The Best Class Notes of All Time
A condensation of columns) over the past 90 YEARS
Class of 1854:
The reverend levi
Henry Cobb, D.D., has been a sufferer for three years with rheumatic gout—acquired, so far as he knows, by "high living among the missionaries on our western frontier"—a pathetic climax to forty years of heroic, unbroken service after leaving Andover Seminary in 1857. (1854 Secretary Stephen L. B. Spear in the December 1905 issue)
Class of 1861:
The "boys of '61" will meet for their semi-centennial reunion during Commencement in June. Headquarters will be in Richardson Hall. The echoes of the guns fired on Fort Sumter had hardly died away when 65 young men left their Alma Mater, the week after the disastrous batte of Bull Run, to meet unusual duties and responsibilities. (1861 Secretary Edward D. Redington in the February 1911 issue)
Class of 1867:
walter e. mccornack, former head coach at Northwestern University, has given up football coaching and will hereafter devote himself exclusively to his law practice. (1867 Secretary Horace Goodhue in the December 1905 issue)
Class of 1878:
scattered, in three of the four corners of the country, the three remaining members of the class may read in this magazine of the Green Key dance, and think back to the '78 stag, held in Reed Hall, with music by Andrews' Full Orchestra. The police were instructed to enforce such rules as "All ladies shall be dressed in white" and "No one shall drink more than two quarts of cider." (1878 Secretary [unidentified] in the June 1948 issue)
Class of 1883:
HENRY B. JOHNSON, ESQ., the youngest member of our class and at the time president, in attempting to shield a woman from be- ing hit by an automobile on a street in New York City, was himself struck j and" died from the effects J of the accident.
Hon. William W. Niles, chairman of the Bronx Parkway Commission, New York, in attempt- ing to protect a woman on a t turn on one of the streets of New York City from | being hit hy ' an automo- bile, was himself struck and received in- i juries from I which he died. (1883 Secretary Alfred E. Watson in the October 1948 issue. Two other classmates died in accidents while coming or going from Dartmouth reunions.)
Class of 1887:
while we were in college, the Victorian era still had several years to run. Although Queen Victoria's consort, Prince Albert, had been dead nearly 30 years, yet for Sunday and dress-up occasions the Prince Albert doublebreasted black coat, with trousers of similar or different material, was largely worn by students, professors, and prominent townspeople. For head covering, the "Derby"—a stiff hat now rarely worn—was then popular. "Jabe" Ellis of our class, in his senior year, had a pair of skis made by a local carpenter which he tried out that winter in the College Park with more or less indifferent success. So far as is known, this is the record for first appearance of skis in Hanover. (1887 Secretary Ralph S. Bartlett in the June 1948 issue)
Class of 1887:
doctor charles a. Eastman has been appointed by President Roosevelt to go to the reservations of the Sioux Indians and rechristen each individual. Doctor Eastman has begun his work and already has bestowed nearly 15,000 names on the Sioux. The object of this mission is to provide them with surnames so that the right descent of property might be insured
Class of 1888:
underwood & Underwood of New York announce for publication in December, TravelLessons in the Life of Jesus, by William Byron Forbush. (1888 Secretary William Byron Forbush in the December 1905 issue)
Class of 1895:
after last year's football season, F.G. Folsom received offers to coach for the 1905 season from the University of Wisconsin, the University of Colorado, and the University of California, but refused them to return to Dartmouth. (1895 Secretary Frank P. Dodge in the December 1905 issue)
Class of 1898:
on the 21st day of June, 1905, Charles W. Bartlett, second, arrived at the home of Joseph W. Bartlett and wife in Quincy, Mass. Joe says he is to graduate from Dartmouth College in 1927, unless prevented by 'vis major,' an act of God, or public enemies, such as the Faculty. (1898 Secretary Herbert W. Blake in the December 1905 issue. Charles W. Bardett did indeed graduate from Dartmouth in 1927.)
Class of 1900:
judge benjamin prescott came to Boston the day of the annual Dartmouth dinner and dropped into the Secretary's office. His first request was to use the telephone to call up his barber. It seems that this was Ben's semi-annual barbering trip. We asked him why he did not get the work done in Milford, and he stated that the barber there did plumbing one day and barbering the next, and it was difficult to determine which day he was doing which. (Natt W. Emerson '00 in the April 1925 issue)
Class of 1902:
here are some some interesting figures concerning the present occupation of the 134 members of the class: Accountants, 1; advertising writers, 1; advertising solicitors, 3; astronomers, 1; brokers, 1; business, 5; civil engineers, 16; chemists, 1; clerks, in insurance, 3; in banks, 4; in business, 7; in freight departments, 2; in railroad offices, 2; in brokers' offices, 1; customs service, 2; draughtsmen, 2; dentistry, 1; electricians, 3; insurance agents, 4; illustrators, 1; journalism, 2; law, 9; medicine, 15; ministry, 3; mechanics, 2; publishers, 2; real estate, 6; salesmen, 3; teaching, 29; unoccupied, 2; unknown, 5. (1902 Secretary William C. Hill in the December 1905 issue)
Class of 1912:
we are pleased to be able to announce the formation of a partnership for the general practice of law, under the firm name of Roosevelt and O'Connor. Doubtless you have already guessed that O'Connor of this firm is our own D. Basil, the Roosevelt being Franklin D., former secretary of the navy. In our opinion both Mr. Roosevelt and Mr. O'Connor are to be congratulated. (Edward B. Luitwieler '12 in the February 1925 issue)
Class of 1913:
bart and renza shepard went to Florida to see their son Alan and his fellow astronauts take off for a trip to the moon and return. (1913 Secretary Marc S. Wright in the April 1971 issue)
Class of 1914:
win snow was present at Revere Beach when the famous Annette Kellerman was arrested for indecently exposing her body. Miss Kellerman believed—and the world has long since confirmed her theory—that if a girl wants to swim, she can do it much better without "trailing clouds of glory" and petticoats and such. (1914 Secretary Elmer Robinson in the February 1964 issue)
Class of 1916:
at a recent benefit performance of Professor Howdy Parker's "High, Low, Jack and the Gamers," Ernie Cutler carried on so brilliantly that he was awarded a chair on the faculty. (H. Clifford Bean 'l6 in the November 1924 issue)
Class of 1917:
you birds who are still in grade A health should not be allowed to forget that By Brown is running around alive in the face of 40 separate wounds together with a gas-torn pair of lungs. (Ralph Sanborn '17 in the April 1925 issue)
Class of 1918:
dave skinner, the sleek bondmonger, has been made manager of the Omaha branch of the National City Company, and reports that his famous embalmer's derby was shot full of holes by hilarious cowpunchers at one of the local rodeos in the course of his first week. (Frederick W. Cassebeer writing in the November 1924 issue)
Class of 1918:
our amiable squire of Joliet, Ill., Doc Woodruff, reports with apparent regrets that he is still single. With the help of his father and uncle he is practicing eye, ear, nose, and throat on all comers. Probably accounts for his loneliness. (Frederick W. Cassebeer writing in the April 1925 issue)
Class of 1920:
among other things, the April questionnaire requested a class expression of opinion on the constantly recurring theme of the Alma Mater song. Should it, in the collective mind of 1920, remain "The Dartmouth Song," or should "Men of Dartmouth" be substituted? For once the issue was not even close. Those who favored the brawny vigor of the Hovey masterpiece far outnumbered their opponents, and the vote goes down on the books as 25 to 11 in favor of "Men of Dartmouth." Whoever has authority to do anything about it can take '2o's verdict for what it may be worth—or leave it. (1920 Secretary Richard M. Pearson in the June 1927 issue)
Class of 1920:
from the wildest mountain regions of New Hampshire comes the news that Sherm Adams has retreated even deeper into the wilderness. After several years' fine experience with the ParkerYoung Company at Lincoln, he has been sent to the little town of Waterville to act as assistant superintendent of a tremendous new lumbering development there. (1920 Secretary Richard M. Pearson in the January 1926 issue. Adams later became chief of staff for President Eisenhower)
Class of 1921:
interested in art and morality, Judge Ken Slater has been forced into a ticklish decision about a barmaid, an exotic dancer at a Cleveland night club, the Jack and Jill bar. Miss Montford is known to her bibulous and titillated public as Renee. Because her dancing was allegedly "suggestive and immoral," Jack and Jill's liquor license was suspended for 28 days. Ken had to listen to impassioned speeches by a lawyer comparing favorably to Shakespeare and Beethoven.... "Shakespeare wrote sonnets in iambic pentameter," said the lawyer. "That was his art form. The burlesque dance is Renee's art form." The evidence was seven reels of moving pictures showing Miss Montford in action. By the end of the fifth reel most spectators in the courtroom had slipped away, including the attorneys for both sides. When the lights came on, only two men were left in the courtroom, Bailiff Clarence Steward and Judge Kenneth L. Slater. Ken was left with the decision about Renee's art on which the future of the nightclub might well depend. Bibulousness and titillation are the patrons' art form. Ken returned home to read Shakespeare's 46th sonnet, "Mine eye and heart are at a mortal war." (1921 Secretary and Dartmouth English Professor John Hurd in the January 1964 issue)
Class of 1923:
doug manson, who tried to drive down an elevator shaft last winter, and was like to kill himself, was looking wonderfully well after this unusual feat. (1923 Secretary Lewis Lewinsohn in the November 1924 issue)
Class of 1923:
one good omen for the record: I was in the barber shop the other day when a long-haired student climbed into the chair next to me. "Take it off," he said. "I was on an Outing Club trip this weekend and the blackflies in my hair drove me nuts!" (Ted Barstow '23 in the October 1970 issue)
Class of 1926:
at odd times last summer I ran into Homer Rowe, Johnny Manser, Mac Mackay, and Charlie Starrett. I don't know what these boys are doing now, except that Charlie expects to enter some branch of the movies, possibly to rival Tom Mix. (1926 Secretary Charles Webster in the November 1926 issue)
Class of 1926:
george champion was chairman of the Protestant Council's dinner honoring our late President John F. Kennedy at the New York Hilton on November 9. (1926 Secretary Kenneth W. Weeks writing in the January 1964 issue)
Class of 1929:
JERRY SWOPE AND JOHN Dickey are merely names. I never see them. Like all New Dealers they are undoubtedly too busy running the government. (Duke Barto '29 in the January 1936 issue)
Class of 1930:
NELSON ROCKEFELLER has sent his films of the movies taken at reunion nicely edited and titled, and we have sent them off to Rochester to have two duplicates made, one for careful permanent preservation in the class's movie files and the other for use at class dinners this winter. (1930 Secretary Albert I. Dickerson in the November 1935 issue)
Class of 1930:
WE HAVE INTENDED To minimize political affairs in this column, particularly those involving Democrats, and consequently mention only two items about Nelson Rockefeller. Some or all of his art collection has been filmed by NBC for a special color television show of five such collections, to be presented some time this winter. On June 10 Nelson drove a gold-finished Impala off the assembly line at General Motors' plant in Tarrytown, the 50 millionth vehicle produced by the Chevrolet Motor Division. (1930 Secretary Wallace Blakey in the October 1963 issue)
Class of 1932:
WHETHER OR NOT WAR is a catalytic agent working towards a new family of nations is still a moot question. But to a correspondent on the home front there is every evidence that war is a catalytic agent working towards the formation of new family units. The pattern goes something like this. 1) Young Man meets Very Nice Girl; 2) Young Man meets very persuasive Recruiting Officer; 3) Young Man is caught on horns of dilemma; 4) Young Man decides it is possible to have cake and eat field rations, too; 5) Very Nice Girl announces betrothal to Young Man; 6) Young Man announces entry into armed forces; 7) Correspondent passes on the joyous news to 500 interested persons. (1932 Secretary Carlos Baker in the December 1942 issue. Baker later became a renowned literary critic and Pulitzer-winning biographer of Ernest Hemingway.)
Class of 1934:
A GIRL ON THE CRUISE which Hulsart and I took this summer said she knew right away that we both had gone to Dartmouth because we hadn't spoken to her on first sight! Shades of White River and the Claremont dances! Far from throwing a compliment, however, she added, "You're all a bunch of snobs up there." (1934 Secretary Martin J. Dwyer Jr. in the November 1939 issue)
Class of 1939:
I, YOUR SECRETARY, HAVE just been made a card-carrying member of the Dayton Power & Light Co. "450 Bonus Club" signifying that as a residential consumer, we use more than 450 kilowatt hours of electricity per month. (Robert L. Davidson in the October 1963 issue)
Class of 1940:
SEEM TO BE BUSY WITH this and that—small PR business, United Way, etc.—sure beats sitting around listening to my hair fall out. (Trenny Trenholm '40 in the May 1986 issue)
Class of 1941:
DICK KROLIK, VICE President dent in charge of programming for Time-Life Broadcasts, had an interesting trip last spring. It was a mission of mercy that took him and 79 others most of the way around the world with Texas billionaire Ross Perot. This was Perot's second attempt to make contact with the estimated 1,400 American prisoners being held in North Vietnam. The trip took Dick, among other places, to Tan Son Nhut Air Base, Danang, and Bien Hoa in South Vietnam, and Vientiane in Laos. (1941 Secretary Earl H. Cotton in the October 1970 issue)
Class of 1944:
SHOULD NOTE THAT Hugh Lena spent 30 days in the bush in Angola, 11 of which in elephant hunting. Saw 42 elephants before the unlucky 43 rd, which he brought down with his Browning .458 Magnum. Collected were 49 trophies including greater kudu, sable, roan, zebra, three African buffalo; photographed were the native Bantus and Bushmen. (1943 Secretary Charles M. Donovan in the January 1964 issue)
Class of 1944:
UNCANNILY AND unhappily, forty-fours continue to be involved in international detentions. Latest is Clint Gardner (owner of Shopping International in Norwich, Vt.), whose nephew, Mark Huessey, has been held by the East German regime for the past year on trumped-up charges. Clint himself has traveled to Berlin to try to get the boy released and he has also sought the help in Washington of George Springsteen, deputy assistant secretary of state for European affairs. In a farce, October "trial," young Huessey was sentenced to seven years in prison. (1944 Secretary Fritz Hier in the January 1971 issue)
Class of 1946:
INCIDENTALLY, SPEAKING of addresses, a new one recently came across my desk and until a better one comes along I hereby confer the title of Most Distinctive Address on that of Ralph Smith who lives in Locust Valley, N.Y. His address is Skunks Misery Road, and if that isn't a great conversation piece, I've never seen one. (1946 Secretary Robert Y. Kimball in the November 1962 issue)
Class of 1947:
JULIAN SAYER WAS KIND enough to forward a page from a spring 1970 issue of Life Magazine featuring a picture of our own Dr. Sheldon Segal who is one of the leaders in the continuing search for a male contraceptive. Shelly has been involved in this field of endeavor for many years and is associated with the Population Council. (1947 Secretary Robert B. Kirsch in the October 1970 issue. Segal went on to direct development of the female contraceptive Norplant.)
Class of 1950:
REMEMBER WHEN THE country needed a good five-cent stogie? Pretty soon we'll be able to state that all would be well if we could send a postcard for a nickel! (1950 SecretaryScott C. Olin in the February 1963 issue)
Class of 1951:
FOR THOSE OF YOU WHO haven't been to northern New England recently, let me warn you that the ways of the devil are spreading even in the staid Yankee state of Vermont. That state's Interstate Travelers Guide relates that the Hotel Coolidge in White River is "newly remodeled plus some water beds" (emphasis added). The bars are now open until 2 a.m., you can drink standing up in bars and carry your own drink if you want to tablehop, and there is even a liquor store in Norwich. The next thing you know, they'll be showing hardcore porn flicks in The tford. (1951 Secretary Russell C. Dilks in the October 1973 issue)
Class of 1954:
FROM ROBERT O. WHITE up in Boston comes word of Robert Rafelson and his new film that is enjoying a terrific press—"Five Easy Pieces." The New Republic, Newsweek, various radio reviewers, and Life Magazine call this film one of the 1970 crop not to be missed. (1954 Secretary Bruce D. Classon in the January 1971 issue)
Class of 1954:
WELL, I'VE DECIDED TO leave graduate school behind me and go into business for myself—in Provincetown, Mass. After a rather short stint with Pare Plee Umbrella Company, I have just been named assistant vice president! We are specialists in making all kinds of umbrellas and rainwear and manufacture approximately 30,000 items per year. It's lucrative and booming.
In addition, I have been working evenings at the "Buttery" in Provincetown with Harold Whitakker as part-time manager. Whitakker was a fairly well-known maitre d' in New York and the man who actually rewrote the Italian National Anthem a few years ago for President Fanfani. He and I are presently collaborating on a new rendition.
Furthermore, I have nearly completed a novel temporarily entitled: TheLife and Times of Professor Spahn. (Bob White writing in the December 1973 issue)
Class of 1955:
GLENN WILSON, A Captive of the North Vietnamese since his plane was shot down August 7, 1967, remains in good spirits and in good health, to judge by brief notes his family has received from him. This letter, dated July 28, 1970, was "the first bit of definite information":
"Dear Mom, Dad, sisters and all, Hope this letter finds you all in good health and happiness. I am still okay. Received my first letter last month and fifth package this month. The children look just wonderful and the peanut butter and pepperoni came through in fine shape. We will have a great reunion someday. Love and miss you so much. Your son, Glenn." (1955 Secretary Joe Mathewson in the January 1971 issue. Wilson was released in 1973.)
Class of 1958:
DR. DON AITKEN GAVE A public lecture last March at the Hanover Medical Center entitled "Ecoviolence Without Guilt or an Ecofreak's View of Ecomyopia." Don is scientific coordinator of the John Muir Institute for Environmental Studies in San Francisco and cofounder and director of Friends of the Earth. He has forsaken research in nuclear physics to devote his efforts to environmental studies. (1958 Secretary Walter S. Yusen in the October 1970 issue)
Class of 1958:
LET'S HEAR IT FOR AIR safety. We nearly lost two classmates in one accident last February. Coleman Colla reports the incident this way. His flight from San Jose to John Wayne Airport in Orange County, Calif., crash landed. Everyone staggered out all right, and as he wandered about, dazed and shaken, Larry Schwartz, coatless but unhurt, greeted him. He was also on the plane. They had last met in June 1979 in Hanover at the 20th... Coleman believes he will take a train to the 25th. (1958 Secretary Fred Louis III in the May 1981 issue)
Class Of 1959:
SCOTT PALMER REPORTS that their second candidate for the basketball team, Henry Crawford Palmer, was born September 14. (1959 Secretary Wayne G. French in the January 1971 issue. Oldest son Walter Palmer '90 became a star forward at Dartmouth and spent a year as a professional. Younger son Henry Crawford played backup forward for first-in-the-nation Duke and transferred to Dartmouth last year.)
Class of 1966:
I'M NOT SURE THAT THIS will top your Christmas reading list, but Bill Wilson's translation of an eighteenth-century samurai ethics book is now hitting the bookshelves. Harper & Row is distributing Hagakure: TheBook of the Samurai, an apparent source of inspiration for kamikaze pilots and fraternity pledges. (1966 Secretary Lawrence Geiger in the November 1979 issue)
Class of 1967:
A FEW THOUGHTS: Dartmouth is Coed. Happy New Year, Merry Christmas. Don't forget our fifth reunion. Write!
(The entire December 1972 column of 1967 Secretary Jerry Goldsmith)
Glass of 1970:
CERTAINLY THE Political cal and emotional climate in which we graduated will significantly affect how we will interpret each other's accomplishments. (1970 Secretary Peter S. Linton in the December 1970 issue)
Class of 1972:
JOEL JOHNSON AND BRAD Poynter, eminent physicians both, chose the reunion to introduce a new theory of longevity, potency, wisdom, and general well-being. Although somewhat obtuse, it seemed to have something to do with beer. (1972 Secretary John P. deRegt in the September 1981 is sue)
Class of 1973:
THE DARTMOUTH CLASS of 1973 now has within its ranks someone who has won a world championship. David "Chip" Reese was noted as one of the premier poker players in the world having won the high-low split championship in the 1978 World Series of Poker. From all reports, he won more money last year than many of us will see in our first 20 years out of Dartmouth. (1973 Secretary Mark Harty in the November 1979 issue)
Class of 1976:
JIM BzATTIE WILL BE playing baseball in Seattle, where he'll be a Mariner. Imagine having to say you're a MARINER. These days, it's better than being a Yank. (1976 Secretary Gregory F. Cronin in the January 1980 issue)
Class of 1980:
YES, IT'S TRUE ...I'VE relocated, albeit temporarily, to Honolulu There are, however, challenges connected with living ten minutes from "Life's Greatest Beach." Being a minority, for example. One would think that, having been a woman at Dartmouth in the days of three-to-one, I might be prepared for minority-itis. On the contrary. Nothing has prepared me for the feeling that comes with the realization that I am the ONLY person in the Honolulu airport carrying a briefcase. (1980 Secretary Cathy McGrath in the October 1986 issue)
Class of 1980:
IN THIS YEAR OF 1987, when some of you will turn 30, and even older, and many of us will turn 29; when we must contemplate receding hair lines, smile lines that do not fade, sagging and expanding bodies, and two more years of Ronald Reagan, be proud. If not proud, be precocious and have an early mid-life crisis. (1980 Secretary Wade W. Herring II in the April 1987 issue)
Class of 1980:
YEARS AGO, ERIC Ziolkowski's reputation grew to mythical levels of oxymoron. Throughout a storied high-school career in academics as well as athletics, this gentle giant pursued weightlifting with maniacal fervor. His arms were like hawsers, his chest like a Coke machine. By the time he arrived at football camp freshman year, the Dartmouth coaches deemed him "big enough to eat hay." He studied the liberal arts. Overheard in Music 1: "Hey, Eric, pass me that piano."...Eric is now an assistant professor of religion at Lafayette College. (1980 Secretary Michael H. Carothers in the November 1991 issue)
Class of 1981:
OUT IN THE LAND OF Manson, Malibu, and medflies, the San Diego Union has selected that pole-vaulting practitioner of political prank and parody, Steve Kelley, to be its editorial cartoonist. Steve described his position as "the one place in the paper where you can get a light view of the heavy issues." (1981 Secretaiy Dirk D. Olin in the October 1981 issue)
Class of 1981:
AND SO, AS THE JOHNJohn Generation prepares to enter 1984, we can ask ourselves: Do I want a big car that drives like a small car, or a small car that feels like a big car? There is the pivotal angst-ridden question of our day. We could care less about the superpowers' game of Pin-the-Missile-on-the-Ally. We're still trying to figure out whether or not there really is a curtain made of iron somewhere in Eastern Europe. We're so dumb that we don't even know the difference between a war and a police action. Let's face it, the Betamax is more important than the Bundestag—and I have no problem with that. (1981 Secretary Dirk Olin in the December 1983 issue)
Class of 1984:
WITH THE Announcement that Sheila Heffon would be married in December 1986 to Michael Rankowitz (UVM, or "Groovy UV" to those in the know), the entire class of 1984 has been engaged at least one time. (1984 Secretary Eric M. Grubman in the February 1987 issue)
Class of 1986:
UNCERTAIN ABOUT their career goals at graduation, Marlea Clark and Jill Whitcomb opted for an initial job which would have universal value for future job searches. Countless hours were spent tormenting Burt in CES before the ladies finally found the job of their dreams: waitressing at Howard Johnson's in White River Junction. (1986 Secretary Howard R. Hayes Jr. in the December 1986 issue)
Class of 1988:
RACHEL DRATCH, duster in hand, marched around Chicago recently with 29 other Donna Reed facsimiles as part of a Nickelodeon network promo. It was Rachel's first paid TV spot (a handsome $50 was the reward) and she got a free pair of shoes and a free meal for her effort. She did not, however, get to keep the duster. (1988 Secretary Chuck Young in the October 1990 issue)
When properly equipped, the classof 1878 really knew how to party.
The class of '13 prided in spacemanAlan Shepard and his mother, Renza.
Songmaster Hovey '85.
Dickey a NewDealer.
Women werefinally official in 1972.
Jim Beattieas theyouthfulMariner.
WilliamByronForbushpicked up some travel tipfromJesus.
1920favoredthebrawnyvigor ofthe Hoveymasterpiece.
JudgeSlater '21had todecidewhether abarmaid'sdancingwas art.
NelsonRockefeller'30 drove a gold-plated Impala offthe assembly line.
RalphSmith livedon SkunksMiseryRoad in Locust Valley,New York.
Walkingfrom theplanewreck,ColemanColla '58found aclassmate.
Wilson'sbookwouldinspirekamikazepilots andfraternitypledgee.
RachelDratch '88did Chicagowith 29otherDonnaReed facsimilies.
