Baldwin House, infirmary, with a capacity of thirty-five beds and modern hospital equipment, was completed, Faulkner & Kingsbury, architects. It was named in honor of Dr. Jane North Baldwin, chief college physician. Decorations and furnishings of the patients' lounge were presented to the college by Mr. and Mrs. Frank W. Thomas in memory of their daughter, Mary, of the Class of 1926.
The Conservation Glass Laboratory was erected on the site of the original Eleanor Conservatory, Lord & Burnham, architects.
Dr. Florence R. Sabin, noted American anatomist, gave the first Helen Kenyon lecture on "The Beginnings of Modern Medicine in America." The Helen Kenyon Lectureship Fund was established June 7, 1939 by the Associate Alumnae, the Class of 1905 and other friends of Helen Kenyon, '05, as a contribution to the Seventy-Fifth Anniversary Fund. Miss Kenyon was an alumnae trustee, 1923-1928, and Chairman of the Board, 1929-1939. Kenyon Hall was named in her honor.
Enrico Fermi, Italian Nobel Prize winner and Professor of Physics at Columbia University, lectured on "The Transmutation of the Elements."
The first annual New York State Student Scientific Conference was held at Vassar College.
The Art Department's exhibition of Chinese painting, part of the Seventy-Fifth Anniversary celebration, opened.
Vassar College celebrated its Seventy-Fifth Anniversary. The program included Vassar's Folly: a Chronicle, presented by the Experimental Theatre; A Symposium: What Should a Woman's College Do Today? including group discussions and addresses by Helen Drusilla Lockwood, '12, Marjorie Page Schauffler, '19, Edith Clarke, '08, and Ethel Cohen Phillips, '30; Anniversary Convocation with addresses by Morris Hadley, Chairman of the Board of Trustees, Martha Hillard MacLeish, '78, Elizabeth Hazelton Haight, '94, Priscilla Foster Lamb, '40, and President MacCracken. Franklin Delano Roosevelt, President of the United States, trustee of the college, 1923-1933, greeted the guests of the college. "During my ten-year term as a Trustee of Vassar, I came to value certain definite contributions to education made by the college. The social equality that prevails in all plans for student life, and its system of student self-government, are in themselves fundamental courses in democracy. The free play of ideas between scholar and teacher, an institutional tradition, is the achievement in academic practice of the principles of democracy. The nation-wide scope of student enrollment at Vassar is a potent corrective for the few ills of sectionalism that remain to us. I can testify that there are few communities in our country that are not graced by at least one Vassar alumna communicating to her fellow citizens something of the democratic spirit and the progressive ideals of her college. The seventy-five years we commemorate are half the life span of our nation. Not often in our history have we faced a period so threatening to our peace and to our ideals as now. Vassar women are counted among our national leaders in education, business, science, and the arts. They are equipped for leadership in their communities. This leadership will be needed in the years before us as never in the long and impressive history of Vassar." Franklin D. Roosevelt. Vassar Alumnae Magazine, Oct. 1939.
Hu Shih, Ambassador of the Republic of China, lectured on "The Modernization of China and Japan, a Comparative Study of Cultural Contact and Response."
Bela Bartok, Hungarian composer-pianist, gave a recital.
Former President Herbert Hoover spoke on "The Food Situation in Europe."
Count Carlo Sforza, former Minister of Foreign Affairs of Italy, spoke on "Democracy Is Not a Failure."
William Allan Neilson, President Emeritus of Smith College, lectured on "Shakespeare's Treatment of Passion."
A group of fifty women, experienced in various fields of civic activities, met at Vassar for a Conference on National Defence. The general chairman was Dr. Barbara B. Stimson, '19; session chairmen were Kathryn Starbuck, '11: Helen Kenyon, '05; Jean Ellis Poletti, '25 and Dean C. Mildred Thompson, '03.
The Seventy-Fifth Anniversary Fund reached $2,006,757.17 with about $500,000 in the form of annuities. Separate funds were set up for educational endowment, scholarships and the Library.
The Eleanor Plant Science Laboratory was completed, Lord & Burnham, architects. It was built with funds given by Dr. Helen C. Putnam, '78, to replace the former Eleanor Conservatory, given by Mr. W. R. Farrington in memory of his wife, Mary E. Goodsell, who was a student in the School of Music at Vassar, 1885-1888.
The Political Association sponsored a conference on "Higher Education and the Defence of Democracy," featuring speakers and panel discussions on curriculum changes in relation to present needs, academic freedom and the relations of colleges to society and the government.
L.A. Richards, Harvard University, lectured on "A Reading of the First Twelve Lines of John Donne's 'An Anatomy of the World.'"
Ernst Krenek, composer, and Emmet Lavery, author, presented a laboratory premiere of their opera, Tarquin, under the auspices of the Experimental Theatre. Mr. Krenek was pianist, Mr. Lavery, director; the cast was drawn from the Experimental Theatre and the Music Department. Professor Krenek was a member of the Department of Music, 1939-1942.
Anne O'Hare McCormick, foreign correspondent and member of the Editorial Council of the New York Times, gave the second Helen Kenyon Lecture, "Ourselves and Europe." The lecture was published by the college.
The Graduate Division of Conservation was established through the Helen Gates Putnam Endowment Fund for Conservation. The fund was the gift of Dr. Helen C. Putnam, '78, in honor of her mother.
Marianne Moore, poet, former editor of the Dial, lectured on "Poetry Today, Some Technical Problems." She returned to the college in 1954 and 1955 to read her poetry.
At the close of the Baccalaureate Service a tablet in memory of Dr. Charles William Moulton was unveiled by his granddaughter, Katherine Moulton, '43. Dr. Moulton, who came to Vassar in 1892 as Associate Professor of Chemistry, when chemistry and physics were taught in one department, became head of the Chemistry Department on its creation two years later and retained this position until his death in 1924.
Five students toured TVA and the coal-mining regions of Pennsylvania and West Virginia on a field trip sponsored by the Department of Economics.
In her convocation speech, printed with the title Education for Service, Professor Haight said: "Many of the faculty are already registered with the government in full dossiers, showing their specialties and avocations, which indicate the lines of work for which they can be called on in case of need. Some of the women on the faculty have already been commandeered or have volunteered for service. Prof. Mabel Newcomer of the Department of Economics is serving on a committee of experts which Secretary Morgenthau appointed to do research work for the United States Treasury on a comprehensive survey of federal, state and local revenue systems. Prof. Agnes Rindge of the Department of Art in her leave of absence is serving under the Council of National Defense in the Division of Cultural Relations between the American Republics. She is one of the two Executive Secretaries of the Committee on Art. Prof. Ruth Wheeler of the Department of Physiology is Chairman of a Committee on Nutrition for Dutchess County which is making a study of the dietary needs of the district with special reference to the malnutrition of children. And Doctor Achsa Bean of Vassar's medical staff, with our trustee, Doctor Barbara Stimson, has volunteered under the Red Cross for a year of service in Great Britain. These are a few examples from our own faculty of the varied lines of service which are open to American women now. Women who are well trained are going to be called upon more and more."
Curt Sachs, Professor of Music at the Graduate School, New York University, lectured on "The Origin of Music."
As part of the Rotary Club's observance of "Vassar Week," President MacCracken talked to the Poughkeepsie Club on "How a Poughkeepsie Business Man Founded Vassar College." The speech was later published by the Poughkeepsie Savings Bank.
Pearl Harbor: "Japan Wars on U.S. and Britain; Makes Sudden Attack on Hawaii; Heavy Fighting at Sea Reported." New York Times.
As a war measure the student waitress plan was inaugurated. It continued through 1942/43. In September 1943 the cooperative system was established.
Dr. William Carlos Williams, American poet and novelist, visited the college and held an informal discussion on "Form in Modern Verse."
Esther Forbes, American author, lectured on "Fact in History and Fiction."
Winifred Clara Cullis, Professor Emeritus of Physiology, University of London, and Head of the Women's Section, British Information Services, New York City, gave the third of the Helen Kenyon Lectures, "What British Women Are Doing in the War." The lecture was published by the college.
Princess Juliana of the Netherlands visited the Summer Institute with Eleanor Roosevelt.
Aaron Copland, American composer, gave a survey of contemporary music.
Vera Micheles Dean, Research Director of the Foreign Policy Association, gave the fourth series of Helen Kenyon Lectures, "America Looks Abroad" and "The Road to Victory; After Victory - What?" She was a trustee of Vassar from 1943 to 1946.
The trustees approved the faculty plan for a three-year program during the national emergency. The last class on this plan graduated in June 1948. Enrollment was increased to 1300 for the three-year program.
The annual fee for tuition and residence was raised to $1250. 1406 students were enrolled, the overflow being housed in Alumnae House.
Lieutenant Commander Mildred McAfee, '20, of the WAVES, addressed the students on war service.
The Vassar Chronicle started publication. The editors stated "Our aim is fine journalism." It ceased in May 1959, since funds were not available to publish two student newspapers. The Miscellany News was continued.
Dean C. Mildred Thompson, '03, was an official delegate to the Conference of Allied Ministers of Education held in London, the forerunner of UNESCO. Dean Thompson, widely known as an historian and an educator, was a member of the Department of History from 1907 until her retirement in 1948, and Dean from 1923 to 1948.
Margaret Webster, American actress and director, gave the fifth Helen Kenyon Lecture, "Shakespeare and the Modern Theatre." The lecture was published by the college.
Professor Mabel Newcomer, chairman of the Department of Economics, was one of twelve American delegates to the United Nations Monetary and Financial Conference held at Bretton Woods, N.H. She was the only woman in the American delegation.
Commencement exercises were held for the Class of 1945-4, the first class to graduate on the three-year plan.
Appalachian Spring was given by Martha Graham and her dance company, with music by Aaron Copland.
Helen Gahagan Douglas, Congressional Representative from California, gave the sixth series of Helen Kenyon Lectures, "This May Be Our Last Chance" and "Where Is Your Place?"
A community memorial service was held for President Franklin D. Roosevelt, trustee of Vassar College, 1923-1933, honorary trustee, 19331945, whose death had stunned the nation.
"Today Is V-E Day. Truman, Churchill, Stalin to Proclaim War's End. Germans Surrender at Eisenhower's Headquarters." New York Herald Tribune.
At the United Nations Conference in San Francisco, the United Nations Charter and the new statutes of the International Court of Justice were officially signed. The delegates also signed the Interim Agreement setting up the UN organization.
In groups of 100, approximately 700 WACs from the New York A.P.O. spent seven-day "rest cures" in Raymond House, "starring 'delicious' food delivered daily from Camp Shanks and the use of all Vassar facilities, with the minor exception of daily classes." Vassar Miscellany News, Sept. 6, 1945. The vacations at Vassar were suggested by Mera Galloway, '36, a Lieutenant Colonel in the Women's Army Corps and Staff Director of WAC in the Southwest Pacific theatre.
"The curriculum has been revised to adapt it to both the three-year and the four-year schedule and to realize more fully the basic Vassar aim of education for social use." Catalogue, 1945-1946.
Japan signed surrender terms aboard the battleship Missouri in Tokyo Bay (V-J Day).
The Henry Noble MacCracken Chair of English Literature was established by gifts from trustees, alumnae and friends of the college, in honor of Dr. MacCracken, President, 1915-1946. It was first held by Anna Theresa Kitchel, Professor of English Literature, 1918-1948.
Last updated: 10 November, 1999, by Jeremy R. Linden, '00.