The Fifty-Year Address
FIFTY years seemed a much longer time ahead than it does now, looking back to that day in June when we of the Class of 1899 became Dartmouth alumni. Changes in the scenes of our happy days in Hanover have been many, a natural consequence in the growth and progress of the College. The only college buildings of that time now standing are Reed, Thornton and Wentworth Halls, Dartmouth Hall, since rebuilt and looks about the same, Rollins Chapel, since enlarged, Crosby, Bartlett, Wilson, which was then the College Library and Bissell Hall, then the gymnasium. The Campus is the same except that the senior fence was on the opposite side. There in leisure hours in senior year we carved on our canes topped with the Indian head initials and nicknames of our classmates. Here is mine, preserved through the years, a treasured relic of halcyon hours on the campus in the horse and buggy days. I believe we were the first class to adopt senior canes with the Indian head. Hanover Inn was then the Wheelock Hotel and much smaller. Attendance at Chapel service, every weekday morning and Sunday afternoon, was compulsory. Attendance at church of faith or choice was also compulsory. Monitors were present to check and report absentees.
Dartmouth was then truly a liberal arts college. Most of our learning was from books and some lectures. We were not much concerned with problems relating to life and ideologies in our own and other countries. There was no Great Issues course to guide our thinking and understanding. Serene was our outlook, in great contrast to the perplexities and confusions which confront us in this chaotic world of today. President Dickey, were he at the helm then, would have had no misgivings about intellectual integrity in the College. Nobody questioned it.
Most of the professors of our day are in heaven, we hope, e'en though some con- temporary undergraduates who flunked may have consigned some of them else- where. It is pleasant to meet Professor Gerould still walking in the streets of Hanover. The academic faculty numbered 34—not much more than one-tenth of the present number. Most members of the faculty were nicknamed. There was Clothespins Richardson, Master of Eng- lish, distinguished in appearance, cultured in speech and manner, easy on discipline, revered in fond memory by many classes. Our class elected him an honorary mem- ber. He attended our tenth reunion din- ner and at its conclusion the whole class marched with him to his home and, as he stood in his doorway at parting, we sang "Good night, Clothespins, we are going to leave you now." It was a memor- able scene and occasion. We wore our '99 reunion regalia. I think we were the first class to wear distinctive reunion uniforms. Ours, designed by a class member, con- sisted of a long tan coat with a dark green collar, cuffs and patch pocket and a tall stovepipe hat of the same material with a green band and rim—a Daniel Webster costume, we called it. We wore the same uniform and never any other at succeeding reunions until more recent years.
Others nicknamed were Tattledoo Moore of Latin, so dubbed because he ended recitations with a mumbled "ThatTdo"; Dude Colby; Stubby Wells of Sociology; Gabe Campbell of Psychology, whose opening sentence every year in his first lecture was "All mentality has its corporeal relations." How true it is! Type Hitchcock of Geology, elected by those interested more in sinecure than in science. Type had no discipline at all. It is recalled that he remarked to Bill Randall of '96 during class "Are you smoking, Mr. Randall?" "Yes, Professor," said Bill, "but I'm blowing the smoke out of the window." Others nicknamed were Bubby Bartlett, Tute Worthen and Frankie Sherman of Mathematics, Chuck Emerson of Physics, who was also the Dean. What a lot of tall excuse stories he listened to with tolerance and sympathy. Eric Foster of History, after "Eric the Red" because of his flaming red beard, Johnny Roe, Parley Ruggles, Auntie Jesup, Dieser Langley and Dutchy Hardy. The really great man of the College, and since, in all our minds and hearts was President Tucker, then in the early days of his incumbency. No man of our time inspired so much respect, combined with affection. His understanding of human nature gave much in wise counsel on personal problems. None could look into his searching but kindly eyes and not be deeply impressed with his profound sense of justice. His Sunday afternoon chapel talks, inspiring, cogent and uplifting, have never been forgotten. Some of his public addresses were almost prophetic in their harmony with intelligent thought and trends of today. In 1897 he said:
"I believe that we have much social and economic good in store for us through the assumption by the state of more business in the interest of the people at large but I doubt if the corporation will lose its place as the chief method with us of carrying out great enterprises, or of conducting great productive operations."
In 1898 he said: "I have had occasion elsewhere to remind some of you that we are rapidly becoming a world power I see no escape from this wider responsibility. We cannot afford to purchase our isolation at the price of courage or humanity."
And now some facts about this class of '99, the members of which, 54 years ago this coming September, first trod upon the Campus, took up their abode in its surrounding halls, plied their studies, played their games and began enduring comradeships. Most were from families of moderate means. Some who were, or at least felt that they were, really poor, walked up the hill from the Norwich Station to save coach fare. 40% were sons of business men, 25% of professional men, 15% of farmers and 20% of wage earners. 135 matriculated, the largest number in any class up to then in the history of the College. Defections for one reason or another over the four years were 38, accretions 8. 105 were graduated, up to that time the largest number to graduate in any Dartmouth class. Six graduated in later classes. Of the classes when we entered, '96 graduated fifty-five; '97 ninety-three and '9B seventy. Dartmouth was then indeed a small college. The total number of undergraduates in our freshman year was less than 400. Nearly all of them knew each other. Practically every one in '99 called each classmate by his first name or nickname. Ninety-nine of the class who graduated came from New England. Forty-one were from New Hampshire, twenty-six from Massachusetts, nineteen from Vermont, eleven from Maine, one from Connecticut, one from Rhode Island, two from New York, two from Illinois, one from Nebraska and one from Japan.
In occupations after graduating, 26 were school teachers, 14 were lawyers, 14 were physicians, 10 were civil engineers, 3 were journalists, 2 were farmers, 1 was a chemist, a clergyman, and 35 were in business, 56 have died, 49 are living and most of them are here today.
Several attained high eminence in their callings. Not to particularize much in time so limited, my classmates, I know, will agree that though the achievements of all deserve mention, it is fitting to name the following whose careers have been, outstanding: The late Raymond Pearl, of world-wide fame in the field of biological research, author of many scientific books; Charles H. Donahue, Justice of the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court; the late Nelson P. Brown, for 28 years a Justice of the Massachusetts Superior Court; Owen A. Hoban, District Attorney of Worcester County, Massachusetts, elected and reelected for three terms; Herbert A. Miller, sociologist, college professor, author and adviser to the late President Masaryk of Czechoslovakia; Gordon Hall Gerould, author, Princeton professor, former head of the English Department of that university; Warren Kendall, Chief of the Car Service Division of the Association of American Railroads, awarded the Certificate of Merit by the President of the United States and a Certificate of Appreciation by the United States Navy for outstanding fidelity and meritorious conduct in aid of the war effort in the last World War; the late Kanichi Asakawa, author, Professor of History at Yale; the late Ernest Silver for 35 years President of Teachers College at Plymouth, N. H.; Luther S. Oakes, builder of railroads, tunnels and dams in the Northwest and for 25 years head of one of the great construction companies of America; the late James P. Richardson for thirty years Parker Professor of Law and Political Science at Dartmouth; Louis P. Benezet, Superintendent of Schools in Wisconsin, Indiana, and for many years in Manchester, New Hampshire, Professor of Education at Dartmouth, President of the American Shakespeare Fellowship; Lucius E. Varney, distinguished member of the New York Bar, nationally recognized as an authority in patent litigation. Others have been acclaimed in their communities for work well done in their respective spheres of action.
The most predominating characteristic of the Class of 1899 is, and always has been, its solidarity. Every year without a break for 49 years, with never a change in the day of meeting, which has been on the first Saturday in March, it has held what is called the '99 Annual Roundup in the City of Boston with an average tendance of more than a third of its membership.
Class loyalty and devotion to the College have marked the progress of this class for more than half a century. Again to quote President Tucker who said in 1898:
"The historic college moves on from one generation to another into its illimitable future. Each generation waits to pour into its life the warmth and richness of its own and departing, bequeaths to it the earnings of its strength. The college lives because nourished and fed from the unfailing sources of personal devotion."
at To which we of '99, home today at Dartmouth, dear to our hearts, say Amen.
CLASS SECRETARY
GOLDEN ANNIVERSARY SPEAKER: Joseph W. Gannon '99, class secretary, giving the traditional 50- Year Address at the alumni meeting in the gym.
Mr. Gannon's address in behalf of theClass of 1899, fifty years out of Dartmouththis June, was delivered Saturday, June11, as one of the highlights of the Dartmouth Alumni Meeting held in AlumniGymnasium following the traditionalluncheon for alumni, facultyx seniors andtheir fathers. Following is the full textof the address:
