1941

Right about now, half a century ago, in 1939, we were nearing the halfway point in our undergraduate Dartmouth experience. Halfway, that is, barring pushouts and dropouts. And it had been a very full year for us sophomores: selection and start of majors; winning varsities to cheer for, if not to play on; ranging co-curricular activities; and Country social life, in and out of fraternities, that often (traditionally?) featured the imbibing of more of the sauce than was good for the gullet and points south. As I peruse my moldering Aegis, the time and place seem to call to me, faces emit voices, and I warm to the recognition of classmates moving more prominently into the mainstream of student life: Bob Harvey, for example, on the Daily D, as well as Alan Stern and Bill Broer, on the Jacko and Pictorial, respectively; the Outing Club's Mort McGinley, the skating team's Felix Lilienthal, and Charlie McLane on skis; Doug Wheale canoeing and Jack Delander (now deceased) pulling oars; RalphColton, Bait and Bullet; Mills Ten Eyck, The Players; and Fred Cluthe, Glee Club. Elsewhere in music, heading for the top spots, were Johnny White in the Band, Dick Hill with the Green Collegians, and the late Joe Kipe in the Barbary Coast.

Four years phis 50: a celebration of continuity, commitment, and remembrance. Recalling the clubs, the Forensic Union had George Brand, for one from '41, and George Dreher was en route to head up the Dartmouth Christian Union. And yes, there was the wonderful world of sports, then as now at the College on the Hill, win or lose—but better, of course, to win—and uniformed reps pass in review: Lou Young, football; Jake Gidney, soccer; Lee Trudeau, cross country; Gus Broberg, basketball; Fred Maloon, hockey; Es Crowley, swimming; Fred Leopold, squash: Dick Sexton, baseball; Stacy Hill, tennis; Bill Clark, golf; and Bob Baker, lacrosse.

The estimable one-volume history of 1941's big four yields other ancient treasures, too: managers and assistants, cheerleaders, intramural athletes, and the members of societies, subsets of the larger society of our class in the context of the changing undergraduate body of students (we touched 1938-1944). Academically on the move, it would appear, were no fewer than 46 classmates who were to be elected, as seniors, to Phi Beta Kappa. Elected as class officers in 1938-39 were president Lou, vice president Stace, secretary Es, and treasurer Dick Spillane. (The latter held the post for three years and then cut out; there's food for thought.)

Now, in 1989, again I must report a death, that of Jim Whitman, last November 9, at his home in Florida. See DAM obit to follow. More pleasurably, I note the arrival here of January's DFTD in a new format, a brochure on DAMstyle, and the first issue of Dartmouth Currents—A Newsletter for Volunteers. One item shows the Alumni Fund shaping up nicely as of February. Let's keep it going in May-June. Shalom.

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