Harvard University - Red Book Yearbook (Cambridge, MA)

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The Language Clubs are a Valuable Supplement to Classroom lnstruction CLUB FRANCAIS As the pre-war Cercle Francais disintegrated in 1943, the Club Francais was organized, with the sponsorship of Dr. Pucciani and Professor Morize of the French Department, to encourage social gatherings and conversation among French- speaking students and promote the study of French culture. Besides these traditional pursuits, the French Club founded a literary periodical, Le Cube, to stimulate creative writing in French, and staged several French plays before appreciative audiences. La Comeclie de Celui Qui Epozzm Une Femme Muette, by Anatole France, was given in December 1946, shortly followed by Deval's Towzritela, capably directed by Olivier de Messieres '46, later president of the Club, and starring jean C.'Guiet '46 as the Russian Prince Ouratief. Student caps and beer add color to the Verein Turmwaechter, which, true to its name, meets in the Lowell House Tower Room. CLUB HISPANICO DE HARVARD The Spanish speaking members of '46 played a large part in the organization of the Harvard Spanish Club in August 1943, and Thomas A. Wood, jr. '46 and Ivan Diaz de Aldrey '47 became its first presidents. The Club's first active year included lectures on Latin American literature, talks by South American diplomats, travel films, and a full-length Mexican film, La Noche de Los Mayas. Club membership decreased during the wartime doldrums, but a reorganization in 1946 under the name of Club Hispanico de Harvard and the avail- ability of the facilities of the Modern Language Center have enabled the Club to schedule an increased program of lectures, films, cultural and social gatherings. 12811- VEREIN TURMWAECHTER Beer and a lively club spirit has always characterized Harvard's German Club, and the periodic meetings in the Lowell House Tower radiated Lieder and Gemuetlichkeit in all directions. The Club strove to preserve the better traditions of German culture during the war, with German music, carols and songs, and social gatherings such as the Ausfiuege nach Radcliffe. A revived postwar German Club has augmented its activities by presenting the best of German language motion pictures, such as Willi Forst's Die Operette. CIRCOLO ITALIANO Lacking the large numbers of language concentrators and foreign students that support other language clubs, the Circolo Italiano has had an up-and-down existence. The latest reorganization brought new strength to the Club in 1946 under President Raphael Zariski '46, and by the next year the Circolo was able to produce the first Italian play in its history, Pirandello's La Giezra. The Club's policy of serving fine Italian wines to loosen reticent tongues at their conversational gatherings has continued, as has the valuable collaboration of the group's Radcliffe auxiliary. ORIENTAL CLUB Organized in 1943, the Oriental Club drew its member- ship from Harvard students from China, India, Turkey, and other nations of the Middle and Far East. Club officers, including Harish Mahindra '46, presented a dance in honor of Pandit Nehru's nieces, Chandralekha and Nayantera Pandit, and a public concert in january, 1944, with the co-operation of Dr. and Mrs. Eliot Perkins of Lowell House. Hoping to acquaint Western audiences with the unfamiliar traditions of Oriental music, members of the Club performed melodies native to their homelands on the instruments for which they were composed, and danced in native costumes. Native costumes and musical instruments appeared at the Oriental C1ub's concert in Lowell House in 1944.

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A Small but Devoted Group Keeps the Debate Council Going Though lack of interest and other difficulties, financial and military, reduced Harvard debating to a bare subsistence level during the war, '46 members took a leading part in the ne of the seven '46 men already debates that could be held. O on the Debate Council in 1942-1943, Francis D. Woidich, won one of the annual Coolidge prizes awarded to the best speakers in the trials for the Harvard-Yale-Princeton triangular debates, ' ' ' f U 't l and s oke against Princeton on the question o a ni ec P Nations Federal Union. He was subsequently appointed resident of the Council, an office he was to hold until 1945, P with Philip Troen '45 as secretary-treasurer. Leopold H. Haimson '46 and Ellis Kaplan '46, added on their debate against Haver- ford on the topic of a post-war military alliance with Russia. Another member of the Class, William Cahill, entered the ' ' d c- Boston Renard- Amerzmn J oratory contest and compete su Woidich, Troen, to the Council the next year, w cessfully in several of their tournaments. Haimson and Kaplan bore the load of Ivy League debating in the spring of 1944, which included a special election year idential fourth term, but Ronald illiam Gorvine '46 also spoke in the Columbia and Holy Cross debates, andjohn Rowe '46 teamed up with Woidich to take on Tufts the following fall. . . . . . .b.l. the As intercollegiate debating declined in feasi iity, Harvard Council instituted intra-Council debates, with student judges and informal critiques, to improve platform technique and debate procedure and to stimulate interest, andjohn Rowe '46 and Edwin jacob '47 drew up a report to the Committee on Liberal Education outlining plans for increased scope of debating activity in peacetime. ' Cambridge University Wins The plans began to bear fruit in 1946, as membership and alumni financial support materialized, and the Debate debate with Yale on the pres Newburgh '46 and W b Marks '47 Ronald G Newburgh '46, CLEFTJ 1943-44. Back Row: Al ertj. , . . ' ' ' f ' f D, Donald S. Willner '47 Arthur D. Sporn 47. Serum! Row. G-orge H Fenne Philip Troen '45 CSecretary-Trearurerj, Francis DeS. Woidich '46 CPrer1dcnlj A C lill '46 Front Row' Henry H Nattens '47, William Gorvine '46 William . ai . . . CRIGHTJ 1947-48. Bark Row: William J. Gibbons '49, Sedgwick W. Green ' ' ' ' '4 L onard H. Schwall '47, Hugh H. Hill '48, 50, Richard D. Klerndienst 7, e Edwin -I. Jacobs 47, Monroe S. Singer 47 fMmm,r,er , ' ' ' e . ll '46,john G. Rowe 46, Ed Jacobs '47 and Bill Bailey '46 confer during their debate with Cambridge University. derick Council adopted a new constitution, added Professor Fre C. Packard, jr. '20 as faculty adviser, and debated a wide variety of subjects against teams ranging from California to McGill. The season's climax, witnessed by a record crowd of 350, saw William P. D. Bailey '46 and Edwin jacob '47 match wits and words creditably but unsuccessfully against a crack team from Cambridge University in England. The Council has since continued its expansion, or- ganizing inter-House debating and a Freshman Debating Council, and joining the newly-formed Ivy Debating League. The resulting renewed interest and stiff competition augur well for the future of debating at Harvard. G. R. Melvin L. Zurier '50, Eli Kaminsky '47,john A. Lucal '48, Edward F. Burke '50. Second Row: Robert S. Hirschfleld '50, Morton J. Franklin '49, Paul L. Wright '49, Peter H. Clayton '50, Claude G. Richie, jr. '49, Don S. Willner '47, Lynn W. Eley '50, Richard Firth '48, Howard L. Swartzman '47. Front Row: Ray A. Goldberg '48, William P. D. Bailey '46, Daniel M. Pierce '49, Monroe S. Singer '47, Robert M. Beren '47 fPreridenlj, Detlev F. Vagts '49f Vire Preridentj, Mortimer . S. Steinberg '47 fTreururerJ, J. Philip Bahn '49 Uecrelaryj, Lucian C. Parlato '50. mumwjsw 17

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QSM fb .'i i3S vw' xii' awafioo The Liberal Union on the picket line. Seven short years of Harvard history, not unmarred by periods of turbulent factional strife, have seen the Liberal Union outlast its growing pains and emerge as one of the most vigorous and enterprising organizations on the College scene. Though not properly a political group, the HLU believes that liberal principles must not be confined to parlor discussions over the coffee-cups, but carried into sincere and effective action in the press, at the polls, and in everyday social and economic life. If small in numbers, HLU members have often demonstrated energy and leadership sufficient to produce impressive results. The original Liberal Union, formed in 1941 out of dissatisfaction with the national youth movements, died a natural death in 1942. Reviving two years later, the new HLU joined the U. S. Student Assembly and later the Students for Democratic Action, deciding after some discussion to take a vigilant stand against the possibility of Communist influence within the Liberal Union. The Anti-Communist sentiment carried William H. Bozman '46 to the Presidency in 1946. Bans and Discrimination Among HLU activities which '46 will remember was a test case violation of the City ban on sales of the book Strange Fruit. Though the case soon sank out of sight in the legal quagmire, attendant publicity provoked much criticism and discussion of the advisability of Boston's famous bans on 1943-44. Back Rouujohn B. Hall '47, Alfredj. Pugliese '47, David Kligler '47, Edwin M. Davidson '45. Thin! Row: Reuben P. Hersh '47,james G. Trager,Jr. '46, Donald C. Borg '47, Monroe S. Singer '47, Abraham P. Goldblum '46, Saul L. Sherman '47, Henry U. Grunebaum '47. Second Row: Herbert I. David '47, Edgar M. Rubin '47, Don S. Willner '47 fPre.fit!entD, Frank X. Murphy '47 Uerretnryj, Irwin Leff '47 QTrea.turerD, Norman J. Golden '46, Front Rouxjohn Wermer '47, Henry Gluck '47, Bernardj. Wolfson '47, George S. Koch,jr. '48 1947-48. Bark Row: Richard M. Hays '49, Allen H. Barton '45, Geoffrey W. White '48, Warrenj. Greene '46, Dwaine W. Dilts '50, Front Row: Robert A. Levine '50, Eugene V. Dalgin '45, Frederic D. Houghteling '50 QPrc'ridentj, William H. Bozman '46, Don S. Willner '47. The Liberal Union Believes in Vigorous Political Action so-called immoral literature. A more successful local campaign was the drive inthe spring of 1947 against anti-negro dis- crimination in the local nitery, Club 100. Enlisting Crimson and student support, the Liberal Union threw picket lines about the offending tavern and forced an agreement from the management to abandon their previous discriminatory policies. The HLU's original small news bulletin has given place recently to the Student Progrmive, a magazine printing liberal student commentary from all over the nation. The HLU sponsors numerous forums on political and economic topics, works for liberal candidates in Congressional and local political campaigns, and co-operates with labor unions in opposing anti-labor legislation. For the scoffers who feel that impassioned student liberals are merely tilting at windmills, the HLU offers a striking answer in its election year campaign. After the smoke had cleared on November 2, 1948, Liberal Union members could point with pride to the attainment of all three of their major objectives: the re-election of President Truman, the election of Governor Dever, and the defeat of the Massachu- setts restrictive referenda on labor. 1aYf1 1' - . xxfu I I V