USA > Massachusetts > Hampshire County > Northampton > The Northampton book; chapters from 300 years in the life of a New England town, 1654-1954 > Part 20
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Suddenly the college learned with dismay that Mr. Burton was going to be president of the University of Minnesota. Three years later he went to the University of Michigan. Some thought that he would go far in politics for in 1924 he made the nominating speech for Calvin Coolidge at the Cleveland Convention. But it was not so to be. Mr. Burton died on February 7, 1925.
Every administration sets its own particular mark on the col- lege. What shall be said of that of William Allan Neilson whose "unusual qualities of heart and spirit as well as of mind" (to quote one of his trustees) for 22 years pervaded every facet of the col- lege and "by a kind of spiritual alchemy" increased its prestige and that of Northampton throughout this country and abroad?
The country had been five months at war when he came in Sep- tember 1917; a group of alumnae called the Smith College Relief Unit (the SCRU in today's vernacular) had set sail for France there to do such outstanding work as to prove for all time that Sophia's faith in her sex and her college was gloriously justified. Some years later, lest the college forget the services rendered by them and many more Smith women who served overseas, a replica of the wrought iron gates of the Chateau at Grécourt, head- quarters of the Unit, was set up at the entrance to the college and dedicated with the promise: "They shall form a wide gateway through which the graduates of this college will go out year by
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year as ready as were the members of the Unit to dedicate all that they have to the common lot." To support the work of the over- seas alumnae, alumnae and students at home with great devotion raised over $ 100,000. The Rally Day Show, now a "tradition" of Washington's Birthday, was initiated by the students to raise money for the SCRU. (In later years proceeds are often given to local charities.) And the college as its major contribution to the war effort set up the Smith College School for Social Work, little dreaming that 35 years later it would still be functioning as one of the leading schools of its kind in the country.
No story of the college, however brief, can fail to mention the influenza epidemic in the fall of 1918. Town and gown worked together; dormitories were turned into hospitals; faculty and stu- dents with Red Cross training nursed there and at Cooley-Dickin- son Hospital; many students went into the fields to work for farmers in the valley. When the scourge was past, only two stu- dents had been lost. One was a freshman, Dorothea Carlile. The Chime in the College Hall tower that all the city enjoys was given in her memory by her parents, with the stipulation that it was to be played "in times of joy."
During the '20's and '30's the college developed rapidly. Most showy of course was the expansion of the campus made possible by the successful $4,000,000 campaign of 1920, the acquisition of the Capen School property under certain provisions of Miss Bessie Capen's will, the 50th Birthday Gift of the alumnae, and a large sum willed by Miss Mandelle. Enrollment had increased greatly and 10 new dormitories were added, thereby for the first time making it possible to house all students on the campus and make the college in very truth the largest residential college for women in the world. Sage Hall, Scott Gymnasium, Tryon Gal- lery (now recognized as outstanding among college galleries), the Library wing with Little Chapel, the President's House on Paradise Pond were built. Paradise itself was opened to the moun- tain view, its banks beautified, and the Island rose from swampy ground. "It is Paradise regained," someone said, adding thought- fully, "by William Allan Neilson."
So integral a part of the college are its alumnae that the beauti- ful Alumnae House built by them on Elm Street falls naturally into place in speaking of college buildings. Dedicated in 1938 and given to the college, it has opened its hospitable doors to thou- sands of townspeople, alumnae, faculty, students for meetings-
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last year alone the records show that more than 16,000 persons for one reason or another gathered there.
"You have been sent here," Mr. Neilson told the students, "in the hope that you would so use your opportunities that when you return to your places in society you will be able to raise the level of thinking, to clarify public opinion by your knowledge and your honesty. This is your duty to God and man." Everything he proposed was directly or indirectly concerned with this ideal. He cared tremendously for the individual student and the students responded to his friendliness, his Puckish wit, even to his scold- ings, with unstinted devotion.
To list only a few of the accomplishments of his administration: a system of class deans was instituted and the office of warden established-both innovations calculated to make a large college small by giving each student individual attention; the Vocational Bureau was opened, serving both students and alumnae; the num- ber of scholarships and the size of the graduate school were in- creased; the Nursery and Day schools were started; and, most daring and far-reaching of all ventures, the Junior Years Abroad were launched, one of Smith's "firsts" in the educational field. Since 1925, hundreds of juniors in France, Spain, Italy, Geneva, Mexico, have, as Mr. Neilson, a true internationalist, anticipated, done their bit to help create good will among nations and, coming back to the campus for senior year, have been a kind of leaven to aid their fellow students in understanding the cultures of other lands. But the true international flavor is brought to the campus by the large group of students from all over the world who each year make up an important part of the enrollment.
The Alumnae College, initiated by the Alumnae Association but eagerly espoused by Mr. Neilson, was inaugurated; and, in his honor the William Allan Neilson Chair was founded and en- dowed, enhancing the intellectual life of the college by ensuring the presence and talents of distinguished scholars whom it would otherwise be impossible to secure.
In 1925 the Fiftieth Anniversary of the College was celebrated with pomp and circumstance and with deep gratitude that the faith which had inspired this high adventure a half century ago, had constantly undergirded the men and women who had helped to make Sophia's college great.
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Mr. Neilson's activities were not bounded by the campus: he was editor-in-chief of Webster's New International Dictionary and for eight years faithfully went weekly to Springfield to work on it; he was chairman of the Speakers' Public Forums and of the Connecticut Valley Branch of the Foreign Policy Association over which he presided brilliantly. He served Northampton in many ways, as, for example, chairman of People's Institute and of Clarke School. He thoroughly enjoyed his contacts with the business men of the city, and one of the tributes which touched him most were the letters bound in book form which they gave him on his retirement, in token of their respect, admiration, and good will. In fact everybody showered him and Mrs. Neilson with gifts-faculty, staff, Kingsmen, alumnae, students in that spring of 1939. Before and after this date he was given a dozen honorary degrees, and his humanitarian activities went on un- abated until his death in February, 1946 in the college infirmary. "Neilson of Smith in Northampton," metropolitan papers called him. More than 9000 seniors received diplomas from his hand, and a member of his last class said: "He has taught us as no one else could to love, seek, and respect 'whatsoever things are true, what- soever things are lovely-whatsoever things are of good report.' We will think on these things; and with the memory of William Allan Neilson we will go out into the world to fulfill as best we can 'our duty to God and man.'" Surely Sophia could ask no more.
During 1939-40 one of Sophia's most beloved daughters served as acting president. It was a good year because Mrs. Dwight Mor- row (Elizabeth Cutter '96) had done only good to her college all her life: Alumnae Association president, trustee chosen by the alumnae, trustee elected by the Board of Trustees-she is now honorary chairman of the board. Perfect advertisement for Smith everywhere, she performed this crowning service with ability and grace and no mention of personal sacrifice involved, keeping President Seelye's ship on even keel and all hands cheering for its captain pro-tem.
III. THE COLLEGE COMPLETES SEVENTY-FIVE YEARS
It was Mrs. Morrow who told the students about Herbert John Davis, then President-Elect. "He is," she said, "a scholar (17th century literature, Jonathan Swift his special field), a man of in-
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tegrity and experience, and he has those qualities of wit and humor and warmth that we have been accustomed to expect on this campus." The Davises were persons of deep sympathies also: beside their own two daughters they brought with them in Sep- tember 1940 five English children, refugees from the terrible blitz in England, to share the President's House with them, and they also were responsible for placing some 30 more, many of them in Northampton homes.
Long before Pearl Harbor shocked the country into war, the college was bending every effort to train "souls, minds, and bodies to be useful." It was "on call" if the summons came. It did come from an unexpected quarter. In the summer of 1942 there was a telephone call from the Navy: "Will it be possible to establish at Smith College the first Naval Training School for women officers ever to be opened?" Mr. Davis at once consulted the Chamber of Commerce and the Alumnae Association. Reaction was prompt and eager: the city offered Hotel Northampton with the Tavern as quarters for half of the 900 midshipmen anticipated and mess hall for all; the Association offered the entire north wing of the Alumnae House as headquarters; the college offered three dormi- tories and arranged to share athletic fields, equipment, and all buildings needed, besides help in caring for the sick at the college infirmary-bread cast upon the waters, for its present outstanding equipment at the infirmary is partly due to Navy cooperation.
Everyone remembers with pride those stirring days in which town and campus resounded with the briskly marching platoons of the smartly uniformed WAVES. There were commissioning ceremonies monthly in John M. Greene Hall witnessed by deeply moved audiences of town and gown, and when the School closed in February 1945, 9600 young officers had been commissioned. They had come from many colleges; they left with vivid memo- ries of this college and this lovely valley.
Giving up three dormitories in a crowded college meant, of course, the cooperation of the students and they gave it cheer- fully, "moving over" in all sorts of ways and, by the hundreds, climbing into double-deckers. The tempo of town and college was geared to war, and they cooperated closely: War Bond Rallies in John M. Greene, war stamp drives, plane spotting, rationing -the mere words evoke sharp memories. There were classes in laboratory and hospital technic, drafting, map interpretation, nu-
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trition; several hundred students "accelerated," graduating in three years instead of four; there were summer farm sessions, faculty Victory gardens, student shows put on for factory work- ers, canteens for men in service. Men and women on faculty and staff left to serve at the front, in laboratories, in Washington; a number were decorated for distinguished service. And the Smith Victory ship was launched in May 1945.
At last came V-J Day and the difficult days of postwar plan- ning. "We still need the sterner virtues," warned Mr. Davis, "the courage, energy, and loyalty demonstrated in these war years must carry us through reconversion days also." The college, in com- mon with other institutions, was understaffed, many of its per- sonnel still away. It was learned that Smith scientists were sought for and used more than those of any other woman's college; their contributions to radar, anti-sub, and atomic bomb projects were notable. In 1946 the U.S. Army, through the Springfield Ord- nance District chose Smith as the only woman's institution in which to set up a branch peacetime gage laboratory to be avail- able for training reserve officers of this valley. It will be remem- bered that Smith was the first woman's college to set up an atom smasher (1940), and the first to establish a Genetics Experiment Station (1942). Important work in research is constantly being carried on under various government and foundation grants in the science laboratories.
Commencement of '46 was again "normal," reunions and red roses as in prewar days; and with a long look ahead plans were laid to raise a 75th Anniversary Gift of $7,000,000. In October the campaign started with a rush all over the country-the alum- nae had promised $4,300,000 by June '47 and there was no time to waste. With prodigious work and a kind of gaiety that goes with all Smith endeavor, their goal was reached, the check pre- sented, and the money put to work. The salary scale was again ad- justed, the curriculum enriched to meet the demands of a chang- ing world, new and fascinating interdepartmental majors, for instance, made returning alumnae long to come back and start college over again. Work on a central heating plant, long desired for economy's sake, plowed the campus into unsightly, muddy trenches; a storehouse and maintenance plant were put into opera- tion on West Street; and a colorful, sparkling student center was miraculously evolved out of drab Faunce Hall. It was dedicated
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in May '49 and named the Davis Student Centre, "to perpetuate the love the undergraduates bear their president."
For a year the college had known that Mr. Davis, scholar and teacher by profession and predeliction, was no longer able to re- sist the temptation to return to the life of a scholar; he had refused several offers, but his own university, Oxford, claimed him, and the Davises left before September 1949 ushered in the Diamond Jubilee Year. It was, however, Mr. Davis who announced the coming anniversary to all friends of Smith College, as follows:
"To be three-quarters of a century old is to become aware of a certain dignity, a consciousness of grateful pride; but we know also the responsibility it brings. For at a time of expanding oppor- tunity the college is still young; it is involved in a continuing story. We shall try to present a program in harmony with this realization; remembering the idealism inherent in the founding of the college, the adventure that it was; remembering the achieve- ments of its graduates and its faculty; confident of its present and future steadfastness in high purpose and of its sensitive response to the needs of a changing world."
Even Mr. Davis' story at Smith was a continuing one for the Class of 1950, the Seventy-Fifth Class, invited him to be its Com- mencement speaker, and he and Mrs. Davis celebrated the 75th Anniversary at the Smith family party in June.
And Benjamin Fletcher Wright, professor of government at Harvard, came in September 1949, to be president. He and Mrs. Wright are Texans, graduates of its university, but with a goodly dash of New England after his 23 years on the faculty of Har- vard and Radcliffe.
October 19-20, 1949 were red letter days in the history of the college for with them the curtain rose not only on the Inaugura- tion of its fifth president but on the opening celebrations of this gala year. Surely "Northampton" was on everyone's lips for to this meadow city came as honored guests representatives from state and federal governments, delegates from universities in this and other lands and from learned societies. Alumnae, and stu- dents in white with colored ribbons, were frankly bursting with excitement and pride. Everywhere for these two days were pageantry, brilliance, and rejoicing.
The President of Harvard, James B. Conant, made a delightful speech at the impressive Inauguration exercises. He did not say,
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as did one of his predecessors at the Commencement of '79, that Smith College was a "dubious experiment." Instead, with a rue- ful smile he expressed pleasure at being invited to "the robbers' nest" and accused the trustees of being "academic body snatchers" when they stole Professor Wright from Harvard. The 20th was Convocation Day: in the morning, indoors with distinguished honored guests addressing a breathless audience, and in the after- noon in the incomparable setting of the Great Quadrangle-a perfect amphitheatre seating 4000. There were trumpets, proces- sions of faculty, delegates, honorary degree candidates, all in colorful academic regalia; there were stunning addresses by emi- nent women (not Smith women, their turn was to come in June), and, as climax, honorary degrees conferred on these women from Mexico, Denmark, France, England, The Netherlands, and the United States who, by their accomplishments in many fields, were a kind of symbol of the progress of women in the 75 years since the little lady from Hatfield wrote: ". .. by the higher education of women .. . their power for good will be incalculably enlarged."
President Wright presided over these occasions as to the man- ner born. No easy initiation for a newly-inaugurated president! But being president of a large college is no easy task at best and if a War or a Jubilee be added to the business of administering the complicated, completely intangible, but very-much-alive thing called Smith College, its presidents rise to the occasion.
Came the Great Day in June! Out came the flags and the ban- ners. Main Street was gay with decorations as Northampton with generous hand joined the college in celebrating 75 years of life together. That $2 5,000 risked so long ago had indeed yielded rich dividends to both. There was pageantry in the Great Quadrangle, pageantry and excitement. Had the Herculean efforts of the past year demonstrated enough faith, and was it faith with works? The check was presented, $7,000,042, and Mr. Wright said: "Smith alumnae never fail," and he added, "The enormous success of this campaign has added many cubits to the stature of education in this country." That was the real triumph of the Diamond Jubilee.
It takes a lot of money to run a large college, and although it is true that the original endowment of less than $400,000 has in- creased to 13 millions, it is also true that the endowment of Smith College per student is still less than that of any sister college in its
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group. It is most generous in giving scholarship aid; for the cur- rent year, $258,000 has been allocated for this purpose.
Smith College is "involved in a continuing story," indeed, and administration, faculty, students, alumnae write their several parts in all its changing phases. Mr. Wright continues the fine talks at assembly made famous by Smith presidents since the be- ginning; under him the salary scale has again been adjusted, and the faculty has again enriched the curriculum. The Wrights have traveled to the Smith clubs across the country and to the Junior Year groups across the ocean. And across the ocean also, en- couraged by the State Department, has gone a group from the Smith Glee Club to sing in many countries. So successful was the first tour that it was repeated the second summer, and in the summer of 1953 a similar group enlivened the dreariness of Air Force bases in the Azores, Iceland, and Newfoundland by their vivacious programs. The invitation, all expenses paid, came from the Army.
Men and women of the faculty-some 250 instead of the three in '75-continue to bring distinction to the college by their achievements and to identify themselves in many ways with social-service, religious, and civic organizations of the city. At present the college purchasing agent is president of Rotary; the college treasurer is treasurer of Cooley-Dickinson Hospital; and the college pays three of its faculty to teach student nurses of the hospital. Smith students do volunteer work there as well as with Red Cross, Girl Scouts, and Children's Aid. Students in govern- ment courses help at party headquarters at election time-a two- way benefit-and students making up church delegations go into the hill towns to lead discussions, teach Sunday school or even to preach. As mentioned earlier, many of them teach at Peoples' In- stitute-in fact classes there are suspended when the college is on vacation.
It is good to live in a college town. Where else could one get so much stimulation and entertainment for so little expenditure of time or money? Faculty recitals, Smith symphony, choirs, and glee club, concerts by the finest visiting artists and orchestras, art exhibitions, science lectures-a rich feast which the college shares year after year with the town.
The Seventy-Fifth Birthday over, the college with an enroll- ment of some 2200 moves confidently into the last quarter of its
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first century. Freshmen come; seniors go-more than 27,000 alum- nae have gone through the college gates since those 11 black-silk clad young ladies of 1879 went out to brave a doubting world. Hundreds of them by their accomplishments have added to the prestige of their Alma Mater. The world changes with the pass- ing years, but the spirit of Smith College does not change. A liv- ing organism, with a distinct personality of its own and an abounding vitality, the college dares to believe that Sophia's hopes for her institution will be realized: "I would have it be a perennial blessing to the country and the world."
PART IV Earning a Living
Chapter Twenty-Six
Industrial History: 1860-1900
By ARCHIBALD V. GALBRAITH
B Y 1860 Northampton, now a town of 6788, had come a long way in its development from the pioneer settlement of 1654. Gone long ago was the danger from Indian at- tacks which had forced the early inhabitants to a common self- defense, but still valid were the traditions of independence, venturesomeness, thrift, resourcefulness, and concern for the common welfare. As the town grew from a small outpost on the fringe of civilization to a settled community, largely agricultural, but with enough artisans to forge the tools and produce the sup- plies needed to make it self-subsisting, and subsequently de- veloped into the business and industrial center of a considerable countryside, the same traits of character and enterprise which had marked the early settlers persisted in their descendants. Many signs of it, too, lingered in the profusion of homely trades and crafts carried on by its citizens.
During the Civil War years the sudden need for improved fire- arms and military supplies of many sorts, and in greater volume than ever before, had quickened the mechanical inventiveness of the country and its technological effectiveness. The forerunner of modern mass production with its assembly line can be seen in the production of firearms with interchangeable parts. Likewise the conversion of plants to war needs, such as farm tool com- panies to bayonets, ramrods, and gun barrels, stimulated the me- chanical skill of the workers.
With the end of the war this mechanical skill went back into peacetime manufacture of goods for which the pent-up demand of the war years had made people eager. Other factors contributed to the increased pace of industrial production. This was the time in which steam power, first used here tentatively in 1857, be- came increasingly effective and began first to supplement and then gradually to replace the water power of Mill River. This
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process was accentuated in 1874 by the destructive Mill River flood, but even in 1875 water furnished 37 per cent of the horse- power used.
Up to the 1860's ownership of the industries was generally vested in an individual or in a small group of partners; few were incorporated as stock companies. Beginning in 1861 the com- panies began to incorporate, a process which meant a much greater spread in ownership, in risk, and in distribution of profits, at the same time making it easier to secure capital for expansion.
Another element, only just made available, was the National Bank Act of 1863. This greatly strengthened the confidence of people in the soundness of their banks and thereby removed one of the obstacles to a wider use of their credit in business transac- tions. In 1865, Northampton was served by three National Banks. At the same time transportation to distant markets was much fa- cilitated by the continuing expansion of railroads. Northampton was now served by the Connecticut River Road and the New Haven and Northampton Railroad; after 1887 the Central Mas- sachusetts was added. Locally the Northampton Street Railway began operations in 1873. Business was still further facilitated by the greater speed and convenience of communications. A West- ern Union telegraph office was opened at the Railway Depot as early as 1860, and in 1880 the Western Massachusetts telephone service was begun. For the protection of property a Fire Depart- ment had been organized in 1857. A full-fledged Police Depart- ment waited till the town was organized as a city in 1884, thus making superfluous the Northampton Society for the Detection of Thieves and Robbers which had been in existence since 1782. The town water works began operations in 1871 and by 1884 was serving 1647 families. Not until January 1, 1886 was the Cooley Dickinson Hospital opened, but in the meantime there were sanatoriums and water cure establishments. In 1874 there were listed in the town directory, 2 nurses and 15 physicians in- cluding a Clairvoyant Physician who advertised to prescribe on receipt of a lock of hair. A Public Library was early provided and in 1864 a Young Men's Christian Association was organized.
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