's head to Williamsburg, Virginia, early last March, it is a certainty that shortly thereafter the college's new assistant football coach must have lost all standing as a prophet. For, naturally, from a good Virginian, there must have been soothsayings as to blue skies, and warm sunshine, and balmy airs, and lovely Spring flowers. Alack and alas, that it might have been so!
All of which means that for the first meeting of Dartmouth men ever held in Virginia, staged at the home of C. G. Milham '06, in Williamsburg, on March 10, the Old Dominion was on its very worst behavior. A blinding snow, thick and wet, failed to let up at all from daylight to dark. And yet, in the face of such conditions, the get-together that had been so long projected served admirably in demonstrating the hold that the Old College has on her sons and the affection in which President Hopkins is held. More than a score of alumni and fathers of boys who are now undergraduates turned out for the meeting, regardless of conditions—and they traveled an average of more than fifty-five miles each in order to be present!
The sessions that brought this loyal group together began in the early afternoon with an hour of "re-uning" at the Milham home. Following this, and ignoring the deep snow and slush underfoot, the group set out on a tour that took them through the chief buildings of the Williamsburg Restoration. This is the project that has occupied much of the attention of John D. Rockefeller Jr., for the last six or seven years and in which Nelson Rockefeller '30, has taken an active interest since his graduation. Its aim has been to restore and rebuild Williamsburg as it was during the years when it was the capital of Colonial Virginia.
The buildings seen by the alumni and President Hopkins included the Capitol, Raleigh Tavern, the Court House, and the Palace of the Royal Governors. All of these, excepting the Court house which has been carefully restored, are authentic reproductions of the structures that were built early in the 18th Century and in which so much of the early history of the United States had its origin.
After a hurried examination of the archaeological collection that is housed in the Courthouse—the building being attributed to the design of Sir Christopher Wren and the collection embracing a cross-section of the more than eighty tons of material unearthed in excavating old foundationsand after glimpsing something of the magnificent state in which the Royal Governors of Virginia lived in their amazing Palace, the members of the Dartmouth party returned to their starting point and were guests of Mrs. Milham at dinner.
During the dinner, plans were discussed for the organization of an alumni association in Virginia. Enthusiasm for it was unanimous and Milham '06, was named a committee of one with full power to take the necessary steps toward permanent organization.
The climax of the day came with an address by President Hopkins outlining the processes that had resulted in the Dartmouth College of today and relating, as only the President can, the thoughts and problems that are being considered concerning its future. It is necessary only to state that Dr. Hopkins was in his finest form to cause those who know what that means to envy the Virginians the rare privilege in having had him with them.
Those present included Frederick B. Ballou '15, Wendell R. Barney '29, Thomas C. Colt Jr. '26, Paul S. Gibson '15, Herbert D. Hinman '07, Charles H. R. Howe '01, Francis H. Horn '30, Roger D. Johnson '25, C. G. Milham '06, Rowland M. Myers '28, Morgan B. Reynolds '33, Fred M. Richie '16, Eliot F. Stoughton '19, Dr. Douglas VanderHoof '01, John C. Ward 2nd '33, Charles F. Weston '18, Harlan F. Wood '06, David H. Goodman (Father of Robert C. '34), William R. Glidden (Robert T. '35), Albert H. Ochsner (Albert J. '35 and Seymour F. '37), Montgomery A. Stuart (William W. '37), and Dick Goodman and L. U. Noland Jr., both of whom have their eyes looking toward Dartmouth. Horn and Ward journeyed from Charlottesville; Myers from Lexington; and Stoughton from Roanoke—about 130 to 200 miles for each of these men.
Also present at the meeting was the Rev. Dr. W. A. R. Goodwin, rector of Bruton Parish Church, who was the father of the idea of the Williamsburg Restoration. On his invitation, appealingly voiced, President Hopkins addressed the congregation of Bruton Church on Sunday morning, March 11. Those present included many of the faculty of the College of William and Mary.
