Posthumous Alumni Award for Ernest Barcella '34
The citation accompanying the Alumni Council's honor for Edward Barcella '34, deceased, reads:
Months ago when Ernie was asked to accept this award, the highest the alumni of the College can give, he replied, "Above all else, there has been nothing more soui-satisfying and rewarding than my activities for Dartmouth. The reason for that is quite simple: unashamedly, I have an undying love for Dartmouth and a sense of everlasting gratitude toward her. She accepted my son and me."
It is a privilege, in recognition of our respect, to honor Ernest Lawrence Barcella, posthumously, with the Dartmouth Alumni Award.
Ernie's somewhat allied careers of news reporting and public relations occurred during forty-odd years of convulsive political, social, and economic turmoil, of enormous change and breathtaking technological advances in which it was his awesome responsibility to report many of these momentous events to the world. Some of this reporting was done from his press-box seat in the Washington Bureau of United Press International. some from key spots 'round the girdled earth, and some from his Washington listening post where he wrote concise newsletters on economic trends, on the legislative mood of the Congress, on possible changes in regulating policy, and on Ralph Nader's latest thinking.
A list of important news stories which Ernie wrote, covered, or handled as an editor includes the Roosevelt-Churchill Atlantic Charter Conference, Pearl Harbor, the Midway victory, the A-bombing and surrender of Japan, Sputnik, Explorer, and man in space. But the most fantastic journalistic adventure was the trip to Russia and Poland and the Khrushchev-Nixon "Kitchen Debate" which won for him the National Headlines Award.
These careers in journalism and public relations were paralleled by social service contributions as board member or trustee for the Federal City Council, National Capital Area Council of Boy Scouts, and the Washington Heart Association. He was a member of the Baseball Writers Association and the Business-Government Relations Council.
Ernie's services for the College were legion, including assistant class agent, class secretary, president of the Secretaries Association, and Secretary of the Year in 1967. He was a member of the Alumni Council in 1968-71 and chairman of the council's Public Relations Committee in 1970-71.
The College deeply appreciates these achievements and gratefully acknowledges the loyalty, devotion, leadership, and wise counsel of Ernest Lawrence Barcella, which it has been privileged to enjoy over the years.
Mrs. Louise Barcella holds the AlumniA ward given posthumously to her husbandErnest '34. Accompanying her are sonErnest Jr. '67 and daughter Mary.
