Undergraduate Commencement Speakers in the 1910s

1910 - June 15

H. W. Collingwood

Collingwood, managing editor of The Rural New Yorker, discussed "The Value of a Man" for his second appearance at commencement.


1911

No commencement held

With a change in the curriculum that added an additional year to the degree program, no one was eligible to graduate.


1912 - June 19

Dr. George M. Twitchell

Twitchell's address was titled "Our Country: Its Strength, Its Weakness". Formerly a dentist, Twitchell was editor and manager of Maine Farmer. He also served as secretary of the Maine State Agricultural Society.


1913 - June 18

Rev. Harris E. Starr

Rev. Harris Elwood Starr was a former paster (1901-1906) of the Storrs Congregational Church, and he taught courses on religion at Connecticut Agricultural College during his tenure with the church. He was an associate editor of the Dictionary of American Biography. His address was called "Orientation".


1914

No commencement held

More changes in the curriculum led to the cancellation of graduation. It was also in 1914 that the college adopted the requirement of a high school diploma for admission.


1915 - June 16

Prof. Thomas Nixon Carver

Carver (1865-1961) was an economist and social scientist. In 1915, Harvard University Press published his book "Essays in Social Justice." His address was on "The Produce of Life." This was the first commencement held in Hawley Armory, and the year also saw publication of the first volume of the Nutmeg Yearbook. It was dedicated to Henry R. Monteith, professor of history and English.


1916 - June 13

Liberty Hyde Bailey

Bailey, dean emeritus of Cornell College of Agriculture, spoke on "Universal Service" as America prepared for entry into World War I.


1917 - June 11

Richard. E. Dodge

Dodge was a professor of geography (1918-1938) and the first member of the teaching faculty to give a commencement address at Connecticut Agricultural College. He was editor of Annals of the Association of American Geographers for over a decade, and also was president of the association He established the Journal of School Geography and was editor for 13 years. His address at CAC's 1917 commencement was entitled "Looking Ahead in Agriculture: A Vision of Our Opportunities and Responsibilities as Farmers."


1918 - May 11

Warren H. Wilson

Wilson was a Presbyterian minister with a special interest in rural education and religious training. Wilson, whowas a significant figure in Appalachian education, was on the faculty of Columbia University.


1919 - June 21

George B. Chandler

George Brinton Chandler, a native of Fryeburg, Maine, was briefly a school principal before entering the business of textbook publishing, first with Ginn & Co. of Boston and then as Connecticut agent for the American Book Co. He served in the Connecticut House of Representatives in 1909 and 1911. For the 1909 session he was House chair of the Committee on Railroads; in 1911 he was House chaiar of the Committee on Labor. With the end of World War I just 8 months earlier, military service and other obligations limited attendence by graduates to six out of approximately 20 students in the class of 1919.

 

Information on the History of Commencement pages was researched and compiled by Mark J. Roy