Class Note 1969
Issue
March-April 2023
At our graduation the class of 1969 had the privilege of meeting 105 members of the class of 1919, a lively group who returned in numbers.
Class secretary James C. Davis ’19 wrote: “They were 215 in number; 105 men, 84 wives, 10 widows, and assorted children, grandchildren, and guests. They came from near and far, with Charlie Biddle from Barcelona coming the farthest unless his wife, Catalina, sleeps on the far side of the bed.”
One of their classmates, Dr. Samuel Jenkins, deserves special mention. He grew up in Englewood, New Jersey, the son of a coachman and laborer who worked hard to send Sam to Dartmouth. Sam ran cross country and competed at the national level. After his sophomore year he joined the armed forces fighting in World War I. He was a history major, and he taught school for a few years, thinking all the while that he might study medicine and become a pediatrician. Graduating from NYU in medicine in 1928, he went on to found the Queens Clinical Society, the Harlem Branch of the American Red Cross, and the Brooklyn Medical Society. By the time of his passing in 1987 he had treated thousands of children and had contributed to American medicine for more than 50 years. He was an active and highly respected Dartmouth alumnus.
Reaching back 100 years in Dartmouth history, here’s another story: In the class of 1869, a century before our graduation, a young George Rice, class of 1869, was the son of a steamboat steward. He was known as “one of the earliest pioneers opening New England colleges, highly respected for his genial manners and scholarship.” Rice also went on to study medicine, but when he applied to Columbia, he encountered an unyielding racial bar. He studied medicine first at Dartmouth and then in Paris. When the Franco-German War erupted, George migrated to the University of Edinburgh, receiving his medical degree in 1874. At the Edinburgh Royal Infirmary he was house surgeon and a protégé of the legendary Sir Joseph Lister, the pioneer of antiseptic surgery and preventive medicine. George’s successful practice of medicine included appointments to several distinguished hospitals and infirmaries, and he was active in patient care and community health right up to the time of his death in 1935 at age 87. He is an honored figure in the history of British science and medicine. Of note: Dr. Rice’s sister, Harriet Alleyne Rice, was the first Black woman to graduate from a Seven Sisters school, Wellesley College, in 1887. The Black Alumni of Dartmouth Association has more information on these graduates and many other outstanding Black Dartmouth alumni.
And this: Peter Elias has rebuilt our class website from the ground up, so send your appreciation. Allen Denison’s latest 1969 class newsletter is brimming with news and notes, so check your mail.
—John “Tex” Talmadge, 3519 Brookline Lane, Farmers Branch, TX 75234; (214) 673-9250; johntalmadgemd@gmail.com
Class secretary James C. Davis ’19 wrote: “They were 215 in number; 105 men, 84 wives, 10 widows, and assorted children, grandchildren, and guests. They came from near and far, with Charlie Biddle from Barcelona coming the farthest unless his wife, Catalina, sleeps on the far side of the bed.”
One of their classmates, Dr. Samuel Jenkins, deserves special mention. He grew up in Englewood, New Jersey, the son of a coachman and laborer who worked hard to send Sam to Dartmouth. Sam ran cross country and competed at the national level. After his sophomore year he joined the armed forces fighting in World War I. He was a history major, and he taught school for a few years, thinking all the while that he might study medicine and become a pediatrician. Graduating from NYU in medicine in 1928, he went on to found the Queens Clinical Society, the Harlem Branch of the American Red Cross, and the Brooklyn Medical Society. By the time of his passing in 1987 he had treated thousands of children and had contributed to American medicine for more than 50 years. He was an active and highly respected Dartmouth alumnus.
Reaching back 100 years in Dartmouth history, here’s another story: In the class of 1869, a century before our graduation, a young George Rice, class of 1869, was the son of a steamboat steward. He was known as “one of the earliest pioneers opening New England colleges, highly respected for his genial manners and scholarship.” Rice also went on to study medicine, but when he applied to Columbia, he encountered an unyielding racial bar. He studied medicine first at Dartmouth and then in Paris. When the Franco-German War erupted, George migrated to the University of Edinburgh, receiving his medical degree in 1874. At the Edinburgh Royal Infirmary he was house surgeon and a protégé of the legendary Sir Joseph Lister, the pioneer of antiseptic surgery and preventive medicine. George’s successful practice of medicine included appointments to several distinguished hospitals and infirmaries, and he was active in patient care and community health right up to the time of his death in 1935 at age 87. He is an honored figure in the history of British science and medicine. Of note: Dr. Rice’s sister, Harriet Alleyne Rice, was the first Black woman to graduate from a Seven Sisters school, Wellesley College, in 1887. The Black Alumni of Dartmouth Association has more information on these graduates and many other outstanding Black Dartmouth alumni.
And this: Peter Elias has rebuilt our class website from the ground up, so send your appreciation. Allen Denison’s latest 1969 class newsletter is brimming with news and notes, so check your mail.
—John “Tex” Talmadge, 3519 Brookline Lane, Farmers Branch, TX 75234; (214) 673-9250; johntalmadgemd@gmail.com