Harvard Is Given $475,000 for Chemical Laboratory

A gift of $475,000 has been made for the Division of Chemistry in the University from the family of the late E. C. Converse of New York, one of the most prominent of the group of international financiers who founded the United States Steel Corporation, it was announced yesterday by Bishop William Lawrence '71, Chairman of the Committee to Extend the National Service of Harvard University.

The gift is in response to the $10,000,000 drive started last spring by the University in an endeavor to improve the Business School, the Division of Chemistry, and the Division of Fine Arts.

$3,000,000 Quota For Chemistry

Of this $10,000,000 fund $5,000,000 was to go to the Business School, $2,000,000 to the Division of Fine Arts, and the remaining $3,000,000 to Chemistry.

Both the Business School and the Fine Arts funds have been practically completed, but the report given out by Bishop Lawrence at Commencement last June showed that the Division of Chemistry quota had only reached $2,078,775.

With the exception of two small research laboratories Boylston Hall has been the only Chemistry building which the University has been able to use since 1859 when it was built. The equipment has always been very poor, and now the building has been pronounced unsafe.

Gift Made by Converse Family

The gift, given by Mrs. E. C. Converse, her daughters Mrs. Benjamin Strong and Madam Antoinette Converse, and her son E. C. Converse, brings the Chemistry total to $2,553,775, which is within $446, 225 of the necessary amount.

The $475,000 has been given by the family of the late E. C. Converse to be used for the erection of a chemical research laboratory at the University as a memorial to Mr. Converse, and to bear his name.

Mr. Converse Not A Harvard Man

Although Mr. Converse was not himself a graduate of the University, he came from distinguished New England ancestry and many of his fore fathers were graduates of the College. He had prepared for Harvard but was prevented at the last moment from entering.

Mr. Converse was General Manager, and later President of the National Tube Works, and was influential in bringing about a consolidation of the various tube works concerns with the U. S. Steel Corporation, of which he was an active and influential director for many years.

Noted as Financier

He was famous for his development of banks and bankers, and was long President of the Liberty National Bank of New York. Later he was one of the founders and first President of the Bankers Trust Company and was subsequently Chairman of the Board of Directors of that company The late H. F. Davidson, Seward Prosser, and T. W. Lamont '92, are among the men whose ability he early recognized and to whom he gave opportunity to prove their powers.

Lawrence Pays Glowing Tribute

"Mr. Converse was a man of sterling character and force," declared Bishop Lawrence in his letter telling of the gift, "He had many interests, and was well known as a collector of Chinese porcelain, paintings and armour. He was also the owner of one of the largest and most successful fruit farms in the East. He typified the best of professional business men, and his interest in educational effort was always intense. Among other things he endowed a professorship of banking in the School of Business Administration at the University.

In closing his announcement Bishop Lawrence said, "it is a source of satisfaction to us that this great gift in memory of a great business man should be for the advancement of chemistry through continuous research. With a chemical faculty that has won an international reputation and established the 'Harvard Methods' in European and American university laboratories hampered by utterly inadequate equipment, it is no stress of imagination to vision what this gift may mean to medecine, industry and science in the future. It is also a recognition of the essential unity of our campaign for the extension of the University's service in America.