USA > Connecticut > New Haven County > New Haven > History of the class of 1915, Yale College. Volume 3, Thirty-fifth year record > Part 2
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The speaker of the evening was Dean Acheson, and it was not long after his introduction before the Class realized that they were being treated to an address of unusual quality. The theme was the difference
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between the world faced by the Class of 1915 at its graduation and the world faced by the Class of 1935. After a penetrating summary of the extraordinary transformations in national economic relationships and in the philosophies of government, particularly our own, which have taken place during these twenty years, Dean summed up his con- clusions by saying that when we graduated we confronted a social and economic order which seemed stable but which was in reality dead, whereas the Class of 1935 confronts an economic and social order in the process of disintegration, but out of which new life may be born. He expressed his conviction that no class which had ever graduated from Yale had witnessed a more complete transformation in the conditions of the time during a twenty-year period than had ours.
When Norm Thompson arose to his feet to open the Class meeting, there rose spontaneously from all sections of the hall the strains, "For He's a Jolly Good Fellow," which was given with a will for the chairman who had engineered, with the help of an able committee, the best reunion we had ever had. Norm introduced George Stewart, who nominated a permanent Executive Committee to appoint all Class officers and Class committees, including the next Reunion Com- mittee, made up of the following: Macdonald, Donaldson, Royce, Hanes, Truesdale, and Ely. This committee was unanimously elected.
Tuesday morning, dawning dim and gray, witnessed the Class as- sembled for its picture at about 11:00 o'clock and also the arrival of various associate and junior members of the Class in the form of wives and children who were very welcome at reunion headquarters. Of these contingents, none presented a more gallant spectacle than the four children of Plute Weiss and the three of Walker Swift who arrived in a body and who, all attired in engineer uniforms correct to the last detail, made one think, as they marched along, swinging toy balloons, of "seven characters in search of an author" worthy to chronicle the inspiring picture which they presented.
Just as the parade started, the heavens opened and the rains came down with redoubled force. 1915, however, was not to be daunted. Tommy Cornell and Jack Dryden each possessed himself of a tar- paulin drum cover left behind by the two drummers of the Governor's Band and proceeded to stagger along with these enormous objects over their heads. Cornell was unable to see, but was led by the hand by Donaldson. John Reilly procured two black rubber bands for his shoulders, surrounding his abdomen with a 1920 Chevrolet rubber tire. Steve Davenport returned from a shopping expedition wrapped up in just a plain old-fashioned Grandma's polka dot rubber shawl. So,
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to the frenzied shouts of an admiring crowd of some eleven citizens huddled in doorways, the great parade started. How it finished, this chronicler does not know, for he was not there at the end, but it is said that some hardy souls sat the whole ball game through. At any rate, regardless of the rain, sufficient enjoyment had been had to make the reunion memorable.
Perhaps the best part of the reunion was the opportunity afforded by three days of informal companionship for quiet talks between man and man, for the renewal of old friendships, and for becoming better acquainted with classmates previously not so well known.
Too much praise and thanks cannot be given to the committee, consisting of Norm Thompson, chairman; Nig Donaldson, in charge of the New Haven arrangements; John Reilly, who designed and super- intended every detail of our Class costume; and Len Outhwaite and Dick English, who gave us such a grand party down at Johnson's Point.
One of the placards carried by our Class to the game bore the mes- sage, "Here's to Good Old Yale-if We Could Only Find Her." 1915 found Yale, both old and good. Too bad there are still five long years to our next Reunion!
The following attended the reunion: Acheson, Alker, Arvidson, V. C. Bartlett, Beckert, Beedy, Bennitt, Bloch, Bradley, Breed, Bright, H. H. Brown, Jr., J. C. Brown, J. R. Brown, Butler, L. Carter, Castles, Clarke, Coe, Cornell, Crandall, H. Crawford, Crocker, Dauch, Daven- port, Davie, Davis, Deming, Donaldson, Dryden, Ely, S. L. Fisher, Gibb, Gilman, Gluick, Goss, Hamblin, Hanes, Hazard, Herman, Hull, Jerome, Jordan, Jung, Knapp, Loomis, Loveman, Macdonald, McGraw, MacLeish, Mettler, Mills, W. C. Moore, Norton, Osbourn, Outhwaite, Podoloff, Rago, Randolph, Reilly, Riggs, Rivers, Robb, Rodie, Sawyer, Scarritt, Seabury, Slocum, A. C. Smith, E. Smith, Jr., Stackpole, Stewart, T. P. Swift, W. E. Swift, Thomas, N. F. Thompson, Tomp- kins, Truesdale, Walker, Wallace, Wasson, Wayland, Weiss, R. E. Wheeler, Wilkinson, Wiman, Wiser, Zartman.
TWENTY-FIFTH-JUNE, 1940
A GOLDEN afternoon and evening greeted the first contingent of "the finest Class that ever went out of old Yale" as they trouped to 1915 headquarters at 205 York Street on Saturday. Headed by Norm Thomp- son and the Reunion Committee, forty-five had signed up by two
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o'clock in the morning when headquarters began to quiet down for the night. Good planning on the part of the committee was in evidence as the undergraduate assistants at headquarters distributed keys and costumes and escorted new arrivals promptly to their Davenport rooms.
Golf, tennis, and Baccalaureate divided the attention of the Class on Sunday morning-a perfect day. An outstanding feature of the reunion was the service conducted on Sunday afternoon in Dwight Memorial Chapel by George Stewart in memory of the fifty-three members of our Class who have died. The well-planned order of service, the simple, restrained, moving address, the great beauty of the litany prepared by George will be treasured and never forgotten by those who attended.
By bus and car the Class then departed for Dick English's home by the sea. There our host and charming hostess entertained us royally. The air was balmy, the view lovely when we arrived. Before we left, the true measure of English hospitality was revealed by the blankets draping the virile form of the great Arkansas attorney, Joe R. Brown, the fur-lined parka into which Will Crocker almost sunk out of sight, and an apparently unlimited array of sweaters, jerkins, and coats enveloping all present except a few polar bears who, like Shipley Thomas, managed to stoke the fires within sufficiently to withstand the wintry blasts, clad only in their red shirts. A roaring fire in Dick's living room solved the problem for the last lingering guests.
Monday, another perfect day, was spent at Pine Orchard, where golf, tennis, swimming, baseball, and long, quiet talks were the order of the day.
In the evening was the Class dinner attended by ninety-seven. It began amid Niagaras of sound with the reelection for a five-year period of the Class Executive Committee of Donaldson, Ely, Hanes, Mac- donald, Royce, and Truesdale, and of Norm Thompson as chairman of the Reunion Committee. This was followed by the acceptance with universal regret of Jack Ely's resignation as Class Secretary and by the passage by acclamation of a resolution of appreciation of his twenty- five years of outstanding service. This in turn was followed by the election by acclamation of Nig Donaldson as Jack's successor.
The speaking which followed was quite unlike any heard at any time before at our dinners. Introduced by Toastmaster Acheson, Ray Tucker, our distinguished Washington journalist, gave an analysis of the present state of the country's defenses and a forecast of the events of the next few months as absorbingly interesting as it was sobering. John Hanes followed with an expert appraisal of the national fiscal
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situation and some recommendations for action. Both received rousing tributes.
Tuesday, the wives and children began to join the Class at head- quarters. Red shirts of all sizes and shapes began to dot the swards of Davenport. George Stewart, Art Tuttle, and Steve Davenport con- tributed three children each to the parade to the ball game. Altogether nearly forty children of 1915 participated. No special honor was ac- corded the 1915 grandfathers contingent, headed by Pat Crandall, but it is here recorded that such a contingent exists and that others unknown to your correspondent doubtless belong to it.
With the alumni exercises and luncheon on Wednesday the reunion came to a close.
No praise can be too high for the efficient planning of the Reunion Committee. Everything ran like clockwork-smoothly and effectively. Inside information from the highest authorities credits the new Class Secretary with a large share of the credit for this achievement. The Class is in his and the committee's debt.
No reunion has ever been held under such circumstances of national crisis. The crisis was in every one's mind; no one tried to dodge it. Every one talked about it. Many who had felt almost too depressed by events to attend were unanimously glad they had come. They went away with ties of friendship cemented and strengthened.
Members attending the Twenty-fifth Reunion: Acheson, Alker, Bailey, Bangs, R. M. Bartlett, V. C. Bartlett, Beckert, Brantly, Breed, Bright, J. C. Brown, J. R. Brown, Butler, Campbell, L. Carter, Castles, C. E. Clark, E. W. Clarke, Coe, Coley, Conine, Crandall, Crawford, Crocker, Dauch, Davenport, Davie, Deming, Donaldson, Donnelly, Duncan, Eggleston, Ely, English, Fisken, Flynn, Ford, Gilman, Gray, Gross, Hamblin, Hanes, Hatch, Hazard, Herman, Herrick, Hine, Houghton, Hull, Jerome, Jordan, Jung, Klein, Knapp, Lane, Love- man, Macdonald, McGraw, Mali, Mallory, Marache, Martz, Mettler, Mills, Newberry, Norton, Outhwaite, Osbourn, Peet, Podoloff, Robb, Rodie, Royce, Scarritt, Seabury, Shapiro, A. C. Smith, E. Smith, E. F. Smith, Stackpole, Stewart, T. P. Swift, Thomas, N. F. Thompson, R. M. Thompson, Tompkins, Truesdale, Tucker, A. F. Tuttle, Walker, Wallace, Wayland, Weiss, Wheeler, Williams, Wiman, Winston.
THIRTIETH (DEFERRED)-JUNE, 1947
UNDER the influence of the irresistible centripetal pull of a deferred Thirtieth Reunion, plus the lure of the Yale campus, plus the able
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propaganda of the Reunion Committee, 69 members of the Class of 1915 began signing up at headquarters in the Alpha Delta Phi house on Saturday afternoon, June 14. Most of those who returned Saturday spent the evening at headquarters, but Jack Ely reported Sunday morn- ing with a headache due to his having attended the existentialist drama "Caligula," produced by the Yale Dramat the evening before. "I couldn't understand a single word of it," reported Jack.
Sunday afternoon all those who were present attended the memorial service in Dwight Chapel conducted by George Stewart in memory of the members of the Class who have died. Once more the service was deeply moving, and all of us will treasure the memory. Following the service we proceeded to Dick English's home at Branford, where we were royally entertained for the afternoon and evening. The weather was beautiful and balmy, and we enjoyed a lazy time lolling on the cliffs and lawns, chatting about this and that. Sunday evening at headquarters was marked by the superlative piano-playing of Charlie Kingsley and Bill Bright.
Monday morning the Class departed for the Shuttle Meadow Coun- try Club at New Britain and promptly made friends with '97 S., who shared the club for the day. Following a self-help buffet lunch, at which Tommy Cornell apparently got all he could hold, the members of the Class scattered to play golf and tennis, while softball teams, cap- tained by Bill Bright and Simon Klein, battled through six hectic innings. With the score at 15-3 in favor of Bright's team, Carl Beckert was signed up by Simon Klein to play left field, and the Bright cohorts immediately capitulated and conceded the victory without another ball being thrown. Following the Class dinner, Chairman Bud Truesdale called on Secretary Dick English for a brief report on Class affairs, and Dick thanked the Reunion Committee for a task well handled. His nomination of Truesdale as chairman for our next reunion in 1950 was received with deafening applause. Plute Weiss, able toastmaster, then paid tribute to Dean Acheson for his outstanding and unselfish service as Undersecretary of State. Dean responded and outlined some of the many problems faced by a perplexed and hungry Europe. Carl Beckert added a word of praise for those who had planned this best-of- all reunions; Austin Smith and Judge Frank Rivers talked of their activities in Wisconsin and New York; Elton Wayland reported plans by John Brown and himself for a new Class Book in 1950. Late in the evening a weary but contented group reluctantly returned to headquarters in New Haven, where Jerry Jerome gave a most engaging interpretation of the Constitution of the U.S.A. On Tuesday many
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guests came for lunch, and the Class rode to the field in two buses and witnessed an elegant ball game. As usual, the most satisfying feature of the reunion consisted in picking up the ties of friendship and getting up to date on the interests and activities of old friends. A sincere tribute is due to Bud Truesdale and the Reunion Committee.
Those returning to the reunion were: Acheson, Bartlett, Beckert, Breed, Bright, J. C. Brown, J. R. Brown, Butler, Castles, Cone, Cornell, Crandall, Cunningham, Davenport, Davie, Davis, Deming, Donaldson, Donnelly, Edwards, Ely, English, S. L. Fisher, Ford, Gilman, Gross, Gutwillig, Hanes, Hazard, Herman, Houghton, Jerome, Johnston, Jordan, Jung, Kingsley, Kinsley, Klein, Knapp, Loveman, Macdonald, McGraw, MacNeill, Marache, Mettler, Mills, Osbourn, Outhwaite, Peet, Podoloff, Pumpelly, Randolph, Rivers, Rodie, Sawyer, Seabury, A. C. Smith, E. Smith, Stewart, W. E. Swift, Thomas, Tompkins, Truesdale, A. F. Tuttle, Walker, Wasson, Wayland, Weiss, Wilkinson.
THIRTY-FIFTH-JUNE, 1950
A FEW hardy souls who could convince their wives that the reunion started on Friday arrived during the afternoon and so had the choice, if any, of the beds in Davenport College.
Most of the Class appeared at the Beta Theta Phi headquarters about noon on Saturday, and the great game of "guess who I am" started in full swing. Tommy Cornell put up a good bluff at this game, but lost almost every time. Classmates came from near and far, but the long- distance laurels, of course, went to Pete Young from Honolulu and Baldy Bentley from Iran. Joe Brown tried to claim this and all other honors, but after taking over a mobile popsicle unit became known as the Bad Humor Man.
We were deeply indebted to Dick English and his family for giv- ing the week-end such an impetus with their delightful supper at Branford Harbor on Saturday evening. Our Sea Scouts, Tommy Tomp- kins, Phil Swift, and Charlie Wiman, made a dramatic and successful amphibious landing just in time for food. Imagination would be wrong if it suggested that Saturday and Sunday evenings would be restricted to the usual elbow bending because we had constant musical entertainment from our talented pianist-Roy Williams if you want pep and a real show-our two-piano team, Bill Bright and Charlie Kingsley, if you want it lush and sweet-and Doug Moore for pure nostalgia.
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Sunday morning many went to Battell Chapel for an inspiring Ser- vice of Commemoration, in which George Stewart had a leading part. In the afternoon we attended the Forum, in which Arch McLeish did us proud in sharing the spotlight with Robert Taft and Thornton Wilder. At the Class dinner in the evening Carl Beckert did a masterful job of preventing speeches. May he never be supplanted as toastmaster! Our thanks went to Dick English after his report as secretary and treasurer and our sympathy and promise of support to Elt Wayland, the new Class Secretary.
Elt brought us up to date on the prospective Class history, which he is turning over to Dick English.
On Monday morning we were well represented at the meeting which was addressed by President Seymour and President-elect Gris- wold. The Class picture at headquarters was followed by the luncheon, which was graced by many wives and children. A ride to Yale Field, the parade around the diamond, cheers for the President and President- elect, and a winning ball game ended the reunion.
Our thanks for a grand time to Bud Truesdale, whom we all missed tremendously, Dick English, and Nig Donaldson.
The following ninety-five members were present: R. M. Bartlett, Beckert, Bentley, Bradley, Breed, Bright, J. C. Brown, J. R. Brown, Burns, Butler, Campbell, Carter, Castles, Chamberlain, Coley, Cone, Cornell, Crandall, Crawford, Crocker, Dauch, Davenport, Davie, Davis, Deming, Donaldson, Donnelly, DuBois, Duncan, Ely, English, S. L. Fisher, Flynn, Gale, Gray, Grinnell, Gutwillig, Haight, Hanes, Hatch, Hazard, Herman, Jerome, Johnston, Jordan, Jung, Kent, Kings- ley, Kinsley, Klein, Levinson, Macdonald, McGraw, MacLeish, Mac- Neill, McPhee, Marache, Martz, Mathews, Mettler, D. S. Moore, W. C. Moore, Osbourn, Outhwaite, Peet, Podoloff, Pumpelly, Randolph, Reilly, Rivers, Robb, Rodie, Royce, Sawyer, Seabury, Slocum, A. C. Smith, E. Smith, E. F. Smith, T. Smith, Stackpole, Stewart, T. P. Swift, Thomas, Tompkins, Walker, Wallace, Wayland, Weiss, Weller, Wheeler, Williams, Wiman, Woodman, Young.
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BIOGRAPHIES
DEAN ACHESON. Secretary of State; address, Department of State,
Washington 25, D.C .; residence, 2805 P Street, Washington 7.
Acheson managed to find time to send us factual data early in May. For the rest we refer you to the public press.
His law practice with the firm of Covington, Burling & Rublee and its successor, Covington, Burling, Acheson & Shorb, continued until 1941, except for six months beginning in May, 1933, when he was Under Secretary of the Treasury, and he practiced with the firm again during the period from July, 1947, to January, 1949. He served as Assistant Secretary of State from February, 1941, to August, 1945, and as Under Secretary from then until June, 1947, and has been Secretary of State since January 21, 1949.
From 1939 until 1941 he was a member and chairman of the Attorney General's Committee on Administrative Procedure and in 1947 was appointed a member of the Joint Defense Board for the United States and Canada. He has also served as a member and vice- chairman of the Executive Committee on Organization of the Executive Branch of the Government. Acheson received the Award for Merit in 1947 and the Freedom House Award in 1950. He has also been decorated with the Swedish Order of Vasa and was given an honorary M.A. degree at Yale in 1936 and that of LL.D. at Wesleyan in 1947 and at Harvard three years later. He has been a Fellow of the Yale Corporation since 1936. He is a member of the American and District of Columbia Bar associations, the Council of Foreign Relations, and the Episcopal Church. He lists his hobbies as gardening and furniture building.
Acheson's marriage to Alice Stanley, daughter of Louis C. and Jane Mahon Stanley, took place in Detroit on May 5, 1917. They have three children: Jane Stanley (Mrs. Dudley B. W. Brown), who was born in Middletown, Conn., February 27, 1919; David Campion, born in Washington, November 4, 1921; and Mary Campion (the wife of William P. Bundy, Yale '39), born in Washington, August 12, 1924. David, who graduated from Yale in 1943, married Patricia Castles-John Castles' daughter-and has two children: Eleanor Dean and David C., Jr.
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WILLIAM BENJAMIN ARNOLD. District agent, Northwestern Mutual Life Insurance Company, 143 West Fourth Street, Wil- liamsport, Pa .; residence, 89 Upland Road, Williamsport.
Arnold, who has been a district agent with the Northwestern Mu- tual Life Insurance Company since October, 1920, is now located in Williamsport. He became a chartered life underwriter in 1941 and in 1948 was president of the Leaders Round Table of the Pennsylvania Association of Life Underwriters. The previous year he was a member of the Million Dollar Round Table of the national organization. Arnold has served on the official board of the Pine Street Methodist Church in Williamsport since 1941. He is a Republican in politics and belongs to the local Kiwanis Club. During the period from 1943 to 1945 he did airplane spotting. "Have traveled throughout the United States and a good bit of Canada," he says. "Principal recre- ations are bridge and baseball; no special hobbies, etc."
On September 9, 1919, his marriage to Ruby Eleanor Bell, daughter of A. Lincoln and Mary Bell, took place in Ridgeway, Pa., where their daughter, Barbara Bell, was born on August 20, 1927. She received a B.A. degree at Mount Holyoke in 1949 and at present is on the editorial staff of GRIT at Williamsport.
ROBERT THEODORE ARVIDSON. Lawyer, 800 Bauch Building,
Lansing 8, Mich .; residence, 1534 Lansing Avenue, Lansing 15. Arvidson, who was an attorney with the Metropolitan Trust Company in Detroit at the time our Quindecennial Record was published, sub- sequently became a partner in the firm of Hubbard, Rathbun & Arvidson. He continued in that connection until January, 1937, during the next fourteen years was a partner in Rathbun & Arvidson, and since April, 1951, has been practicing independently. He mentions that he is interested in the legal aid movement, i.e., furnishing ade- quate legal service to persons unable to pay for it, and at present he is serving as chairman of the legal aid committee of both the Michigan State Bar and the Ingham County Bar Association. He is also special assistant attorney general of the state.
Arvidson is a trustee of the Mclaughlin Hospital in Lansing, a trustee of the Wilde Conservatory of Music, and a director of the Chore-Boy Milking Machine Company and the Jessop Estate, Inc. He is a Mason, a member of the Knights Templar, and is unmarried.
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PHILIP OWEN BADGER. Professor of marketing and assistant to the chancellor, New York University, Washington Square, New York 3, N.Y .; residence, 38-08 21st Street, Bayside, N.Y.
Badger, who has been at New York University most of the time since graduation, has been professor of marketing since 1921 and assistant to the chancellor since 1926. He served as chairman of the Univer- sity's Board of Athletic Control from 1930 to 1945 and has long been active in the National Collegiate Athletic Association, being on the executive committee from 1934 to 1944, district vice-president from 1937 to 1939, and president of the national organization from 1941 to 1944. Since 1945 he has been executive director of the New York University-Bellevue Medical Center Fund.
During the war Badger was consultant to the Army and Navy Committee on Welfare and Recreation and chairman of its panel on athletics, also being a member of the National Council on Physical Fitness of the Federal Security Agency and of the Civilian Advisory Committee of the Physical Training Section of the U.S. Navy. Temple University conferred the honorary degree of LL.D. upon him in 1947. He is a Congregationalist and belongs to the New York Yale Club and the Faculty Club at N.Y.U.
His marriage to Herberta Torrey, of Pasadena, daughter of Charles Herbert and Mary Pugh Torrey, took place September 9, 1915, in Portsmouth, N.H. They have three sons. The oldest, Philip Owen, Jr., was born in Portsmouth, September 3, 1916. He graduated from Lafayette in 1938, served as an ensign in the Navy during the war, and is now in the insurance business in Bethlehem, Pa. He married Dorothy Brooks Hampson, of Bethlehem, on September 28, 1940, and has two sons: Philip Owen, 3d, born April 27, 1943, and Douglas Brooks on September 25, 1946. The second boy, Edward Torrey, Yale '41 S., was a captain in the Army Air Force during the war and is still on active duty. He was born May 21, 1919, in New York, and his marriage to Frances Kramer, of St. Louis, took place February 8, 1941. There are four children in the family: Robert Torrey, born March 9, 1943, David Edward on September 27, 1944, Daniel Wil- liam on May 15, 1947, and Joanne Mary on September 10, 1949. The youngest son, Joseph Emery, born July 24, 1924, in New York, graduated from New York University in 1945 and is in the insurance business in New York. On March 18, 1947, he married Ellen Marie O'Hara, of Bayside, and has two sons: Bruce Morrill, born February 20, 1948, and Brian Torrey on June 27, 1950.
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BERNARD MORTON BAILEY. Partner, Bailey & Bailey, lawyers, City Hall, Long Beach, N.Y .; residence, 253 East Market Street, Long Beach.
For some years Bailey practiced in New York City as a member of the firm of Bailey & Bailey. We assume that the above listing indicates merely a change in locale, although he hasn't given us any details on that subject. In any event, his work keeps him very busy, for he says that he has no time for hobbies, although he has taken occasional trips in this country and Canada and usually gets to New Haven for the football games. He served as assistant corporation counsel of the City of Long Beach from 1943 to 1946 and since 1949 has been cor- poration counsel. For the past five years he has also been engaged in real estate development at Long Beach and during the war was active in civilian defense and as a member of the auxiliary police. He is a Democrat in politics.
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