June Ceremony Commemorates Genesis of Petroleum Industry
Commemorating the 100th anniversary of the first scientific examination of crude oil, which was conducted by Dartmouth men in Crosby Hall in 1853, college officials, alumni and leaders in the nation's petroleum industry met in Hanover on June 26 and 27 to dedicate a memorial tablet, and to hear tributes to Dartmouth's part in the industry's development.
Before an audience of several hundred, President Dickey made the opening address at the late-afternoon exercises at Crosby Hall, where Dr. Dixi Crosby conducted his first tests more than a century ago. President Dickey introduced the main speaker, Dr. Paul H. Giddens, president of Hamline University, St. Paul, Minn., a foremost authority on the early history and development of oil in this country. Dr. Giddens told how Dr. Francis B. Brewer, a Dartmouth graduate of 1843, brought a sample of Pennsylvania crude oil from Oil Creek to Dr. Dixi Crosby, a teacher in the Dartmouth Medical School. With Prof. Oliver P. Hubbard, Dr. Crosby examined the substance and together they pronounced it "valuable indeed." When later in that eventful year of 1853, George H. Bissell, Dartmouth 1845, was shown the sample, he realized the commercial possibilities of petroleum and resolved to establish an oil company. This led directly to the founding of the world's first petroleum company and the drilling of the Drake Well in Titusville in 1859.
As Dr. Giddens pointed out to his audience, had these initial steps not been taken at Dartmouth, the beginnings of what is today one of the greatest industries in the world might have been long and wastefully delayed.
"It is most fitting," he said, "that we should assemble here ... to unveil this memorial tablet in honor of the Dartmouth men who recognized the value of petroleum and its potentialities, organized the first petroleum company, arranged for the first scientific analysis of petroleum, and conceived the idea of drilling for oil, which led to the launching of a new American industry the petroleum industry."
Following the exercises at Crosby Hall, a reception by President and Mrs. Dickey at their home preceded a banquet held at the Dartmouth Outing Club. Introduced by President Dickey, Colonel J. Frank Drake '02, chairman of the executive committee of Gulf Oil Corporation, Pittsburgh, acted as Toastmaster. New Hampshire's Governor Hugh Gregg spoke briefly, as did Douglas McKay, Secretary of the Interior, who stressed the unlikelihood of the nation's oil supplies running low.
The main speaker of the evening was Dr. Robert E. Wilson, chairman of the board of the Standard Oil Company of Indiana, whose speech was entitled, "A Century of Progress in Basic Petroleum Research." Dr. Wilson said in part, "With most government research controlled by the Department of Defense, which seems not to understand the great need for basic work, industry has an increased responsibility."
He pointed out that while the Russians are turning out more technical graduates than we are, this does not mean that progress will be an inevitable result of their programs; since ideas are the factors essential to development, and these do not arise under pressure. Dr. Wilson, a former professor at Massachusetts Institute of Technology, emphasized the importance of a free exchange of information between professors and men from industry. In conclusion he said, "As we begin the next hundred years, we should take as our goal not merely the finding of more oil or better processes or even improved technology. Instead, we must seek ever-improved ways of catalyzing the new ideas the world needs if our way of life is to continue, and if we are to make as much progress in the next hundred years as we have in the past."
Following a luncheon at the Dartmouth Outing Club on Saturday, informal activities concluded the centennial program.
The representatives of the American Petroleum Institute at the convocation included many leaders of the petroleum industry from throughout the country. Executives from Texas, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Minnesota, Illinois, 'West Virginia, Arkansas, Ohio, New York, Canada and Washington, D. C., were among the fifty men who attended the informal but impressive ceremonies.
Nineteen alumni were in the group invited to be present. They included A. Dixi Crosby '10, great-great-nephew of Dr. Crosby; Paul S. Allen '26, Standard Oil of New Jersey; Erastus B. Badger '08, E. B. Badger & Sons, Boston; Albert Bradley '15, New York, executive vice president of General Motors Corp.; Courtney C. Brown '26, Standard Oil of New Jersey; J. Frank Drake '02, chairman of the executive committee, Gulf Oil Corp.; John L. Ferguson '15, Deep Rock Oil Corp., Tulsa; Charles E. Gately '12, Petroleum Administration for Defense, New York; Horace G. Hedges '11, Cedar Rapids, Iowa; Harvey P. Hood '18, Boston, College Trustee; Serge Jurenev T'25, Continental Oil Cos., Houston; Benjamin C. Knox '08, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil; James D. Landauer '23, New York and San Antonio, Texas; H. Richardson Lane '07, Boston; Charles F. McGoughran '20, Sinclair Refining Cos.; H. W. Newell '20, New York; Kent H. Smith '15, Lubrizol Corp., Cleveland; Stanton K. Smith '25, Smith Oil and Refining Cos., Rockford, Ill.; and Charles J. Zimmerman '23, Hartford, Conn., College Trustee.
Freshman Awards
The Dartmouth Plaque, awarded annually to the school whose delegation of three or more men in the freshmen class achieves the highest scholastic average for the first year, was won by Erasmus Hall High School, Brooklyn, N. Y., for 1952-53. The four freshmen from the winning school had a combined average of 4.6, under the new point system that makes 5.0 an all-A average.
Another Class of 1956 award announced during the summer was the William S. Churchill Prize, given to Belden H. Daniels '56 of Camp Hill, Pa., who in the judgment of the Dean of Freshmen "possesses to the greatest degree the qualifications of manliness, uprightness, fairness and respect for duty."
Other schools in the top ten in the Dartmouth Plaque competition were Highland Park (Ill.) High School, 3.8; South High School, Denver, 3.5; Great Neck (N. Y.) High School, 3.1; New Trier High School, Winnetka, Ill., 3.0; Phillips Academy, Andover, Mass., 2.9; Scarsdale (N. Y.) High School, 2.9; Pembroke Country Day School, Kansas City, Mo., 2.9; Plainfield (N. J.) High School, 2.9; The Hill School, Pottstown, Pa., 2.9.
N. E. College Fund
The New England Colleges Fund, a cooperative undertaking in which Dartmouth has joined 22 other liberal arts colleges to raise gifts from business and industry, has named five Dartmouth men to serve on its Business and Industry Advisory Committee. They are President Emeritus Ernest Martin Hopkins '01, chairman of the board of the National Life Insurance Cos., Montpelier, Vt.; Sigurd S. Larmon '14, president of Young and Rubicam, New York; Edward S. French '06, chairman of the board of the Boston and Maine Railroad; Lloyd D. Brace '25, president of the First National Bank of Boston; and Laurence F. Whittemore '48h, president of the Brown Company, Berlin, N. H.
The New England Colleges Fund has established a central office in Boston and has named Frank A. Tredinnick Jr., graduate of Tufts, as assistant executive director.
DISTINGUISHED PARTICIPANTS in Dartmouth's centennial observance of the birth of the petreleum industry included (l to r) J. Frank Drake '02 chairman of the executive committee, Gulf Oil Corp., Robert E. Wilson, board chapman of Standard Oil of Indiana; Douglas McKay Secretary of the Interior; President Dickey; and Dr. Paul H. Giddens, president of Hamline University, who delivered the dedication address at Crosby Hall.
CROSBY HALL The first scientific examination of crude oil which led to the beginning of the world's petroleum industry was conducted in this building then the home of Dr. Dixi Crosby life-long teacher in the Dartmouth Medical School. In 1953 Francis B. Brewer Class of 1643 Brought a sample of Pennsylvania rock oil to Dartmouth for analysis by Dr. Crosby and Oliver P. Hubbard professor of chemistry Their report of its useful and potentially valuable properties led to the purchasse by George H. Bissell Class of 1845 and Jonathan G. Eveleth. aided by Albert H. Crosby Class of 1848. of oil producing land in western Pennsylvania. the Incorporation in 1854 of the first petroleum company in the world. and drilling of the Drake Well at Titusville in 1859. THIS MEMORIAL ERECTED JUNE 26. 1953 ON THE 100TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE 1853 FIONEERING EFFORTS OF THIS 1953 DARTMOUTH ALUMNI AND FACULTY GROUP
