Lowell Technological Institute - Pickout Yearbook (Lowell, MA)

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CLASS OF 1945 listening to representatives of the Army, Navy, Marine and Air Corps. By De- cember 15, the final date for enlistments in the Armed Forces College Program, there were 1 1 2 men in the reserves. January 27, 1943 the reserve corps was called to active duty. The first to go were the air corps reserves, while the others were given opportunity to finish most of the term. About the same time, a rumor spread around that all freshmen and sophomores would be taken immediately — according to the Army a sophomore was one who had completed two years — but this didn ' t prove to be true, and their induction was delayed for several months. In the second term of the year, ' 42- ' 43, the effect of the war on the curriculum was shown by the inclusion of meteorology and radio in the physics course and by the teaching of spherical trigonometry. Mean- while, the various reserves were drilling on the football field to the tune of Professor Russell Brown ' s hip, two, three, four and listening to his versions of the previous World War. During the spring, an attempt made by the student body to have school continued during the following summer failed. On March 29, 1943, under the direction of Professor Wells, training was begun for enlisted men in uniform in the Navy and the other armed forces. These men studied various technical courses in preparation for work on a Navy anti-aircraft gun. They went to school 48 hours a week and every two weeks a new school was started, each session lasting six weeks. They were supervised by three Chief Petty Officers and a teaching staff of 1 7, many of whom were recruited from the teaching staff of the school. Their physical training as well as the physical training of the men in the reserves was under the direction of Pro- fessor Cushing. In the fall of ' 43, the school, except for the Navy Program, was a lonely and deserted place. Seventy-three students returned to school. Instruction was prac- tically on a private basis. Some artist posted a cartoon showing a teacher lec- turing to his class of two students, one on [22]

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9h the 9ntebim December 7, 1941 is a day that will be long remembered in the history of America and the World, for on that day we changed from a nation at peace to a nation at war. At L.T.I., classes were forgotten as all hurried to the nearest radio to hear the President ask for a declaration of war on Japan. That fall Textile had an enrollment of 280 students. The school year had started in the normal manner with the freshmen being welcomed in with a jubilant hazing by the well organized sophomores, a hazing which ended when the sophomores lost the freshman-sophomore football game. But all this was forgotten with the realization that we were at war; and yet, I wonder how many students actually realized what it would mean to them. For the realization of war was a thing that was to come slowly and painfully. On the surface everything appeared to go along as usual. The basketball season continued in full swing, followed in the spring by a heavy schedule of baseball games. But, by April 15, 34 men were in. On May 18, 1942, President Eames re- ceived a letter from the Adjutant General inviting the school to participate in the program of pre-induction training for students. Previous to this, the Air Corps had already had such a program; but it was later coordinated as a program of all the Armed Forces in which men would enlist in the Army or Navy Reserves and would continue on with their schooling as before. Professor Russell Brown was put in charge and spent a busy summer plowing through the Army and Navy Department correspondence. By the fall of ' 42, the program was in full swing and enlistments begun to pour in. Apparently there was supposed to be a quota for each class; but quotas were disregarded if the man was able, willing and alive. A further impetus to enlisting was the lowering of the draft age to 18. On October 27, an assembly of the en- tire school was held for the purpose of [21]

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each knee. There were no civilian school activities of any type. The spring term of ' 44 saw the end of the Navy Program which had trained 643 men from all parts of the U.S. That summer, Professor Bachmann re- tired as Head of the Design Department to be succeeded by Professor Rosatto. During July, ' 44, an Engineering, Science and Management War Training Program, sponsored by the U.S. Office of Education and under the able direction of Professor Wells, was instituted. Its purpose was to give further technical training to technicians in war industries to enable them to increase their skills in their present job. This training was tuition-free and on college level. The teaching was done by professors at Textile during their spare time in the evenings. This program was concluded on June 22, 1945.- In the fall of ' 44 an even smaller number of students return ed to school. At the end of the spring term of ' 45, President Eames retired to be succeeded by Kenneth Fox, a graduate of the class of ' 38. At the same time, Professor Olney retired as Head of the Chemistry Depart- ment to be succeeded by Professor Fickett. The fall of ' 45 saw the conclusion of the war and the return of the veterans with a re-vitalization of school activities, such as basketball. By the end of the first term, so many veterans had applied for entrance that a special Freshman class was started on January 14, 1946, which was continued through the summer. During 1946, the following teachers returned to the Institute from active military service: Professor Chace, Pro- fessor Edlund, Mr. James, Mr. Lisien, and Mr. Yarnall. The year ' 45 ' 46 marked a turning point in the policy of Textile. Plans were made for dormitories;, the amount of work hours per week were cut down and the need for more liberal art subjects, hu- manities, in the curriculum was recog- nized. And thus, with the fall of ' 46, we come to the end of what may be called the War Years, and what effect new developments and new ideas will have on Lowell Textile Institute only the future can tell. CLASS OF 1946 [23]