Polytechnic Institute of Brooklyn - Polywog Yearbook (Brooklyn, NY)

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The greatest service rendered to the nation by the Institute was, probably, the establishment at Tech of a camp of the Students' Army Training Corps of the United States Army. This was preceded by the enlistment of twenty-four Tech men for a period of two months' training at the Officers' Training Vamp at Plattsburg. Of this number, nine were commissioned as lieutenants and were dispersed thruout the country as army instructors or for further training in other branches of the service. The remainder of this contingent returned to Tech and became 11011-COll1I111SS10l16d officers in the Training Corps. f llhis corps was organized on October 1, 1918, and was composed of regularly enrolled students whose training was in part that of the regular infantry units, and part of engineering studies, so as to fit them for further training at Officers' Training Camps. The commanding officer at Tech was Capt. Arnold J. Grant, and he was assisted by a staff of five lieutenants. The men were quartered i11 the various parts of the building that had been turned into barracks, and drilled on the levelled lXIurphy Park. The unit at Tech was disbanded with the rest of the army and before an opportunity was given it to show its merits. It may be stated in passing that such was the efficiency of the personnel of the unit at Tech that it was the first army unit in the country to be completely disbanded after the passing of the emergency. III Thruout the 1Vorld lvar tl1e Polytechnic Institute was one of the foremost i11 rendering aid to the government in its various war activities. She supplied 600 men for the ranks, and her faculty and laboratories were placed at the disposal of the Government. Thruout the war it maintained a civil organization to aid and comfort Tech boys in the service, and later was turned into an army camp to further the aims of the 1Var Department. Of the boys who left the Institute, many won commissions in the Army and Navy, and one Tech alumnus became a Colonel in the most famous regiment of Engineers, the Eleventh Engineers. Another who left Tech to join the colors was a lieutenant of Artillery in the Twenty-Sixth Division when he was killed in action. Two Tech men died in Naval Training Stations, and two other men, one who had been a lieutenant of Field Artillery and the other a sergeant in the Engineers met with violent deaths in the summer of 1919. A Tech student led the first detachment of Allied troops to reach the Rhine. The Polytechnic Institute well did her share in the Ivorld lvar, and has well earned the share of the glory that will be hers when the Full Tale is told.

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II The first duty of a nation in fighting a. war lies in the concentration of her powers and resources. America soon recognized this fact after watching three years of struggle of the European nations. Expense was no consideration, neither were the leaders to be swayed fron1 a course of action following lines of cold logic. Along with patriotism must come the determination of correct values of the nation's energies, and to find the right niche for each man and institution was the big work of the national councils. The IVar Department chose the colleges of the country as the institutions for the llltlllldlllg of the materials necessary to lead and direct the vast armies and supplies of the American forces. The colleges and universities were called upon to direct the enlistment of their students into branches of the service that would promote the greatest efficiency in military forces. Each college virtually became an officers' training school and each college laboratory became an adjunct to the departments of construction and research. In the matter of student enlistment, the Polyteclmic Institute was among the first to answer tl1e Proclamation of VVar i11 April, 1917. The Polytechnic did not even wait for that inevitable date, but even as early as February, 1917, two companies of infantry were organized at the Institute, each headed by a member of the Faculty. Later, Dr. Chittenden sponsored a movement to organize Tech men into a company of the Twenty-third Regi- ment of the New York Guard. Professor Chittenden was commissioned First Lieutenant, and quickly succeeded in raising a company of infantry. From that time on, more and 111ore students began to appear in the study halls and recitation rooms in military attire, and at the same time many students left the Institute to join the colors in active service. The Honor Roll grew rapidly until, in the summer of 1918, more than 1825 students had entered the service. The faculty list had likewise grown and numbered twenty professors and instructors. In the Fall of 1917, the VVar Department called a council of representatives of the technical colleges of the country for the purpose of establishing courses in Radio Communications and Signal Engineering under the supervi- sion of the Signal Corps of the United States Army. The Polytechnic Instit.ute was represented by Dr. Sheldon. This conference resulted in the establishment at Tech of a course in Radio Communication that entitled the stu- dent to apply for a Signal Corps commission. Only seniors in the engineering courses were eligible, and twelve men were enrolled.

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53 FRED WASHINGTON ATKINSON Prcsiclcnt cj the Polytcclznfic Ifrzstitute of Brooklyn Don't be a grind, he tells them all, As Frosh they enter every fall, But those who've tarried here a While, Wfork on, with reminiscent smile. Born in Reading, lVIass., 1865, A. B., Harvard Univer- sity, 1890, Ph.D., University of Leipzig, 1893, Head of Science Department, Westfield Massacliusetts High School, 1890-91, University of Berlin, 1891, University of Halle, 1899, Universities of Jena and Sorbonne, 1893-94, Principal, Springfield, lVIassachusetts, High School, 1894-1900, General Superintendent of Educa- tion, Philippine Islands, 1900-03, Superintendent of Schools, Newton, Mass., 1903-0-1, President, Poly- technic Institute of Brooklyn, from 1904, lVIen1ber, Board of Education, New York City, 1916-18, Author of The Philippine Islands.