USA > New Hampshire > Merrimack County > New London > Mirror to America : a history of New London, New Hampshire, 1900-1950 > Part 19
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The ninth season of the Forum, 1941-1942, was announced in the week of Pearl Harbor. That year, for the first time, the meetings were removed from the Tracy Memorial Building to the Town Hall to accommodate all who wished to attend. On Monday evening, December 15, 1941, the theme was "Air Raid Precautions"; a week later the topic was "Emergency Health Plans"; on the last Monday of the year the newly- organized State Council of Defense was explained; and early in January, 1942, the needs of the U. S. O. and of the Red Cross were set forth. A year later, at the very height of the war, in its tenth season the Forum had as its theme, "The Shape of Things to Come," and featured three guest speakers from the State Council of Defense, Attorney John R. McLane of Manchester, Dr. John Gazley of Hanover, and William H. Macurda of Concord. The exigencies of gasoline rationing and other war-time efforts made it inexpedient to continue the Forum after 1943, and it was not revived following the war.
For ten years the Forum gave New London people an opportunity to meet together in a friendly environment and thresh out the great public questions of the time. As the pro- gram for the fourth season put it:11
"The New London Forum is an experiment in adult educa- tion, planned along truly American lines. Every shade of opinion is welcomed; every expression of honest viewpoint is encouraged. No one person does all the talking; no one person is thought of as 'knowing it all.'"
It sought to help the people of the Town make progress in their thinking without either pulling or pushing them, and it endeavored to help those who attended to turn their gaze in- ward and discover in the individual heart and mind the solu- tion to the problem under discussion. It was an experiment in adult education for responsible citizenship, and its impact in Town thinking was not negligible.
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In the winter of 1937-1938 William M. Kidder and B. A. Hoban in behalf of the New London Civic Association insti- tuted the second of New London's intellectual experiments during the pre-war years. These were the "Ask Me Another" programs in the Town Hall on consecutive Monday nights in February and March of 1938, 1939, 1940, 1941.12 The first part of the meeting was devoted to music and community singing led by B. A. Hoban. After twenty minutes of this, Chorister Hoban led the audience in a resounding rendition of an original ditty by him, sung to the tune of one of Walt Disney's "smash hits" in the famous moving picture, "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs":
"Heigh Ho! Heigh Ho! It's off to work we go. We're off once more just to explore How much we know! So, Doctor, ring the bell, Think hard and reason well!
May the bright grow dumb and the dumb grow bright!
Heigh Ho! LET'S GO! ! "
At that point Dr. Squires took over the meeting. Assisted usually by Mrs. Marion Lindsey, Mrs. Almina Smith, Fred A. Todd, Kenneth A. Lord, and William M. Kidder, he directed the contest on a question and answer basis. Teams of five persons each, representing the Grange, the Baird Class, the Women's Adult Classes, the Legion and Auxiliary, the Woman's Club, the King's Daughters, the Masons and Eastern Star, the Fire Company, the Odd Fellows and Rebekahs, and the New London High School, struggled with each other to answer the fifty questions which comprised each evening's contest. It resembled an old-fashioned New England spelling- bee, and was at times genuinely amusing and exciting. When the contestant was unable to answer the query, the audience was permitted to respond. Many were the remarkable feats of memory which characterized these contests, alike on the part of participants and spectators.13 Audiences which packed the Town Hall even on the coldest winter nights testified to the community pleasure in the affairs, and even after the com-
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ing of war compelled their cessation, there were from time to time efforts made to revive them.14
3. Other Intellectual Stimulations and Diversions
The catholicity of New London's interests was by no means limited to the institutions and projects hitherto set forth in this chapter. Many other varieties of edification and diversion were carried out in New London in the half century between 1900 and 1950.
Local people have always enjoyed home-talent plays. As early as 1906 such a dramatic production drew a large at- tendance, including many from outside New London.15 In 1950 a presentation of "The Man Who Came to Dinner" proved so popular that it was given on three successive nights in the New London Town Hall.16 In the earlier years of the century minstrel shows were often presented in New London, with Fred A. Todd acting as interlocutor, and Mrs. Allie J. Sargent taking a leading part. After the new Central School was opened in 1942, each year saw various operettas, plays, and other stage offerings, which invariably attracted a full house.
Many organizations in Town annually observed what they called "Guest Night." At these affairs some outside speak- er was invited and the members were each permitted to bring a guest or guests. In 1921, for instance, Lucia Ames Mead ap- peared at the "guest night" of the New London Woman's Club to lecture on "The New Education."17 During the winter season of 1949-1950, the men of the New London Baptist Church presented three such programs, having as guest speak- ers David Heald, Manager of the Mount Sunapee Chairlift; U. S. Senator Charles W. Tobey; and State Highway Com- missioner Frederick N. Clarke.18 The Elkins Fish and Game Club each year in May concluded its activities by inviting some distinguished authority on conservation to speak at its "guest night."19
The New London public schools had a whole series of intellectual stimulations and diversions. Most of these have already been mentioned in previous chapters, but a few addi-
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tional comments may be made here. The parent-teacher movement came to New London shortly after the high school was opened, and in one form or another has been active in the community ever since. The first meeting of such a group occurred late in 1933.20 In 1944 a chapter of the American Education Fellowship was organized in New London, but it lasted only a year. In 1946 a regular Parent-Teacher Associa- tion was formed; but, since it chose not to affiliate with the national P. T. A. organization, in 1950 it changed its name to Parent-Teacher Club. In 1949-1950 it presented three well- attended programs, addressed respectively by Russell B. Tobey, Director of the New Hampshire Forestry and Recrea- tion Department; Dr. Anna L. Philbrook, Director of the Winant House Child Guidance Clinic in Concord; and Edward R. Ellingwood, Director of the New Hampshire Plan- ning and Development Commission.
Because of the natural beauty which surrounds New London, it has always had an appeal for artists. In 1947 Miss Mary A. Parker of the Art Department at Colby Junior Col- lege began art lessons in the Tracy Memorial Building; this offering was continued and expanded in subsequent years at the Colby Art Galleries. In that same year, Mrs. Elizabeth Blake Ripley, a summer resident, gave art instruction to a group of New London children. In 1949 George O. Draper opened his Sunapee Studio on Burpee Lane in New London, and announced art classes and private instruction in painting during the summer and autumn months.21 Other artists who painted fine works in New London included Mrs. Louise Chard - whose portrait of Dr. Anna Littlefield in the Tracy Memorial Building has already been referred to -, Mrs. Agnes D. Gay, Mrs. Helen Sawyer, Mrs. Bessie Sargeant, Miss Dorothy Sargeant, Mrs. Paul Howard, and Mrs. G. Bartram Woodruff, whose spacious studio on Lake Sunapee was filled with the work of many years.22
The stimulation of the mental interests of children has been a real desire on the part of New London parents. In the summer of 1938 Winifred Little opened her first kindergarten
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for the little folks in Town.23 During World War II the pro- gram lapsed, but after her marriage to Herbert O. Williams she revived her kindergarten efforts, and directed a winter session of such activities each year after 1947. The work of Mrs. William A. Colburn and Miss Helen Eberle with piano and violin instruction for New London youth has been men- tioned in Chapter Six. The efforts of the Town librarians to encourage good reading by the boys and girls have been com- mented on earlier in this chapter. The summertime religious offerings to young people of the New London Baptist Church have been referred to in Chapter Nine, while the swimming instruction program of the Red Cross has been cited in Chapter Eight.
Other aspects of New London's many-sided interests would include the development of a flourishing antique busi- ness by Laurids Lauridsen in the 1940's, and a similar enterprise opened in 1950 by Mrs. Helen Hodge; Frank Butler's speciali- zation in old New Hampshire clocks; the philatelic enthusiasm of various collectors; chess and bridge interest indicated by the activities of many in Town; and the accomplishments of numerous people in arts and crafts. New Londoners for more than two decades danced to the playing of Merle C. Gay's orchestra, founded in 1926; and sang with zest and liking the ten most popular songs written by American composers since 1900.24 In all ways the Town was an alert and stimulating place in which to reside, one that fully lived up to the aspira- tions for community vigor as set forth at the beginning of this chapter.
NOTES FOR CHAPTER ELEVEN
The quotation at the head of this chapter is from an article by Dr. Shapley in the New York Times, June 4, 1944.
1Catherine Pratt, "Standards for New Hampshire Libraries," Bulletin of the New Hampshire Public Libraries, December, 1947. As late as 1950, over 35,000,000 Americans had no ready access to library facilities; New York Times, July 16, 1950.
2Thanks to Mrs. Mary Burpee Macomber, the New London Public Library from its beginning employed the Dewey decimal system of cataloguing. There is an interesting summary of the early days of the New
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London Library in the little volume edited by John D. Quackenbos, James P. Dixon, and Mary B. Macomber, Catalogue of the New London Public Library, Compiled February 1898, Nashua, N. H., 1898.
3The banjo clock on the wall behind the librarian's desk in 1950 was presented in Miss Bartlett's memory by her nephew, Dr. Guy W. Gardner.
4In 1923, for example, the best book reports were written by Leon Bick- ford, Joseph Clough, Ruth Colby, Martha Stanley, Helen Stanley, Richard Lull, and Alice Todd; N. L. T. Rpt. for 1923, p. 42.
5T. C. Records, Vol. 8, p. 9, contains the official vote of thanks to Mrs. Tracy from the community; see also pp. 18-19; the trust agreement itself appears on pp. 26-34. See also the F. J-T., December 23, 1926.
On April 17, 1951 the long-sustained legal tangle was broken when a special Town meeting accepted a gift-in-trust of $100,000 in full settle- ment of New London's interest in Mrs. Tracy's estate. At this same meet- ing the official name of the institution was changed to the Tracy Memorial Library in New London.
6Mrs. Tracy herself vividly described the opening ceremonies and the first decade of the revivified library in a special article in The Speaker, February 8, 1937. One of the fine aspects of the new building was the special quarters arranged for the original "Social Library" of the Town. This had been organized by a group of public-spirited New Londoners in November, 1801. The portrait above the case in which the old "Social Library" was housed in 1950 is that of Josiah Brown, the first librarian.
7From 1926 to 1950 the librarians were as follows: Mildred J. Peaslee, 1926-1936; Mrs. Bertha M. Glassey, 1936-1941; Lennie Messer, 1941-1947; and Mrs. Helen Nelson, 1947 -. Many others served competently as as- sistants. The annual report of the Librarian is printed each year in the Town Report.
8Cf. Lloyd Morris, "Mantelpiece Americana," New York Times Maga- zine, January 8, 1950, pp. 20-21.
9"Not ten towns in the United States the size of New London have so fine a library. .. . " From a letter by Mrs. Helen Kidder Greenaway to the writer, August 15, 1950.
10See Survey of American Forums and Discussion Groups, U. S. Office of Education, Washington D. C., 1941 The New London Forum also kept in touch with the well-known radio program, "The Town Meeting of the Air."
11From the announcement of the 1936-1937 program, in the files of the writer.
12The first "Ask Me Another" contest in New London was scheduled for Monday Evening, February 21, 1938; The Speaker, February 15, 1938.
13One of the regular attendants at the "Ask Me Another" series until the year of his death was Oren D. Crockett. On one occasion - Mr. Crockett then being in his 90th year - a contestant was asked to give the approximate area of Maine as compared with New Hampshire. He was unable to do so. The chairman appealed to the audience. Mr. Crockett rose and gave the precise area, not only of Maine and the Granite State, but of all the New England States, While the audience applauded such intellectual vitality, "O. D." offered to go forward and give the areas of each of the other forty-two States in the Union!
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14Two such efforts were made, one in the winter of 1944 and the other in the autumn of 1948.
15F. J-T., March 22, 1906. The article remarks that those who came from Sunapee to see the local play drove across the ice of Lake Sunapee. In the pre-automobile age this was a common practice in the winter time. A route was staked off across the ice from Sunapee Harbor to Lakeside in New London, marked by pine trees inserted at intervals along the way, and regularly used by travellers between New London and Sunapee or Newport. Information from James E. Shepard II to the writer, June 29, 1950.
16See the announcement in the Neighborhood Exchange, January 28, 1950.
17F. J-T., April 21, 1921. Mrs. Helen Kidder Greenaway told the writer in 1949 that she recalled some of these affairs as being so formal that all present were expected to wear full evening attire.
18 At a similar program in the winter of 1939-1940 Henry J. Hall entertained the men with a demonstration on the trisection of the angle. Mr. Hall was a brilliant man, a former science teacher at The Colby Academy, with many intellectual interests; e. g., see his leaflet, The Old Trisection Problem," privately printed, New London, N. H. 1940, and his book of original poetry in the Fernald Library of Colby Junior College.
19In 1949 the speaker was Governor Sherman Adams of New Hamp- shire; in 1950 Professor Herbert Hill of Dartmouth College, a member of the State Fish and Game Commission, delivered the address.
20F. J-T., December 6, 1933.
21Mr. Draper's announcement was featured in the Boston Herald, June 4, 1950.
22New London's interest in art was reflected in the fact that the Town was one of seven communities selected by the New Hampshire Art Asso- ciation for a showing of its 1949-1950 exhibition circulated throughout the State in that year.
23 The Speaker, August, 1938.
24In their chronological order these were: "Sweet Adeline" (1903); "School Days" (1907); "Shine On, Harvest Moon" (1908); "Let Me Call You Sweetheart" (1910); "Down by the Old Mill Stream" (1910); "I Want a Girl Just like the Girl Who Married Dear Old Dad" (1911); "St. Louis Blues" (1914); "Smiles" (1917); "Star Dust" (1929); and "God Bless America" (1939); cited by Sigmund Spaeth, "Now, the 'Big Ten,' " New York Times Magazine, April 2, 1950, p. 40.
The first piano ever to come to New London was purchased by Governor Anthony Colby in the 1840's. In 1950 it was still in the living room of the Colby Homestead; information from Mrs. Susan Colgate Cleve- land, September 9, 1950.
In the early 1900's the S. S. "Armenia White" during the summer months had an ensemble including a harpist and a violinist who played classical music as the boat cruised up and down Lake Sunapee. Other musical attractions in New London over the years included concerts in the summer season by Boston Symphony Orchestra personnel at Soo-Nipi Park, and special concerts from time to time such as the recital by the duo- pianists, Frances and Arnold Kelley, sponsored by the New London Parent Teacher's Club on August 26, 1947.
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A Summary of Organizations in New London Not Hitherto Described
"We are living in an age in which the various central govern- ments of the nations are trying to bully and cozen their peoples into one great centralized community. That it can be done, socially and economically, I have no doubt whatever, but that it can be managed in terms of the human spirit seems to me very doubtful. To my mind, man is a being made for the small community. . . The primary needs of the human personality are, first, an identity, and second, a task, and it is in the small community that these needs are most likely to be fulfilled in human terms."
- Henry Beston
It has been facetiously said that, if three Americans were to be shipwrecked on a desert island, their first activity would be to organize a club with a president, vice-president, and secretary-treasurer. A profound zest for organization, a characteristic of American civilization from its beginnings,1 has been fully expressed in the life of New London since 1900. Many of the local groups have already been discussed in previous chapters.2 Others have been temporary in existence or of a limited interest only.3 In this chapter certain of the principal organizations of the Town not hitherto discussed will be examined from a three-fold approach: (1) origin; (2) purpose and relation to the community; (3) officers and leaders in 1950.4 The various organizations mentioned are
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classified under six headings - Civic Groups, Fraternal Societies, Patriotic Societies, Youth Organizations, Women's Organizations, and Other Groups.
1. Civic Groups
New London has never had an organization known as a Chamber of Commerce or a Board of Trade, but it has wit- nessed several efforts to form a group similar in purpose. The first of these in the twentieth century was the Village Im- provement Society, established in the summer of 1906.5 This society immediately set to work to plan for a coaching parade and street carnival in August of that year, - a kind of fore- runner of the Hospital Day programs of ensuing decades. Later that season the Village Improvement Society urged all property owners to cut bushes along the roadsides, and thus to improve the appearance of the highways in Town, -6 an anticipation of the appeal of the Garden Club after its for- mation many years subsequently. Despite this energetic be- ginning, the Village Improvement Society languished. In 1914 it was revived under the name, the New London Im- provement Association.7 This, too, had a desultory existence, and in a few years became inactive.
Early in the spring of 1930 the New London Civic Asso- ciation was formed.8 Its first president was Wendell N. Hobbs, while its original secretary was Calvin E. Sargent. Subsequent heads of the organization were the Rev. Harold W. Buker, James E. Shepard II, and B. A. Hoban. During the 1930's the New London Civic Association stimulated local interest in a sewerage system for the Town, developed a municipal bath- ing beach at Little Lake Sunapee, assisted in the "pick-up" work after the great hurricane in 1938, sponsored a skating rink in the winter time, managed the Winter Carnival for a number of years, supported the "Ask Me Another" programs, and performed other constructive community functions.ยบ
The coming of World War II with its manifold efforts and restrictions caused the New London Civic Association to become inactive, and it was not revived after the end of
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hostilities. Fortunately, however, as it became defunct, a new organization sprang into being to continue many of its activi- ties. This was the New London Service Organization Inc., established on February 8, 1944. It was incorporated with the double purpose of perpetuating the memory and spirit of local men and women who served in the armed forces dur- ing World War II, and of furthering patriotic, civic, educa- tional, religious, and eleemosynary activities and institutions in New London. In its first six years it worthily achieved both objectives. Loans to needy veterans were granted from its funds; substantial assistance was given to the building of Memorial Athletic Field behind the New London Central School; memorial trust funds were set up in memory of New London's dead in World War II; moving pictures were pro- vided for the community in the summers of 1949 and 1950; a splendid scrapbook with a page for every veteran of World War II was compiled and presented to the New London Public Library; benches were set along Main Street for the convenience of summer pedestrians; and help was given in the preparation of the New London Town History. Prime mover in the organization since its establishment, and presi- dent in 1950, was Herbert D. Swift.
The enormous popularity in modern America of the "Service Club" was reflected in the establishment of a local Lions Club in 1946. Numbering at the beginning about twenty-five members, the Lions Club took for itself the project of furnishing bleachers to the High School gymnasium for use of basketball spectators. This objective was accomplished, and the seats in use in 1950 were those given by the Lions Club. Despite this useful effort, the Club became inactive in 1947 and has not since been revived. Its first and only presi- dent was Percy M. Thurston.
2. Fraternal Societies
The appeal of the secret, oath-bound society to Americans, rooted in colonial and early national experience, came to a flower in the later nineteenth and early twentieth century.
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The social values and psychological importance of these organizations in American life have been keenly analyzed by such able writers as Arthur M. Schlesinger and Charles Merz.10 So far as local developments are concerned, the influence of several fraternal groups has been notable.
In point of time, the oldest fraternal body in New London is that of the Masons. The local lodge was formed on January 27, 1802, under the name, King Solomon's Lodge, No. 14, F. & A. M.11 For seventy-five years its meetings were held on New London Hill. In 1877, however, the local Masons erected a building of their own in Elkins - the structure now used by the McDonald Electrical Company - and removed their headquarters to the new edifice. In 1909 the Masons, deeming their existing meeting place too small, voted to buy from Mrs. Sarah J. Elkins the so-called "Mechanics Hall" in Elkins, built originally for the use of the employees of the New Lon- don Scythe Works. This hall was dedicated and put into use on May 11, 1910.12 Inculcating morality and brotherly love, Masonry in New London has been a constructive force in many quiet, and unpublicized ways. It has performed numer- ous acts of charity and of community welfare. Two of its mem- bers since 1900 rose to the position of Grand Master of the Grand Lodge of New Hampshire, and to the rank of 33rd degree Mason, Frederic E. Everett and Frederick Cheney. Master of King Solomon's Lodge in 1950 was Merle C. Gay.13
Next to the Masonic Lodge in seniority of organization in New London is the New London Grange, No. 95, P. of H. It was organized in Armory Hall in New London on October 25, 1883.14 Of the fifty persons who joined the Grange in 1883, three were still living in 1950. The society has been active in local affairs from the beginning. In 1885 it held its first "Grange Fair," an annual event in each autumn since that year. In 1895 its own hall on Main Street was built, dedicated, and put into active use. Recognizing from the start the social and legal equality of men and women, the Grange has been a stimulating and leavening influence in the Town. Thirty
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men and women have served as Masters, Victor J. Dean hold- ing that office in 1950.15
Historically third to be formed in the ranks of local secret societies was Heidelberg Lodge, No. 92, I. O. O. F. It was organized on June 17, 1895,16 and has had a vigorous growth since that time. It has sought to exemplify in the life of New London the three links of its emblem, - friendship, love and truth. Heidelberg Lodge erected its own building on Main Street in 1904, and dedicated it in December that year. The lower floor of the building has been utilized for other than lodge purposes. In the years just prior to World War I, Frank Mastin ran a meat market therein. In 1929 the Lodge leased the floor to Fred A. Pressey for a funeral home, for which it has been used since that time. In 1937 the building was en- larged by the addition of a dining room and club room at the rear. The fiftieth anniversary of Heidelberg Lodge was observed in June, 1945. By a happy coincidence that was the year when one of the local members, Guy F. Williams, was Grand Master of the Grand Lodge of N. H., I. O. O. F. Later, Mr. Williams served as Grand Chaplain of the Grand Lodge. Noble Grand of Heidelberg Lodge in 1950 was Harold Dens- more.17
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