<\/p>\n
Last week I told you about some old programs of Coburn graduations.Tonight I want to mention a few old programs of Colby College, dealing both with commencement and with other events.<\/p>\n
First let us take a look at the class of 1888, the class represented by our distinguished elderly citizen, Albert F. Drummond. When they were juniors, in 1887, Commencement came the week of the Fourth of July. What was at one time called Junior Class Day, and by 1887 had come to be combined with Presentation Day, in that year actually fell on the holiday itself. For several years it had been the custom for each junior class to present to the college the gift of a classical plaster statue for the big reception room, known as the Alumni Room, above the chapel on the second floor of Memorial Hall. When I came to Colby as Librarian in 1923, that room had been turned into a reading room, but along its walls and in every corner were those plaster replicas of Greek statues.<\/p>\n
The gift of the Class of 1888 was a statue of Diana and the Stag, which was duly presented by the Class President, J. A. Shaw, on that Fourth of July, 1887. The accompanying Junior Class exercises included an oration by W. B. Suckling and a poem by Charles Hovey Pepper, son of George Dana Boardman Pepper, once President of the College and earlier pastor of the Waterville Baptist Church a man who spent most of his long life in Waterville, highly respected and loved.<\/p>\n
A year later, on July 6, 1888, the same class held its Senior Class Day program and on the following day received their diplomas. That class program included an oration by Henry Fletcher, a poem by Addison Lorimer, the class history by Walter Suckling, the prophecy by Royal Tilton, the address to undergraduates by Emery Gibbs, and the parting address by Martin Howes.<\/p>\n
Some time during the last forty years the composing and singing of a class ode went out of existence. But we had one when I graduated in 1913, just as, like that class of 1888, we smoked the ancient pipe of peace and marched around to cheer each of the college halls. But that Class Day of 1888 heard the singing of no fewer than three different class odes. There was an opening ode to the tune of “Home. Sweet Home”, a pipe ode to the tune of “Over the Banister”, and a parting ode to the tune of “Annie Laurie”. To any listener tonight who ever witnessed a Colby Class Day in the years before the First World War, the opening lines from that 1888 pipe ode will bring memories:<\/p>\n
“Bring out, dear classmates, the Pipe of Peace,<\/p>\n
And as the smoke over it hovers,<\/p>\n
May it sorrow and care release,<\/p>\n
As each its joy discovers.<\/p>\n
Relic it is of days of yore,<\/p>\n
As we read in our college story.<\/p>\n
Solace to hundreds who’ve gone before<\/p>\n
On the shining path of glory.”<\/p>\n
When Bert Drummond’s class of 1888 were juniors, the class ahead of them contained men who would win marked distinction. Best remembered in that class was the Maine author Holman Day, who wrote that inimitable narrative of Maine lumbering, “King Space”. Equally well known were his “Maine Ballads”, including the humorous account of the Steamboat Ezra Johnson, that got lost in a Kennebec fog, and found itself stranded on a Sidney meadow in the early morning dew.<\/p>\n
A close friend of Holman Day’s, as long as the author lived, was Harvey Eaton, creator of the district system of public utilities, and the man who first brought both electricity and municipal water to this city. Mr. Eaton was one of very few Maine lawyers who held the privilege of pleading before the Supreme Court of the United States.<\/p>\n
Two other members of that class I knew intimately. When I was a resident of Portland and a member of its Central Square Baptist Church in 1921, the pastor was Addison Lorimer, Colby 1888, and the senior deacon was his classmate John Tilton.<\/p>\n
Besides the Drummonds, another Waterville family represented in that Class of 1888 was the Gallerts. Solomon Gallert studied law, was admitted to the bar in 1891, went to North Carolina, where he became a successful attorney, manager of a large lumber and mining corporation, and a member of the state legislature.<\/p>\n
The Colby Classes of 1890 and 1891 are distinguished for having produced two of Colby’s greatest presidents, Arthur Roberts and Franklin Johnson. The program of the Sophomore Declamation of the Class of 1890, on April 27, 1888, shows that the first speaker was Arthur J. Roberts, whose subject was “The Blight of Free Whiskey”. Other speakers on the same program were Dana Hall, whose widow many years later became the wife of Franklin Johnson; and Jeremiah Burke, who served a long term as Superintendent of Schools of the City of Boston. When in 1890 the class held its Senior Class Day, Arthur Roberts gave the oration, Dana Hall the class history, and Jeremiah Burke the address to undergraduates.<\/p>\n
As for the class of 1891, at its Junior Exhibition the first speaker was Franklin Johnson on “Progress of Scientific Study”. That was followed by an address on “Greek Version from the Latin of Tacitus”, by Winfred Donovan, later a distinguished progessor at Newton Theological School. A year later, at the Class Day exercises, Frank Johnson gave the prophecy, and joined his classmates in singing:<\/p>\n
“Bring out the Pipe of Peace ancestral,<\/p>\n
And as its fragrant fumes shall rise,<\/p>\n
Let wreaths of smoke ascending upward<\/p>\n
Obscure each cloud that dims the skies.”<\/p>\n
How the remembered names stand out as we examine these old programs! When the Class of 1892 held its Junior Exhibition in June, 1891, two of the speakers were Chester H. Sturtevant, who became a prominent banker, and Charles P. Barnes, who rose to a seat on the Maine Supreme Court. At the Junior Exhibition program for the following year one finds the names of George Otis Smith, long head of the U.S. Geological Survey, and the girl who became his wife, Grace Coburn of Skowhegan.<\/p>\n
Remembered too by some of my listeners are two other members of that class: Cyrus Stinison, at one time pastor of the Waterville Congregational Church, and Dennis Bowman, Waterville’s Superintendent of Schools. At Class Day for the Class of 1894, the prophecy was given by Sam Burleigh, whose sister, Miss Nettie Burleigh, still lives in Vassalboro. Secretary of the class was Drew Harthorn, for many years principal of Coburn, and the class treasurer was Dr. Percy Merrill. In the same class was Waterville’s life-time mail carrier, George Hoxie. Its most distinguished member was Frank Padelford, who became Executive Secretary of the Education Society of the Northern Baptist Convention, and in that capacity secured many thousands of dollars for Colby College.<\/p>\n
Freshman Reading programs have not been as numerously preserved as have those for Class Day, but I do have one for the reading held on May 25, 1892, when the Class of 1895 were freshmen. In those years and until the notorious student strike of 1903, the Freshman Reading was a boisterous affair. Each sophomore class considered it a sacred duty to break up the event by setting off alarm clocks, exploding fire crackers, letting out loud yells, and especially by wild distribution through the audience of copies of that annual,scurrilous sheet called “The War Cry”.<\/p>\n
We have no record that the Freshman Reading in 1892 was especially disorderly. It seems to have gone through to a successful completion, despite its unlucky number of speakers, thirteen. Among those speakers was John Hedman, who had a brilliant career as a Colby professor until his untimely death in 1914. Another was J. Colby Bassett, a member of the prominent Winslow family that provided also a justice of the Maine Supreme Court.<\/p>\n
At the turn of the century the Class of 1900 printed the first extensive Class Day program — at least the first to contain a list of all events of Commencement Week. In those days, and in fact as late as my own graduation in 1913, Colby Commencement began on Saturday evening with the Junior Exhibition, and extended until Wednesday evening, when the program closed with what was called a “Promenade Band Concert”. Three religious services characterized Sunday: baccalaureate sermon in the morning, vespers in the afternoon, and The Boardman Missionary Sermon in the evening.<\/p>\n
On Monday afternoon came the Junior Class Day exercises and a reception by the Alumnae Association of women graduates. In the evening came the President’s Reception, followed by the Senior Hop, which in 1900 was held at the Fairfield Opera House. On Tuesday morning Senior Class Day exercises began at the Baptist Church and in the afternoon were continued at a stand under willows on the campus, following the alumni luncheon. On Tuesday evening came the annual Phi Beta Kappa oration. Wednesday morning saw the graduating exercises at the Baptist Church, followed by the Commencement Dinner in the Waterville City Hall.<\/p>\n
On Class Day in 1900 the orator was James H. Hudson, another Colby man who became a justice of the Maine Supreme Court. The Parting Address was by Charles F. Towne, long a prominent educator in Rhode Island. The class president was the Portland banker, Fred F. Lawrence, for many years a trustee of the College.<\/p>\n
And finally we come to the Class that will be sixty years out of college when the Colby Commencement is held next June — the Class of 1901. It contained the man who became Colby’s most ardent socialist, Robert Bakeman, and who on one occasion was actually arrested in Schenectady when he was promoting the interests of its Socialist mayoralty candidate, whose first act after his election was to release Bakeman from jail. In that class also was Frank Joseph, Waterville’s well known printer and sportsman; Charles Seaverns, generous benefactor of his college, for whom the Seaverns Athletic Field is named; and Dr. Sherman Perry, whose name has been given to the college infirmary on Mayflower Hill.<\/p>\n
Yes, a perusal of those old programs brings back many memories!<\/p>\n
Let us close tonight with what Drew’s Rural Intelligencer had to say about something that was quite new in 1855 — the free public high school: “The best and truest safeguard against ignorance, pauperism and crime is education. That is why our Maine towns and cities support common schools by public taxation. But not many of our communities have erected seminaries where the more advanced studies may be pursued without cost to students or parents. Economy in municipal expenditures ought always to be encouraged, but it is poor economy that starves the intellect and makes mental paupers. Now only those who can pay are permitted to attend institutions beyond the common schools. That is not right. We must establish free high schools and open them to all who can mentally qualify to attend.”<\/p>\n
Year: 1960<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Read the script for “Little Talks” program #467, Broadcast on October 2, 1960<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":405,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[766,35296],"tags":[],"builder_content":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/csc-home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8115"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/csc-home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/csc-home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/csc-home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/405"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/csc-home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8115"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/csc-home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8115\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/csc-home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8115"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/csc-home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8115"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/csc-home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8115"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}