USA > Connecticut > New Haven County > New Haven > History of the class of nineteen hundred thirty-six, Yale College, fifteen-year record > Part 4
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Number answering: 309
None 78
Eight
1
Forty
1
One half 4
Nine
1
Fifty
5
One
33
Ten
14
Fifty-two
5
Two
50
Eleven 1
Sixty
1
Three
25
Twelve
19
Seventy-five
1
Four
27
Fifteen
2
One hundred
4
Five
11
Twenty
7
Three hundred
1
Six
13
Thirty
2
Three sixty-five 3
Average : 11.5 spankings per capita per annum.
Median : 3 spankings per capita per annum.
THE WORLD
1. What was your political affiliation, if any, when you left Yale?
Number answering: 400
Republican 260, or 65%
Democrat 59, or 14.75%
Other 8, or 2% None 73, or 18.25%
2. What is it now? Number answering: 397 Republican 277, or 69.77% Both 3, or .76% None 19, or 4.79%
Democrat 65, or 16.37% Other 33, or 8.31%
3. For whom did you vote in the last presidential election? Number answering: 395
Dewey 297, or 75.19%
Truman 59, or 14.94%
Other 13, or 3.29% Didn't vote 26, or 6.58%
4. For whom would you like to vote in the next one?
Number answering: 376
Eisenhower 159 Dewey 14 Warren 12
Undecided 54 W. O. Douglas 14 MacArthur 8
Taft 54 Stassen 14 Anyone but Truman 8
A good Republican 19 Paul Douglas 12 Truman 7 Three each: An honest man, Fulbright, Charles E. Wilson.
Two each: Chester Bowles, Byrd, Saltonstall, a dark horse.
One each: Baruch, Byrnes, Driscoll, R. M. Hutchins, McMahon, H. C. Lodge, a liberal Democrat, anyone but Taft.
For a Republican : 72.56%
For a Democrat : 10.55%
For Eisenhower : 41.97%
For Taft: 11.6% (more than all Democratic candidates put together). For Truman : minus one vote.
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1936 FIFTEEN-YEAR RECORD
5. Do you think the United Nations will survive?
Yes 311, or 78.88%
Number answering: 394 No 83, or 21.12%
6. Do you think the U.N., as presently constituted, is strong enough to keep the peace? Number answering: 383 Yes 41, or 10.7% No 342, or 89.3%
Do you think the U.N. is gradually being strengthened, to the point where it will be able to keep the peace?
Number answering: 363
Yes 232, or 63.91% No 129, or 35.54% Maybe 2, or .55%
6. Do you think war is inevitable?
Number answering: 401
Yes 144, or 35.91%
No 257, or 64.09%
If yes, when?
1952 19
1957
15
1975 3
1953
24
1958
6
Periodically 4
1954
7
1960
4
Sooner the better 1
1955
16
1962
15
Don't know 10
1965
4
Median opinion : 1955
7. How do you think war can be avoided?
Strong armed force 109
Better foreign policy 17
Strengthen and support U.N. 42 World police force 15
Strong U.S., politically, eco-
nomically 31
Get and stay tough with Commu- nism 12
It can't be 23 Honest, strong talk with Russia 11
Collapse of, revolution in Russia 21 Education 10
Stronger leadership in Washing- ton 18 Affirmative action
Religious revival 10
7
Strengthening of all free na-
International cooperation 8
tions 18 Tolerance and understanding 7
ยท Four each: Population control, higher morality.
Three each: World federalism, propaganda, patience, a big stick, free trade, atom bomb, complete disarmament by all.
Two each: Call Russia's bluff, purging of MacArthurites and McCarthyites, follow present policy, mind our own business, remove business from politics, use Quaker theories, negotiated peace.
One each: Kennan theory, contain war in Korea, Golden Rule, less chauvin- ism, get rid of Acheson, improve transportation and communications, no fighting, re-educate Russia, good philosophy between capitalism and socialism.
37
THE CONFIDENTIAL QUESTIONNAIRE
8. Do you foresee a major depression?
Yes 142, or 37.07%
No 241, or 62.93%
If yes, when?
Soon 1
1957
27
1967 4
1952 9
1957-60
10
1972
3
1953
20
1962
15
After war 15
1954 2
Don't know 6
If yes, why?
Usual cycle
24 End of military
Labor's income too
Inflation 20 spending
6
large 2
Over-production 12
Taxes
4
Government expro-
Unsound government 8 Government debt 4 priation 2
Over-expansion
7 Politics
2 Overpopulation 1
Credit collapse 2 Greed
1
If no, why?
Government defense spending 58 Production bringing lower prices 7
Will be controlled 29 Government aids to business 7
Increased population and demand 19
Learned much before 5
Average buying power greater 10
Three each: Industrial activity, tension, scientific advancement.
Two each: Limited credit factors, shortage of goods, wages can't go down, welfare state.
One each: Business leaders more cautious, increased foreign buying power, people with worthless money have nothing to lose, unsound foreign trade, lowered standards, no gold standard, forewarned is forearmed.
9. Is the world better or worse off, in your opinion, than in under- graduate days? Number answering: 383
Better 187, or 48.82% Worse 142, or 37.08% Same 45, or 11.74% Better materially, worse spiritually 9, or 2.36%
If you think better, why do you think so?
Higher standards of living 30
Understanding of world obligations of U.S. 16
Realization of position of U.S. as world leader 11 Realization of world's interdependence 11 Average man understands more 9
Technical advances 9
Other things are behind us
6
Five each: Little unemployment, society more equalized, control of economic swings.
Four each: Better information on world affairs, people more conscientious, learned a few lessons before.
Three each: No Hitler, less complacency, U.N., educational opportunities, more prosperity for all.
Two each: Less F.D.R., Atom Bomb, know value of preparedness, New and Fair Deal, high production, clearer goals.
One each: More consideration for the individual, higher morality.
Number answering: 383
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1936 FIFTEEN-YEAR RECORD
If you think worse, why do you think so?
Threat of a war 18 World War II and effects 10
Too socialistic 16
Inflation 9
Rise of communism 16 Effects of F.D.R. 9
Russia 12 General ethical breakdown 8
Lack of leadership 12 No sense of security 7
Poor government 11
Lack of moral stamina 5 Atom bomb 10
Four each: People losing initiative, national debt, Truman.
Three each: Nearer to total war and destruction, taxes, uncertainty of future, selfishness.
Two each: False economy, lack of confidence.
One each: Lowered living standards, shortages due to increased population, loss of power, greater risks, unions, increased cost of living, television, facing same situation as before, on world scale.
10. Are you, on the whole, happier now than you were in college, or less happy? Number answering: 387
Happier 295, or 76.23 % Less happy 36, or 9.3% The same 47, or 12.15 % Both 3, or .77% Don't know 6, or 1.55 %
If happier, why?
Have family and home 161
Established situation (financial, social, etc.) 60
Successful and likeable work 35
Have goal in life 31
More mature 30
Accomplishment-doing something worthwhile 17
Independence 15
More self-confidence
15
Better adjusted 14
Broader experience 12
Security 12
Four each: Community life, no problems, satisfaction.
Three each: More understanding, take life as I find it now, creative pro- fession.
Two each: Less selfish, found God, more settled and less restless.
One each: Control over own future, sex.
If less happy, why?
More responsibilities and worries 17 Know more 6
Work too hard 5
World affairs 4 Lack of accomplishment 3
Two each: Threat of war, couldn't be as happy.
One each: Lack of understanding, taxes, no wife-children-home-roots, miss those days and friends.
11. Anything else on your mind?
All answers to this question, except one, have either been eliminated as facetious or referred to the proper authorities. The exception : Can there be anything else ?
THE FIFTEENTH REUNION
By RICHARD A. R. PINKHAM
What has modestly been described as Yale's Greatest Class held a memorable fifteenth reunion.
From as far away as Ceylon (Schoellkopf) to as close aboard as Mory's (Davis) 187 members of 1936 Ac and Sheff came back by boat, plane, train, Cadillac and 1934 Ford to make the New Haven night hideous with wassail. Even Dick Barr came.
What made this occasion special? The program was pretty much like any other class. Everybody gathered in Pierson College. A tent in the Quadrangle. People in the tent. Beer in the people. Normal. A class dinner. An outing at the shore. A hilarious parade to a grue- some baseball game. Common to all reunions without doubt.
So what was so special about this class, about this reunion? Per- haps both questions can be answered by the fact that the reunion col- lected a class which, despite four years of business career spent in engaging the enemy, had been able to produce a Pulitzer Prize Winner (Hersey), Yale's youngest Corporation member (Bingham), the most Yale College Fellows of any class, an overnight millionaire (Harris), two major newspaper editors (Reid and Block), a man who can speak extemporaneously in pure iambic pentameter (Heckscher), America's top ornithologist (Ripley), the presidents of two major U. S. corporations (Havemeyer and Grace), and an impressive spate of less spectacular success stories.
Perhaps, too, it was because most of these men who have made their mark (generally a dollar mark) in life came back, relaxed, had fun. Maybe it was because this was true as well of EVERBODY who came back.
One reason for the unanimity of fun was that the costumes were designed by Reunion Chairman Jack Cates to eliminate any possi- bility of inhibitions. How can any man be stuffy in a tri-corne hat and knee breeches? How can anybody be expected to recognize any- body else when everybody is dressed the same? Who cares what a guy's name is after the fifth bottle of complimentary Budweiser? Carefree, see?
39
40
1936 FIFTEEN-YEAR RECORD
Add to this three perfect days of weather, close proximity to one of the country's best golf courses and it is easy to see that the cards were stacked for something special.
The highlight? Well, the lottery suggests itself. Jerry Roscoe man- aged to produce sixty-five different prizes, donations from members of the class. Everything from two round trip Pan American tickets to Bermuda (won by Pinkham), to a dry oil well in Oklahoma (Pine), from a free delivery of a baby if you came to New Hampshire (Bryant), to a pedigreed poodle puppy (Weintraub).
This produced more than $1,500 for the Class and Alumni Fund and the week-end's biggest laughs when Dean Steve Buck drew his own name out of the hopper to win a beautiful prize and Whitelaw Reid won a Sunday subscription to the Herald Tribune.
There were serious moments. Dean Buck and Whit Griswold spoke movingly on Saturday night. An Executive Committee was nomin- ated and approved and a Reunion Chairman for 1956 was designated. But generally the accent was heavily on fun and games. Particularly when wives and moppets swarmed into Pierson College Monday morning for the mad parade to the baseball field. (G. Farham took the cake: 51/2 kids present.) Wives look good after three days of stag existence. Sort of like your first date after three months of prep school. So a blow was struck for family solidarity to cap the climax of a week-end that will be remembered for five years to come-until the terrific 20th.
IN MEMORIAM
DEXTER LORIN ANDREWS.
Andrews was born in Minneapolis, November 18, 1912, the son of Sewall DuBois and Lilla Shepard Finch Andrews.
After leaving college in 1933, he entered business with his father in the firm of F. H. Pfunder, Inc., of Minneapolis. In 1949 he resigned as president of the company and of the Goodrich-Gamble Company of St. Paul to become executive secretary and a director of the Earl Partridge Company, his father-in-law's wholesale dry goods firm in Minneapolis. He was a director of the Lincoln office of the Northwestern National Bank. Andrews was prominent in Community Chest and Red Cross activities, serving as chairman of a division in several Red Cross drives and as general chairman of the Hennepin County campaign in 1948. During World War II he was a Red Cross field director in Texas. He was killed on February 22, 1951, in the same airplane accident at Paxton, Nebr., in which Edmund Pillsbury lost his life.
On November 11, 1939, Andrews married Louise Partridge, who survives him with three children: Sally, born November 3, 1942, Dexter Lorin, Jr., on October 5, 1944, and Grace on June 15, 1948. His mother, a brother, and a sister (the wife of Charles S. Morrill, '25 S.) also survive him.
GARDINER CARPENTER.
Carpenter died in Paris on March 7, 1952. His autobiography, which he had sent in from the American Legation, Saigon, Vietnam, appears on page 82.
EDMUND PENNINGTON PILLSBURY.
Pillsbury was born in Minneapolis, December 23, 1913, the son of John Sargent and Eleanor Jerusha Lawler Pillsbury.
He became associated with the Pillsbury Mills, Inc., in January, 1937, and at the time of his death was vice-president, in charge of
41
42
1936 FIFTEEN-YEAR RECORD
the grain merchandising division. He was a director of Munsingwear, Inc. Because of an eye defect, Pillsbury was rejected for active service in World War II, but was accepted as a civilian flight in- structor, serving in that capacity for two years. He was killed in an airplane crash at Paxton, Nebr., on February 22, 1951-the same accident in which Dexter Andrews lost his life.
Pillsbury was married December 14, 1939, to Priscilla Keator. She survives him with their three children: Priscilla R., who was born in March, 1940, Edmund P., Jr., born in April, 1942, and Joan K., born in September, 1945. He also left his parents, two brothers, John S. Pillsbury, Jr., '35, and George S. Pillsbury, '43, and two sisters, one of whom is the wife of Thomas M. Crosby, '37, and the other of Stanley R. Resor, '39. Another brother, Charles A. Pillsbury, '39, was killed in World War II.
AUTOBIOGRAPHIES
[The names and addresses of those who did not submit autobiographies appear on page 340.]
AMMI HOLDRIDGE ADLER; 457 Forest Circle, South Charleston 3, W. Va.
My job is that of plant engineer with Ohio-Apex, Inc., a division of the Food Machinery & Chemical Corporation. The Thermal Insu- lation Society and the Instrument Society of America are special interests. Hobbies are hunting, gardening, and maintaining a private hunting lodge on Greenbrier River, Pocahontas County, W. Va. On December 10, 1947, I married Lorene Thorn, of Mannington, W. Va.
CHARLES T. ALEXANDER; Box 73, Grosse Ile, Mich.
I am married and have two children, boy and girl. I am employed by the Ford International Division of the Ford Motor Company.
HAYWARD R. ALKER; 501 Alhambra Circle, Coral Gables, Fla.
The request for this autobiography arrived as I was in the middle of renovating one of the old Florida boomtime mansions with the hope that I would stay in one place for a few years and relax in the sun. The renovation includes a swimming pool and some guest rooms; so now we will be prepared for any out-of-town visitors.
My business activities may be disposed of in a few brief words. I resigned as Vice President and Director of George S. Armstrong & Co., Inc., Management Consultants, 52 Wall St., New York City, in March, 1948, after eight years of living on trains and planes. Since that time I have considered myself as being retired but would not be averse to finding some activity in Florida. No more snow, cold, crowds and subways if I can help it. I'll just stick to a few hurricanes.
During the last War, I spent a brief hitch in the Navy as com- mander of an LSD (large steel desk). Oddly enough I was assigned to do management engineering work quite similar to much of my civilian work. I suppose there has to be an exception to prove the rule.
43
44
1936 FIFTEEN-YEAR RECORD
In December, 1949, I was divorced from my first wife, Dorothy Fitzsimmons, and shortly thereafter remarried Miss Louise Crown- shaw. We spent our first four months living on board a forty-eight- foot cruiser at Bahia Mar in Fort Lauderdale, Florida and then be- came earthbound again in a small home on one of the canals in that Venice of America. However, we still were not satisfied with this expansion and so in June, 1951, we moved to Coral Gables into a house where we could really swing a cat without knocking down the walls. So when coming to Florida don't forget to look us up.
In the offspring line I have only three. Twin boys, Hayward Jr. and Henry III, are now thirteen, while my daughter, Charity, is rapidly approaching the age of twelve. At the rate everything seems to occur I anticipate becoming a grandfather only too soon, perhaps in time for our next reunion.
CHARLES BROOKER ALLEN; 183 Gaylord Drive, Waterbury, Conn.
As an embryo accountant, was thinly nurtured by Haskins & Sells, CPA's, NYC, from 1936 to 1941. The stipend being insufficient to get into trouble in the Village, Columbia U, night school extension, took care of my spare time until enough ready cash was accumulated for an MS sheepskin. A new CPA given to the world by New York State in 1939. Lost to public accounting in 1941, joining The American Brass Company's defense plant in Kenosha, Wisc. However, at the request of the president (that one), more active defense status assumed at Fort Sill, Okla., in February, 1942. Probably the oldest and least desirable 2nd louie in the artillery. The Army ground slowly, but fine. In a year I learned the proper position of ornaments, time required to travel to Whiskey Falls, and sundry numbers in the countryside. War was hell, but maneuveurs was worser. Incidentally, has Tennessee ever recovered? So to SoPac, those odd little islands, hopping & skipping with Mac. With Eichelberger's 8th Army, As- sistant Army Artillery officer to Eugene McGinley. A good outfit. Made me a Major when they ran out of regulars. Finally Atsugi Air- port, Yokohoma, 87 points, and the hell with it.
Back in 1946 to the girl I left behind me, and a job with the same Brass Company, to support me until I married her. In September, 1946, Maria Randall (H. L. Randall, '12S) agreed. My training was rusty-I should have given her a thorough audit, as I still have to work. She further shocked me with a nine pound stem winder in November, 1950, named Henry Randall.
The American Brass Company has suffered somewhat and no little, but has so far refused to be overcome. It recently (1951) created a Chief Statistician and neatly neutralized me with this title. In five
45
AUTOBIOGRAPHIES
or ten years I may be able to act like one. Now content with a maxi- mum of three significant figures (one less for secretaries), dandy little averages, curves, charts and all those exotic government forms from LotusLand, D.C.
Not much of a joiner.
Hunt and fish excessively.
Meditate on the foibles of a disintegrating society.
GEORGE WILLIAM ALLEN; 200 Ivy Street, Brookline, Mass.
I married Anne Hathaway in 1946 and now have a three-year old son, Eddie. In five years of academic vagrancy since the war, have rather too successfully evaded the bitch-goddess Success. Except for an interlude as reporter on the New Haven Register, I've been teach- ing English at Columbia, Finch Junior College, Cooper Union, Yale, The University of Connecticut, and Harvard. Am now a Teaching Fellow in Humanities at Harvard, while working for a Ph.D. in the History of American Civilization (baldpate at his A B C's).
For recreation I dig in the garden, go surf-fishing on Cape Cod or Nantucket, and sometimes try to lead political unregenerates to the true faith. For President in 1952, I'm for Truman-the little man who's been right on the big issues like the U.N., foreign aid, Korea, and MacArthur; and who knows a good (Yale) man when he sees him-Dean Acheson. As for recent books, John Hersey's The Wall is one to make us humble --- and proud.
HENRY G. ALLEN; Kenwood Station, Oneida, N.Y.
Since May 6, 1939, 5-count'em-5 children have been added to the population of Oneida. It was on this date that I nearly drove Procter & Gamble into bankruptcy by marrying one of their most able secretaries, Dink Gorman. Dink graduated from Berea College in 1938 and by the spring of '39 had convinced me that making soap flakes was really not the ideal future. So we came back to Oneida where I am now helping Oneida Ltd. revolutionize the sterling silver field through their Heirloom brand.
Although we do have 5 kids, only one, the last, is Yale material. The other four being from the distaff side will probably spend most of their time elsewhere. (Here's hoping that Dorothy Parker's defini- tion of a Yale Prom is not too accurate should they decide to go.)
During the war I was quite active in the National Ski Patrol Sys- tem, ending up as Regional Director for the State of New York. However, our recent purchase of a 200-acre farm has made it neces- sary to withdraw from extracurricular activities and concentrate on the development of bigger and better broilers, pigs, etc. We have lots of fun and we hope some day to make it a profitable business.
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1936 FIFTEEN-YEAR RECORD
We certainly hope that anyone coming within gunshot of Oneida will get in touch with us.
STEWART J. O. ALSOP; 3139 Dumbarton Avenue, Washington 7, D.C.
With my brother Joseph, I am co-author of the political column, "Matter of Fact," for the New York Herald-Tribune Syndicate. I also contribute occasionally to the Saturday Evening Post and the Atlantic Monthly. I was married to Patricia Hankey in England in October, 1944. We now have four children, Joseph W. Alsop VI, Ian Alexander Alsop, Elizabeth Winthrop Alsop, and Stewart Johonnot Oliver Alsop, Jr. During the war I joined the King's Royal Rifle Corps in 1942, transferred to O.S.S. in 1944, parachuted into France to join the Maqui shortly after D-Day, and resigned my commission in 1945. That year I was co-author, with Thomas Braden, of Sub Rosa.
AUSTIN EDWARD ANDERSON JR; 5 Burley Street, Danvers, Mass.
The five years which have transpired since 1946 have witnessed the firm entrenchment of the Anderson family in the life of a small community on the North Shore of Massachusetts. Our second son, Bruce, was born in February, 1948, bringing our family number to four, and in the spring of 1950, we began the building of our first home in Danvers, a town of 15,000 adjacent to Salem and 20 miles north of Boston. Of colonial design, it is typical of conservative New England, even to the traditional old stone wall.
In June, 1947, I left my job with a large Boston department store and became associated with a smaller retail store in Salem. By so doing, I have been able to develop other interests and activities which seem essential to me for a more well rounded life. I am a firm believer that our happiness comes in direct proportion to what we give of ourselves to our families, our friends, and the community in which we live.
Being Superintendent of the Sunday School and moderator of the Congregational church have been stimulating experiences but so has work with the Red Cross, Community Fund and other local civic and charitable organizations. I also count as valuable the time spent as a member of the committee in charge of the rebuilding of our local Town Hall.
Our new home has become somewhat of a hobby, particularly with the out of doors, yet we do have time for occasional concerts, lectures and the social activities typical of a small suburban community.
I still hope to be able to vote for a Republican President next year.
1
47
AUTOBIOGRAPHIES
Although not discouraged, I fail to see how we can possibly achieve any form of stability either at home or abroad under the present administration.
CARL A. ANDERSON; 204 Acacia Avenue, Bethesda, Md.
Right after graduation in June, 1936, I went to work for the Aetna Casualty and Surety Company to learn the insurance business. This was dull stuff in the beginning but improved with time. Following a year in Hartford, Connecticut and six weeks in Buffalo, Aetna sent me to Washington, D. C., which has been home ever since. In 1940 opportunity beckoned in the agency and brokerage field so I said good-by to Aetna. This turned out to be a fortunate move. The sign on the door now says "Vice President and General Manager" of what we fondly believe to be the best insurance house in Washington.
On the day of the Yale-Harvard game in November, 1939, Colonel Philip A. Scholl gave his daughter, Audrea, in marriage in the Army chapel at Walter Reed Hospital. We have a wonderful eight-year-old son Philip, and a suburban home in Bethesda complete with dog, canary and welcome mat.
There was time out during the war for a three-year hitch in the Navy, spent mostly on a destroyer in the Pacific. In spite of bombs, torpedos, kamikazes and typhoons I have not even a scratch, which is why I say I'd rather be lucky than smart. When it was over my two stripes were packed in mothballs and I hope they stay there.
Business has been very jealous of my time but I still manage to play an occasional game of golf, fish for three weeks in the summer and do a little Barber Shop Quartet singing. Yale friendships have been kept alive through the Yale Club of Washington which I have served as Secretary and Vice President.
NICHOLAS C. ANGEL; Antilles Signal Officer, SVC, OPNS and CGD, APO 846, c/o Postmaster, New York, N.Y.
Since the last reporting, I have taken another major step in life's milestones-I have accepted my lifetime vocation, having cast my lot with the Nation's Armed Forces, renouncing private enterprise and wealth for a life of service. Now a Lieutenant Colonel, Signal Corps, Regular Army, am presently serving the nation in one of its hinter- lands performing duties as the Antilles Signal Officer, Fort Brooke, Puerto Rico. My work in Signal activities consists of many interest- ing fields which enrich my personal life. My private life has enjoyed normal growth with healthy and happy fruition-married Jenny Barhaug of Casper, Wyoming, in 1941-three boys for mother Yale. The future? Quien sabe? Most '36'ers know better than I.
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