1910

SEVEN TIETH REUNION

1910's 70th Reunion was unique, so different from any of our others in that I was the only Tenner who was there. What made it memorable and delightful was that five of our associate members were there Karen Eastman and four daughters: Betty Peyton (Whitney's daughter), Hope Haug (Jesse Wilson's daughter), Orilla Moe (daughter of Bill), and my daughter Eleanor Logan. We had all been together in past reunions and quickly resumed our fellowship to have a most congenial time together. A seventh person speedily became a part of our group the student whom the College provided to be always on hand to attend to our needs. Her willingness to help us and her pleasure in listening to our reminiscences about the College of past years and telling us about the college life of today made her a welcome member in all of our activities.

The College gave us royal treatment. We had rooms in the Lodge across Lebanon Street from the Inn and were provided a headquarters room at the Inn where we could gather for social times whenever there was no meeting scheduled and look out on the campus. It gave us our meals, always delicious, at Thayer Hall or the Inn, and it provided a car for our hostess to drive us to the various events.

We all arrived on Friday to settle in and have dinner in Thayer Hall with the members of the reunion classes of 1915, 1920, and 1925. In the evening we went to the President's reception on the lawn of his house on Webster Avenue. It was a lovely evening to be outdoors in such pleasant surroundings.

Saturday morning the seven of us gathered for an informal meeting. It has been the practice at our reunions to have reports of class activities during the preceding five years, and I gave them at this meeting, though we did not transact any business. I had also prepared a necrology of the 24 Tenners who had died in those years and of the widows. We held a brief memorial service for them.

At noon the four older reunion classes had lunch together in the Inn dining room. Then to Spaulding Auditorium in Hopkins Center for the Alumni Meeting. The presiding officer opened the meeting with an unscheduled announcement by saying that he wanted to introduce the oldest alumnus present, Arthur Lord, here for his 70th reunion, all the way from California, and he commented on my family connection with the College, asking me to stand, which I did, to the applause of the alumni. There were talks by a member of the class of 1930 celebrating its 50th reunion and by President Kemeny, and the report of a magnificant gift toward a new building, all of which you can read about elsewhere in the Magazine.

I called up Miriam Bankart in Norwich to ask if we could come over to see her. The housekeeper said yes indeed, so in the latter part of the afternoon Karen, Hope, Eleanor, and I drove over there. Miriam gave us a hearty welcome and though she, like the rest of us, isn't as vigorous as she once was, she enjoyed hearing us tell about the doings in Hanover and about ourselves. The Bankart home is as beautiful as ever, with a profusion of spring flowers and greenery and the view down the valley. It was a delightful visit.

Friday had been fine but Saturday developed a threatening drizzle which turned to rain Sunday morning, forcing the graduation exercises from Baker lawn into the Thompson Arena and canceling the alumni procession. The seniors marched in, no longer lined up by height but alphabetically, followed by the candidates for advanced degrees, all of whom sat on the playing level (which had been covered up), then the faculty in'their colored robes, and the recipients of honorary degrees, who sat on the platform. Because of the large number of diplomas to be handed out, the speaking exercises are now limited to a valedictory by one of the seniors and the "Hail and Farewell" salute to the class by the President. Following the tradition, established by President Tucker, of singing Milton's "Let us with a gladsome mind," the conferring of degrees began. First the giving of advanced degrees, some 300 of them; then the giving of honorary degrees to six men and women. (A seventh, Arthur Ashe, was scheduled to receive one, but to our disappointment the weather prevented his arriving in time. We learned afterwards that he was given his degree in private.) Finally the seniors, 990 of them, filed up to the platform to receive their diplomas. It has always seemed to me impressive as each senior receives his or her diploma personally from a College officer with a shake of the hand; and now modern science has added a new feature, each senior giving his or her name into a microphone on the way up the steps. The exercises ended with the traditional singing of Richard Hovey's "Men of Dartmouth, Give a Rouse."

For lunch some of us went to the new Collis Center in College Hall where I was glad to see the extensive changes, which have transformed the big dining hall of our day into a snack bar and a number of small rooms for students to hold meetings in. After lunch we said our goodbyes, told of our pleasure in sharing the good times we had had, and started off on our separate ways back home.

Arthur Lord '10

The grand old man of the 1980 reunions, Arthur Lord '10, poses with five of the grand old women of 1910 and the class's undergraduate guide: (from left) Kate McKee '82, Hope Haug, Eleanor Logan, Lord, Karen Eastman, Betty Peyton, and Orilla Moe.

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