Seventy years ago, June 14, 1953, the sun shone brightly on campus, which was astir preparing for Commencement that day. Commencement exercises would be moved from its beautiful venue, the Bema, to the Green in front of Baker to accommodate the huge number spectators expected to attend because President Eisenhower was to be there to receive an honorary degree and be the main speaker. At breakfast that morning at Dartmouth President John Sloan Dickey’s home the honorees discussed the destructiveness of Senator McCarthy’s aggressive advocacy of burning books he personally deemed un-American. Inspired by this conversation, President Eisenhower ditched his prepared speech and, speaking extemporaneously and with the emotions of a man who understood the profound importance of his words, delivered what was arguably the most important speech of his presidency, the famous “Book Burner” speech. He admonished us and the nation not to join the book burners. This speech proved to be the beginning of the end of the McCarthy era, an unhappy period of our history. In honor of that occasion the class of 1953 has arranged for a plaque and a tree to be planted at Baker that reads, “Dedicated to President Dwight D. Eisenhower, who near this spot on June 14, 1953, admonished us and the nation ‘Don’t join the book burners.’ Dartmouth Class of 1953.” Those words reverberate loudly and serve as a beacon of light for all time. As we look forward to our 70th reunion, we are anticipating attendance of 24 classmates, 20 guests, and five widows. I end this sadly by announcing the deaths of our dear classmates Donald Brown, William Friedman, and Lawrence Garvin and offer their families our sincere sympathy.

—Mark H. Smoller, 401 Lake Shore Road, Putnam Valley, NY 10579; (834) 603-5066; dartmark@gmail.com