University of Chicago - Cap and Gown Yearbook (Chicago, IL)

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Harold Gosnell Goanell-ttNegro Politicianeii LSD in the audience was Harold F. Gosnell, A5507 ciate Professor of Political Science, who capped five Years of work when his book, Negro Politia ciens.h was published during the summer. It is the story of the political struggles of B. minority group is an Amer- ican metropolitan community. Dr. Gasnell concludes that political organization has resulted in no spectacular gains for the race, but the concrete gains have been about as great as those of other minority groups, and the status of Negroes might have been worse had they not been organized. The book is a fascinating story of skullduggery, conflict, and t'human interest episodes which should appeal to the Iaymant The bank raises the question of what is political science. It does not pre- tend to present an analysis by which all political minori- ties can be understood. It should be a valuable source for historians who want to know how Negroes have fared in Chicago. It is particular, not universal. It will not aid political scientists who are lookin for principles that will explain the kind of political 'ehavior it de- scribes. The volume mm for its author the John Anise field Award of $1,000 for the best book of the year on race relations. Bank robbery-Deuel member of the audience at the faculty banquet was Dr. Theme Deuel, Research Associate in Anthropology. He made news three times during the month of October. He had headed a. party during the summer which explored the archaeologically important Kineaid Mountains near Metropolis, Illinois, where a house, partially consumed by fire hundreds of years ago, revealed important archaeological artifacts concerning the structure and materials of the homes of ancient American Indians. Dr. Deuel then returned to the University with these findings and prepared to leave again, this time for Texas, on a one-man photographicai expedition which, as a part of a collection of similar material throughout the Mississippi thlley. is expected to enable students to study the remains of ancient Indian cultures without actually visiting the country. This expedition of Dr. Deuel, then, was to be as much for education as for research. As a part of the preparations Dr. Deuel entered the University State Bank early one bright it'lazmailmr morning L AID up in the hospital instead of being just another 23 to draw out some money, As he stood near the teller's window, two amateur hanaits fortified by five others who were waiting outside in two automobiles entered the bank anti snarled, This is a stick-np. A young woman behind the counter promptly stePped on-the tear-gas pedal; the bandits became pamcky. Deuel leaped behind a marble pillar. Unfortunately, as he later related, he forgot to pull in his ankle, In the shooting that followed Dr. Dcuel caught a ricochetted bullet in that ankle, and three other persons were wounded in the eifray, twe of them badly. This blood and thunder made it news again when Dr, Deuel, several weeks later departed for Texas none the worse for the incident except that careful Billings Hospital had dc- prived him of a week's time, He will return to the University this June. Art Inslilute-lecturca-JucLaughlin EW students know that members of the Univer- F sity faculty give lecture series at the Art Insti- tute Week-day evenings at the Institute are rare when some member of the faculty is not addressing an earnest group of listeners in Fullerton Hall at 6:445 P. M. Lectures scheduled last fall were in the fields of politics, law, art, and anthropology. As if to show that the University as a hotbed of radicalism was still not without tinges of Republicanism, five lectures on Our Constitution were delivered by Andrew C. Mc- Laughlin, Professor-Emeritus of American History, and a far more noted authc-ritg,r 0n the Constitution than the Honorable James M. Beck, so extensively quoted in the press, The tive lectures were The Constitutional Significance of the American Revolution, The Origin and Nature of the American Constitutional System? The Courts and Their Duties under the Constitution , The Adaptation of Law to Changing Social Conditionsii, and W111: Development of the Presidency . Smith . . . Boullon . . . Stark ONCURRENTLY T. V. Smith, Professor of Philo- C sophy and State Senator from the Fifth District, considered in a, series of five lectures the ethical foundations of individualism, liberalism, fascism, com- munism, and Americanism. A series of five lectures on African Music: A PurSuit of Rhythm was given by Mrs. Laura C. Boulton, trained musician and anthropolo- gist, featuring actual melodies in sound recording and actual tribal life of the African savages in movie hlm. She managed to establish many connections between this kind of primitive music and American jazz. Harold Stark gave the longest series, ten lectures on Art and Life in America. Five members of the University's School of Business followed T. V. Smithis lectures with a series on iiThe Relationship between Government and Business? PHOTO BY JOHN ROBERTS

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Alfred Emerson Whafs In a Year? yearly history nf the University. Since it has been discontinued, there has been no history of the University except in the isolated files of timing; othces. The Cap and Gown is pleased this year to write e com- prehensive hietimq.r of the year in terms of the aims of the University in education and research UNTIL 1932 the University record published a This year began for the University in an atmos- phere of suspicion of everything foreign to it. Students and faculty felt certain the attacks from outside would hardly cease so soon, Many were very badly con- seating a hope for a little more excitement; the facutty enjoyed absolute unity against the chauvinism whlch would fm-hid them to operate: students were prepared to have a wonderful time tellin what they think of those who want to tell them w at is safe for them tn learn. Nopromiaea........ N October LL, more than 500 members of the fee- 0 ulty met for their homecoming dinner in the Hutchinson Commons. President Hutchins, pre- siding, said ominously: ttLest year at this time I promised yeti a year of peace and relaxation. Every- thing proceeded placidljr enough until the middle of Aprileand then look what happened. So thlS year I am making no promises. . . h Many new faculty members were introduced and three newly appointee administrative officerPW'iIEiam H. Taliaferm, Dean of the Division of Biological Science; Arthur C. Bachmeyer, Director of University Clinics,- and Richard P. McKeDn, Dean of the Division of Humanitiesigave addresses on subjects upon which each was peculiarly qualified to speak. Emerson and Termites N the audience was Dr. Alfred E. Emerr son who had just returned from the Panama. Canal Zone with his famiiy where he had spent the summer investigating the amazing Social organieation and coupera- tive existence of some I50 species of ter- mite insecta. It is submitted as a typical piece of research in the natural sciences. A colony of termites has a king and queen with two or three million progeny consisting of workers and soldiers. The workers build the nests and procure food, while the soldiers defend the colony against their traditional enemies, the ants. These facts have long been known, but Dr. Emerson had much to add to this information. We observed four general kinds of soldiers umung the many species af ter- mites, Dr. Emerson said. The difference lies in the function of the large heads of the soldiers, One maims or kills the enemy by biting with a. large pair of jaws. Another is equipped with Snappers that- can kill an ant at une stroke. The most deadly tighter1 however, exudes a sticky substance which disables and often kills theI attackers. A fourth kind, which has not been fullg,r investigated1 gives' out a kind of poison gas that is deadly for other insects. Z0010 ists have not yet been able to explain the origin of the ing and. queen, but they now know why only one of each exists in a. single colony. ttWhen a. king is removed from a colony, 8. tsubstitutet king develops from one of the tnymphst which are the younger progeny not yet grown into soldiers or work- ers, said Dr. Emerson, hut 01113.r one kingIdeveiops because he then proceeds to secrete a. substance that inhibits the growth of anyr other patential kings. The same phenomena is. observed in the queens. Some exr ceptions to this rule exist, but the;- would taike many paragraphs to explain. . . hUnlike man, termites never attack each other under natural conditions or interfere in any way with the functions of other members of the species. They conduct a. perfectly cooperative society performing the functions of faod-getting, nest-building, breeding, and defense without intramural conHict, but often with a leek of ehieieney which indicates to us that their cooperative action is not intelligent, but instinctive, said Dr, Emerson. ' Like man, however, the termites dumesticate animals ethat is to say, other insects such as beetles and flies, called termitophiles. When we transplanted these termitophiles to a colony of another Species, they were immediately killed. al- thbugh they resembled very closely the domesticated insects of the foreign species, said Dr. Emerson. In a series of experiments conducted to observe the fighting capacities of the termite soldiers, Dr. Emerson re ated: I found one termite soldier that was able to repel BliCceSSquy '72 ants. The evidence of more than a thousand experiments shows that the termite soldiers can always defend their colony if not too hopeless! out- numbered by the ants. The workers, unprotecte , are easily overwhelmed. However, if the ants set out to capture a. colony, theyr can always succeed in the end with tremendous sacriiice of their own fighters. The results of Dr. Emersonts six months of research are expected to contribute to the field of ecology in the biological sciences. Dr. Emerson has added 20 species of termites to a. list of m which were known to live in the Panama. region. In addition, a countless number of experiments were conducted which will contribute to scientific knowledge about the regimented, cooperative life of insects. Van Bieehroeek, and a new comet NOTHER member of the audience at the Faculty Homecoming Dinner was Dr. George Van Bias- broeeh, Professor of Astronomy. He had recently discovered a new comet through the powerful Yerkes Observatory telescope. The comet is located in the southern skies in the Saggitarius Constellation and i5 imrisible to the naked eye. It was promptly named Comet Van Biesbroeek and even more promptly two observer tions were made about Comet Van Biesbroeek: Uh It was approaching the Sun and it continued to do so until December 9 when it began to swing away, and t2; its chief peculiarity was thet its tail was not away from the sun, as is normal, but swings at a ninet;r degree angle from a line drawn between the sun and the comet. 22

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Edgar 1. Coodspead Detective stories HE hobbies 0f the fac- ulty at the University have long been intel- lectually justified. The great Michelson, it is said. was a shark in p001 and billiards for the mathematical and geometrical excitement of the games. Many members of the faculty,r openly admit- ted they read detective storien for the sheer please ure in beating the author out of his surprise at the end of the puzzles he can- tivest President Robert M. liutchins admits his reading uf detective stories is just another vice-like cigarettes. since he is always borrowing the book from someone. But it tuck Professor Edgar J . Goodspeed, translator of the New Testament into Modern English to come out with a mystery novel under his own name, entitled The Curse of the Colophon? It involved the adven- tures of a professor who seeks to find the meaning of :1 mysterious; inecription at the end of an ancient manly script, the itColophon , upon which lies L1 cumin William Vaughn Moody Lectures N October l'T, a. phase of the University tradition O was revealed in all its richnesn. when three emi- nent members of the department of English corn- memorated the twenty-fifth anniversary of the death uf William Vaughn Moody, poet, painter, dramatist member of the faculty from 1395 to 1903. Ferdinand Schevil, Professor Modern History and intimate friend of Moody, spoke on William Vaughn Moody: The Man. John M. Manley. ProfessorAEmeri- tus of English, writer of the Introduction to Mocdyis Collected Poems and Plays, and outstanding authority on Chaucer, spoke on ttWilliam Vaughn Moody: The Schoiar. Howard Mumford Jones, Professor of Eng- lish at the University of Michiganend graduate of the University, spoke on William Vaughn Moodv: The Poet; Percy H, Boynton, Professor of English pre- side . Rarely has so penetrating analysis of a man of genius been presanted. None of the men who spoke felt strict- ly .confmed t0 the topics, The Man , T he Scholar't', and The Poet? It was thoroughly established that Mendy was a man of genius, a conscientious teacher and scholar, a poet of tremendous Eminence in American literature. William Vaughn Moody was .1 brilliant student and creative artist, even while attending Harvard from which he graduated at an early age, He spent most of his; short life Um was only M years old when he diedj in long and extended travel, usually- preferring the Mediterranean lands and California. Despite his travel- ing abmad, his poetry was distinctly American in back- grOund and subject-matter. During his eight years of teathing at the University, he was an inspiration to students and fellow-faeulty members to such an extent that the intellectual and aehthetic impulse which he gave in those years has not yet left them. Two permanent monuments to his memury exist at the University: The William Vaughn Moody Lecture Foundation, financed by anonymous donors, which regularly brings to the campus prominent contributors to the arts, literature and science of the world; and the William Vaughn Moody Library of American Literature. James Henry Breasted epoch struck the campus in December. Vigorous James Henry Breasted; worId-famuus orientalist and historian, creator and director of the Universityls Oriental Institute, was stricken and died December 2 of streptoccocus infection soon after he was taken from the.- boat in New York after :1 eummei' mjourn in Italy and the Near East. ONE of those tragedies which mark the end of an Colleagues expressed their shock at his sudden passv ing and their admiration of his scholarly achievements when the news reached them. The museum of the Orien- tal Institute was closed for the day and the University's flag was lowered to halfistaff. Dr. Breasted was probably the- most famous Scholar on our faculty, said Vice-President Woodward, aIn addition to his remarkable achievements in discovery ilnd research, he was a great organizer and executive, a brilliant lecturer, and a man of extraordinary per sonal charm. His illuminating books on the early history of civillzation are read not only by scholars but by intelligent laymen all over the world. uOur loss is irreparable. In the Oriental Institute 0f the University of Chicago, which Dr, Breasted estab- lished and developed to its present high standing, he leaves an enduring monument. At his own request Dr, Breasted's remains were cre- mated. There were 1m funeral services, but plans for a memorial service to be held later at the llfniversitf,r were made, of which we shall make mention later in this hisr tory. Besides Mrs. Breasted and his sun, Charles Breasted, Dr. Breasted leaves a younger son, James Henry Breasted, er now studying oriental history at Queen's College, Oxford, and a daughter, Astrid. The latter had remained in the Near East but immediately started for America on hearing of her fatherls death. The first Mrs. Breasted, the former Frances Hart, whom he married in Berlin in 1394:, died Juiy 24, 1934-. On June 8, 1985, Dr. Breasted married his first wifeis sister, Mrs. Imogene Hart Richmond and their trip to the Near East was in part a Wedding trip, Dr. A. T. Olmsteed, long-time colleague of Dr. Breasted, who succeeded to the chair of Oriental Lanr guages from which Dr. Breasted retired two years ago, to devote his time to the administrative work of the Institute, said: 'I'James Henry Breasted was the first American pro- fessional historian of the ancient Near East: before his death the wurlti recognized him as its foremost historian. When his History uf Egypt was published in 190? ancient history itself was harm 1y recognized by professional historians, the 0 r i e n t was abandoned t u the phitnlogist and the theolo- gian. Professor Breasted 9.1-- m o s t single- handed m a d e the Orient tru- ly historial with his vivid pic- tures of the 'lil-ing p a s t? James Breasted 24