Worcester Polytechnic Institute - Peddler Yearbook (Worcester, MA)

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Angelas ‘‘Of all the pranks that students devised for their own amusement and faculty’s discomfiture, the establishirig of the horse in the chapel is without parallel,” writes Herbert Taylor in his book of the history of Worcester Polytechnic Institute. It happened in the fall of 1884, about the time the first electric street car appeared in the Worcester streets. “Buckskin,” not an exceptionally in¬ telligent steed, was owned and operated by Superintend¬ ent of the Washburn Shops, Milton Higgins, and housed in a barn which occupied the land that is now the site of the Higgins Laboratories. “Buckskin” must have been a very good natured steed and one with an excellent sense of balance, for, led by the animal lovers in the class of ’85 and ’86, he was guided up the two flights of spiral stairs in Boyton Hall, to be picketed in the room where faculty and students had gathered for morning Chapel services. Everyone except Mr. Higgins took the joke good- naturedly. The problem of getting the beast back on his accustomed plane was too involved for mechanical en¬ gineers, so a veterinary was called. He blanketed, padded and blindfolded old Buckskin, tied his legs together and lowered him on skids with the aid of block and tackle. Students cheering the proceedings were dispersed by a squad of police. A general inquisition was the immedi¬ ate result of this prank. Eleven students confessed, but because Professor Sinclair rose to their defense the “ap¬ propriate penalty was remitted.” Some forty years later the culprits of ’85 and ’86 cheerfully donated enough money to completely remodel the room to undo the dam¬ age which Buckskin had done in his one day’s stay. As a tribute to the friend who had saved the boys from pun¬ ishment the new room was called Sinclair Hall. Six

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1 to DONALD GRAHAM DOWNING Professor of Mechanical Engineering For his expressive mannerisms in the lecture hall, which manage to keep even the drowsy student aware of the proceedings, Professor Downing has earned the well- known title of “The Boomer”. Actually he first got this nickname not from his classroom techniques but when he portrayed Horatio K. Boomer at a Tech Carnival many years ago. ... . sportsman .... friend One of the Boomer’s most important principles, and one which has made him so close to the hearts of all Tech men, is his strong belief in a very close relationship be¬ tween student and faculty. Only by having such a rela¬ tionship can the principles of engineering be properly and realistically presented to the embryo engineer. His inter¬ est in students is not confined to th classroom,; room 219 in Higgins is always open for students who have prob¬ lems—scholastic or otherwise. As faculty advisor for the Tech Council and Skull he is able to keep in touch with affairs outside of the classroom. His loyal attendance at sports functions and his inexhaustible good nature, which penetrates the widest boundaries, round out this portrait of the Boomer. In classroom the emphasis is on thinking; those key equations, secret formulas, hidden clues, and magic num¬ bers are taboo in any of The Boomer’s classes. Outside of the classroom he stresses participation in extracurricu¬ lar activities as a method of rounding out one’s training. Professor Downing’s only son is twenty years old. No, he doesn’t go to Tech! No, he doesn’t want to be an en¬ gineer! An early aversion to math has prompted his son to study advertising design at the R.I. School of Design. Reading and contract bridge take up what little spare time the Boomer has at home, but lately he’s found that school business has kept him rather busy. What does he do, well let’s see. He now serves on three committees; the hour plan, of which he has been chairman for six years, the students, and the scholarship. Besides this, he has since Dean Howe retired, assisted in the admissions office, and in the sum¬ mer time he is director of the Summer school. When “Boomer” graduated in 1926, the editors of the yearbook had this to say about him: “When ‘Fats’ graduates there will be left a void on the Hill that it will take at least two good men to fill.” Now, twenty-seven years later we need alter this para¬ graph only slightly to make it true: today it would take at least four good men to fill that void.

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Youthful eyes peer into the future N O WHERE in our present day environment can one find as dynamic a society as in the college campus. Not a day can pass without some new and challenging experience confronting the individual. Susceptible to change as he is, the Tech student finds in a year of school many community and individual problems facing him, both as an individual and as a body. Each one of us has had to cope with his own personal set of crises and strug¬ gles, realizations and frustrations, joys and sorrows. But when the year is over and we look back at what we have or haven’t done, when we think of the things we wish we had said, or the days we should have stayed in bed, we realize that a year at Tech has helped us to become better citizens of the future. Each of us has been affected by a different and intricate combination of items drawn from the lengthy Worcester Tech spectrum. All exerting their influence in various directions have been the dorm, exams, the future, foot¬ ball, Alden Memorial, the Goat’s Head, reports, physics, homecoming, the ‘Palace’, bull sessions, G.I., the “B”, Jay’s, the mail. Skull, the draft board, war, politics and so on down the line of infinite length. We learn by experience. What better way to learn about ourselves and our school than by occasionally dusting off the building blocks that have gone into a year of construction on the ‘Hill’. That a yearbook cannot do this job is only too obvious. It is our hope that the pages which follow will in some small measure serve as a catalyst to the memory—the stimulant to refresh and renew events of the past year. We will touch only upon those things of broader interest with the hope that they might recall the myriad impres¬ sions with which each is associated. Our story begins in March 1953. The first signs of spring made their appearance early in the year in the form of tiny green buds on the ivy cov¬ ered bricks of Sanford Riley Hall. Inside, as well as out, there was a bee hive of activity. An eager band of fresh¬ man personages were putting together the last pieces of their Tech Carnival presentation. Although the evening of the Carnival was Friday the 13th, the omen proved no hindrance of the ’55ers, who took first place for the sec¬ ond year in a row in the Battle of the Carnival Cup. And while the lower classes were busy with the Carni¬ val, the council chambers of the fraternities were busy discussing the relative merits of hell vs help week. The year saw several more fraternities join the enlightened minority. The mayor announced ‘Roll Up Your Sleeve Day’ and the bloodmobile was a popular hangout as once again the Tech men showed their willingness to cooperate with a national cause. Socially the R.O.T.C. department celebrated the 90th anniversary of the Corps, the civils had their ‘Simple Civil Social’ while Phi Sigma Kappa copped the I.F. Basketball loop with an undefeated record. After 14 years as W.P.I.’s Dean of Admissions and of Students and twenty-nine years of continuous service to the Institute, Jerome W. Howe announced his retirement. In the halls of the faculty and in the ranks of the alumni, many were quick to recognize that Dean Howe’s depart¬ ure from the campus was a significant loss to the In¬ stitute. Spring, the month a young man’s fancy is supposed to turn lightly to thoughts of anything but school, found colleges throughout the country faced with problems of panty raids and riots. Even Worcester’s own Becker College was victim to some over-zealous visitors from Lehr und Kunst