50th Reunion Class Comes Back-Four Wars Later

"Mt. Auburn Street looks pretty much the same," said one returning member of the Class of 1920, "but the College seems mighty different."

Dunster House filled up yesterday with 180 Harvard men, their wives, and 25 widows celebrating their 50th class reunion. Never before has the Class of '20 held a reunion on a grand scale. Although the 25th reunion is normally a gala event, the Class of '20 missed out. Paul McElroy '20, chairman of the reunion, explained, "We got screwed. Mr. Hitler did it."

Yesterday morning, a leisurely registration preceded cocktails and brunch. Charles W. Eliot '20, grandson of Harvard's President Eliot, talked in the afternoon about the physical lay-out of the University. John H. Finley '25 spoke on academic developments at Harvard. Last night the alumni assembled at the Business School's Kresge Hall for cocktails and dinner.

Tours of the College for members of the Class, whose average age is 72, will go on most of today. At 5 p.m., the Puseys will arrive at the Dunster Courtyard for a short, informal reception. Afterwards, alumni will eat dinner at the Science Museum in Boston.

On Wednesday morning, early-rising golfers will dot the manicured and exclusive greens of The Country Club. Those alumni who feel their sleep is more precious will join the golfers later for cocktails and lunch. While the men talk over old times, Harvard women will visit Gore Place in Waltham. Mr. Gore was an early Massachusetts governor whose home is now a showplace of American colonial architecture and styling.

Randall Thompson '20, a lifelong composer well known for the Robert Frost poems he set to music, will serve cocktails Wednesday afternoon at his home. The climax of the reunion will be a class dinner at the Harvard Club, Wednesday night.

No Spiros

The Class of '20 has no members whose names are national household words. Two of the leading academicians in the class, however, are city planner Charles Eliot, who taught at the School of Design, and composer Randall Thompson, who taught in the College's music department. Other men of interest include Gilbert Hood, of Hood Milk, hawkish Congressman Philip J. Philbin (D-Mass.), Sidney Rabb, owner of Stop and Shop, and Franklin Vorenberg, president of Gilchrist's and father of the Harvard Law professor, Hood solicited $400,000 this year for the class gift.

Of the 728 men who graduated with the 1920 class, 420 are alive today. Only 180 of the 420 came to the reunion. The Class of '19, which had fewer living alumni, had 201 men returning to Harvard.

'Battle of Harvard Square'

"We're not getting the number we thought we were going to have," reunion chairman McElroy said. He explained that "some people are afraid they're physically endangered" and cited "the way in which innocent bystanders got hurt in the big battle down in Harvard Square."

The Class of '20 is now living through its fourth American war. During World War I, most men joined a voluntary Harvard regiment the summer before their junior year. Some men enlisted to fight with the Amercian or French armies or went overseas to help the American Red Cross. By the beginning of the junior year, most members of the Class had been sworn into the Army although only a minority had seen active combat. The armistice came in November of their junior year.

Besides the four wars, members of the Class also experienced the full blow of the Great Depression. This was especially painful because the class had a much higher percentage of businessmen that college classes do today.

Support Nixon

Despite the turmoil caused by war, members of the class seem for the most part to support Nixon's policy of Vietnamization and to oppose immediate withdrawal from Southeast Asia.

Although alumni were not favorably impressed with College polities, lectures were a different matter. One alumnus who had sat in on three classes last month said, "I wish we had had lectures like that. They're so much more interesting and stimulating. I wish I could have asked questions and hissed at my professors. But if you sneezed in my day, you would have gotten thrown out."

Another Class of '20 alumnus, Richard Hallowell, said he is an avid Harvard sports fan. He has seen every Harvard-Yale game since 1908. Hallowell said he does not like the way most College students are dressed, with jocks being the exception.

He spoke about a varsity baseball dinner he attended. "Everybody was cleanly and tastefully dressed. There wasn't one undergraduate there that I wouldn't welcome into my home. But I can't say that for very many Harvard undergraduates."

Fish, Hunt, And Enjoy Life

Most members of the Class of '20 are retired and spend some time working on a few civic or Harvard committees. For the most part, however, their lives are one long vacation. Herman Wiener said, "I just fish, hunt, and enjoy life and I plan to continue doing so as long as I live."

Two exceptions are composer Thompson and Eliot. Both men were professors at Harvard before they retired in 1965 and 1966 respectively. Thompson now has nine musical works in the process of being published. Eliot is currently planning the future layout of two towns, Harvard and Wilmington, Mass.

Advice to Teachers

Randall offered some advice on being a good teacher. "I don't think you can be a good teacher unless you feel on a friendly basis with your students. You've got to be sympathetic. You can't be sarcastic, defensive, or offensive. You can't learn, if a teacher is constantly discouraging or intellectually brow-beating."

Eliot talked about the enthusiastic attitude toward the first World War. In the spring of 1918, Eliot decided to sign up for overseas ambulance duty when he found he could get a commission and guaranteed front-line duty within a month.

When Harvard's President Lowell found out about Eliot's decision, he called the young man into his office. Lowell said that eager Eliot was doing the wrong thing. The President was especially angry because he had just arranged for French officers to train the voluntary Harvard regiment. But young Eliot explained that ambulance duty was the only way an 18-year-old could get a commission. Lowell said he could understand and wished his student well.

Ou Sont Les Neiges?

Mrs. Eliot said, "Before the first World War we were living in a peaceful world with a great deal more security than we've ever known since.We couldn't understand World War It's happening."

Her husband recalled an oath he took when a classmate was killed at 11 a.m. on the day of the World War I armistice. Eliot said the death occurred because a needless front-line charge was ordered. "I swore that day I would do my best to oppose nationalism and war." He denounced "this extraordinary arrogance of so many Americans who think that what they think is right is automatically right."

Eliot said, "I was very keenly interested in the League of Nations and then again in the U.N. I'm terribly concerned now that we've seemed to turn our back on the U.N."

"The changing times are not so very different," Eliot said. "The problems and the crusade to overcome them seem to be terribly repetitious. War is the main problem."