Class Note 1951

Hanover never looked better than it did for our fall mini-reunion/Homecoming Weekend! We enjoyed shirtsleeves weather for much of it; perfect for strolling the ever-changing campus. Especially notable is the expanded arts complex: the Hood Museum is now connected to the new Black Family Visual Arts Center and will soon be joined to a refurbished Wilson Hall. Charlie Hood remains a major force behind these important developments.
Another of my favorite destinations is the Rauner Special Collections Library (known in our day as Webster Hall). Excellent portraits are on display of the six Dartmouth presidents (Dickey, Kemeny, McLaughlin, Freedman, Wright and Kim) who have led the College in the 66 years since we arrived on campus. Next door in Baker Library I found a marvelous portrait of our late classmate Ed Lathem, long-time librarian and dean of libraries at Dartmouth.
Loye Miller and Henry Nachman once again made impeccable arrangements for our class gatherings. The football team upset Yale in a thriller, 20-13. Signs of the times: We now rate 50-yard line seats! And only three hardy ’51s marched in the Homecoming parade (Howie Allen, Gebby and Sandy McDonald). The rest of us lingered over a delicious dinner in the comfort of the Nachmans’ home.
Presentation of the Spirit of ’51 awards was a weekend highlight. Deserving recipients were Peter Martin and Al Moses. Peter was recognized for leadership in two fields: journalism (senior editor of Time and Money magazines) and promoting international understanding as executive director of the Institute for Current World Affairs. Al’s award highlighted his extraordinary contributions as an esteemed attorney, diplomat and public servant. (See our class newsletter for the full citations.)
Other classmates returning for the weekend were Al Brout, Mike Choukas, Chester Cotter, Peirce McKee, Jerry Mitchell, Dick Pugh, Charlie Russell, Jack Skewes, Ralph Watkins, Jack Weingarten, Ed Weisenfeld and Joe Welch. We were delighted that Babs Hall and Dotty Mori were also on hand.
Seven of our classmates have passed away since our last column: David Angell, Sam Chu, Don Herdeg, Bob Matthews, Raphael Poritsky, Paul Simel and Frank Smallwood.
—Pete Henderson, 450 Davis St., Evanston, IL 60201; (847) 905-0635; pandjhenderson@gmail.com