Christine Drew, a great librarian at Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI), passed along this wonderful gem. It seems that in a 1985 preseason poll published in the Boston Globe Babson was ranked 10th in New England Division III football.
At my institution the freshmen students are required to take a course where they form a business. A great item developed by one of those businesses a few years ago was a football jersey celebrating Babson Football as "undefeated since 1919." That is a big hint to the humor of the story.
Rip
[Originally posted elsewhere November 2005]
Thursday, September 21, 2006
Honors Day
May 19[2005] will be the 50th anniversary of the first Honors Day at Babson. In its earliest years Babson Institute had few honors or awards. (The Royal Order of the Goat will be discussed another time.) Babson's earliest academic program, the Certificate in Business Administration, was expected to be completed in one year by a student who had had some college experience. By the early 30s the program was available in a two-year course for men right out of high school. By design the Institute didn't offer many of the usual collegiate activities. This was certainly not your typical college.
After WWII the new three-year Bachelor of Science in Business Administration combined with Babson Institute being selected as a school where veterans could apply their GI Bill benefits caused the size and diversity of the school to change dramatically. Varsity sports and student press were among the earliest post-war developments at Babson Institute. In 1948 Babson began giving the Roger W. Babson Achievement Award. By the early 1950s there were many other awards. From 1955 through 1973 a separate ceremony was developed to recognize these award winners. It allowed the campus community to recognize its own on a day that was for the Institute. The Honors Day was usually about a month before Commencement.
Rip
[Originally posted elsewhere April 2005]
After WWII the new three-year Bachelor of Science in Business Administration combined with Babson Institute being selected as a school where veterans could apply their GI Bill benefits caused the size and diversity of the school to change dramatically. Varsity sports and student press were among the earliest post-war developments at Babson Institute. In 1948 Babson began giving the Roger W. Babson Achievement Award. By the early 1950s there were many other awards. From 1955 through 1973 a separate ceremony was developed to recognize these award winners. It allowed the campus community to recognize its own on a day that was for the Institute. The Honors Day was usually about a month before Commencement.
Rip
[Originally posted elsewhere April 2005]
Babson World Globe
Roger W. Babson speaking at the dedication of the Globe on June 18, 1955.
June 18th is the fiftieth anniversary of the dedication of the Babson World Globe. The idea for the globe came from Mr. Babson's grandson Roger Webber during his first days as a student here after WWII. Roger Babson (RWB) thought it was a good idea and would complement the large relief map of the
The linear scale was 1"=24 miles. The surface is 28' in diameter with an 88' circumference. The total weight is 41 tons.
The carriage and shaft was built by Bethlehem Steel. The shaft was 25' long, 22" diameter and weighed six tons. The combined weight was 16 tons.
The sphere was built by Chicago Bridge & Iron Company. The sphere was made of 28-3/8" steel plates each weighing almost a ton.
Originally the globe and carriage were capable of independent motion.
The skin was designed and created by Bettinger Corporation's husband-wife team of Kal Kubinyi and Doris Hall. The skin was made of approximately 580 16 gauge curved steel plates. The plates were hand-painted with porcelain enamel paint and each fired at least four and as many as nine times. They were then bolted to the sphere and sealed with caulking. The globe was dedicated June 18, 1955. I have attached a photo of RWB speaking at the dedication. The final cost was $200,00.
The original plan called for an amphitheater to protect it and to allow class use of the globe but the contractors convinced RWB that the roof wasn't necessary. By the late 1970s rust began to appear around the edges of the plates. The seals were beginning to fail and the plates were rusting from behind. In 1983 the plates were removed. In 1988 the Trustees voted to take down the globe. The student curator of the Map and Globe museum spread the word and soon there was a "Save the Globe" committee. They were successful.
In 1993 the Delorme Company of
Our globe is available to visit during the daylight hours. Feel free to contact me or check the current campus map for directions. You can find the map in the list of links.
Rip
Friday, September 08, 2006
Campus Hill Location Dial
The campus has gone through many changes in 80 plus years. The original campus layout had its center where the upper athletic fields are today (where Commencement will take place on May 21st.) In 1926 the Pacific Coast Sales Force for the Babson Statistical Organization (Harrison C. Hall, Harry L. Grubbs, and Anna H. Dart) contributed $300 toward the Location Dial which would mark the center of the campus. George F. Marlowe, the architect who designed most of our early buildings, designed the dial which was built by contractor Edward Pomeroy. The outer ring has compass directions and in small metal letters local landmarks of the day are identified.Rip
[Originally posted elsewhere May 2005]
Wednesday, September 06, 2006
The Hospital and Convalescent Home for Children
One of the repeated questions that come my way have to do with the past life of the building we know as Forest Hall. As part of the question there is almost always a comment regarding the existence of either a morgue or an "asylum." I will discuss the first feature in this post and save the latter feature for another day.
In 1874 the directors of the Children's Hospital of Boston founded a Convalescent Home for Children in Weston. The two institutions were officially linked but were funded and operated separately. Early in the 20th century (c.1904) the Convalescent Home for Children was moved to 251 Forest Street. For the purposes of subsidy funding its name was changed to the Hospital and Convalescent Home for Children. My records on this hospital/home are very skimpy. But it seems that by the 1940s the convalescent home was divided into a nursery, a center for children with cerebral palsy, and a respiratory section for children with polio-related problems (called the Mary MacArthur Memorial Respiratory Unit.) It seems that the initial treatments would occur at the Children's Hospital in Boston and recovery would take place out here.
There were several buildings that were part of the home. The main building which we call Forest Hall was the headquarters building for the home. The building we know as the Sullivan Building was used for open air wards for patients. The Annex which currently houses the offices of Babson Public Safety was a 14 room unit. The existing floor plans and appraisal records of these buildings do not designate any room as the "morgue." That said, this home housed children with a deadly disease. Children in this home certainly died. It is hoped that the families were able to recover their children's remains quickly.
The Salk vaccine made polio almost non-existent in the United States. The hospital/home was closed in 1958 due in part to the polio vaccine but also due to the distance to Children's Hospital which made monitoring other patients difficult. Babson Institute purchased the buildings and land in 1959. The main building was renovated for classroom use, renamed Forrest Hall, and opened for use in the fall of 1960.
Rip
[Originally posted elsewhere April 2005]
In 1874 the directors of the Children's Hospital of Boston founded a Convalescent Home for Children in Weston. The two institutions were officially linked but were funded and operated separately. Early in the 20th century (c.1904) the Convalescent Home for Children was moved to 251 Forest Street. For the purposes of subsidy funding its name was changed to the Hospital and Convalescent Home for Children. My records on this hospital/home are very skimpy. But it seems that by the 1940s the convalescent home was divided into a nursery, a center for children with cerebral palsy, and a respiratory section for children with polio-related problems (called the Mary MacArthur Memorial Respiratory Unit.) It seems that the initial treatments would occur at the Children's Hospital in Boston and recovery would take place out here.
There were several buildings that were part of the home. The main building which we call Forest Hall was the headquarters building for the home. The building we know as the Sullivan Building was used for open air wards for patients. The Annex which currently houses the offices of Babson Public Safety was a 14 room unit. The existing floor plans and appraisal records of these buildings do not designate any room as the "morgue." That said, this home housed children with a deadly disease. Children in this home certainly died. It is hoped that the families were able to recover their children's remains quickly.
The Salk vaccine made polio almost non-existent in the United States. The hospital/home was closed in 1958 due in part to the polio vaccine but also due to the distance to Children's Hospital which made monitoring other patients difficult. Babson Institute purchased the buildings and land in 1959. The main building was renovated for classroom use, renamed Forrest Hall, and opened for use in the fall of 1960.
Rip
[Originally posted elsewhere April 2005]
Tuesday, September 05, 2006
The Ancient Royal Order of the Goat
Motto: Any Idiot Can Fire a Man.
In my time at Babson only the prospect of a morgue in Forest Hall has generated more questions from undergraduates than the Ancient Royal Order of the Goat. Without Greek letters, Latin mottos, or other chapters, this was Babson’s homegrown “secret society.” According to a note in a 1941 Babson Institute Alumni Bulletin the “Order” was founded before 1926. Dean John E. Millea was the “Most High and Exalted Goat” or “Imperial Goat” whose fertile mind came up with this society. “The privilege of membership in this organization is limited to the desires and whims of the Imperial Goat, thereby making our membership very exclusive.” The newly initiated received a blue and white badge or ribbon. Any more details about the group seemed to have stayed with the members. (I should say here that I would be delighted to speak with any former member of this august group.) It is an odd secret society that identifies its members in the Babsonian and the Babson Institute Alumni Bulletin. But members were not identified every year. Whether there were years when no new person was selected or whether these people simply went unnamed is not clear. Since Millea was involved in the alumni association insertion of new members names into print would have been relatively easy. The order ceased when John Millea was commissioned at the beginning of WWII and he left Babson for the duration of the war. After the war he took a position at Northeastern University.
The questions remain “What was the purpose of this organization” and “What was the criterion for selection.” The earliest reference I have is from the 1927 Babsonian where men are named and an example of why they were selected is offered. One wants to know “if we get a holiday when we don’t go on a factory trip.” Another is selected “for trying to sell Millea a casket.” A third was selected “for insisting that Los Angles has a harbor and a big 600-foot map.” The men at Babson before WWII were slightly older than students here today. Many had been at other schools before coming to Babson Institute. They had a sense of humor about themselves. I believe that the name says it all. These were men who, in some way, got Millea’s “goat.” Through some audacious or silly action or for reasons known only to Dean Millea, men were picked for his particular attention. Whether it was a complete goof or whether it was a way of keeping an eye on those who he felt needed more attention is not known. I have been told that to be selected was an honor, however, the alum who told me this said that he was not chosen for membership. It is known that the last members were selected in 1942.
Many of the questions about the “Goats” suggest an interest in forming a current group. This was a personal project of one man. It was not designed to exist beyond him. To those looking to recreate the “Goat Club” I would ask: Why not form your own “secret society?” I have heard that there have been a couple of groups here in recent years. Care to tell me about them?
One last thing. While researching this group I found a photograph of something called “Skull and Dagger” from 1928. It lists 16 members and is not mentioned again. Who the heck were they?
Rip
[Originally posted elsewhere April 2005]
In my time at Babson only the prospect of a morgue in Forest Hall has generated more questions from undergraduates than the Ancient Royal Order of the Goat. Without Greek letters, Latin mottos, or other chapters, this was Babson’s homegrown “secret society.” According to a note in a 1941 Babson Institute Alumni Bulletin the “Order” was founded before 1926. Dean John E. Millea was the “Most High and Exalted Goat” or “Imperial Goat” whose fertile mind came up with this society. “The privilege of membership in this organization is limited to the desires and whims of the Imperial Goat, thereby making our membership very exclusive.” The newly initiated received a blue and white badge or ribbon. Any more details about the group seemed to have stayed with the members. (I should say here that I would be delighted to speak with any former member of this august group.) It is an odd secret society that identifies its members in the Babsonian and the Babson Institute Alumni Bulletin. But members were not identified every year. Whether there were years when no new person was selected or whether these people simply went unnamed is not clear. Since Millea was involved in the alumni association insertion of new members names into print would have been relatively easy. The order ceased when John Millea was commissioned at the beginning of WWII and he left Babson for the duration of the war. After the war he took a position at Northeastern University.
The questions remain “What was the purpose of this organization” and “What was the criterion for selection.” The earliest reference I have is from the 1927 Babsonian where men are named and an example of why they were selected is offered. One wants to know “if we get a holiday when we don’t go on a factory trip.” Another is selected “for trying to sell Millea a casket.” A third was selected “for insisting that Los Angles has a harbor and a big 600-foot map.” The men at Babson before WWII were slightly older than students here today. Many had been at other schools before coming to Babson Institute. They had a sense of humor about themselves. I believe that the name says it all. These were men who, in some way, got Millea’s “goat.” Through some audacious or silly action or for reasons known only to Dean Millea, men were picked for his particular attention. Whether it was a complete goof or whether it was a way of keeping an eye on those who he felt needed more attention is not known. I have been told that to be selected was an honor, however, the alum who told me this said that he was not chosen for membership. It is known that the last members were selected in 1942.
Many of the questions about the “Goats” suggest an interest in forming a current group. This was a personal project of one man. It was not designed to exist beyond him. To those looking to recreate the “Goat Club” I would ask: Why not form your own “secret society?” I have heard that there have been a couple of groups here in recent years. Care to tell me about them?
One last thing. While researching this group I found a photograph of something called “Skull and Dagger” from 1928. It lists 16 members and is not mentioned again. Who the heck were they?
Rip
[Originally posted elsewhere April 2005]
Founder's Day
Founder's Day was first celebrated November 14, 1947 as a way of honoring Roger W. Babson. It should be noted that until her death in 1956, Roger's wife Grace Knight Babson was included in the ceremony befitting her position as virtual co-founder of the Babson Institute. The Founder's Day activities discussed the development of the Babson Institute as well as Babson's Reports, Utopia College, Webber College, and the Babson Statistical Organization.
After Mr. Babson's death Founder's Day was re-organized as an all-day discussion of the management of a specific industry. Guest speakers came to campus to discuss and debate Television News, Professional Football, and the Automobile Industry, among other things. In 1978 it focused on Entreprenuership and with the Academy of Distinguished Entrepreneurs it became Babson's annual celebration of the entrepreneurial spirit.
Rip
[originally posted elsewhere March 31, 2005]
After Mr. Babson's death Founder's Day was re-organized as an all-day discussion of the management of a specific industry. Guest speakers came to campus to discuss and debate Television News, Professional Football, and the Automobile Industry, among other things. In 1978 it focused on Entreprenuership and with the Academy of Distinguished Entrepreneurs it became Babson's annual celebration of the entrepreneurial spirit.
Rip
[originally posted elsewhere March 31, 2005]
The Charles D. and Marjorie J. Thompson Visiting Poet
Since 1983 there has been a Thompson Visiting Poet reading on the campus. The Charles D. & Marjorie J. Thompson Visiting Poet was an expression of love and as such the readings come on or near Valentine's Day. The following are the readers with the best current link I could find for them.
1983: Esther Buffler.
1984: David McCord.
1985: Kathleen Spivak.
1986: Martin Robbins.
1987: John Hildebidle.
1988: Jody Aliesan.
1989: William Cohen.
1990: Mary Oliver.
1991: Galway Kinnell.
1992: Marge Piercy.
1993: Martin Espada.
1994: Joy Harjo.
1995: Mark Doty.
1996: Li-Young Lee.
1997: Sonia Sanchez.
1998: Robert Pinsky.
1999: Marie Howe.
2000: Edward Hirsch.
2001: C. K. Williams.
2002: Alicia Suskin Ostriker.
2003: David Ferry.
2004: Ellen Bryant Yoigt.
2005: Paul Muldoon.
2006: Marjorie Agosin.
Rip
[Originally posted elsewhere January 2006]
1983: Esther Buffler.
1984: David McCord.
1985: Kathleen Spivak.
1986: Martin Robbins.
1987: John Hildebidle.
1988: Jody Aliesan.
1989: William Cohen.
1990: Mary Oliver.
1991: Galway Kinnell.
1992: Marge Piercy.
1993: Martin Espada.
1994: Joy Harjo.
1995: Mark Doty.
1996: Li-Young Lee.
1997: Sonia Sanchez.
1998: Robert Pinsky.
1999: Marie Howe.
2000: Edward Hirsch.
2001: C. K. Williams.
2002: Alicia Suskin Ostriker.
2003: David Ferry.
2004: Ellen Bryant Yoigt.
2005: Paul Muldoon.
2006: Marjorie Agosin.
Rip
[Originally posted elsewhere January 2006]
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