The Golden Reunion of 1902

THE great days have come and gone when we were the honored guests of the College -our fiftieth anniversary of graduation. Present were 44 classmates and 28 wives. For some of us -- Leland Griggs and me (Tom Barnes) the most thrilling event of the weekend was the commencement exercises on Sunday morning at the Bema when we watched young David Griggs, son of Leland, and Tom Barnes Clapp, my grandson, receive their bachelor degrees. The climax of that event for the whole class came when our beloved Frank"Ducky" Drake came forward to receive his honorary degree of LL.D. from the College. Bless him! He is as modest in his new honor as he has ever been when business honors were heaped upon him. How the heck can he retain that unlined face with all the burdens and cares that have come through the years?

You unfortunates who didn't come to our greatest reunion can't even guess at the happiness that came to us who were present. Our class through the years has grown in closeness of unity and in our love for each other. I never had realized what a fine bunch of men were sent out by the College in 1902; all seemed full of the spirit of loyalty to the College and devoted to the service of their fellow men.

We grieved that our dear Phil Thompson felt that he must resign from the secretaryship and no one grieves more than the present writer that his mantle did not fall on more worthy shoulders. Very quietly and without ostentation Phil has done a magnificent job.

CLASS SECRETARY

And now, as Tiny Tim said, "God bless us, every one."

To those who could not attend the 50-year reunion, as did secretary-elect Tom Barnes, the following items may be of interest:

The imposing silver attendance cup for the class having the highest percentage was presented to the 1902 class president, Percy O.Dorr, by the Secretary of the College, Sidney C. Hayward, at the Saturday noon meeting of the General Alumni Association before the largest audience estimated at 2500 ever present on such an occasion. Wives as well as alumni attended for the first time in the history of the Association.

Speeches at the meeting were of unusual interest. The chairman, Alumni President Charles L. Hardy '27, argued for a sane conservatism in the American economy; Secretary of the College Sidney C. Hayward '26 reported on the College and the alumni; and Robert D. Brace '52 spoke for the graduating class. On behalf of the 50-year class, Prof. E. BradleeWatson delivered the traditional "Address to the Alumni" which appears elsewhere in this issue as it will be inscribed in "The Golden Book." Concluding the meeting, President John Sloan Dickey memorably redefined "The Dartmouth Spirit."

On Friday evening, following the President's reception, the 50-year classmates and wives assembled in their pleasant 1902 Room of Baker to view an exceptionally large and attractive collection of class pictures and other memorabilia, including a wide assortment of publications by members of the class. These exhibits had been assembled and displayed by Prof. Roy W. Hatch of the Montlair (N. J.) State Teachers College and by Moses B. Perkins, master of the Clark School in Hanover. Many of the items submitted by classmates for this display have been donated to the College Archives, the director of which, Miss Hazel E. Joslyn, and her assistant, Miss Cossingham, helped immeasurably to make this exhibition the most extensive ever offered by a reunion class. Specially featured was a photostat copy of the "diploma" issued to their victims by the notorious hazers of '99 Hoskins and Johnston; also large memorabilia books donated by Percy Dorr, Frank C. Moore, and JamesHuntington, containing every conceivable item of interest from the fall of 1898 to the 1902 commencement.

A copy of classmate William Carroll Hill's Dartmouth Traditions, published by him as an undergraduate, was presented to each Classmate at the reunion as a gift from his widow, Mrs. Marguerite Hill, who, though absent, had inscribed each volume. It is a rare collection of incidents and personages from Dartmouth's past, revived with scholarly accuracy.

Burr Wkitcher presented to the class archives a copy of a pleasing color sketch he had done in college of the observatory hill and tower as seen at sunset.

The evening's entertainment, directed by class agent Roy Hatch, began with apostrophes to the five favorite professors whose portraits hang on the walls of the 1902 Room. All but one of the paintings had been given by the class. Hermoti Farwell spoke of Dean Craven Laycock; George Elderkin, of Professor Charles Darwin Adams. These two portraits were done from life by one of America's most noted portrait painters, Sidney E. Dickinson. Julius Arthur Brown spoke o£ Professor Edwin Julius Bartlett; Arthur Ruggles, of Dean Charles Franklin ("Chuck") Emerson; and Roy Hatch, with appropriate poetic allusions, of the immortal "Clothespins," Professor Charles Francis Richardson.

Roy Hatch then carried the gathering back to the 1902 campus through carefully selected lantern illustrations of that period of life, fashions, customs, and old-time capers that kept his hearers in gales of laughter during as pleasant an hour as the classmates could remember.

At the informal class dinner, Saturday evening, President Emeritus Ernest Martin Hopkins, President John Sloan Dickey, and Prof. Gordon Ferrie Hull, honorary member of the class, were the guest speakers. President Percy O. Dorr was master of ceremonies. In the course of the evening he was presented with a framed color print of Dartmouth Hall, a surprise gift in recognition of his faithful service in office for a record period of fifty years.

Others of the class who spoke were JudgeDavis B. Keniston regarding a new plan for Dartmouth fund raising; retiring secretary Philip p. Thompson, who, with many light touches of humor, added to the class store of anecdotes and sentiment; and J. Frank("Ducky") Drake told entertainingly of his recent visit to Europe and the Near East, and cited illuminating instances of menacing world problems of which Americans are as vet only vaguely aware.

The reunion ended restfully Sunday

afternoon, when about sixty members of the party were guests of classmate Charlie Dudley and Mrs. Dudley at their secluded lakeside Camp Interlaken near the village of Grantham. Good weather, good fellowship, an appetizing collation, and the matchless serenity of woodland and water gave this farewell gathering an idyllic charm long to be remembered. More anecdotes and happy memories were exchanged, and no one was heard to denythat the 50-year had been the most successful and enjoyable in the long series of 1902 reunions.

All the plans for it had been carried out without change or mishap, as drawn up by a hard-working committee: Howard M. Harris (who because of illness in his family resigned and was replaced by Moses B. Perkins), RoyW. Hatch, and E. Bradlee Watson, chairman. From the start they had unfailing and generous cooperation from President Percy Dorr, Secretary Philip Thompson, and loyal classmates J. Frank Drake and George L. Dow in their efforts to make the reunion a complete success. Mrs. George L. Dow, assisted by Mrs. Philip Thompson, efficiently took charge of special arrangements for the ladies in attendance, including those for the wives' dinner Saturday evening.

Loyalty to the class was strikingly displayed by the large number of the classmates who braved the noonday heat to march in the commencement procession more than usual with fifty-year classes. A touching instance was that of Burr Royce Whitcher, who despite serious lameness, managed, with the help of fellow marchers, to reach the platform so that he might witness at close range the conferring of the honorary degree upon his distinguished classmate, J. Frank Drake.

Those who attended the reunion were: Herman K. C. deAnguera and Mrs. deAnguera, Thomas L. Barnes and Mrs. Barnes with their daughter Mrs. Clapp and grandson Tom Clapp, Karl S. Brackett and Mrs. Brackets Herbert W. Briggs, Julius Arthur Brown and his daughter Mrs. Julia-Elizabeth Jessup, Frank P. Bunker and Mrs. Bunker, Arthur H. Chivers and Mrs. Chivers, Robert B. Clark, Robert C. Clark and Mrs. Clark, Daniel P. Cushing and grandson Frederick, Robert Cushman and Mrs. Cushman, Albert H. Dalrymple and Mrs. Dalrymple, Carroll W. Davis and Mrs. Davis with their son Murton and wife, Percy O. Dorr and Mrs. Dorr, George L. Dow and Mrs. Dow, J. Frank Drake and Mrs. Drake, Charles H. Dudley and Mrs. Dudley with their son Charles and wife, Mrs. Pearl P. Edson, George W. Elderkin, Robert F. Estabrook and Mrs. Estabrook, Leslie B. Farr and Mrs. Farr, Hermon W. Farwell and Mrs. Farwell, Amos H. Fitzgerald, Edward J. Fletcher and Mrs. Fletcher, Leland Griggs and his son Dave, Howard M. Harris, Roy W. Hatch, Clarence K. Hosford, William Howard and Mrs. Howard, James L. Huntington, Arba J. Irvin, Davis B. Keniston and Mrs. Keniston, Barnard C. Luce, Frank C. Moore afid Mrs. Moore, James A. Munroe and Mrs. Munroe, Mrs. William H. Murray, Harold F. Parker, Moses B. Perkins and Mrs. Perkins, Harold E. Plumer and Mrs. Plumer, Francis B. Riley and Mrs. Riley, Arthur H. Ruggles, Harvey B. Sanborn with his son Norman and wife, Benjamin S. Stevens, Chester A. Studwell, Philip P. Thompson and Mrs. Thompson, Ernest B. Watson with his son Ernest, Jr. and wife, Burr Royce Whitcher and Mrs. Whitcher.

THE CLASS OF 1902 CELEBRATED ITS GOLDEN REUNION WITH A 64% ATTENDANCE, A RECORD WHICH WON THE CUP

50-YEAR GRADUATE HONORED: J. Frank Drake '02, chairman of the board of Gulf Oil Corp., who received the honorary LL.D. degree at Dartmouth's 183rd Commencement, shown with President Dickey.