Twenty-fifth reunioners may still recall the opening days of their final half year at Harvard, a year that has gone down as the last of an era in the nation and in Cambridge.
Rumors were widespread along the Gold Coast and throughout the Yard that the College would have to be recessed because of increasing cases of influenza, but the big news of the opening year was that Coach Arnold Horween '29 would return to lead the football team toward another highly successful year. The announcement gave further encouragement that 1929 would prove a fitting climax to the Roaring Twenties.
A warning sign appeared in the University daily (buried on the back page) during the first week of the winter term. The CRIMSON noted that a new book of Dutch satirical cartoons had been added to the Baker Library that might be "of interest in connection with the present stock market decline..." This momentary awareness of economics was immediately dropped, however, for more important discussions of the feasibility of Senator Kellogg's efforts toward world peace.
Ordinary activities marked 1928-29 as the latest in a series of Prohibition years. Undergraduates of the time will undoubtedly recall Old Golds' frantic "not a cough in a carload" campaign, and the company's resulting painful honesty in reporting that only at Harvard did any other cigarette prove more popular than its own.
On May 28, 1929, Mary Pickford appeared at the UT in her first "talkie," Coquette, and the freshly established "Air Colleges" were trying to attract "university men" to their summer courses in sport and stunt flying. The Illinois Retail Clothiers Association predicted that the college student for 1929 would wear a light gray suit, black shoes and a soft collar with rich cream tie.
The University was characterized by increasing immortalization of "Harvard indifference." President Lowell, the preceding fall, had announced plans that were to attack both the worst forms of this indifference and the general form of living. But the "rat" houses along the Gold Coast were still the home of the elect. The CRIMSON still felt called upon to defend the buildings in their Indian summer from the observations of the Cornell Daily Sun.
Polo Team Undefeated
Captain and Third Marshal Forrester A. Clark was then leading his polo team to an undefeated season. Under the coming depression, this sport would be among the first to drop from among the foremost group of minor sport activities. The squash team, which attracted more members of the College in the winter term than any other, again sent its best players Northward ostensibly to compete in the Canadian Championships. The preceding winter, one of the Crimson players had won the tournament, but his main objective in competing had been to bootleg whiskey back across the line into the country.
R. S. Morison '30 caught the flavor of the times with his Kiplingesque verse, "Back Bay."
"Come you back to old Back Bay,
Where they turn night into day;
Can't you hear the bass drum boomin' in
the Ball Rooms of Back Bay?
On the Road to Old Back Bay
Where the bean and codfish play,
And the dawn comes up to wonder
at the dancin' in Back Bay.
On the Road to Old Back Bay,
You may flunk out on the way,
Oh, it's paved with good intentions is
the Road to Old Back Bay.
On the Road to Old Back Bay,
Where the Boston matrons pray,
Pray for husbands for their daughters
Out of Harvard 'cross the way".
F.D.R. Visits
Members of the Class of '29 will perhaps remember other, less typical signs, foretelling a New Deal future. Franklin Delano Roosevelt '04, newly elected governor of New York State, made three trips to Cambridge during the College year, twice to speak to undergraduate groups in the Union, and the third time on Commencement Day to receive an honorary degree. Innumerable Harvard alumni undoubtedly marvelled at a later date that their University could have bestowed an honorary Doctor of Laws degree upon FDR with the citation: "...A statesman in whom is no guile."
Arthur M. Schlesinger, professor of History, who resigns this year, was already attacking the G.O.P., as Hoover and Governor Alfred Smith faced each other for the presidency in the fall of 1928. Forty members of the faculty joined Schlesinger in charging, "the G.O.P, reeks of oil," but undergraduates ignored this plea for progress and lined up solidly behind Herbert Hoover.
Perhaps the biggest news of 1928-29 was the coming House Plan. President Lowell marked the approach of his twentieth year with the announcement that his greatest wish would be fulfilled: the College would be subdivided. It was a major news event that inspired much unfavorable criticism from the Class of 1929.
The CRIMSON pictured the College "at the crossroads of her social and educational progress." Guided by President Alan R. Sweezy, managing editor Richard A. Stout, and editorial chairman George Weller, the daily decided it would rather have men "shape their own intellectual destiny and their own breadth of social direction... than to have that destiny and breadth bestowed upon them." This scholarly protest was largely lost amid the vehemence that arose from the 40 Bow St. establishment, however.
The original House Plan announcement was followed by subsequent ones during the fall of 1928, proclaiming enlargement of the $3,000,000 gift, approval of the plan by the faculty, and appointment of Messrs. Greenough and Coolidge as the first masters. When a Student Council committee headed by James DeNormandie and Arthur E. French came forward with a plan that would form a New Yard for the Houses on the land surrounded by Boylston, Mt. Auburn, and DeWolfe Sts., the Lampoon rebelled.
The result was the magazine's "Revolt of the Masses" number roundly attacking the House Plan. The attack was so strong that Lampy's graduate trustees threatened to resign unless the editors personally apologized to Edward S. Harkness, donor of the Houses. But President Alan R. Blackburn, speaking for the Bow St. aviary, made it clear he planned no retraction.
"In two days," his statement ran, "the Lampoon has precipitated morke frank and reasonable comment than months of CRIMSON editorials and whisperings in the parlor have done. Unfortunately, to the rest of the country, Lampy's attack has been branded as a personal ridicule of Mr. Harkness...." Then he went on to protest Lampy's serious intent.... But all the undergraduate criticism made little difference, as the administration began to plan the initial steps of construction that was to lead the House system of today.
On the athletic scene, the football team's victory over Yale provided remission from a disappointing athletic year in which a double loss to Yale in baseball was more typical.
The '27 football season proved its worth as a training ground for '28. Despite the gridiron loss to Yale, French had shown himself a fast and deceptive halfback under Coach Horween's double wings attack, and had been named captain for the coming season. John Tudor climaxed a brilliant season at left wing by being elected captain of the 1928-29 hockey team. Forrester Clark was elected leader of the crew. In the winter and spring of '28 J. L. Reid was already showing the outstanding long distance form that was to bring him the '29 track captaincy. R. B. Whitbeck was the Class' only junior captain, of the tennis team, which he led again the following spring.
Socially, the junior year was climaxed by the annual prom in Mem Hall. The Junior Dance Committee, amid waning interest, staged the last of many dances to be held in the building. The Committee, composed of R. A. Stout, A. T. Hartwell, F. B. Grant, J. H. Sachs, James Lawrence, chairman Sweezy, and treasurer James deNormandie, sat daily in the Lampoon building waiting for members of the Class of '29, who might have been overlooked, to report for assignment to one of the boxes surrounding the dance floor. But with only ten days remaining until the March 2 date, the committee still needed 100 couples. Bert Lowe's orchestra blared mightily, but much of the Class failed to turn out. The lack of enthusiasm was sufficient to arouse the next junior class (1930) to rise up in revolt against the dreary confines of Memorial Hall and stage its dance in the Union.
80,000 in Stadium?
The trend toward increased emphasis on Harvard football during the junior year was dramaticized by the plea of athletic director William J. Bingham for a stadium capable of housing 80,000 spectators. Throughout the spring term the argument raged back and forth, as the Corporation postponed final decision. Finally, on June 1, the governing body voted to replace the condemned wooden stands with concrete seats. But the following fall permanent concrete stands were found to be too expensive and permanent steel stands were constructed to enclose the open end of the stadium.
The spring of 1928 marked the beginning of one of the most unique contests in the history of the College. Mrs. William L. Putnam had given $125,000 to the University so that Harvard could carry on scholastic contests with other institutions. One member of the Class of '29, L. James Rittenband of Brooklyn, N.Y., was included on the first team picked to represent the College against Yale. Also on the team was a senior from Council Bluffs, Ia., named Nathan Marsh Pusey. After the special examination papers had been marked by outside professors, it was announced the College had decisively topped Yale. Rittenband was fifth behind two Harvard and two Yale students. First in the contest was the young senior from Council Bluffs, Ia.
On the athletic fields in the spring of 1928, many of the men who were to shine a year after as seniors were making themselves known. On the outstanding ball team, Howard Whitmore pitched sparsely but effectively, while G. E. Donaghy and John Prior established themselves as leading batsmen. Twelve members of '29 received track letters, the most outstanding of these being captain-elect Reid, who captured the two mile run in the IC4A championships at the Stadium. Other '29 trackmen were A. E. French, R. G. Luttman, and G. A. Tupper.
The University crew at Red Top was stroked by a junior, John Watts, with other '29crs at how, number three, number six, and number seven. These were J. DeW. Hubbard, W. T. Emmet, captain-elect F. A. Clark, and Guy Murchio. Allerton Cushman, B. J. Harrison, and C. MeK, Norton were on the second boat, while James deNormandie, F. E. Farnsworth, F. B. Lee, and J. A. Swords pulled on the first 150 pound crew.
In non-athletic events, the Pudding Show "Not Now Later," with J. W. Valentine in the lead as demuro Faith Mather, received rave reviews during its extended tour. Others in the cast were T. S. Kennan, J. R. Bird, B. W. Stevens, J. O. Ross, F. L. Spalding, and G. P. Davis. R. M. Whittemore helped complete the lyrics. For the H.D.C.'s spring production of "Hassan" F. L. Anderson did the score, while H. R. Thayer acted in the lead.
On June 7, 1928, junior ushers to assist head usher Arthur E. French were announced. They were: Winslow Carlton, James David Guarnaccia, Thomas G. Moore, Edward W. Sexton, Richard A. Stout, John Tudor, and William S. Young-man.
1929 saw all those men assume leading roles.
The early season worries that surrounded football practices n Soldiers Field proved to be only those of a talented and powerful team rounding itself into shape. The team's inability to cope with a passing attack was the only weakness that plagued it seriously throughout the season. Coach Horween and his staff scanned ranks of candidates for the two end positions (among them F. A. Pickard, S. C. Burns, and Prior) to find someone capable of checking the potent pass-catchers the team would face in the coming season.
Springfield and North Carolina also had their worries, however, as they tried unsuccessfully to stop Captain French's and David Guarnaceia's running and lateraling. The line, under the coaching of R. J. Dunne, was proving itself one of the most formidable in years. In the Army game, the forward wall did a splendid job in stopping the Cadets' famed running attack, but fumbles and a weak Crimson pass defense cost Harvard a 15-0 defeat.
Yale Defeated
Dartmouth's highly-rated eleven, however, could not withstand the sustained power of the Crimson and fell, 19 to 7. But then, after the second team trampled Lehigh 39 to 0, the Crimson was outplayed for the first time that season, by Pennsylvania, 7 to 0. A scoreless tie with Holy Cross set the stage for Harvard's first triumph over Yale since 1922.
French and Guarnaccia were the standouts on November 24 for the Crimson. Their brilliance was made possible by the hard-charging line, which, as the CRIMSON reported, "tore the Blue to shreds and paved the way for Harvard's return to football prestige." From the moment early in the first period when Pickard fell on a Blue fumble, the Crimson eleven remained unchecked, and for the only time that fall mastered an opponent's passing attack by intercepting five Yale forward attempts.
Eleven members of the senior class received their letters: Pickard, Prior, T. H, Alcock, John Parkinson, B. H. Dorman, F. A. Clark, David Shaw, S. C. Burns, George Crawford, French, and Guarnaccia.
Winter sports, in terms of victories, did not measure up as successfully as might have been expected, although the polo trio did come through a nine-game schedule undefeated. The squash team was the only other winter aggregate to top Yale. The hockey series with the Elis, though going to the New Haven sextet in three games, will be remembered as one of the closest and hard-fought on record.
The Blue suffered its initial loss of the season to Captain Tudor's six, 2 to 1, in the opener, but them fought back to square the series. Those who saw it undoubtedly still remember vividly the third game played at New Haven. Yale took a 2 to 1 first period lead, but the injury-riddled Crimson without regular goalie O. P. Jackson tied the score in the second. It remained tied through two overtime periods and part of a third before Nelson, and Eli substitute, broke through to sink the winning goal.
Rhinelander Nominated
June of 1929 saw a superb baseball team beaten in two games by Yale despite fine fielding by Captain Donaghy, and crucial hits by Prior and Durkee. Captain Clark's crew had a mediocre season under the tutelage of Coach J. C. Brown, as it twice placed third in triangle regattas. After experimenting all year, Brown finally settled on James Lawrence, an Olympic four oarsman, as his stroke for the New London race.
Half a year earlier, the senior class had voted for its officers. Nine men; Winslow Carlton, Forrester A. Clark, James de Normandie, Arthur E. French, Jr., David Guarnaccia, James L. Reid, Richard A. Stout, John Tudor, and William S. Young-man, Jr. were nominated for marshals; Hulburd Johnston and Alan R Sweezy for treasurer; John K. Fairbank, Lawrence T. Grimm, and Norman Winer for orator; Alan R. Blackburn, Peter J. W. Bove and James H. Sachs for Ivy Orator; Robeson Bailey and Peter I. Dunne for poet; Philip Hichborn and Chauncey D. Stillman for odist; and James R. Carter, Richard S. Holden, and Philip H. Rhinelander for choristers.
Disregarding the CRIMSON's full page ad from "Vanity Fair" asserting that true popularity could only be gained through monthly perusal of the magazine's aesthetic pages, the Class of 1929 chose athletes for the three top posts. French, Guarnaccia, and Clark were elected marshals. For other positions CRIMSON president Sweezy was named permanent treasurer, and Advocate president Bailey, class poet. Grimm, president of the Debating Union, was appointed class orator, while Lampoon leader Blackburn took the Ivy Orator post. Holden was chorister, and Stillman, another Advocate editor, was elected odist.
Ill Fated Fiesta
In the dramatics field, Charles Leatherbee H.D.C. president, recovered from illness in time to take over as director of the club's ill-fated production "Fiesta." Miss Gloria Braglotti has been secured to "execute the exotic, primitive dance which climaxes the siesta scene in the play," and F. A. Pickard was in the cast for the world premiere. Eugene O'Neil bad called "Fiesta" the best example of Mexican peon life he had ever read; the author was even journeying to Cambridge to see his play staged. But the long arm of decency stopped in after several complaints from spectators that the play was "crude and immoral." Three days after it opened, the mayor of Boston banned the production.
The Pudding had its own troubles, but none so serious as those of the H.D.C. The organization first planned to perform one of its old shows, but existing facilities were found to be inadequate, so George Weller agreed to write a new book. The theatrical group, however, was already beginning to be plagued with union expenses. The Pudding was charged $110 after privately transporting its scenery to New York. Union labor halted the Pudding truck outside its destination, the Mecca Temple, and presented the bill for carrying the sets inside, a distance of four feet.
Then came graduation. It was amid the presentation of honorary degrees to Franklin D, Roosevelt, Charles Francis Adams, Senator Kellogg, and Serge Koussevitsky on June 20, 1929, that the largest number of University students ever to receive degrees up to that time marched into the Sever Quadrangle. Among the 1,957 degrees presented, 695 went to members of the Senior Class.
Now, twenty-five years later, many of those 695 recipients have returned to Cambridge for the first time since they graduated. If any bother to recall old days this week, they will be remembering a departed era in Harvard history--an era of eating in Georgians and living in scattered apartments and rat houses--an era the Class of 1929 brought to a close.
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Dramatic Club to Give Production At Boston House
