A Magazine for Alumni Began Fifty Years Ago

FIFTY years ago, in the fall of 1905, The Dartmouth Bi-Monthly made its bow as the first magazine published for the alumni of Dartmouth College. Under the editorship of Ernest Martin Hopkins '01, who that year became Secretary of the College, The Bi-Monthly continued for three years and then was transformed into the DARTMOUTH ALUMNI MAGAZINE, which this year is publishing Volume 48 and soon will have a 50th anniversary of its own.

The establishment of a Dartmouth alumni magazine was one of the very first proposals made at the initial meeting of the Dartmouth Secretaries Association, held in Hanover on January 21, 1905. This venerable organization, which also has 1955 for its golden anniversary year, was the model - sometimes in structure and always in loyal and effective service - for the numerous alumni organizations that now work for the welfare of the College.

The 1905 meeting of class and club secretaries was held in response to a call by President Tucker, who expressed the wish of the administration to make the fullest use of class and alumni organizations, as well as the desire to inform Dartmouth men everywhere of the policies and needs of the College and to open the channels through which the alumni could bring outside sentiment home to the College.

"The strength of the College lies so largely in the loyalty of its alumni," states the printed report of the first meeting, "that it has become one of the more important duties of the administration to open, to the widest extent, the lines of communication to and from the graduates. This can best be done through the classes and the alumni bodies. The work of the alumni associations is invaluable, but it can never remove the necessity of class organizations, for it is only through the latter that the whole constituency of the College can be reached. This form of organization has been so loose among Dartmouth alumni, in some cases lapsing altogether and in others having little utility, that it has become imperative that it be strengthened in every possible way."

The meeting of January si, 1905, presided over by President Tucker with the assistance of Mr. Hopkins, launched the systematic development of alumni strength which has been an immeasurable asset in Dartmouth's growth ever since.

The need of an alumni publication was recognized at the outset, and President Tucker gave strong backing to the idea. At the meeting unanimous approval was given to the resolution "that it is the sentiment of this meeting that the time has come when there is a call for an alumni publication and that an outline of the nature of such publication be submitted to the secretaries of the classes by the Secretary to the President [Mr. Hopkins]."

This vote was preceded by a discussion as to just what sort of magazine the new alumni publication ought to be. The Rev. Silvanus Hayward, 1853, proposed a literary monthly to be written by members of the faculty, but doubt was expressed that such a magazine could be made self-supporting. Most secretaries present felt that the main job of the publication was to provide the alumni with the news they were anxious to have about all College activities and policies. The nature of the magazine was finally left in the hands of Mr. Hopkins.

Volume 1, Number 1 of The DartmouthBi-Monthly appeared in October 1905. With a cover printed in black on heavy gray paper, and pages seven by ten inches in size, the fifty pages of the first issue contained an introductory statement by President Tucker and another by Mr. Hopkins as editor; an appeal for help to the class secretaries (shades of 1955); an editorial section; President Tucker's opening address on "The Part Which Our Colleges Must Henceforth Be Expected to Take in the Training of the Gentleman"; an article on Prof. Charles A. Young by Prof. John M. Poor '97; an article on Japan and Korea by K. Asakawa '99; an article on Sanitation at Dartmouth by Dr. Howard N. Kingsford '98m; a college news section; and a section of alumni club reports. Two photographs appeared in the issue, one of Wheeler Hall, then a brand-new dormitory; and the other of Professor Young, subject of one of the lead articles.

Class notes did not appear until the second issue of The Bi-Monthly in December 1905. This month's issue of the DARTMOUTH ALUMNI MAGAZINE therefore marks the 50th anniversary of the class-notes section, now the most extensive department of the magazine. The name of Secretary Charles C. Merrill '94 appeared at the head of his class column in December 1905 and still appears there today. In the multiplicity of 50th anniversaries being noted, this one should not be passed over.

In his introductory statement in Volume 1, Number 1, President Tucker said:

"It may reasonably be expected, judging from the experience of other institutions, that the publication of this magazine will be of great value. The various questions intimately connected with the growth of the College ought to be discussed openly by the alumni, with a view to the effect of such discussion upon the administration. It is also desirable that the opportunity should be had for the informal presentation of these questions as representing the policy of the Trustees and Faculty. The publication of this magazine is to be considered as an effort to realize in the most intelligent way the unity of the College."

As editor, Mr. Hopkins also made an opening statement in the first issue of TheBi-Monthly, as follows:

"Dartmouth men everywhere are earnest in their desires that the College efficiency shall be at a maximum. College life is difficult to analyze, but it is certain that the institution which has the most perfect cooperation between the two great components of the existence of a college - the alumni and the administration - will afford, other things being equal, the greatest advantages to its constituency. Cooperation means something more than the blind zeal which leads the alumnus to back his college against all comers, simply on general principles. It means something more than pedantry on the part of the instructor; something more than opportunism on the part of the administrative officer. It necessitates knowledge of affairs as they are, by all concerned, and requires thought and effort, that the possibilities of the present may be realized and that the development of the futuretmay be sustained. Many a man through the force of circumstances draws all the inspiration for his enthusiasm for his college from the life of his undergraduate days, and feeds his loyalty wholly upon a sentimental reverence for the past. Many an administration in our colleges, through lack of contact with the alumni body, has failed to achieve desired results. The aim of this magazine is to do what it can in the work of cooperation. Its publication has been called for and encouraged by the secretaries of the classes and the alumni associations and clubs. The plan has the endorsement and the promise of assistance from the administration of the College. The project has been made possible by the assurance of support from loyal graduates. The Bi-Monthly will make every effort to do what it can in maintaining the interest of alumni, officers and friends of Dartmouth in each other and in the College. The more that it succeeds in this the more will it fulfill its mission."

At the second annual meeting of the Dartmouth Secretaries Association, in February 1906, Mr. Hopkins reported on the first year of the new alumni publication. He announced a paid circulation of 815, more than had been expected, and expressed the hope that the magazine would be self-supporting within three years.

One year later, at their third annual meeting, the secretaries commended the editorial achievements of Mr. Hopkins in this resolution: "Resolved, That the Association of Class Secretaries and Alumni Association Secretaries spread upon its records an expression of hearty commendation for the faithful and efficient service of Ernest Martin Hopkins, as editor of The Dartmouth Bi-Monthly. This magazine, created by him, has through his efforts not only established its usefulness, but already holds an affectionate place in the hearts of the alumni who are ever hungry for news from the College."

At their 1908 meeting the secretaries passed another resolution of commendation and approved the appointment by Mr. Hopkins of two associate editors, Ashley K. Hardy '94 and Homer Eaton Keyes '00, and of an alumni editor, John Moore Comstock '77.

In the fall of 1908 The Bi-Monthly became the monthly DARTMOUTH ALUMNI MAGAZINE, with Mr. Hopkins as editor. This position he continued to hold through the issue of June 1910, at which time he resigned as Secretary of the College to enter the business world.

In his five years as editor of the two Dartmouth magazines Mr. Hopkins established the general character of the College's alumni publication, still recognized as one of the leading magazines of its kind in the country. Today he is a faithful reader of every issue of the ALUMNI MAGAZINE and continues to be an important influence on its growth, through his encouragement and unfailing help when called upon.

A photograph of Ernest Martin Hopkins '01 at the time he was alumni magazine editor.

The cover of Dartmouth's first alumni magazine,published in the fall of 1905.