A Vassar graduate, Julia E. Hamblet, '37, became a First Lieutenant in the Marine Corps and was made Colonel in 1953. She was Director of the Marine Corps, Women's Reserve, 19461948 and Director of the Women Marines, 1953-1959.
The contract between Vassar College and the AFL Union, for college employees, went into effect.
Paul J. Tillich, Professor of Philosophical Theology at Union Theological Seminary, spoke on "Social and Spiritual Forces in Germany Today." This was one of many visits to the college.
An experimental course, "Today's Cities," was given in the third term. The course, taking the students' full time, focused on dominant urban culture, and involved six teachers from five departments, with frequent field trips. It was also given in 1947.
After the U. S. G. I. Bill was passed, forty veterans, Vassar's first men students, attended C-term. The program for veterans continued to 1950, with a total attendance of 152. The Vassar Veterans Association was organized in the fall of 1946. Sixteen veterans finished the college course, receiving the A.B. degree from the University of the State of New York.
A. Hyatt Mayor, Associate Curator of Prints at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, gave an illustrated lecture on Goya, under the auspices of the Departments of Art and Spanish, as part of the 200th anniversary celebration of Goya's birth.
Albert Camus, French novelist, dramatist and philosopher, spoke on "Le Theatre Francais d'Aujourd'hui."
The Henry Noble MacCracken Foreign Scholarship Fund was given in honor of Vassar's president.
Don Juan Ramon Jimenez, Spanish lyric poet, lectured on "Poesia Abierta y Poesia Cerrada."
Cleanth Brooks, critic and teacher, lectured on "Yeats' Great Rooted Blossomer," a study of William Butler Yeats' Among School Children; MT. Brooks stayed two days and talked to English majors and students in Aesthetics 255.
Eleanor Roosevelt gave the seventh Helen Kenyon Lecture, "The United Nations and You."
Dr. MacCracken retired from the presidency of Vassar College after thirtyone years of service.
Grace Harriet Macurdy was awarded the King's Medal for Service in the Cause of Freedom in recognition of her work in Greek and British war relief. Professor Macurdy taught Greek at Vassar from 1893 until 1937, and was chairman of the department, 19201937.
Sarah Gibson Blanding, the first woman to be chosen as president of Vassar, took office. From 1941 to 1946 she had been Dean of the New York State College of Home Economics at Cornell University, the first woman to head a college there. Earlier, 19281941, she had been Associate Professor of Political Science and Dean of Women at the University of Kentucky.
Helen D. Lockwood, '12, and Barbara Swain, '20, Professors of English, gave $4,000 to purchase for the college the library of the late Nikander Strelsky, Associate Professor of Russian and Comparative Slavonic Literature, 19351946. The collection included about 1,200 titles, with many rare volumes.
The annual fee for tuition and residence was raised to $1350. The fee was $1550 for the year of three terms for students who had entered college before 194647 and who were finishing their course under the three-year plan.
Sarah Gibson Blanding was inaugurated as Vassar's sixth president. Addresses were given by Edmund Ezra Day, President of Cornell University, Frank L. McVey, President Emeritus of the University of Kentucky, Virginia C. Gildersleeve, Dean of Barnard College, and Sarah Gibson Blanding. Willard L. Sperry, Dean of the Harvard Divinity School. gave the invocation.
Sterling Brown lectured on "Stereotypes in Literature." Professor Brown was Visiting Professor of English at Vassar for the aterm in both 1945/46 and 1946/47.
Simone de Beauvoir, French novelist, playwright and essayist, lectured on "La Vie Litteraire en France: un Ecrivain dans la Societe."
Marjorie Nicolson, Professor of English at the Graduate School, Columbia University, gave the eighth Helen Kenyon Lecture, "And Gladly Teche." This was one of several lectures which she gave at the college.
The Eastern Colleges Science Conference, a program on science, philosophy and society, was held at Vassar College.
The festival of choruses from four women's colleges included performances by the Bryn Mawr Chorus, the Radcliffe Choral Society, the Smith College Glee Club and the Vassar College Choir.
I.A. Richards, Lecturer on Literary Criticism, Harvard University, gave the Folger Fund lecture, "The Sources of Our Common Thought."
The College Government Association constitution, superseding that of the Students' Association, was signed by the presidents of the college and of the Students' Association.
The Experimental Theatre presented the American premiere of Les Mouches by Jean-Paul Sartre, translated by Winifred Smith, '04, Professor of Drama. Professor Mary Virginia Heinlein was director.
The first alumnae reunions since World War II were held on five consecutive weekends. During the war all reunions had been suspended.
The annual fee for tuition and residence was increased to $1600.
In honor of the fourth centenary of the birth of Cervantes, the Magic Show by Cervantes, with music of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, was presented by the Department of Spanish, assisted by John W. Peirce, Professor of Music, Martha J. Wolfe, '48, and L. Gale Turnhull, '50. A special exhibition was arranged in the Library.
Stephen Spender, English poet and critic, gave the Folger Fund lecture, "What Is Modern in Modern Poetry?"
The Margaret Stiles Halleck Chair of Social Sciences was established by the bequest of Annie A. Halleck, sisterinlaw of Margaret S. Halleck, '87. The chair was first held by Joseph Kirk Folsom, Professor of Sociology, 1931 1959.
The national intercollegiate arts conference, The Creative Arts in Contemporary Society, was held at Vassar. The keynote address was given by Professor F.O. Matthiessen, Department of English, Harvard University. The Drama and Dance Panel included Irwin Shaw, playwright, and Merce Cunningham, modern dancer. The Art and Music Panel included Ben Shahn, painter and John Cage, composer. John Malcolm Brinnin, poet, former member of the Vassar Department of English, spoke. The summary and discussion were given by Professor Paul Weiss, Department of Philosophy, Yale University.
Denis W. Brogan, Professor of Political Science, Cambridge University, lectured on "The Present Political Situation in France."
Vassar received a fiveyear grant from the Carnegie Corporation to establish Field Work in the Social Sciences. Typical area study trips sponsored and arranged by the Field Work Office through 1959/60 included those to the TVA, the BostonLowell area and Puerto Rico.
Francisco Curt Lange, Director, Instituto Interamericano de Musicologia, Montevideo, gave an illustrated lecture on "The History and Evolution of Music in Latin America."
The trustees approved a program of extension courses to meet the needs of local men and women. In the second semester four courses with a total enrollment of one hundred and eleven were given; in the first semester of 1949/50 six courses with an enrollment of ninety; in the second semester of 1949/50 three courses were attended by 53 students. The program was discontinued at the end of 1949/50.
Dame Edith Sitwell, British author, lectured on "Modern English Poetry."
Barker Fairley, Professor of Germanic Languages, Columbia University gave the Goethe Bicentennial Lecture, "Goethe: the Man and the Myth."
"Friends of Professor Grace H. Macurdy gathered in the Classical Museum to honor her memory and to see an exhibition of more than 200 Greek vases and figurines left to the College upon her death. The collection was made by Professor Macurdy and her friend Professor J.A.K Thomson of the University of London over a long period of years. At her death half of the collection was consigned to the Ashmolean Museum, Oxford University. Professor Inez Ryberg, the Curator of the Classical Museum, accepted the bequest, explaining its significance, and introduced the speakers, Theodore H. Erck, Professor of Greek, and President MacCracken." E.H. Haight, in The Vassar Alumnae Magazine, June 1949.
The Lucy Maynard Salmon Chair of American History was established through alumnae gifts. Professor Salmon organized the Department of History and was chairman for nearly forty years.
The Mary Conover Mellon Foundation for the Advancement of Education was established by the gift of the Old Dominion Foundation through Paul Mellon, President, in memory of his wife, Mary Conover, a member of the Class of 1926. The purpose of the Foundation is the exploration and encouragement of those conditions in the life of the college that contribute most to mental and emotional health.
Edward R. Murrow of the Columbia Broadcasting System lectured on "America Is an Island" under the auspices of Vassar College and the Dutchess County Council on World Affairs.
Muriel Rukeyser, ex'34, lectured on "The Life of Poetry." She was at the college November 719 and met with various English classes and student groups, 1n 1940 she had given a series of five lectures on poetry at the college.
Ralph Bunche, Director, Department of Trusteeship, United Nations, addressed Vassar College and the Dutchess County Council on World Affairs on "The United Nations Peace Effort."
Notorious McCarthy Committee on Un-American Activities hearing begin in U. S. Senate.
Thornton Wilder lectured on "The Spanish Theatre of the Seventeenth Century." He had also lectured at the college in 1929.
A forum, "The NonPolitical Activities of the United Nations," was held in place of the ninth Helen Kenyon Lecture. Speakers were Miss Julia Henderson of the U.N. Public Information Office, Dr. Alva Myrdal, Director of the U.N. Department of Social Services, Professor Mabel Newcomer, Chairman of the Vassar College Department of Economics, Sociology and Anthropology, Madame Sophie Grinberg-Vinaver, U.N. Secretariat, and Mrs. Louise L. Wright, member of the United States Commission for UNESCO.
The Experimental Theatre presented the American premiere of Electre by Jean Giraudoux.
Francis Poulenc, French composerpianist, member of Le Groupe des Six, and Pierre Bernac, baritone, gave a recital.
Rudolf Serkin, BohemianAmerican pianist, gave the fifth Barbara Woods Morgan Memorial Concert.
An intercollegiate conference on "Psychology and Philosophy in Contemporary Society" was held at Vassar with more than 200 delegates attending.
Marcel Breuer, architect of Ferry Cooperative House, gave a gallery talk in Taylor Hall.
An intercollegiate conference on "Theatre Today" was held at Vassar. Delegates represented drama departments and theatrical groups of twenty eastern colleges.
Dylan Thomas, Welsh poet, gave a poetry reading.
Madame Vijaya Lakshmi Pandit, Ambassador from India, gave the Commencement address.
"Truman Orders U.S. Air, Navy Units to Fight in Aid of Korea; U.N. Council Supports Him; our Fliers in Action; Fleet Guards Formosa." New York Times.
"As a result of faculty recommendation, an experiment is to be initiated in three student houses with Mary Conover Mellon House Fellows instead of the usual Residents... The House Fellows...will have special interest in and qualifications for advising students; they will be relieved of one third of the normal teaching load and will accept certain definite responsibilities in connection with the social life of the student houses..." President's Report,19501951. The plan was later extended to all dormitories.
Dr. Roman Jakobson, Professor of Slavic Language and Literature, Harvard University, lectured on "Sound and Meaning in Language," sponsored by the departments of Russian and Economics, Sociology and Anthropology.
e.e. cummings read from his poems.
Earl Brown appointed Superintendent of Buildings.
Cresap, McCormick and Paget, management engineers, made a threemonth study of all business operations of the college, at the suggestion of the Carnegie Corporation. The conclusion was that Vassar was doing an outstanding job and few economies were possible.
Paintings by Picasso, lent by the artist through the courtesy of the Museum of Modern Art, were exhibited in Taylor Hall.
An exhibition to commemorate the birth of Isabel la Catolica was opened in the Library, with the cooperation of the Department of Spanish.
Santha Rama Rau, Indian author, lectured on "Barriers to Understanding between East and West."
Walter White of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, lectured on "Color Line around the Globe."
The Dexter M. Ferry Jr. Cooperative House was dedicated. Marcel Breuer was the architect. The building was given by Dexter M. Ferry, Jr. father of Edith Ferry Hooper, '32 and Jean Ferry Davis, '35. Mr. Ferry had previously presented to the college twelve outstanding works of nineteenth century European art.
A lecture series on the Near East included the following speakers: George B. Cressey, Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs, Syracuse; Mohamed M. Shalaby, Social Affairs Officer, the United Nations; George Lenczowsky, Department of Political Science, Hamilton College; and E.A. Speiser, Professor of Oriental Studies, University of Pennsylvania.
Dorothy Wrinch, Professor of Physics, Smith College, gave the tenth Helen Kenyon Lecture, "The Architecture of Living Things." On the following day Dr. Wrinch held a seminar on "The Applications of Structural Principles."
His Eminence Mar Athanasius Yeshue Samuel, ArchbishopMetropolitan of Jerusalem and TransJordan, lectured on "The Dead Sea Scrolls." The Isaiah scroll was exhibited in the Aula. The lecture was arranged by Marguerite Smith, '12.
The first program of the Vassar Broadcasting Association was given over WKIP, Poughkeepsie radio station, under the auspices of the Radio Workshop. The first Vassar radio programs had been broadcast over station WGNY of Newburgh in January 1938.
Donald MacMillan, Arctic explorer, gave an illustrated lecture on "North Far North." It was a Conservation lecture sponsored by the Department of Zoology.
Dining room service in dormitories was replaced by the cafeteria system.
Eleanor Roosevelt was one of five speakers at the Summer Institute's weekend conference sponsored by the National Conference of Christians and Jews. The theme was "Intergroup Tensions: What Can Communities Do?"
Sven Sword appointed Superintendent of Grounds.
The annual fee for tuition and residence was increased to $2000.
A memorial service was held in the Chapel for Cornelia M. Raymond, '83, daughter of President Raymond, who in her many years of association with Vassar had served as associate warden, director of the Bureau of Publication and publicity secretary, as well as unofficial historian of the college.
Paul Henry Lang, Professor of Music, Columbia University, gave the eleventh Helen Kenyon Lecture, "Music and History, " later published by the college. This was part of a program given in honor of George Sherman Dickinson, retiring head of the Department of Music, who had been a member of the faculty since 1916.
Dr. Linus Pauling, Head of the Department of Chemistry at the California Institute of Technology, lectured on "The Structure of Proteins."
The American Association of University Professors, Phi Beta Kappa and the Political Association sponsored a series of lectures on "Academic Freedom." Lecturers were Robert McIver, Chairman, Academic Freedom Project, Columbia University, Dean Louis Hacker, School of General Studies, Columbia University and Elmer Davis, News Analyst, American Broadcasting Company.
Dorothy Raybord resigns as director of halls; Winifred Earl Vakas takes her place.
Dr. Ralph Bunche, Director of the Department of Trusteeship of the United Nations, delivered the Commencement address at the graduation of his daughter, Joan.
The teacher internship program, financed by a grant from the Ford Foundation's Fund for the Advancement of Education, was inaugurated to provide graduate study as preparation for teaching. "Vassar is one of the colleges cooperating with Harvard in the TwentyNine College Cooperative Program for a fifth year ." Catalogue, 1955/1956. Vassar was originally the only woman's college selected.
Open meetings of the New York State Section of the American Physical Society were held at Vassar under the auspices of the Department of Physics and IBM.
Mildred McAfee Horton, '20, former President of Wellesley and Director of the WAVES in World War II, gave the twelfth Helen Kenyon Lecture, "Tensions in Organizations: Observations of a Professional Volunteer."
An exhibition to commemorate the 700th anniversary of the founding of the University of Salamanca was opened in the Library with the cooperation of the Department of Spanish.
Bach's Magnificat given on Dec. 13 by the Vassar and Hamilton College Choirs, had a nationwide broadcast over the Mutual Broadcasting network.
Facilities in Field Work, formerly restricted to the social sciences, were opened to all academic departments.
Erwin Panofsky of the Institute for Advanced Studies, Princeton, gave the Phi Beta Kappa lecture on "Leonardo's Historical Position as a Theorist of Art and Anatomist."
Anna Rosenberg, Consultant to the National Security Resources Board, former Assistant Secretary of Defense, gave the thirteenth Helen Kenyon Lecture, "You and Tomorrow."
The Vassar College Political Association and the National Committee for a Free Europe sponsored an intercollegiate conference, "Countries behind the Iron Curtain: Soviet Strength and Weakness in the Captive Countries. Is European Federation the Answer?"
Adlai Stevenson, former Governor of Illinois, was the Commencement speaker.
The library in Sanders Chemistry Building was opened. The plaque on the door bears the inscription "This library is named in honor of Mary Landon Sague, A.B. Vassar, Ph.D. Columbia, Vassar Department of Chemistry, 1908-1952, Professor and Chairman, 1924-1951, scholar, devoted teacher, tireless worker."
Wallace Stevens gave a reading of his poetry.
Pakistan Ambassador Syed Amjad Ali and his wife visited Vassar as guests of President Blanding.
Salvador de Madariaga, Spanish statesman and man of letters, lectured on "Peace and Liberty."
The Twentyfive Million Dollar Development Program was initiated to secure the funds necessary to maintain Vassar's high standard of education in its second hundred years: $ 15,000,000 to be sought for faculty salaries and the educational program; $ 10,000,000 for plant. The first gifts were made by the Ford Foundation, an Endowment Grant of $934,000, and an Accomplishment Grant of $579,500. Completion of program was set for 1965.
The first Sophomore Fathers Weekend was held with an attendance of about one hundred and twenty.
Francisco GarciaLorca, Director, Middlebury College Spanish Summer School, lectured on "Los Nombres en el Quijote."
Thomas E. Dewey, Governor of New York, was the Commencement speaker .
A new electronic carillon for the chapel was given by Mrs. W.P. Lanctot and Paul E. Van Horn in honor of the three Lanctot sisters, Vassar alumnae.
The conversion of direct current electricity to alternating current was started. It was completed in October 1959.
Lillian Smith, American author, lectured to freshmen of the Department of English on "Writing." Miss Smith spent a month at the college, under the auspices of the Department of English.
Mrs. Barbara Grant Nnoka, Educational Consultant to the Prime Minister of East Nigeria, lectured on "Nigeria in Transition."
The George Sherman Dickinson Chair of Music was established by the Board of Trustees in honor of Professor Dickinson, a member of the Music Department, 1916-1953, and for many years chairman of the department. Funds were from an undesignated gift of John D. Rockefeller III and his wife, Blanchette Hooker, '31. Carl Parrish was the first recipient.
Kathleen Lea, Lady Margaret Hall, Oxford, lectured on "One of Shakespeare's Unpopular Plays, All's Well That Ends Well." Miss Lea was a visiting scholar at Vassar during the second semester.
A Science Conference was held under the auspices of the Student Science Club. Dr. Leon Greenberg, Laboratory of Applied Physiology, Yale University, lectured on "The Fate and Effects of Alcohol in the Body."
The faculty and students held a Renaissance Colloquium. Addresses were given by Erwin Panofsky, Professor of Art, The Institute for Advanced Study, Princeton, on "Pandora's Box a Northern Contribution to the Renaissance," Edward Lowinsky, Professor of Music, Queens College, on "Humanism in the Music of the Renaissance: North and South," Erich Auerbach, Professor of Romance Languages, Yale, on "Humanism and the Vernaculars," and Roland H. Bainton, Professor of Ecclesiastical History, Yale, on "Petrarch and St. Francis." Ben Jonson's The Alchemist was presented by the Experimental Theatre under the direction of Professor Mary Virginia Heinlein, '25, who had succeeded Hallie Flanagan as Director in 1942.
Eudora Welty, American author, lectured on "Place in Fiction."
The centenary of Sigmund Freud was commemorated by the following lecturers: Otto Klineberg, Department of Psychology, Columbia University; Phillip Rahv, Editor, Partisan Review; Dr. Gardner Murphy, Research Director, Menninger Foundation; Seward Hiltner, Professor of Pastoral Psychology, University of Chicago. The celebration ended with a Freud Colloquium conducted by members of the Vassar faculty with Dwight Chapman, Professor of Psychology, as moderator.
The annual fee for tuition and residence was increased to $2100.
Sir John Rothenstein, Director of the Tate Gallery, London, lectured on "British Painting Today."
A Conference of Undergraduate Russian Clubs, the first of its kind, was held under the auspices of the Department of Russian. Vassar was host to one hundred and five students from sixteen colleges and universities. The keynote speaker was Professor Michael M. Karpovich of Harvard University, whose topic was "The Meaning of the Recent Changes in the Soviet Union."
The centenary of the death of Robert Schumann was observed with two programs of his piano, vocal and instrumental music, and recollections by his grandson, Robert Sommerhoff, a Poughkeepsie resident. A special exhibition in the Music Library included unpublished manuscripts, essays and poems written at age seventeen.
Last updated: 10 November, 1999, by Jeremy R. Linden, '00.