Fiftieth Anniversary of the Glass of 1886
THE MESSAGE PRESENTED BY PRESIDENT OF THE CLASSAT ALUMNI LUNCHEON ONE YEAR AGO
LATER THIS month, on Saturday,June 12, the class of 1887 will celebrate its Golden Anniversary as theprincipal guests and honor group at theAlumni Luncheon. Members of the classwill march from the campus to the gymthrough the split ranks of reunion classesand the graduating seniors. As part of thespeaking program a representative of theclass, Albert E. Hadlock, will speak for theFifty Year Class.
James E. Newton 'B6 spoke for the classof 'B6 last year and his remarks are reprinted here. They have also been inscribed in the "Golden Book" given to theCollege three years ago by the class of 1884for the purpose of preserving the addressesgiven by speakers for the honor class atthe Luncheon every year. The "GoldenBook" is kept in the Archives Room ofBaker Library where it may be seen byanyone interested. It will also be on display at the Alumni Luncheon.
REACHING THE fifty year pylon in the Dartmouth Fellowship, the Class of 'B6 passes in review.
In 1882 the college was a little, struggling New England institution having 427 students, a teaching staff of 37 and a plant valuation of about $250,000.
As its head was the Rev. Samuel Colcord Bartlett, a man of iron and orthodoxy, greatly admired for his keen, logical mind, a worthy link in the Wheelock succession.
We entered 86 in number, all but 19 from New England, unsophisticated and poor, but motivated by an intense desire for knowledge and attracted by the Dartmouth spirit.
A large majority of the 72 graduated received financial aid. The Class, realizing its indebtedness to the College, has contributed to its support and growth as follows;
From the Class, $41,000. From Richard Crawford Campbell, $100,000; and, as a memorial to his son, Richard Campbell Jr., $18,800. From Frank Byron Brown, $2,000; and as a memorial to his mother, $5,000. From John French, $2,000. A total of $168,800.
Someone has said that service is the coin with which one pays his debts to humanity. Of the 72 graduated in '86, ten attained the distinction of being listed in "Who's Who in America"; —Elmer Francis Botsford, lawyer; Arthur Horace Chase, State Librarian, N. H.; Arthur Fairbanks, art director and author; Edwin Brant Frost, astronomer; Thomas Jefferson Harris, physician; William Powers Kelly, educator; Leslie Perkins Snow, Justice Supreme Court, N. H.; William Henry Taylor, Justice Supreme Court, Vt.; Henry Winfred Thurston, social worker and author; and John Gilbert Thompson, educator and economist.
GIFT BY JUDGE SNOW
Judge Snow's gift of Dallin's Appeal tothe Great Spirit in the Tower Room well interprets the College motto, "Vox Clamantis in Deserto."
In 1916 it was my privilege to gain for '86 the honor of providing the College with a Stand of Colors and securing the adoption of the College Flag, since carried in all formal processions; and in 1926, credit for the gift of the Newton '86 Cabin and a tract of land for the D. O. C. chain.
We participated in the beginnings of organized sport and inter-collegiate football. Five of our Class were letter men. The sting of that Yale game in 1884 remained until Dartmouth's victory in 1935.
The Class and College owe much to the Frost family—to Carlton Pennington Frost, Dartmouth 1852, connected with the Medical School from 1868 to 1894; and his two sons, Class of '86, Gilman DuBois Frost, who has served the College and the Medical School since 1887, and Edwin Brant Frost, who devoted his life to astronomy, serving in order the following institutions;—Dartmouth College, Potsdam (Germany) Astrophysical Observatory, and the University of Chicago (1887-1935). The first X-ray picture of a broken bone taken in America was made by Professor Edwin assisted by Dr. Gilman in the Reed Hall Laboratory, January 20, 1896.
Our Class was fortunate in having among its members an ideal character. Such was Edwin Brant Frost, nature lover and blind astronomer. The eyes are the windows of the soul, but his were barred. Yet no one saw more clearly the Infinite in the finite in everything from flowers to star dust.
PART IN CHICAGO FAIR
Nor did he overlook the needs of men. When power was sought from some remote source to open the Century of Progress in 1933, he "hitched his wagon to a star" and harnessed Arcturus for the task. He once declared, in substance;— "My soul looks out through prison bars, And sees Infinity In earth and man and speaking stars, In everything I see."
He was a shining example of the harmony of science and religion. We believe in the spiritual values of education. We seek knowledge, culture and wisdom. We thank God for the true and the good, for beauty and for the power to discover and appreciate it in nature and in art. We believe, also, in seeking guidance from the past experience of the race as well as from advancing science.
FINE COLLEGE LEADERSHIP
John Gilbert Thompson of '86 has been a leader in establishing the very important truth that every great war is followed by about three decades of generally declining business with two long periods of severe depression. The pattern after each war is practically the same. Based upon this fact, in May, 1926, in a paper before the American Management Association, and later, in 1928 and 1929, before the American Statistical Association, he forecast the coming decline in 1929. The forecast was published repeatedly in 1928 and early 1929 in "Looking Ahead." If another World war comes we know what the post-war years will bring. With them will come such hard times that Anarchy will probably rule the world.
Under the leadership of William Jewett Tucker and Ernest Martin Hopkins, fearless pioneers in the realm of untrodden educational paths, Dartmouth College has today taken its place among the foremost institutions of the country, having a total of 2,460 students, a teaching staff of 293, and a plant valuation of over $9,600,000.
AN OPPORTUNITY FOR SERVICE
You, men of 1936, 490 strong, "Children of the Depression" as we were in 1886, are going forth to serve a recovering world, sophisticated and apparently flaunting the virtues of your fathers, but fired and united by the Dartmouth spirit.
"Times change and men change with them," said Virgil two thousand years ago. To you—here is our challenge—bring about in men a change for the better and the times will change with them. We pass to you the torch lighted by Christ to help men see that "Peace on Earth—Good Will to Men" must prevail or civilization be lost.
Let your torch bearer make sure that the light is not extinguished and that he passes it without error, for it is a race to save civilization.
Here is opportunity for service. Many obstacles block the way. "The pessimist sees an obstacle in every opportunity—the optimist finds an opportunity in every obstacle."
