Hobart College - Echo of the Seneca Yearbook (Geneva, NY)

Page 16 text:

THE ECHO OF THE SENECA families bad been sufferers from the Civil War, he was not bountifully provided with this world’s goods. Mr. Read left Geneva with a degree, a suit of clothes, a ticket to Philadelphia and a determination “to arrive. He differed from Ben Franklin in the time more than in the circumstances of his enti ance into Philadelphia. By day he labored in the office of a stock broker, and by night he taught school. He read law at Temple Uni- versity. By 1902, however, the call of steel had become insistent, and he entered the Midvale Steel Company as a clerk. He was superintendent of the iron foundry within a year, and subsequently became also assistant superintendent of the open hearth departments. He severed his connection with this company, January i, 1912, to engage in the manufacture of all-steel automobile bodies, becoming Secretary of the Btidd Manufacturing Company in 1913, and, in 1914, Secretary and Treasurer. The growth of this firm is one of the romances of industrial America and Mr. Read’s part in it has been conspicuous. Mr. Read brings to the service of Hobart College a great love for the institution, which will be readily translated into accomplishment. His business experience is broad and his judgment is of rare sound- ness. His forebears were makers of history in Revolutionary South Carolina, big, virile men and women, who met life courageously and feared only God. Mr. Read has inherited their qualities. His vision is comprehensive. He has no patience with littleness as such but there is no detail too small for his attention. This is, perhaps, the secret of his wonderful efficiency. His optimism is persuasive. The charm of manner which distinguished the gentlemen of the old school distinguishes also Mr. Read. He is a member of the Kappa Alpha Society, of the Art, the Racquet and other clubs in Philadelphia. He takes a deep interest in religious work and is a vestryman of the Episcopal Church at Conshohocken. Mr. Read married, in 1909, Miss Rachel B. Wood, of Philadelphia, and is the father of three children, two girls and one boy.

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VOLUME LVI. 19 17 I 5 President of the Philadelphia Chamber of Commerce, the largest body of its kind in the United States, and as trustee of the Philadelphia Bureau of Municipal Research. Because he has been impressed so forcibly with the need of trained men for public service, he has arranged for a course of lectures to be given at Hobart next year on the scientific management of cities. Training for public service is a task that our colleges and universities have been slow to shoulder, but now that they have realized this obligation to society, courses are rapidly being installed with the proper field and laboratory work, to provide the country with the kind of men we must have if our great experiment in democracy is to be a real success. Hobart is a pioneer among the smaller colleges in this new endeavor. It is due largely to the broad vision of Powell Evans, '88, that his Alma Mater is among the leaders in this new movement. Written liy P. H. Whai.i'Y, Editor of the l’hil:ulri| lii;i Evening Lodger William Bond Read, who was elected a Trustee of Hobart College in January, 1917, was bom in Plantersville, South Carolina, April 2, 0S77. Graduating from the Porter Military Academy, Charleston, South Carolina, in 1.X95, he entered Hobart in September of the same year, taking the scientific course. He was given the B.S. degree in 1898. Mr. Read was active in college affairs. In his senior year, he was a member of the Varsity eleven and he played on the first lacrosse team to represent Hobart in an intercollegiate contest. He never posed as a brilliant athlete, nor as a brilliant scholar, but he had a way of getting there and a very clear perception of his goal. The old gymnasium had shower baths, in fact, and hot water in theory. An inkling of the ruggedness of Mr. Read’s character may be gathered from the fact that he, alone among the students, braved the icy water in that desolate establishment every morning before breakfast. Thereafter, the world’s cold shoulder could not daunt him. In common with many other Southern men educated at Hobart, whose

Page 17 text:

VOLUME LVI, 1917 I 7 C@EE@ @ f@ff 1916=1 1916-17 J an. 4- Thursday, Christmas recess ends X.4=; a. m. Jan. 16. Tuesday. Meeting of Trustees. Feb. ■ - » Friday, Semi-annual examinations begin. Feb. 12, Monday. Second term begins. April 4. Wednesday, Spring recess begins i :oo i M. April 12. Thursday. Spring recess ends 8:45 a. m. June 1, Friday, Semi-annual examinations begin. June ?• Thursday, Annual meeting of Phi Beta Kappa. June 9. Saturday. Class Day, Alumni Day, Meeting of Trustees and Anniversay Meeting of Phi Beta Kappa. J une ro, Sunday, Baccalaureate Sunday. June 11. Monday, Com m knckm knt Day. 1917 18 Sept. 17. Monday, Entrance examinations begin. Sept. 18. Tuesday, First term begins, registration 9:00 a. m. Nov. 29. Thursday, Thanksgiving Day. Dec. ■ 9. Wednesday. Christmas recess begins 1 :oo p. m. Jan. 8' Thursday, Christmas recess ends 8:45 a. m. Jan. 15 Tuesday, Meeting of Trustees. Jan. 25, Friday, Semi-annual examinations begin. Feb. 4. Monday, Second term begins. April 3. Wednesday, Spring recess begins 1 :oo p. m. April i r. Thursday, Spring recess ends 8:45 a. m. May 3 b Friday, Semi-annual examinations begin. J une 6, Thursday, Annual meeting of Phi Beta Kappa. June 8. Saturday. Class Day, Alumni Day, Meeting of Trustees and Anniversary Meeting of Phi Beta Kappa. J une 9. Sunday. Baccalaureate Sunday. June 10, Monday, Com m encem knt 1 Day .