The Dartmouth Winter Carnival Issue 2019

VOL. CLXXV NO. 130 2.8.19

BELLA JACOBY/THE DARTMOUTH SENIOR STAFF

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FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 8, 2019

THE DARTMOUTH WINTER CARNIVAL ISSUE

EDITORS’ NOTE

Table of Contents ‘That Most Necessary Item’: The Snow Queen Pageant

3

Historical Accountability

4

Stories from the Bus: Women’s Carnival Experiences

5

Hollywood Comes to Hanover: The Winter Carnival Movie

6

‘A Pretty Spectacular Thing to See’: Carnival Ski Jumps

7

Alumni Reflections

8

Art as Memory

9

The History of the Winter Carnival MICHAEL LIN/THE DARTMOUTH SENIOR STAFF

These days, we do a lot of documenting without a lot of remembering. Pictures are taken, social media helps to preserve moments in time, but we rarely look back and think of how far we’ve come. With Dartmouth’s 250th year upon us, we’re now asked to reflect and remember — but remember what exactly?

Dartmouth is a place with a lot of traditions. Perhaps it is those we are to remember.

Winter Carnival is full of them, though some should be left in the past where they belong. We were glad to have an opportunity to reflect ourselves, and we encourage you to do the same. Looking backwards isn’t moving backwards, not at all. Looking behind us is perhaps the best way to move forward.

With that in mind, this year’s theme for our Winter Carnival Special Issue is Memory.

10-11

Verbum Ultimum: Students of History

21

Snow Sculptures Through the Ages

24

WARMTH, SPOTTED FROM AFAR

6175 ROBINSON HALL, HANOVER N.H. 03755 • (603) 646-2600

CAROLINE COOK, Issue Editor

ELIZABETH JANOWSKI, Issue Editor

STEVEN ADELBERG, Issue Opinion Editor ZACHARY BENJAMIN, Editor-in-Chief VINAY REDDY, Interin Publisher IOANA SOLOMON, Executive Editor AMANDA ZHOU, Executive Editor SONIA QIN, Managing Editor PRODUCTION EDITORS MATT BROWN & LUCY LI, Opinion Editors

ALEXA GREEN, Managing Editor BUSINESS DIRECTORS BRIAN SCHOENFELD & HEEJU KIM, Advertising Directors

NIKHITA HINGORANI

SARAH KOVAN & CHRISTINA WULFF, Communications &

& CAROLYN ZHOU, Mirror Editors MARK CUI, ALEX FREDMAN & EVAN MORGAN, Sports Editors LEX KANG & JOYCE LEE, Arts Editors CAROLYN SILVERSTEIN, Dartbeat Editor

Marketing Directors CAYLA PLOTCH, Product Development Director BHARATH KATRAGADDA & JAY ZHOU, Strategy Directors ERIC ZHANG, Technology Director

DIVYA KOPALLE & MICHAEL LIN, Photo Editors BELLA JACOBY & SUNNY TANG, Design Editors HATTIE NEWTON, Templating Editor SUBMISSIONS: We welcome letters and guest columns. All submissions must include the author’s name and affiliation with Dartmouth

College, and should not exceed 250 words for letters or 700 words for columns. The Dartmouth reserves the right to edit all material before publication. All material submitted becomes property of The Dartmouth. Please email submissions to editor@thedartmouth.com.

MICHAEL LIN/THE DARTMOUTH SENIOR STAFF

FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 8, 2019

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‘That Most Necessary Item’: The Snow Queen Pageant B y Novi Zhukovsky

most typifies the atmosphere and spirit of this Dartmouth Outdoor The Dartmouth Carnival of ice and snow. Not only While Winter Carnival started beauty – but the spirit of New off wholesomely enough with Hampshire snows and Hanover winter sports, two years after winters will grace her personality the inception of the event the and her costume.”

Dartmouth men soon expressed How exactly does a woman their interest for the activities to represent “New Hampshire snow” broaden in scope. In 1912, The or “Hanover winters,” aside from Dartmouth published an article icy hands and a runny nose? begging the Lest we allow administration ourselves to to bring women “Fittingly titled, fantasize that to campus for ‘Queen of the Snows,’ the pageant was the celebratory anything but a weekend. The the competition ran beauty contest, writers claimed for 49 years, inspiring the very that t h e flocks of young and structure of Carnival “will the nominating n o t s u c c e e d beautiful women p r o c e s s without girls. to trek to the frigid c o u n t e r s It is up to any such every man with campus.” foolishness. a purse or a Rather than heart or a bit of having the enthusiasm . . . to make haste to women enter the competition at procure that most necessary item. their own volition, the pageant was ” structured so that 15 designated Procure they did. In 1923, Dartmouth men, dubbed “the the College introduced a new snatchers,” would scour the campus dimension to the weekend’s fare in search of the most attractive — a beauty pageant. Fittingly females, and were instructed to titled, “Queen of the Snows,” choose three. Following their the competition ran for 49 years, nomination, the 45 women were inspiring flocks of young and sent to the Alumni Gymnasium beautiful women to trek to the where they were then subject frigid campus. to the scrutiny of the Judging The Dartmouth responded committee — a group composed approvingly to this development, of students and “honorary judges,” declaring, “Hanover is set back on who would decide on a winner. The its collective heels as girls, girls, new Snow Queen would then be girls pour in. ” The pageant was crowned during the conclusion of a hit. the Outdoor Evening Show that According to the rulebook Friday. of 1928, the competition was as Recently, a student mentioned follows: the challenges of describing “From the fairest and loveliest campus to people outside of the of breathtaking Carnival beauties community, especially prospective will be selected that one who students. She said that the most

CAROLINE COOK /THE DARTMOUTH STAFF

News of the Skidmore student crowned Queen made the front page of The Dartmouth in 1951.

challenging question to answer was, “What’s it like being a woman at Dartmouth?”

I was somewhat surprised by her response. And then I thought to myself — how would I answer the question?

Aside from the vague but ever-present possibility of sexual violence that every woman on a college campus must consider, I have not yet faced any Dartmouthspecific discrimination based on my gender. But I am only in my second term on campus, and Dartmouth’s history of sexism is long and complicated.

When the College made the decision to go co-ed in 1972, the administration faced harsh pushback from its male students

The 1940 Queen’s Court posed for a picture, still wearing their numbers for the competition.

and alumni. Women students of the 19th Amendment, the at D a r t m o u t h we re d u bb e d creation of Planned Parenthood, “cohogs.” Letters were sent to the Equal Pay Act and the federal the College demanding that the legalization of contraception had women be required to remove in fact changed society and social their clothes customs. when entering A s the dining hall. “It’s important to the Winter M i x e d s e x remember that many C a r n i v a l dor ms were Committee f r e q u e n t l y of our customs and solemnly put vandalized. it, “Prevailing traditions stem from The arrival attitudes these sexist and on campus of indicate that the College’s exclusionary ideals.” contests which first women stress beauty as students did their primary challenge hallowed rituals. One or only criterion no longer have of the first things to go was the the widespread popularity they Winter Carnival beauty pageant. once enjoyed. ” It seemed as though passage It would take a few more decades before Dartmouth fully internalized these changes.

It’s important to remember that many of our customs and traditions stem from these sexist and exclusionary ideals. Although many of these outdated practices have been eliminated, following the cancellation of the beauty pageant came the rise of the of Winter Carnival frat-hopping — bringing its own set of challenging gender dynamics and questions.

And, of course, it was only a few months ago that several current and former female Dartmouth students came forward with sexual harassment and rape allegations against three male professors.

So during this Winter Carnival, while we revel in the snow and celebrate the beautiful winter season, we might do well to keep in mind the College’s reprobate past.

CAROLINE COOK/THE DARTMOUTH STAFF

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Rauner’s Historical Accountability Fellows Examine Race, Disability and Intersectionality at Dartmouth B y Sarah Alpert

The Dartmouth Staff

If you have ever been inside Rauner Special Collections Library, then you have gazed up at the four glass stories towering over that lovely, sun-lit hall, and probably wondered what they contain. Among other incredible things, the stacks at Rauner hold extensive archives from Dartmouth history: letters, memos, photographs and personal narratives from past students and employees of the College.

Starting in 2018, as part of Dartmouth’s plan for Inclusive Excellence, Rauner invited student fellows to research issues of diversity and inclusivity in these archives, unveiling stories from Dartmouth’s past to inform how the current generation of students and staff shape the future of our school.

Myranda Fuentes, the Institutional History Research Specialist at Rauner, explained that the Historical Accountability Student Research Fellowship grew out of the earlier Rauner Student Research Fellowship, which produced “amazing projects” involving Dartmouth’s struggles with diversity and inclusion. Those earlier projects inspired Rauner librarians to continue digging for untold histories in the stacks.

“Everyone in the library is super dedicated to these stories, just as part of being an ethical archivist and being an ethical librarian,” Fuentes said. “What does it mean to get different stories out there, to get different information out there that’s not necessarily accessed or not necessarily the main narrative?

[The Rauner Library staff] wanted to do that through this fellowship program.”

Fuentes sounded optimistic about the College’s desire to engage critically with its past, especially through programs like the Historical Accountability fellowship.

“This is actually quite unique, because they’re not begrudgingly doing it. As an institution, it seems like Dartmouth is ready to kind of grapple with a lot of its historical problems, like its issues with sexism, racism, anti-Semitism, all those things. It’s really ready to talk about those things, to be able to build a more ethical future.”

Right now, there are three students participating in the Historical Accountability fellowship: Anneliese Thomas ’19, Samantha Koreman ’20, and Alexandrea Kieth ’20. Samantha Koreman is researching the history of disability and accessibility at Dartmouth.

“What that means,” Koreman elaborated, “is there were certain

pieces of legislation that were passed at different times throughout the College’s existence that required colleges to make certain changes to their infrastructure and their programs, to make college more accessible for people with physical disabilities.”

While legislation has also reformed colleges’ treatment of learning disabilities, Koreman’s study focuses on physical impairments, including mobility, sight and hearing.

During the course of her research in Rauner, Koreman has been struck by the mix of good and bad in Dartmouth’s history of addressing accessibility issues. On the one hand, Koreman describes how “awesome” Dartmouth professors are, and how they have tried to help differentlyabled students in any way possible.

“There were a series of selfreflections due in the late 1970s and a series due in the late 1980s.

Departments talked about how amazing their differently-abled students were, and how they really Rauner Special Collections Library, lit up at night. overcame a lot to accommodate those students,” Koreman said.

When she completes her research, at Dartmouth.

At the same time, many buildings Koreman plans to write a long paper “Dartmouth has a very interesting on campus, especially humanities buildings, remained (or still remain) about the history of accessibility history with black students,” at Dartmouth, which she hopes Thomas said. “We were one of the inaccessible for many years.

“Reed Hall, Thornton and will impact the College’s future first American universities to admit one. Edward Mitchell graduated in Dartmouth Hall were impossible engagement with this issue.

“I would just urge the College 1828, so really ahead of the curve, to get into with sort of any physical to look at it as and you also hear a lot of the antiimpair ment,” more than a apartheid movement in the ’80s. But Koreman said, numbers game,” I was interested in learning more “to the point “We were one of Koreman said, about what [was] happening during t h at I t h i n k the first universities “ a n d t h i n k the actual Civil Rights movement, t h e Fr e n c h to admit [a black about how they when the country was going through department said can they can a lot of changes with the African one time that student]. Edward provide equal American community.” someone who Mitchell graduated in opportunity for Rauner has the oral histories of had a broken each of their Richard Joseph ’65, who connected wrist couldn’t 1828.” students.”

Malcolm X to campus. Thomas was open the door S h e excited to discover descriptions of to the building.”

-ANNELIESE THOMAS ’19, added that she how Joseph made eye contact with Koreman thinks it is not Martin Luther King, Jr. during his e x p l a i n e d HISTORICAL always easy to speech at Dartmouth. t h a t w h i l e ACCOUNTABILITY FELLOW realize what “Seeing that these really Dartmouth a d i s a b l e d influential Civil Rights figures had has always favored improving accessibility, the student’s experience is like and actually been here was something administration often underestimated conversations with students of that was really cool and really how much money was required to different abilities can go a long way. surreal,” Thomas said.

In the meantime, Koreman has Thomas wanted to get involved make changes around campus. one request – that the heavy, difficultin the Historical Accountability She summarized the situation: “In general, the College tried to do the to-open doors to Wilder Hall be fellowship because she had previous best that it could, without giving replaced with more accessible ones. experiences at Rauner for two “I feel like there’s a lot of small classes, Sociology 11, “Research resources to it financially … Their party line has always been, ‘We things that the College can do if it Methods” and a Women’s, Gender, will try to do the best that we can,’ just kind of looks towards what’s and Sexuality Studies class about which I feel, reading a lot of internal affecting people on a daily basis,” the “Me Too” movement, as well documents from people, is pretty Koreman said. She hopes that her as for the Public Service Legacy project will help accelerate these Project.

“I’d really been accurate.”

In ter ms of professor and improvements to accessibility on fascinated by finding all these old artifacts, old papers, so I wanted to administration attitudes toward campus.

M e a n w h i l e , T h o m a s i s do more in Rauner,” Thomas said. differently-abled students, Koreman When Thomas completes her called the situation a “mixed bag,” researching the black experience at Dartmouth looking specifically research, she plans to make a digital including some experiences with accommodations and other “not- at the papers of Errol Hill, the first exhibit to showcase important so-great moments for the College.” tenured African American professor headlines and artifacts, which she

MICHAEL LIN/THE DARTMOUTH SENIOR STAFF

hopes will help educate people on the history of African Americans at Dartmouth and “[make] them more aware of what campus was like.” Thomas finds this especially important as the College celebrates its 250th anniversary, considering that for many of those years, Dartmouth struggled with issues of diversity and race.

Rauner’s third Historical Accountability Research Fellow, Alexandrea Kieth, is working on intersectionality in the early 20th century. Although she originally wanted to focus on intersectional women at Dartmouth, the archives simply didn’t have enough material to support 10 weeks of research on that topic.

Fuentes noted, “[Keith’s] project is a good example of how a silence in the archive, and us not having documents, actually speaks for itself in a way that’s really poignant.” This silence illuminates the absence of intersectional women in Dartmouth’s history, and, Fuentes hopes, can “[get] students thinking about how you, in the present, as a Dartmouth student, [are] archivable, even if you don’t think about yourself in that way.”

Fuentes believes that research into unexplored Dartmouth histories not only connects current students to the College’s past, but also encourages students to contemplate their own role in shaping Dartmouth, present and future. Fuentes said, one day, current students’ own records might add to Rauner’s living collection of Dartmouth archives. Every story matters.

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Stories from the Bus: Women’s Carnival Experiences B y Eileen Brady

however, women were put up in other locations, recalled former vice president of alumni relations “Bring some long red woolen Martha Beattie ’76, a member of underwear!”

Dartmouth’s first graduating class While the tip seems inappropriate of women who witnessed the last today, this was the advice given to few years of “bussing up women” women visiting Dartmouth for for the weekend. the 1951 Winter Carnival. In “In the days before coeducation, 1951, as in every some women year, hundreds were put up of w o m e n “Those women ... in the nurses’ took buses and figured that they quarters,” trains up to B e at t i e s a i d , Hanover to visit would find some place “but I think for the winter to sleep when they got most of those festivities. women either up there.”

Many female had friends visitors attended or friends of w o m e n ’ s -MARTHA BEATTIE ’76, brothers, or they colleges, junior just figured that c o l l e g e s o r FORMER VICE PRESIDENT they would find other schools in OF ALUMNI RELATIONS someplace to the Northeast, sleep when they taking specially got up there.” scheduled trains from Boston or A 1956 issue of the Valley News New York to Hanover for the features a picture of squash courts weekend or riding buses from in Alumni Gym filled with cots to their campuses. Many of these house dates and other Carnival women received invitations from guests. Visitors that year “taxed Dartmouth men to visit for the Hanover’s housing facilities to the weekend, while others came up limit,” during Winter Carnival hoping to meet someone new. weekend, the issue said.

Numbers of visiting women Don Cutter ’73 said that while reached nearly 2,000 during the he scarcely remembers the female heyday of Winter Carnival in the visitors during his time at Dartmouth ’30s, ’40s, and ’50s, according to as he was in a steady relationship emeritus history professor Jere at the time, he does remember the Daniell. In 1928, for example, housing burden placed on the town local headlines boasted 600 female of Hanover when he was younger. visitors for the weekend, while “My only recollection is having papers in 1956 posted numbers as to move out of my bedroom so my high as 1,800. [local] parents could rent my room Most often, visiting women to Carnival dates in the mid to late were housed in fraternities with fifties,” Cutter said. their dates or companions for the In the earlier years of Winter weekend. On certain occasions, Carnival, dates were primarily The Dartmouth Staff

COURTESY OF DARTMOUTH DIGITAL LIBRARY COLLECTIONS

A figure skater and a Dartmouth student enjoy the 1939 Evening Show.

invited to fraternity dances and parties, planned especially with the visiting women in mind. Later, however, the women became more involved in other Winter Carnival activities like skiing, skating and ice sculpture building.

A 1958 issue of Ebony Magazine featured Carolyn Morant, a 17-year old student at Bryn Mawr College who visited Hanover for the 1957 Winter Carnival on invitation from a Dartmouth student.

Pictures show Carolyn sledding, petting huskies, watching ski races and chatting with other female visitors. Also prominently featured is Carolyn’s visit to Kappa Kappa Kappa fraternity, where she is pictured happily mingling with fraternity brothers — an intergender exchange infrequent at the then-all-male College.

Winter Carnival dates could also

CAROLINE COOK /THE DARTMOUTH STAFF

“Give it to the Girls!” reads a column in The Dartmouth from 1951.

take part in the Queen of Snows national recognition of Winter competition, a pageant that named Carnival and the push toward the most beautiful visitor and her gender equality. “court.” Besides “ I n simply reporting the ’60s, after n u m b e r s o f “They weren’t coed World War II, female visitors, buses coming up to it was starting local and campus to have a much p u b l i c a t i o n s our college; these more national o f t e n c ove r e d were all women name, and the competition, women from coming up to our especially the Hollywood “qualifications” college.” s t a r t e d of the winner — wanting to her hair color, eye come, so it color, height and -MARTHA BEATTIE ’76, became less of weight. a Dartmouth FORMER VICE PRESIDENT Even apart thing,” Daniell OF ALUMNI RELATIONS from the Queen recalled, of Snows adding that the competition and equal rights fraternity dances, movement was many of the weekend’s headlining blossoming and starting to demand events centered around women better treatment of women. during the festival’s peak. In Even into the ’70s, however, the 1956, for example, Dartmouth special buses and trains filled with welcomed a champion skater from women made the trip up to Hanover then-Czechoslovakia, boasting each February. Beattie recalled the her presence as a highlight of the “tradition” as one of the darker, Carnival. stranger spots in her Dartmouth “Lovely Miraslova Nachodska experience. is the star attraction of the annual “It was one thing that the Dartmouth Winter Car nival women students shared with the Outdoor Evening show this Friday,” administration was somewhat the Valley News reported in its pre- unsettling,” Beattie said. “It just event coverage, “an engagement didn’t feel right because they weren’t made possible only because coed buses coming up to our college; Miraslova is a very attractive young these were all women coming up to lady and uses lipstick.” our college, and that just felt wrong.”

Local businesses also focused on She added that this general the rare presence of women at the sentiment made many female College, hoping to capitalize on students dislike “big weekends,” their visits. which she noted were supposed to be “Is your girl unusually smooth?” some of the most special traditions a 1929 newspaper ad for “The at Dartmouth.

Sandwich Shop” asked Dartmouth After 1973, the practice had men, adding, “If she isn’t, don’t mainly ended. This weekend, while bring her down here, for you are sure the Dartmouth Coach will bring to hurt her feelings by completely visitors to the Hopkins Center for forgetting her when you pipe the the Arts and trains will pull into vision that takes your order.”

White River Junction from Boston The eventual de-emphasis on and New York, guests can enjoy the women came from two factors, festivities free from pageants and according to Daniell: the growing date parties.

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Hollywood Comes to Hanover: The Winter Carnival Movie festival nicknamed “the Mardi Gras of the North” by National The Dartmouth Geographic magazine.

“Winter Carnival” was a lowJoanna Rapf recounts the budget Hollywood production set i n f a m o u s s t o r y o f F. S c o t t at Dartmouth that was released Fitzgerald’s spiral into an alcoholic in the summer of 1939. It was binge upon arriving in Hanover. an escapist romance movie that “Apparently, during his trip included a fleeing heiress, a eastward on the plane, they gave heartthrob professor, plenty B-reels [Fitzgerald] some champagne upon of ski jumps, ice sculptures and take-off and he imbibed hardly,” historically accurate newspaper Rapf said. “By the time they got to headlines that exclaim “SMOOTH Hanover he was pretty drunk, and I BABES INVADE CAMPUS.” know that part of Budd’s job was to Critics say it keep F. Scott was one of the Fitzgerald w o r s t m o v i e s “[F. Scott Fitzgerald] sober during made in 1939. staggered down the the writing of Maurice Rapf, this.”

Class of 1935, steps of the Hanover A s w r i t e s i n h i s Inn, totally drunk, and the night memoir that for prog ressed, it was hopeless.” months after the F i t z g e r a l d ’s film was released, state only he was rejected -JOANNA RAPF, FILM declined from jobs f u r t h e r, because he was AND MEDIA STUDIES according to a script writer PROFESSOR Rapf. for “Winter “[Wanger] Carnival.” had a party in At best the the Hanover movie is campy, cliché and Inn in which he invited the endearingly rooted in Dartmouth English department to meet F. culture. With three alumni working Scott Fitzgerald,” she added. as producers, Hanover functioning “Fitzgerald staggered down the as the set and Winter Carnival steps of the Hanover Inn, totally festivities serving as the backbone drunk, and it was hopeless. And of the plot, it became a cherished then, even worse, he discovered part of Winter Carnival tradition all the fraternity parties and on campus for years to come. went from fraternity to fraternity Despite the misogynistic jabs getting drunker and drunker and and overwhelming cor niness they weren’t going to work on the of the film, there are many screenplay at all. He was just too fascinating subplots in the lives of drunk.” the producers and in the making When Fitzgerald came-to of the movie. According to Mary several days later, Wanger fired Desjardins, professor of film and him from “Winter Carnival.” media studies, “there’s a lot of Scrambling to finish the script reasons to take a second look at before starlet Ann Sheridan arrived the film.” for filming, Wanger commissioned the novice Rapf to help Schulberg F. Scott Fitzgerald’s Piece — who was also inexperienced in One of the most circulated movie production — finish writing. stories about the making of T he stor y of Fitzgerald’s “Winter Carnival” revolves around arrival and subsequent undoing the acclaimed novelist, F. Scott i n H a n ove r f a s c i n a t e d Ja y Fitzgerald. Producer Walter Satterfield, head of Rauner’s Wanger, Class of 1915, was thrilled Special Collections. Hundreds of to have Fitzgerald on the project primary materials from the making because, as Joanna Rapf, professor of “Winter Carnival” are available of film and media studies and in Rauner, including revelatory daughter of producer Maurice letters between Fitzgerald and Rapf, explains, “[Fitzgerald] had Schulberg. the reputation of a novelist, and “The thing I find most that made the movie respectable.” interesting is this letter that F. Scott The production of “Winter Fitzgerald writes to Schulberg two Carnival” began on a snowy weeks after [he falls off the wagon January night in Hanover. Budd in Hanover] and he’s sort of in Schulberg, Class of 1936 and recovery,” Satterfield said. “He former editor-in-chief of The writes a letter to Schulberg that Dartmouth, and the renowned suggests a new opening for the author F. Scott Fitzgerald arrived movie. And it’s terrible. Part of from the west coast to experience the reason I find it so interesting is the Winter Carnival first hand that I admire Fitzgerald’s writing and begin working on the script. a lot; I think he’s a literary genius.

At the time, Dartmouth’s Winter But what he suggests is just idiocy.

Carnival was a nationally known It’s interesting to think about him

B y Cassandra Thomas

having degraded that much, that he thinks that’s a good idea.”

Drama, Intrigue, Un-American Activities Though “Winter Carnival” was poorly received in Hollywood, the events surrounding the writers reveal surprising subplots and stories of betrayal.

Desjardins, who uses “Winter Carnival” primary source material for the course Film Studies 40, “Theories and Methodologies,” ref lects on the producers’ Dartmouth experience.

“When Budd Schulberg and Maurice Rapf were students here, it was a very volatile political time,” Desjardins said. “They also were Jewish students at a time when Dartmouth was still using quotas to keep out a certain number of Jewish students. So, their experience at Dartmouth was one that was very involved in politics.”

Both Rapf and Schulberg were politically active on campus, and their involvement increased as adults. In fact, both were involved in socialist or communist parties in the ’40s and ’50s, causing three producers from “Winter Carnival” to be called to testify before the Committee on Un-American Activities. “[Winter Carnival] became a little bit notorious during the blacklisting era because all three screenwriters that have credits on it were involved in the Committee on Un-American Activities, [which] was trying to investigate whether there was communist influence on American motion pictures,” Desjardins said. “It’s unusual for a film that is in some ways so inconsequential to have had three major figures that all ended up in some way or another associated with the period of Congressional investigations into Hollywood,” she added.

W h i l e Wa n g e r a n d R a p f pleaded the Fifth Amendment, Schulberg buckled.

“Schulberg, at that point, had become utterly disillusioned with the Communist party and was really quite angry at most of the people who were associated with the Communist Party in Hollywood that he had been with,” Satterfield explained. “And he turned friendly witness, which means he named names. It’s something that haunted him for the rest of his life, and it certainly hurt his relationship with Maurice Rapf. They didn’t have a reconciliation until much later.”

The Legacy of “Winter Carnival” One of “Winter Carnival’s” most lasting impacts on Dartmouth are the rich volumes of primary resources in the Rauner Special Collections library left from

production. For Desjardins, these did an in-depth exhibition of the materials offer her students a “Queen of Snows” competition chance to research movie making that took place at Winter Carnival firsthand. from 1928 to 1972, before the Archivists at Rauner Library school went co-ed. What she use the “Winter Carnival” material described was a sexist ritual that as historical context, but different judged women based solely on researchers have clashing opinions looks. on how accurately the movie “Women who were on campus depicted Dartmouth culture in during this time were selected by a the ’30s. Archivist Peter Carini group of 15 students, male student believes Winter Carnival is a leaders and even President Dickey faithful representation. was on the committee,” Logan “ E ve n t h o u g h I ’ m n o t a explains. “It’s upsetting to see in Dartmouth alum, I found it photographs of the events how fascinating to see how much women are objectified through Dartmouth footage you get in snow sculptures or the actual there,” Carini noted. “It’s very judging of the contest where they true to the Dartmouth Winter don’t seem that thrilled.”

Carnival experience at the time, English professor James Dobson so it’s interesting from a historical incorporates “Winter Carnival” perspective. I think it may give into his Writing 5 class, “Dartmouth the best flavor College in of Winter Fiction and in C a r n i v a l , i f “[The Hollywood Fact,” pulling yo u c a n p u t representation] is not literar y texts those parts of from Rauner at all [an accurate the story aside and asking that are clearly representation of students to fictional, you Winter Carnival]. ... “historicize” can get a really them.

He good sense of It’s cleaned up, no says that even h o w t h i n g s people falling over though students actually played are off-put by drunk, it’s a lot more out.” some of the On t h e wholesome.” jarring sexism other hand, in the movie, Satterfield they find echoes s t r o n g l y -JAY SATTERFIELD, HEAD of Dartmouth’s believes that the OF SPECIAL COLLECTIONS culture from the film is a cleaner ’30s in their AT RAUNER LIBRARY version of the modern lives. actual Winter “Some Carnival. of the gender “Oh no, [the dynamics are Hollywood representation] is not still at play in contemporary life,” at all [an accurate depiction of Dobson remarked. “I think we have Winter Carnival,]” Satterfield many conversations about a maleexplained. “It’s a total fabrication. dominated campus here and being It strays in all ways from the able to see the ways in which the original. It’s cleaned up, no people women are paraded around and falling over drunk, it’s a lot more are being judged. There are some wholesome.” things that seem so removed from He added that a film crew came the modern day, like a train-load to Dartmtouth to capture footage of women arriving in Norwich. of the 1939 Winter Carnival, but But there are ways in which we most of the scenes were shot on a can build on those connections.”

Hollywood sound-stage.

Undoubtedly, Winter Carnival One thing that researchers as a Dartmouth tradition has can agree on, however, is the a complicated history. Many problematic depiction of women scenes and activities from the in the movie. Unfortunately, their movie “Winter Carnival” are now sexist treatment was true to life. considered offensive, obsolete “I think one of the most and outdated. However, the interesting things about ‘Winter underlying stories behind the Carnival’ is the way that women movie’s production and the were viewed,” Carini said. “It fascinating archives left behind says a lot about a certain kind should give us pause before writing of Dartmouth of the past, and it off. a certain kind of misogynistic “There are still many things to viewpoint that was taken toward be learned from that movie and women by men at Dartmouth. from its relationship to Winter Being an all-male institution, there Carnival and to Dartmouth’s wasn’t anything to mitigate that history,” Carini said. attitude necessarily.”

Perhaps Desjardins said it best: Julia Logan, assistant archivist “There’s a lot of reasons to take a for acquisitions at Rauner Library second look.”

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“A Pretty Spectacular Thing to See”: Carnival Ski Jumps “They made the sculpture now look pathetic,” he said, referencing The Dartmouth their enormous size. “People would For over one hundred years, come from miles away to see it.”

Winter Carnival has descended Blodgett remembers one of upon Dartmouth around this the sculptures being of Eleazer time. However, recent carnivals Wheelock and another being of have lacked a tradition that was a leaning skier. long a carnival mainstay: ski “You didn’t know if he was jumping. In 1993, after ski jumping going to fall down or stay upright,” was no longer recognized as an he said of the skier. intercollegiate sport, the ski jump Blodgett also mentioned that tower that had been a prominent the weather conditions in Hanover feature of the Hanover Country directly affected both the snow Club golf course was taken down, sculptures and the ski events. ending the sport’s Fo r a f e w slow demise at years, there “[The ski jump] the College. was no snow For years after brought out a huge in Hanover, its inception, and they had Winter Carnival crowd. ... We had to move the was run by the people lining the Car nival to winter sports whole area around the neighboring division of the towns.

D a r t m o u t h in-run of the jump.”

Additionally, Outing Club, and s o m e it featured various competitors i n t e rc o l l e g i at e -CHARLIE MATT ’87 were unhappy winter sports with the competitions, conditions including skiing even when and speed there was skating. snow.

“Ski jumping “They was on the last day, so everyone used to have the downhill race on would go,” Putnam Blodgett ’53 Moose Mountain, and one year Th ’61 explained. there were these Swiss ski racers During Blodgett’s time at who refused to compete, so they Dartmouth, most ski racer s moved it to Oak Hill,” Blodgett competed in ski jumping in hopes said. “Since the skiway opened in of winning the title of skimeister: 1957, they’ve been there.” champion of the downhill, slalom, Despite moving the downhill c ro s s - c o u n t r y a n d j u m p i n g races, ski jumping took place at competitions. Eventually, though, the golf course for the entirety of skiers started to specialize in its existence. specific events.

Charlie Matt ’87 started ski Blodgett also recalled the ski jumping when he arrived at team being virtually all Olympians Dartmouth. He was coached by during his tenure at the College. Jeff Hastings Tu ’90, a former Thus, while he enjoyed watching, Olympian. he said he did not participate in “He coached for love of the the intercollegiate races. sport,” Matt said.

In addition to witnessing the In addition to his Dartmouth athletic competitions, Blodgett teammates, Matt ski jumped with said he enjoyed seeing the snow local teenagers. They would all sculptures every year. practice together at night on the

B y Mary winters

COURTESY OF DARTMOUTH DIGITAL LIBRARY COLLECTIONS

A ski jumper impressed onlookers as he soared through the air.

COURTESY OF DARTMOUTH DIGITAL LIBRARY COLLECTIONS

Spectators watched the ski jump festivities at the 1937 Carnival.

golf course, where there were lights raise your arm where the person on the jump. landed so the judges could tell “The best jumpers were from how far down the slope people the local area, from Norwich, they landed, so we’d have a whole were typically 16 or 17 years old,” bunch of undergraduates lined Matt said. “They had a whole local up along the hill,” said director program and they would get some of outdoor programs Tim Burdick of the local bucks started at a young ’89 Med’02, who volunteered as age.” part of the DOC to help with ski Though Matt had ski raced jumping. in high school, Burdick s w i t c h i n g “People think of [ski was also to jumping involved with jumping] as being a took some ski jumping adjusting. The very dangerous sport, as a member skis themselves but actually it’s not of ski patrol. were longer “We had and wider than nearly as dangerous one accident t y p i c a l a l p i n e as downhill skiing, my senior skis: Matt’s were winter where which is much less 250 centimeters somebody fell long and had no predictable.” just as they edges. were taking “ I t ’s a b i t off of the c u m b e r s o m e, ” -CHARLIE MATT ’87 jump and he said. they kind of Matt and his landed upside other teammates, down on the who were new to the sport, learned hill and we had to transport on a smaller hill before graduating them by snowmobile up to the to the tower on the golf course. ambulance,” Burdick said.

When they jumped off the tower, Ski jumping was declassified as the goal was to get as far as possible a collegiate sport because it was in the air before landing. The skiers thought to be too dangerous. Matt competed individually. disagreed with this characterization “It brought out a huge crowd. of the sport.

It was great fun, it really was,” “People think of it as being a Matt said. “We had people lining very dangerous sport, but actually the whole area around the in-run it’s not nearly as dangerous as of the jump.” downhill skiing, which is much less The students and visitors lining predictable,” he said. the jump were not just there to While ski jumping no longer watch the event, though. exists at the collegiate level, it is “You would have a whole bunch still an Olympic sport and exists at of people lined up on the hill that the middle and high school level. the skiers landed on and you would “Hanover high school and

middle school teams locally have a ski jump out at Oak Hill in Hanover. It’s a little bit smaller,” Burdick said. “One of the best junior ski jumpers in the country right now is from Lyme and lives here in practices a lot at Oak Hill in Hanover. Interestingly it’s alive at the junior high school and high school level and then after college, but not during college.”

T hough their experiences with ski jumping were quite different, both Burdick and Matt remembered the event fondly.

“It certainly is a pretty spectacular thing to see,” Burdick said.

For Matt, ski jumping was less about trying to win medals and more about having fun.

“It was great fun,” he said, “It was good fun, and that was the intent, and there were a lot of good guys who did it, and it was kind of fun to be rubbing shoulders with guys who were Olympic caliber.”

Matt no longer ski jumps, but he continues to ski frequently in Switzerland, where he now lives.

In addition to ski jumping, events like speed skating on Occom Pond no longer exist. Burdick said he does not foresee these events returning at the intercollegiate level.

“I don’t think that the ski jumping will ever come back. I think between the risk and the cost, that’s probably gone forever.

The speed skating pond, there’s some interest in that and I could see that potentially coming back some day … I can’t really imagine really serious speed skaters going and training on our compound.”

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Alumni reflect on their Winter Carnival experiences ’75 in an email.

Many alumni fondly The Dartmouth Staff remembered the ice and snow Before Robert Trundle ’91 sculptures built in the center of arrived on campus, he already the Green. had high expectations for Winter “Its cliché, but I think the statue Carnival. on the Green is pretty remarkable,” “I heard about it long before Ryan said.

I went to Stephanie Dartmouth — Gardner ’10 it was kind of “I heard about it agreed, adding legendary,” he long before I went to that the snow said. sculpture was S i m i l a r l y, Dartmouth — it was her favorite John Ryan ’90 kind of legendary.”

W i n t e r remembered C a r n i v a l the wonder tradition. s u r r o u n d i n g -ROBERT TRUNDLE ’91 “ I t C a r n i v a l was a lot of w e e k e n d fun. The whole inspired by student body looking at participated,” the Winter said Peter Carnival posters his father, a Frederick ’65, who recalled the member of the Class of 1958, days when ice sculptures would hung around his childhood home. be built on the lawns of fraternity “As a kid, you grow up looking houses, each working hard to outat those posters and wonder, ‘What build their neighbor. Frederick is this all about, this place looks so re m e m b e re d o n e p a r t i c u l a r cool,’” he said. Ryan remembered moment during the construction of the posters portraying the weekend a snow sculpture. An older-looking as “creative, funny, un-adult and man who had started helping pass playful,” he said. “Then you get [to snow up the ladders on the statue campus], and it’s not quite poster was moving fairly slow, prompting world, but it’s pretty close.” the other builders to shout at him “Winter Carnival was terrific to speed up. When the older man fun in the early 70’s when I always looked up, they realized it was attended,” wrote Doriane Ruml College president John Sloan

B y Andrew culver

This year’s snow sculpture features a mammoth on a hill, riding a toboggan.

FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 8, 2019

Dickey. alumni was the luge tracks built remembering the arrival of dates “Literally everyone on campus from the roofs of fraternity houses. as one of the main tenants of was involved in building the “Think about a sled that would Winter Carnival. “Most of the statues,” Frederick said. run from the roof of the porch dates came from off campus,” Alice Dragoon ’86 served on the of [Theta Delta Chi Fraternity] Frederick said.

Winter Carnival council during down to the parking lot. It was Tow remembered a rumor her first year and remembered ridiculous,” Ryan said. “People c i r c u l a t i n g c a m p u s b e f o r e spending “a lot of time out would be having the time of their Winter Carnival that the female on the Green” lives.”

Dartmouth students would not helping to build I n have dates for the weekend. She t h a t y e a r ’ s “Think about a sled a d d i t i o n t o felt as though Dartmouth men were “ e n o r m o u s that would run from the weekend’s not interested in dating Dartmouth statue of iconic events, women.

P e g a s u s , ” the roof of the porch W i n t e r Tow recalled a male classmate she wrote in of [Theta Delta Chi Car nival has saying something to the effect an email. She l o n g b e e n that he did not want to sit across Fraternity] down to a l s o re c a l l e d a s s o c i a t e d the table in the dining hall from other council the parking lot. It was with parties on someone he had spent the weekend m e m b e r s ridiculous. People freezing New with. working long Hampshire “Of course, the answer to that into the night would be having the nights. was: What are you planning to do to ensure the time of their lives.” on the weekend that you would be sculpture “ E s p e c i a l l y feeling that way, ashamed to sit was ready d u r i n g across from somebody?” Tow said. b y C a r n i v a l -JOHN RYAN ’90 Carnival, days The rumors turned out to be just weekend. were dedicated that, and Tow did end up having Gardner t o o u t d o o r a date, a member of the class of remembered s p o r t s a n d 1974 who is now her husband. Tow one year when n i g h t s w e r e also recalled entering the dining the statues builders ambitiously dedicated to bands and partying,” hall for a dinner held every Winter hoped to make a replica of the Ruml wrote. Winter Carnival and Carnival when she and her date Moosilauke Ravine Lodge, large Dartmouth weekends in general were stopped and told the dining enough for people to walk inside, brought “unusually good dancing room was for Dartmouth men but the warm weather reduced it opportunities,” she added. and their dates. “We said, ‘We are to the “saddest pile of snow,”which However, the weekend has not dates,’ and he let us in,” Tow said. they decided to call Mount always been associated with high Tow remembered that by her Moosilauke. spirits for all members of the senior year, the culture shock of Another memory cited by many community. female students at Winter Carnival “Initially I had looked ahead was “getting a little calmer,” to Winter Carnival with a good given that the male students deal of trepidation,” said Lois at Dartmouth had all come to Gad way Tow the college ’76, a member expecting it of the first class “Coeducation was not to be co-ed, of women to 100 percent welcome by she said. matriculate at T h e the men on campus... I Dartmouth.

W i n t e r “Coeducation remember thinking that Carnival was not tradition [Winter Carnival] does 100 percent has changed w e l c o m e b y not sound like it is going vastly over t h e m e n o n to be fun at all.” ti m e, w i th campus,” Tow traditions s a i d . “ T h e re coming and was negativity -LOIS GADWAY TOW ’76 going. and I remember “It’s much thinking that safer now [ W i n t e r then it was Carnival] does then,” said not sound like Fr e d e r i c k it is going to be any fun at all. It in reference to elements of the could be pretty miserable. I might sculpture building and other just go home for that weekend,” traditions that have been removed she said. over time due to their dangerous Tow said that a “huge cultural elements. change was happening at Winter However, the one constant Carnival” during her first winter throughout the last century has on campus. Dates traditionally been the prominent place of the played a central role in the Carnival weekend as a defining moment festivities. Before and during of the Dartmouth student and the early years of coeducation, broader community’s winter.

Dartmouth men used to “import “Winter Carnival is kind of women from the Seven Sisters and a national event,” Ryan said. “I wherever else and they would come thought it was cool that we opened by bus” as dates for the weekend, up the campus to people from all MICHAEL LIN/THE DARTMOUTH SENIOR STAFF Tow said. over for the weekend, and people Fr e d e r i c k e c h o e d t h i s , got a kick out of it.”

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Art as Memory B y Courtney McKee

If you watch a time-lapse video of a busy public space, you will notice The Dartmouth what doesn’t move. Around the fixed Art is a medium that contains point, hordes of people pass; they are within it the passage of time. It is there for an instant, subjects of time. something that remains. A piece of The fixed point grows in fascination, art is how it was, how it has been this thing independent of masterful since its creation. It is the same object time. What does it know? It holds us seen by innumerable different sets captive, it makes us yearn for what we of eyes, through cannot be. Yet, it myriad ages, and is, as John Keats “A lot of people think yet still the lift of said, “a silent the artist’s brush paintins are flat, but form, that does flicked up a peak they’re not. They tease us out of of paint that rose thought as does above the canvas. have a structure eternity,” so what The paint dried and support which does that give in its miniature us? A glimpse of influences the way topography times past and and the action you see it. How threefuture? A key of an instant dimensional is the that will solve the was preserved mysteries of the through time. Do paint? Does it project world? Or only you remember from the wall?” more questions, standing in a more shadows museum to view on the wall of the for the first time -KATHERINE HART, cave? a famous piece SENIOR CURATOR OF “The of art that has visual can be Slowing down to observe can be as easy as stepping outside on a snowy day. been reproduced COLLECTIONS AT THE multivalent, you is the ability to express ourselves in manifestation of our humanity. It is i n c o u n t l e s s HOOD MUSEUM OF ART read it through objects and concepts. This has now an expression of our emotions and photographs, on time. There are become an innate part of our biology, their intellect making memories. Art postcards, t-shirts many meanings, our makeup, our capacity,” Kennedy can be of all different types and kinds and posters? Did depending on said. but it has essential ingredients. And we you look closer and imagine the artist what you’re looking for and through A museum contains art. Thus, are recognize it because it is ourselves as painting it, stroke by stroke? Did you what lens. Close looking, discussion we to take a museum as the seat of all humans. That is its power,” Kennedy retrace the line of their brush with and collaboration can bring out many human knowledge, disguised in visual said. your eyes and follow it up to a peak kinds of meaning, narratives and metaphor? And artists as prophets, of dried paint? visual experiences. There are a lot of receivers and interpreters? Or is the “A lot of people think paintings artists who are interested in creating very act of creating art, something of are flat, but they’re not. They have a language of the visual,” Hart said. which we all are capable, transcendent a structure and support which Art escapes definition. Like poetry, in itself ? The potter builds a vase influences the way you see it. How to define it would be an insult to from a lump of clay. Slowly, form three-dimensional is the paint? Does the worlds of rises from the it project from the wall? All these possible meaning “The actual object formless, from things are important to understanding it could contain. chaos. Muddy is an experience an object. They’re not created to be Humans love hands dip in digital,” said Katherine Hart, senior categorization, with space and time. cloudy waters. curator of collections at the Hood how else would These are the basic Let there be a Museum of Art. one explain vase.

Art is tactile in nature. It has the sense of ingredients of art. ” Arttaps dimensions and exists in space, satisfaction that into the deep well allowing the viewer to coexist with c o m e s f r o m of our psyche.

-BRIAN KENNEDY, it. The space in which the art lives finding a word to Great art taps is shared and thus, the viewer’s conceptualize a DIRECTOR OF THE HOOD into universal experience of the piece can be thought or feeling MUSEUM OF ART, 2005-10 truths, deeper still nothing but subjective, depending one couldn’t into the fabric on proximity and angles, state of yet express? It of our reality. mind and associations. How a viewer is said a larger In the theory of responds to a piece of art is a function vocabulary does relativity, gravity of these terms, its limits dictated by the a higher I.Q. make. By that rule, art is the distortion of space by a heavy viewer’s memory, the time before they should make us feel dumb, evading as object causing smaller objects to roll laid eyes upon it. Both the creation and it does definition, categorization and toward it. The object influences its the consumption of art is a play of explanation. But art is not answerable distant neighbors through mysterious memory, containing that of the artist to words, it is beyond them. The means. In the fabric of our reality, our and all who have seen it since. language of art, a separate language bodies are the points at which lines of “The actual object is an experience entirely, speaks to something deeper, converging energy intersect in a dense with space and time. These are the expressed and understood by all network. This network is held together basic ingredients of art. Works have humans, through time and space. by our memories. Lab mice flinched a physical presence and reality. They “Art is an expression of our at the smell of almonds because their have depth and perspective, and the communicative ability as humans. grandparents were given a shock every ability to engage the process of seeing, We’ve evolved from our primate time the scientists wafted an almondwhich, on this basis, is applying the ancestors because we developed scented chemical into their cages. Art senses to engage your intelligence to higher communication skills and the navigates our memories, those created cause emotional effect, ” said Brian capacity to create society together. by our experiences and those unknown Kennedy, director of the Hood These aspects allowed us to develop memories we inherit.

Museum from 2005-10. what we call an artistic impulse, which “I believe that art is the highest

MICHAEL LIN/THE DARTMOUTH SENIOR STAFF

Can it be that art can access our collective memories, buried deep in our subconscious? Can it be we have all lived a thousand lives and art reminds us of ourselves? Is it truly a mirror held up to nature? That therein lies its power? The Hood Museum has opened its doors. See for yourself.

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“The Broken Country and Long Win

By Jennie

While today’s Winter Carnival typically includes a dip in the icy waters of Occom Pond and an ice sculpture competition, previous Carnivals used to include elaborate figure skating shows and keg-jumps.

How did the Carnival evolve through the ages?

In the Beginning There was Snow

In 1910, president of the newly formed Dartmouth Outing Club Fred Harris, Class of 1911, devised an idea for a “field day” to promote skiing and winter sports on campus.

On the weekend of Feb. 26, 1910, students competed in individual and relay ski and snowshoe races.

This weekend was meant to be the “culmination of the season,” according to an article published

by The Dartmouth promoting the Carnival. The event proved to be a huge success for students, faculty and the town of Hanover.

“The great popularity of the work of the Outing Club is due partly to the broken country and long winter, as well as to the considerable number of students who have learned at home the joys of winter sports,” The Dartmouth wrote in a review of the weekend.

The plans for the 1911 Carnival were set in motion shortly after the 1910 Carnival. Even more winter sports would be featured, and a

dance would culminate the weekend. an interview with the Dartmouth.

Early on, Harris and the students Students would also take their date to planning the annual event realized a winter-themed theater production. that the event lacked a female Women throughout the east coast presence. In 1912, The Dartmouth soon began traveling to attend the wrote that the Carnival would not Carnival. succeed without “A girl women. may go to the “A girl may go to the “But when Harvard-Yale guests come to Hardvard-Yale game, game, and also a college event at and also to the boat to the boat races a men’s college, at New London, races at New London, most of the but unless she guests are going but unless she has a has a bid to to be feminine,” bid to the Dartmouth the Dartmouth The Dartmouth Winter Carnival wrote. “Thus it Winter Carnival she she cannot is that, while ski cannot claim to have claim to have and skate and all the high hit all the high spots of hit sled are still the spots of New hard core of New England college England college the Car nival, life.” life,” a 1923 an average Dartmouth newspaper advertisement reader, is quite -A 1923 ADVERTISEMENT for the Winter likely to get the Carnival stated.

FOR WINTER CARNIVAL impression that it is exclusively Queen of a snow-trimmed revelry with an the Snows overall emphasis on the photogenic That same year, the first Winter quality of the female frame in winter Carnival “Queen of the Snows” fashion.”

Soon the Carnival became a was crowned. Describing the staple New England social event. Queen of the Snows criteria, a Students would invite “a date 1928 event program remarked, from hometown or neighboring “Not only beauty, but the spirit of women college” to the Winter Ball, New Hampshire snows and Hanover according to Peter Frederick ’65 in winters will grace her personality and costume.”

This pageant attracted hundreds of contestants, some of whom were aspiring movie stars. In addition, another few hundred women would travel to Hanover as dates for the students. There were so many women on campus that the students in fraternities had to move out of their houses so that women could have a place to sleep, according to Frederick.

However, in 1972, the pageant ended. This coincided with the year that Dartmouth began admitting women.

ice skating team, as well as Olympic figure skaters. According to the Hanover Gazette, there were more than 2,000 spectators for this event in 1947. The Outdoor Evening of 1960 was even televised on NBC. A major competition from 1922 to 1993 was the 50-meter ski jump. On the Saturday of Winter Carnival, students would sit on the Hanover Golf Course and watch the ski jump with 85-foot tall steel trestles. It was a main source of excitement on campus, according to Frederick.

Winter Sports & Outdoor Evenings

Snow Sculptures, Big & Small

The College then attempted to transform the Carnival back into a winter sports-focused celebration.

While ski races have been a constant sporting event since the conception of the Carnival, most of the other events have come and gone. One of the first competitions added to the races was Skijoring, in which students would race on skis pulled by horses. This race either happened down Main Street or Tuck Drive. It was so difficult that often no racers completed the race without falling. The last race look place in 1934.

A few years later, the “Outdoor Evening” was added to the roster.

This included an ice skating show put on by members of the Dartmouth

Since 1925, the focal point of the Carnival has been the snow sculpture situated in the middle of the Green. Since the first sculpture — a medieval castle — students have been the ones to build the centerpiece. Past sculptures include a fire-breathing dragon in 1969, a 47.5-foot snowman in 1987 and a “Cat in the Hat” that was featured in USA Today in 2004. The 1987 snow sculpture once held a Guinness World Record for the world’s tallest snowman.

In the 1960s, each fraternity would make a smaller-scale snow sculpture in front of their respective house, competing for the prize of best sculpture. According to Frederick, every year it seemed as if

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nter”: History of the Winter Carnival

e Rhodes

each house had at least one person good to bring people outside for a people bond. Everyone has a story who knew how to carve snow. common goal. People get excited of Winter Carnival and almost “It was a huge uniting event about it. It really everyone deals with the brothers and some friendly is a core part “Fraternities and with building competition,” he said. of Dartmouth’s a statue — the sororities were upset While snow sculptures have identity.” one on the been a “unifying symbol of the S i n c e t h e with the news. They G re e n o r at community,” seven years ago, the College does their fraternity felt like the Greek number of students participating not fund the house.” in the build significantly dwindled, s c u l p t u r e ’ s system was being Each o much so that in 2015 only one c o n s t r u c t i o n devalued.” fraternity had student signed up to build the anymore, the their own parties sculpture. As a result, the College cut builders secured fo r C a r n i va l funding for the sculpture completely, funding from -MEG LYSY ’99, CO-CHAIR weekend, which according to Chris Cartwright ’21, a l u m n i a n d included unique OF THE 1996 WINTER one of this year’s sculpture build t h e S p h i n x traditions for leaders.

Fo u n d a t i o n . CARNIVAL each house.

Last year, however, Andrew Yohe Alumni will also The Psi Upsilon ’18 and Zoe Dinneen ’18 decided assist students fraternity to bring the sculpture back. In to build the sculpture. According hosted a keg-jumping competition, order to carry to Frederick, in which began in 1982. Drunken, on the tradition 1964, president skate-wearing contestants vaulted for the 2019 “Traditions are J o h n S l o a n themselves over an increasing Carnival, they important, especially D i c k ey e ve n number of beer kegs. After a taught James assisted with the contestant completed a jump, he during winter when McHugh ’19 the building of the downed a shot. ins and outs of everyone is cooped sculpture.

However, in 1998, president James snow sculpting. up inside. It is good to “ T h e Wright enacted the Student Life McHugh is s c u l p t u r e Initiative, with the goal of creating adamant that bring peope outside b u i l d i n g all co-ed Greek organizations. As the sculpture for a common goal.” p r o v i d e s a n a result, all Carnival celebrations tradition must o p p o r t u n i t y were canceled that year. continue. fo r eve r yo n e “Fraternities and sororities were “Traditions -JAMES MCHUGH ’19 to get together upset with the news,” Meg Lysy are important, a n d b o n d , ” ’99, co-chair of the 1996 Winter especially Frederick said. Carnival, recalled. “They felt during winter when everyone is “If you go out and it’s negative like the Greek system was being cooped up inside,” he said. “It is 30 degrees, moving snow will help devalued.”

Traditions, Old & New

in the snow. It does not have to be skiing or sledding to be fun. It can just be running around the Green While fraternities still hold with your friends. There is still the parties today, most rituals have been spirit of embracing where we live. disbanded by the College. The Psi U It really is a joyous event.” keg-jump was discontinued in 2001 As Craig Thorn ’80 wrote in over safety and liability concerns.

The Dartmouth, the Carnival is Traditions, like the Psi U keg about being part of the Dartmouth jump, Queen of the Snows, snow community and celebrating the sculpture and Skijoring may come Dartmouth spirit. and go. What “They remains is that do these things, “I still see people Winter Carnival often drudgeries, is a celebration enjoying where we because the spirit of the winter are. They are still of Car nival season and the is contagious, sports that come willing to be outide, a n i n s t a n t ’s with it. having fun in the exposure and Lysy said snow. There is still the it spreads like she still believes measles, except Winter Carnival spirit of embracing that it never is “the magic where we live. It really goes away,” he of Dartmouth,” wrote. “There w h e r e “ t h e is a joyous event.” is no special community reward for the embraces the great majority -MEG LYSY ’99, CO-CHAIR season and of these men comes together OF THE 1996 WINTER as only 15 from as the family we CARNIVAL the freshmen are.” Embracing competition the winter during the season is the true whole year and spirit of the Carnival, according to very few from the upperclassmen her. are elected into Cabin and Trail; “I still see people enjoying where it is the idea of being even a small we are,” she said. “They are still part of this huge machine that offers willing to be outside, having fun enticement.”

EMMA LANGFITT/THE DARTMOUTH STAFF

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A Storied Past : The History of The Dartmouth B y Alec Rossi

The Dartmouth Staff

Only 30 years younger than the College, student journalism at Dartmouth has been a stalwart – chronicling institutional change and the College’s interactions with the world.

The Dartmouth Gazette was first published by Moses Davis on Aug. 27, 1799. The Dartmouth has long espoused that it is descended from The Gazette, though Christopher Johnson ’94 disputes this origin in his senior thesis on the history of The Dartmouth.

The first issues of the Gazette reported on Commencement and scheduled fraternity events as well as local events — namely a spell of dysentery in 1800. While the paper had the occasional student contributor, stories were not attributed to their writers.

In addition to information on the College, the paper focused on events in Hanover and served as a way for local businessmen to advertise goods and post wanted ads. The Gazette was also filled with municipal notices and announcements from the town.

In 1820, the Gazette ceased publication and was effectively re placed by the Dartmouth Herald in June of that year. This publication was similar in scope to the Gazette but was more focused on college happenings, wrote George Wellington Wright, who authored a book outlining the history of journalism at Dartmouth in the late 1800s.

After the Herald’s founding, many literary magazines started to emerge on campus. One such magazine was

called The Dartmouth, according when staff members began to be to Johnson. First published in chosen by members of the paper’s 1840, this publication consisted of staff. editorials, analysis of poetry, fiction The publication started branding and topical essays. itself as the College’s official weekly “The editors unpretentiously newspaper in 1904, while still intended the publication to be maintaining many elements from its educational and to serve as a magazine form, Johnson wrote. The showcase for rising talent,” wrote publication soon stopped focusing Johnson in his thesis. on literary analysis. However, it was In addition to this literary still formatted like a magazine. analysis, the paper had a section In 1910, the format of The focused on providing updates on Dartmouth became increasingly alumni, as well similar to as physical and “What I learned at The today’s format, staffing changes publication Dartmouth absolutely and on campus. took place three “ T h e prepared me to be times per week. p u b l i c a t i o n a New York Times The paper served as a continued proto-Alumni reporter and editor. evolving and in M a g a z i n e , The rhythm of my 1913 became C o l l e g e an official day at the [New York n e w s p a p e r, corporation. literary journal Times] was so similar In the a n d o p i n i o n to my rhythm of the 1930s, the paper column,” wrote continued being day at The D.” Johnson. published, From its first reporting publication in on the fire at -JACQUES STEINBERG ’88, 1840 to 1875, Dartmouth Hall the magazine FORMER EDITOR-IN-CHIEF on A pril 25, h a d a s e r i e s OF THE DARTMOUTH 1935. On this of hiatuses; night, the staff however, it was delayed sending revitalized each time. In 1875, a the paper to print as staff members longer and more news-oriented worked to gather information about version of the magazine was the fire. published every Thursday morning.

Several editors from the 1930s The organizational structure of had successful careers in journalism the original Dartmouth differed after graduation. Editor-in-chief greatly from that of today. While Budd Schulberg ’36 helped write today’s editors and writers apply the film “Winter Carnival,” and Bill for positions, editors of The Leonard ’37 became the president Dartmouth magazine were voted of CBS. upon by their peers. The selection During the start of World War process for writers changed in 1895, II, The Dartmouth continued

COURTESY OF DARTMOUTH DIGITAL LIBRARY COLLECTIONS

The Dartmouth reporters worked to write and edit their stories by deadline.

COURTESY OF DARTMOUTH DIGITAL LIBRARY COLLECTIONS

Members of The Dartmouth’s directorate gather for a meeting.

publication. As the war progressed, many staff members of the paper enlisted in the armed forces, and only a fraction of students remained on campus. The paper stopped being published in June of 1943.

During this hiatus, the Dartmouth Log was created under the direction of Charlie Widmayer ’30. The log staff used the former offices of The Dartmouth, and the paper highlighted daily life on campus.

“The top topics in the newspaper’s two columns were tobacco and smoking, women, interdormitory competitions and the … Boston and Montreal Railroad,” wrote Johnson.

After the war ended and students returned to campus, the Log stopped being published and The Dartmouth returned to campus on March 12, 1946. After its return, the paper was published three times each week.

Much was the same in the 1950s when the paper covered developments on campus, namely the opening of new residence halls and expansion of Mary Hitchcock Memorial Hospital.

Coverage also highlighted the efforts of campus fraternities to fight national chapter discriminatory membership guidelines.

“Instead of focusing on news, the paper focused on pastimes.

Coverage in the 1950s centered on football,” wrote Johnson.

During the 1960s the paper covered many national events, such as the assassination of President Kennedy. At this time, the staff of The Dartmouth changed the paper’s format in order to cover both the College and the town.

In March 1967, the paper’s editorial section gained notoriety when a piece was published that focused on the selective service’s new draft process. The editorial was written along with members of the staff from the papers at Brown University, Cornell University and the University of Pennsylvania.

This editorial was soon republished by major U.S. news outlets.

The Dartmouth was also at the forefront on the debate over making Dartmouth coeducational.

The paper conducted a poll on student opinions of coeducation and published editorials on the merits of adopting a coeducational model. It continued to provide coverage on the decision process and institutional changes enacted as a result of the move to coeducation in 1972.

College archivist Peter Carini said the content of The Dartmouth between 1920 and 1970 is largely consistent – a mix of news about the College and the occasional national happening.

In 1978, Anne Bagamery ’78 became the first female editor-inchief of The Dartmouth in the paper’s history.

Jacques Steinberg ’88 was editorin-chief and president of the class of 1988 directorate. After his career at The Dartmouth, Steinberg worked for The New York Times for 25 years as a reporter and senior editor.

Steinberg said that there were many interesting stories that The Dartmouth covered during his tenure on the staff. He said that student protests, calling for the divestment from companies that did business in apartheid-era South Africa, were highly covered.

Additionally, Steinberg said that he remembered writing about the transfer of the Dartmouth presidency from David McLaughlin ’54 Tu ’55 to James Freedman. “ W h at I l e a r n e d at T h e Dartmouth absolutely prepared me to be a New York Times reporter and editor,” Steinberg said. “The rhythm of my day at the [New York Times] was so similar to my rhythm of the day at The D.” In the Rauner Special Collections Library, every issue of The Dartmouth since 1839 has been preserved. Carini said that Rauner receives two copies of The Dartmouth every day. Each copy is indexed and is either designated a preservation copy or a copy to be used by visitors in the reading room.

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‘Schlitz on Mount Washington’: a cult classic worth keeping?

B y Creistian Cano

Skiing,” and while going through Dartmouth’s collection of ski films, he The Dartmouth Staff came across the works of Christopher “From Gurgl and Obergurgl to Young in an attic. As it turned out, New Hampshire comes Dr. Wolfgang Young wasn’t a Dartmouth alumnus Schlitz. Touring the White Mountains, — he had graduated from the he sees Mount Washington, famous University of Pennsylvania, as had his for high winds, terrific storms, many father. It was Young’s wife, Mary Bird climbing tragedies.”

Young, who had donated the films to Those are the opening lines of Dartmouth after her husband passed Christopher Young’s 1935 comedy away. Moulton believes that she did “Schlitz on Mount Washington,” the this because of his love for skiing. tale of an intrepid man from Austria “I think his wife … gave his films who, upon setting his sights on Mount to Dartmouth because of Chris’s love Washington, becomes determined for skiing and the fact that she knew to conquer it. Along the way, Schlitz he had been involved with the Outing suffers from inclement weather, Club in the early days of skiing in the poor planning ’30s up on Mount and plenty of Washington,” “Everything had to bad luck, but Moulton said. h e r e m a i n s be hauled up Mount Moulton d e t e r m i n e d Washington for the explained that to finish what Yo u n g w a s he set out to filming ... think about well-known accomplish. how many trips up as a surrealist Schlitz would filmmaker, and Mount Washington it be just another while there obscure black- took!” are tastes of and-white film his signature from the ‘30s surrealism if it weren’t -RICK MOULTON, on Schlitz — for its special DOCUMENTARY such as when place within Doctor Schlitz FILMMAKER Dartmouth hallucinates a culture: it’s the ballerina in the film that gets fog — his 1941 shown to new students every year at film “Object Lessons” and its sequel the Moosilauke Ravine Lodge, during “Subject Lessons” are much better the last night of First-Year Trips. examples of his characteristic style.

To add to its memorability, student Winston Pote was in charge of volunteers stationed at Moosilauke filming so that Young could star during Trips, known as “Lodj Croo,” as the protagonist of his own film, scream out a set of bizarre callbacks though Schlitz wasn’t the only thing throughout the film — not unlike that Pote was known for. Moulton the audience chants for which “The described Pote as the “most renowned Rocky Horror Picture Show” is best mountain filmmaker near Mount known.

Washington” at the time, and soon I assumed, as many students have, after filming Schlitz, he would that Schlitz must have been produced become a photographer for the 10th by a Dartmouth alumnus. Why Mountain Division during World War else would it have become a Trips II. tradition? So you can imagine my Lowell Thomas, the film’s narrator, surprise when I spoke to the librarians is perhaps the most well-known at the Rauner Special Collections of the people who contributed to Library and learned that Christopher Schlitz. Moulton did not hesitate to Young, the producer and star of the name Thomas “the voice of news in movie, couldn’t be found in any of America” when the film came out; the files. Neither Lowell Thomas, the he was the “foremost broadcaster” of film’s narrator, nor Winston Pote, the NBC and CBS, who happened to be cinematographer, could be found in skiing at Tuckerman Ravine when he Rauner, either. fortuitously bumped into Young and Following a tip from Rory Gawler Pote. Inspired by the aspiring young ’05, the assistant director of outdoor filmmaker, Thomas decided to lend programs at the Dartmouth Outing his voice to the project.

Club, I emailed the New England When asked what he wished more Ski Museum in Franconia, New students knew about Schlitz, Moulton Hampshire — they had supposedly simply pointed to the “Herculean been in charge of digitizing the effort” of making a film like that in original film, and I was hoping the 1930s. someone at the museum would be “Everything had to be hauled up able to shed light on the origins of Mount Washington for the filming,” Schlitz. I was connected with Rick Moulton said. “35-millimeter film Moulton, a documentary filmmaker weighs a lot, and you’re talking about and producer who directs his own a cranked camera and a tripod all studio, Keystone Productions. lugged up Mt. Washington. Staging Moulton made a film in the early those scenes in that weather … think ’80s called “Legends of American about how many trips up Mount

Washington it took!”

After learning more about Young’s life, it became increasingly clear that many of the scenes in Schlitz were inspired by his own experiences. For example, the story of how Young met his wife is as follows: he was skiing at Mount Mansfield in Vermont when he happened to lay eyes on Mary and immediately became enamored. He tried to follow her down the notorious “Nose Dive” when he fell and broke his ankle — as Mary just skied away.

They didn’t see each other for another five months, but when they finally met up again, Mary vaguely remembered hearing about the broken angle.

In Schlitz, there are multiple scenes in which the main protagonist chases after women, including one in which he swoops down to rescue an outof-control woman skiing down the mountain. He fails to catch her before she falls off the cliff, but the distressed Schlitz peers down and quickly learns that there was never any woman in the first place — it was a puppet decoy strapped to skis, set up as a prank.

Such scenes aren’t always as well-received today, especially in the context of long-going fights against sexism and sexual assault.

Hanover Vale ’20, who was on Lodj Croo in 2017 and was a trip leader this past summer, said that she felt uncomfortable watching one scene in which Schlitz tries to make advances toward a group of women sitting underneath a waterfall, to the point where the women try to run away. She added that the subtext was very sexual, and the narrator’s commentary of “After her! The other one!” didn’t help.

Vale recognized the importance of remaining critical, and even suggested that future Lodj Croos possibly introduce the film more intentionally at Moosilauke, acknowledging some of the more problematic aspects of the film and leaving room for discussion afterwards. At the same time, however, she acknowledged the importance of not erasing an institution’s past, and she doesn’t think that the future of Schlitz is in her hands, anyway.

Even if certain aspects of the film are dated and problematic, Vale still remembers the beauty of her first time experiencing the film and admitted that it’s something “you get into by the end.”

“I remember just sitting there in this state of complete confusion,” Vale said. “A kind of joyous confusion when there’s this super old film from the ’30s being shown and all these upperclassmen screaming random things at the screen.”

Jake Klein ’20, who, similarly to Vale, was on Lodj Croo in 2017 and was a trip leader last summer, has very fond memories of watching Schlitz.

He remembered that his freshman year, he was on the very first section of Trips, which made his Schlitz-viewing experience a little more disorienting.

“I actually thought [the movie] Gawler elaborated that some of was the cleverest, funniest thing as the older callbacks from previous a freshman,” Klein said. “I was on years would be considered in bad taste Section A, so Lodj Croo, which does today, though some alumni continue their chants throughout it, didn’t even to repeat them when they visit. know their commands that well, but “Occasionally, what will happen I thought it was funny.” is that during Alumni Reunions, Klein’s said that his favorite parts of we’ll be asked to play [Schlitz] at the the film are the old-timey expressions Moosilauke Ravine Lodge, and a used throughout, such as “Oh, rats!” couple of people who were on Lodj and “That’s a fine windbreaker!” His Croo or heavily involved with the least favorite part, on the other hand, DOC will do some of the callbacks,” is the middle of the film, which he Gawler said. “I’ve seen that happen thinks is slower and blander than the a couple of times, and some of the beginning and end. stuff is really pretty inappropriate Something else that Klein doesn’t and speaks to the culture of campus love about the film is its unclear link back then — before coeducation, for to Dartmouth history and culture. example.”

According to David Hooke ’84 in So, if Schlitz were to be replaced his book “Reaching That Peak: 75 with something else, what would that Years of the Dartmouth Outing “something else” look like? Gawler Club,” the film was “rediscovered suggested a video highlighting the in the 1960s” and, by the 1970s, meaningful values and educational had begun to play “an integral role opportunities of the DOC, in contrast in the Freshman Trips program.” to the current DOC video shown at Considering that Christopher Young Moosilauke, which is instead more wasn’t a Dartmouth alumnus, of an exhilarating highlights reel of however, the film’s connection to different DOC activities.

Dartmouth history may end there.

Klein first suggested creating a The history new 20-minuteof “Schlitz long comedy film on M o u n t “There’s this super before thinking Wa s h i n g t o n ” old film from the ’30s of possibly aside — is it a being shown and all using that time tradition worth to better support these upperclassmen keeping? trippees, perhaps K l e i n screaming random in the form of a d m i t t e d filmed Q&Athat, while he things at the screen.” style interviews personally with students. enjoys the film, Va l e -HANOVER VALE ’20, it might not be proposed that the best use of FORMER LODJ CROO p e r h a p s D r.

Lodj Croo’s time MEMBER Seuss’s “The during Trips.

Lorax” could be a “ To be modern iteration honest, as much of Schlitz. She as I love Schlitz explained that — I watch the movie in my free it’s a meaningful film which has time, and I have it on my computer a very strong, clear link to one of — I think the time could probably Dartmouth’s most famous alumni. be better used with something a Regardless of Schlitz’s past in little more relaxing or meaningful,” the context of the First-Year Trips Klein said. “Schlitz is fun, but I don’t program, it’s undeniable that the film think it’s doing a ton to help trippees has become a sort of cult classic within transition to Dartmouth.” the Dartmouth community. Future Gawler, who was the one that Trips directorates will continue to recommended I contact the New discuss its place and value within the England Ski Museum, has his own program, but for students who went relationship with the film as an on Trips — as confused, exhausted alumnus. He explained that one of the first-years or Croo members with challenges of his position is not being every callback committed to memory sure how, if at all, he should play a — its effect on their Dartmouth role in preserving the tradition. If the experience is already there. film were to start fading away from Perhaps the paradoxical nature Dartmouth culture, should he try to of “Schlitz on Mount Washington” keep it alive or instead let it fade? as a cherished film whose link to He admitted that he appreciated Dartmouth is less direct than many the fun that comes with being able assume, is best characterized by the to reference movies in everyday final callback of the film. At the end conversation, and even today, he still of the movie, as Dr. Schlitz is driving references some of the Lodj Croo away into the horizion, the narrator callbacks from his year when talking remarks: “Even he hates to see you to friends. He also explained that some go.” of the callbacks have changed over In perfect unison, the members of the years, to reflect changes in both Lodj Croo shout back: “But he loves pop culture and Dartmouth culture. to watch you leave!”

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SpeakOut oral history project documents alumni experiences B y Lucy Turnipseed The Dartmouth Staff

D a r t m o u t h ’s h i s t o r y i s a complicated one, and making the official record reflect the experiences of all students is difficult. Yet that is exactly what the Rauner Special Collections Library’s SpeakOut project has set out to do. The oral history endeavor, which Rauner has worked on since 2015 in collaboration with former Dartmouth LGBTQIA+ Alum Association president Brendan Connell Jr. ’87, aims to recording the experiences of LGBTQIA+ alumni. It was recently launched to the public, who can access the audio files digitally.

“We want the archives to represent the full diversity of the student body in the Dartmouth community,” digital collections and oral history archivist Caitlin Birch said. “We want it to be a place that everyone feels welcome and that everybody can see themselves in, so representation really, really matters.”

The project consists of a core group of student interviewers, who have conversations with alumni who have volunteered to share their experiences on campus.

There are currently 20 finished

interviews, and the project aims to record 40 to 50 per year.

“I know it means a lot to the alums,” lead student interviewer Hugh Mac Neill ’20 said, “I think they’re kind of getting their chance to tell their story for the first time and have it be ingrained in institutional memory.”

Kelly Bonnevie ’87 became involved in the project after discovering it through DGALA’s Facebook group.

Speaking on the importance of contributing to Dartmouth’s historical archives, she said, “I don’t think it’s an absence [of voices like mine] so much as it is enriching to have those voices in any institution.”

While the 1980s were a turbulent time at the College, Bonnevie emphasized in her interview that “activism and work matters, and it can lead to change and make things better for future students and generations.”

Rev. Nancy Vogele ’85, another participant in the project, has worked in the William Jewett Tucker Center as director of religious and spiritual life since 2013. Vogele met with Caroline Casey ’21 last spring for her interview, but she asked to reconduct it this fall.

“I had gotten so much clearer with different issues and how the about some stuff,” she said.

College has responded.”

Vo g e l e ’ s Mac Neill Dartmouth emphasized e x p e r i e n c e “I know it means a that there is w a s f r a m e d lot to the alums. I certainly not a around finding one-size fits all h e r i d e n t i t y think they’re kind of rubric for these w i t h i n h e r getting their chance oral histories. different roles. “ Yo u to tell their story for She wanted to have to be figure out how the first time and aware of your she fit in as a have it be ingrained in assumptions,” Christian, a he said. student and a institutional memory.”

“Sometimes woman during you think an a time when event would - HUGH MACNEILL the College was be significant capped at 40 ’20, LEAD STUDENT in someone’s percent female. INTERVIEWER life and it isn’t.

When she Or you don’t returned in think it would 2001 to talk to be significant, the dean for LGBT life at the but it really is.”

College after working as the rector Mac Neill has background in at a White River Junction church, working on oral histories and as she was astounded there was such part of his job assembles a reading a position in existence. “It showed list for students to understand me how much the culture [of the methodology for the special type country] changed and how much of historical collection. the institution changed,” she said.

T he training surely came She added it is important in handy during his interview for people “to see not just the with Greg Millett ’90. What he diversity and the struggles but described as a smooth conversation also the triumphs of how various revealed aspects of his “ambivalent generations of students have dealt experience.”

Millett’s goal was “to make sure that at least historically there was some sort of account of what Dartmouth used to be like, juxtaposed to what it’s like now.”

In 2011, when he came back to campus for the first time since the 1990s, he noticed the change on campus and the shift in diversity for the better.

“What’s wonderful about this project is that it sort of places in amber, these experiences that people had while at the College,” Millett said. “Some were great and some were perhaps not as great, but it’s great to juxtapose those experiences that people have had in the past to what Dartmouth is now.”

Many alumni mentioned the g ratitude they had for their experience at Dartmouth. They referenced anything from the education or financial aid, the hardening confidence it gave them, or the chance to explore and develop.

There was not a sense of “powerlessness” that Mac Neill expected in the interviews. As Birch said, “your goal with an individual interviewee is to give them the space and the time that they need to tell the story that they came to tell.”

SNOW PROBLEMS ON MY MIND

MICHAEL LIN/THE DARTMOUTH SENIOR STAFF

Students walk around between classes in front of Dartmouth Hall after the snow.

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CONTRIBUTING COLUMNIST MAYA KHANNA ’22

STAFF COLUMNIST EOWYN PAK ’21

Remembering to Reflect

Make It Yours

Only history can teach students the art of self-reflection.

A recent analysis by the American experience. Ample reflection can clarify these Historical Association revealed that conclusions. Yet in today’s era that regards nationwide, the number of students who history as antiquated and impractical, pursue an undergraduate degree in history students too often rush through their has dropped precipitously in recent years. educational experience without affording With only 5.3 history degrees awarded per a backward glance at their own story.

1000 students, the discipline is shrinking Self-constructed identities in graduating rapidly with no end students have become an in sight. Though the accepted sacrifice in the study identified several “College students rat race to success that reasons for the sharp do not learn what it college students now run. decline, Benjamin M. Undergraduates across means to remember Schmidt, the analysis’ the United States forfeit author, believes that most who they are and the chance to define their can be condensed into where they come identities and aspirations reduced receptivity to the in pursuit of the prestige holistic philosophies of from.” that they hope will reward a liberal arts education. them for playing by the Students and parents, he rules of a game with little contends, are now looking for a faster and regard for personal growth. more profitable return on their investment Dartmouth is a prestigious institution into higher education than ever before. known for the excellence of its graduates Schmidt’s observations offer insight in their chosen fields. The College’s liberal into a culture that increasingly disregards arts curriculum, numerous extracurriculars the intangible in favor of the certain. It and support of departments in a wide seems that in a culture focused on looking variety of fields all seem to indicate at first ahead, an individual glance that Dartmouth who pauses to look back gives undergraduates the will be left behind. Yet “Who people are is not opportunity to explore in the process of doing based upon ambition, both their passions and s o, m a ny A m e r i c a n senses of self. While the but upon a critical underg raduates have College does offer many failed to learn what it reflection of who they opportunities for students means to ref lect not have been.” to gain academic and only upon the lessons leadership experience, gleaned from history, but the vast majority of these upon their own past as well. As American prospects focus on professional development higher education systems lose interest in over personal growth. As graduate schools the study of history, they drift further from and employers earnestly select for leadership their mission to teach critical self-reflection. and work experience, many students College students do not learn what it means search for ways to fulfill this requirement to remember who they are and where they with no real passion to accompany their come from. responsibility. Students flock to majors like The American liberal arts education economics and government that they likely system regards the task of a liberal arts believe will offer them the greatest return institution as twofold: colleges must develop on investment. The number of students both the academic competence and the majoring in the humanities has plummeted personal conscience of their undergraduates. in recent years – the ever-growing belief This pursuit of moral that college is just another development serves as rung on the ladder to a cornerstone of the “Still, this campus success feeds this trend. liberal arts experience, culture that prioritizes D a r t m o u t h ’s encouraging students to website claims that the success above all else form identities rooted in College is committed ethical excellence that neglects Dartmouth to “combining its empower them to serve students’ obligation to deep commitment a human purpose greater to outstanding than their own. Identity reflect upon the past undergraduate liberal is necessarily dependent as well as the future.” arts and graduate upon an individual’s education with capacity to reflect upon distinguished research their own experiences. who people are is and scholarship.” As one of the top-ranked not based upon ambition, but upon a critical schools in the country, Dartmouth is laudably reflection of who they have been. fulfilling its mission to foster distinguished A study of human history teaches students research and scholarship. Still, this campus of humanity’s equal capacities for greatness culture that prioritizes success above all else and horror. By studying their own history, neglects Dartmouth students’ obligation to students can derive similar lessons that reflect upon the past as well as the future. connect to their own experiences. They learn As a liberal arts institution, Dartmouth must that the truth is neither simple nor easy — remember its responsibility to foster the truth can be an uncertain cloud of changing reflection and remembrance students need conclusions that evolve over time with to achieve personal growth.

Dartmouth’s 250th is as much about you as it is about Dartmouth’s past.

This year, Dartmouth is celebrating its 250th anniversary. And at first, I thought it had absolutely nothing to do with me.

Since its founding in 1769, this quaint little college on a hill has lived through many historical moments to see the light of the present day: Paul Revere’s desperate midnight ride to Lexington, the innovative inventions of the Industrial revolution, two costly world wars, the tenacious fight for women’s suffrage, the moment Robert Frost put pen to paper, Buzz Aldrin and Neil Armstrong’s first steps on the desolate moon, Martin Luther King Jr.’s resounding “I Have A Dream” speech, the long-awaited legalization of gay marriage and all the milestones in between.

And while I can objectively understand that it’s been a long time, I still couldn’t seem to personally relate to it. “Dartmouth” and all the associations that came with it just felt larger than life, and certainly much larger than me.

So to answer my questions, I did what any student nowadays would do: I googled it. I typed in “Dartmouth 250” and clicked on the first result with hope that this website would enlighten me — help me see what all the ruckus and celebration was about; help me understand smiling alumni under the warmly-lit white tents pitched on the Green; help me get closure on my unsettling alienation from this age-old prestigious community that I wanted to belong to.

Well, it didn’t. I was greeted by a dramatic video montage and a side caption that proudly read: “Honoring Our Past, Inspiring Our Future: In 2019, Dartmouth marks its 250th anniversary with events designed to capture the College’s unique character, indelible spirit, and rich history. Everyone is invited to join in the celebration!” But even after some poking around and reading about events and initiatives, I still didn’t feel like I was a part of that “everyone” who was invited. Instead, my mind was quick to point out Dartmouth’s problems — not out of bitterness but simply because I was far more familiar with them. As I ruminated on our heavy drinking culture, recent scandals and shooting, the initial question I had posed — “What exactly are we celebrating?” — to my dismay, became more difficult to answer.

Instead, I chose to focus on “remembrance.”

I reminisced the small things, like the scent of gooey Foco cookies and the satisfying crunch of fresh powder under my Timberlands as I walked to class in the still of the morning. But small memories lured me into a slew of other ones I’ve made — my first-year trip, stargazing on the golf course with my best friend, enthralling conversations with professors during office hours, late-night talks that left everyone a bit more vulnerable yet closer together, a spontaneous trip to the River at night, lunch after class on the sunny Collis front porch — until I was completely overwhelmed by warmth.

Dartmouth’s 250th, as magnificent and grand as it’s advertised, doesn’t have to be that big — or at least, your understanding of it doesn’t have to. It starts with some students’ late-night walks down Tuck Drive to Thayer, laps around the track in Leverone Field House or quiet hours in the art studio. Or maybe others choose to remember KAF workers who know that double-shot espresso iced-latte order by heart or the bells that toll to the alma mater. Small

memories, I realize, are what brings sweetness to this celebration.

But Dartmouth is more than just this sweetness — nostalgia is by no means a way to dismiss the problems and issues that come with the good. Dartmouth was the last Ivy League university to admit women into its academic program and once held beliefs immortalized by the Hovey murals that most students now find highly problematic. In light of recent hate crimes, sexual assault litigations, a shooting and the rest of this swirl of turmoil, it’s easy to cast off a loyal nostalgia for a bygone era as an overly idealistic fairytale that subdues progressive change by trapping people in the past. To some extent, it does. The only thing that separates nostalgia from delusion is a thin line of acknowledgement — in particular, acknowledging the bad. And Dartmouth has: The Hovey murals are being relocated to atone for their offense. The struggles women faced as they first integrated into the College have not been blurred by rose-colored lens either — members of this community can see it in the hesitation of alumni to give back to the College in light of recent sexual harassment allegations.

The alumni have not forgotten, nor will you. Recognizing that Dartmouth isn’t perfect, despite the myriad of great memories you’ve made from being here, helps fix the problems for the benefit of later generations and students.

The effects of fighting these issues can be as tangible and immediate as the new Green2Go containers circulating around campus. The Class of 2023 will never know the wasteful disposable containers that preceded them, but they will experience a better Dartmouth with no shortage of other problems and the cycle will start again.

Nostalgia is a form of cognitive dissonance that makes the issues currently at hand more lucid, and it’s these problems that add the bitter to the bitter-sweet feelings of nostalgia.

And in the same way students today are connected to the future, we are also connected to the past. In my short time in New York, Dartmouth alumni, seeing me donning a Dartmouth crewneck, have come up to me to introduce themselves and ask about my time there. From an elderly trustee fellow of Carnegie Hall to my current boss who graduated 10 years ago to a consultant I came across in the financial district to the young couple I met on the streets of Astor place — they all have their own fond memories of the College. The Dartmouth community, though wide and expansive, is tied by these small memories and along with its senators, celebrities, people around the world and alumni who have passed away, includes me and you.

In the end, I guess the phrase “Honoring Our Past, Inspiring Our Future,” though grandiose and nebulous, is true: Many of us have bittersweet nostalgia to celebrate and to use to help facilitate change. To those calling Dartmouth home, I invite you to look back on the memories made from the short time you’ve been here and have them inspire you to make more. Know that your efforts, though they may seem small, add to the enjoyment and enrichment of others around you, and prepare you to lead progress around the world. With 250 years of memories and change under its belt, it’s about time to give dear old Dartmouth, and ourselves, a hearty rouse.

FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 8, 2019

THE DARTMOUTH WINTER CARNIVAL ISSUE

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CONTRIBUTING COLUMNIST EZGI OKUTAN ‘22

VERBUM ULTIMUM THE DARTMOUTH EDITORIAL BOARD

250 Tales of Dartmouth

Students of History

Students, alumni and faculty continue to unearth Dartmouth’s core values.

What comes to your mind when you think members among the community. of Dartmouth? The picturesque serenity of the A second core Dartmouth value addressed in Green, or the joyful tunes resonating from the its mission statement is the “vigorous and open Baker bell tower every afternoon? Is it the cozy debate of ideas,” a cherished tradition for all the Sanborn couches and the 4 p.m. tea, or maybe faculty, students and alumni who spent their days the winter chills you feel while roaming through in these colonial-style buildings. As a member of frat row? Regardless of what images come to your the Global Village Living Learning Community, mind, there will be one common denominator: I’ve personally felt the importance of this all of these images are symbols of the common emphasis on intellectual discourse, whether it be Dartmouth experience and are linked to discussing the issue of South China Sea with both Dartmouth’s core values, as mentioned in its Chinese and American floor-mates, deliberating mission statement. These values are what have about the U.S. elections or preparing with fellow been shaping the community’s experiences for the students for the arguments we will run with at past 250 years, and despite their monumentality, Dartmouth Model UN this spring. they push the College toward dynamism and Dartmouth also values debate as a dynamic improvement. In this special edition of The form of collaboration. As an illustration, Neal Dartmouth, let us cherish these common values Katyal ’91 underscored in an interview with with some tales from students, alumni and faculty. the Dartmouth Alumni magazine that, “I’m One of these core values is undeniably a reasonably good lawyer, but I’m far better at inclusion, as Dartmouth pledges “not aggregating a team of really talented people and [to] exclud[e] any person of any religious harnessing their insights, which is much more denomination whatsoever, from free and equal the Dartmouth way than at other colleges.” liberty and advantage of education, or from This culture is fortified by the presence of any of the liberties and privileges or immunities diverse student-run political groups like College of the said college” in its charter. Whereas this Democrats, College Republicans, Mock Trial, value seems naturally true Model U.N. and many for the 21st century, we more. However, Dartmouth must remember that the “It is true that the can still do more to foster College has struggled to College had its dialogue between students. fulfill this value: the big Thanks to the College’s shortcomings, but fight for coeducation was dynamic environment, this not won until 1972. It is the Board of Trustees improvement won’t be true that the College had its made progress by coming late. Just last month, shortcomings, but the Board the Dartmouth Council of Trustees made progress gradually moving on Student Organizations by gradually moving toward coeducation.” reauthorized the formation toward coeducation. of Dartmouth Political The nomination of Pauli Union, a club that was Murray, who would have been the first woman formed in 2009 but later deactivated due to a trustee if she had been selected, was a major step lack of members. that raised awareness about the importance of There are many more core values that come expanding women’s roles at Dartmouth. to mind, one of them being academic excellence, Now, with a roughly 1:1 male to female ratio, as many students would likely relate. Being a part Dartmouth seems to have won this battle. As of a liberal arts institution opens up not only an Dartmouth approaches its 250th anniversary, education of depth, but also one of breadth. Dan three black women alumnae — Cheryl Bascomb Reicher ’78 described his Dartmouth education ’82, Adrienne Lotson ’82 and Laurel J. Richie ’81 as “open” and “broad” in an interview and — hold top leadership positions for Dartmouth’s stated that his education allowed him to range fundraiser campaign, in sharp contrast to across many disciplines in his careers in energy Murray’s failed nomination to the trustees board. and climate change. This is something that is Bascomb applauds Dartmouth’s current diversity likely true for many of the Dartmouth alumni efforts, underscoring in an interview with Diverse and students, as Dartmouth allows students to Issues in Higher Education that students and modify majors, add minors and even add a fifth faculty “are invited in or chosen because of their year for engineering students, making it possible experience, not because of their demographic.” to enjoy the richness of a liberal arts education Another tale regarding inclusion comes and create an interdisciplinary mindset. For from one of College President Phil Hanlon’s instance, the current first-year seminar I’m presidency challenges, when a newly appointed taking, Classics 07.09 “Narratives of Trauma dean of the Tucker Center, James Tengatenga, and Suffering” studies both Greek tragedies was rescinded in 2013 after claims that he not and human psychology, whereas we learn about only failed to condemn but also condoned his Greek heroes’ lives while making connections home country of Malawi’s criminalization of to the challenges of 21st century warfare. The homosexuality. According to an Aug. 15, 2013 connections we make not only allow us to Boston Globe article, rumors whispered that he internalize both disciplines separately but also “opposed the 2003 election of the Rev. Gene help us apply it to real life.

Robinson of New Hampshire, the Anglican Though I’ve tried to cover as much as possible, Communion’s first openly gay bishop, and the list doesn’t end here, and the core values take asserted in 2011 that Malawi’s Anglican provinces a different form for everybody. However, there remained ‘totally against homosexuality’.” When is one thing that many of us can agree upon, Hanlon rescinded his offer, the College made regardless of how we define collegiality: we love a resounding statement that there can be no dear old Dartmouth, and the granite of New questionable stance on the inclusion of LGBTQ+ Hampshire is made part of us ’til death.

Undergraduates must rediscover the history of Dartmouth.

Dartmouth enters a tumultuous time as it celebrates 250 years of world-class instruction this winter. The College grapples with a widespread culture of sexual assault, intense competition for prestige from larger research universities, divisive proposals to expand the student body, beleaguered traditions like the Homecoming bonfire and perennial questions of diversity.

History is in the making — these are the times that will determine Dartmouth’s legacy and identity for generations to come.

Dartmouth’s student body has a responsibility to lead the College through this critical period of change and write a brighter chapter of Dartmouth’s history. Yet as far-reaching debates over Dartmouth’s future as a liberal arts college continue in earnest, Dartmouth undergraduates are woefully unaware of the history they must shape. Too few undergraduates know the origins of the College’s traditions, the gradual changes in Dartmouth’s institutions over the decades or even the names of the last five Dartmouth presidents.

The student body does a disservice to the College and to itself by sleepwalking through history. Dartmouth’s institutional history is as much a pragmatic tool for social change as it is fascinating, amusing, and at times horrifying.

History matters — societies large and small need to understand their past in order to appreciate the present and improve the future. For example, students must know the history of Dartmouth’s transition to co-education if they hope to combat the systemic roots of today’s sexual assault crisis. As the College reaches a momentous milestone, Dartmouth undergraduates have a unique opportunity to enrich their present by reconnecting with their place in Dartmouth history.

Dartmouth goes above and beyond to provide on-campus resources for all who seek a connection with Dartmouth’s history. The Rauner Special Collections Library maintains a rich collection of photographs and documents that chronicle Dartmouth’s journey through time. Rauner library attendants often personally guide visitors to pieces of the collection that may pique their interest. Rauner even posts blogs and podcasts to keep this wealth of knowledge accessible to the average student.

Dartmouth’s various alumni involvement programs also help to transmit and preserve the living memory of previous classes. The Class Connections system, for example, helps bridge generational gaps within the Dartmouth community by pairing an incoming class of firstyears with the returning 50-year reunion class.

This program keeps Dartmouth history alive by allowing Dartmouth students young and old to trade stories that can then be passed on to others.

The Dartmouth alumni network, scholarships sponsored by alumni, alumni speaker series and history books written by alumni and other alumni programs all help current undergraduates connect with the experiences of past graduating classes.

Despite this wealth of resources available to Dartmouth undergraduates, cultural barriers and busy schedules prevent many students from learning more about their history. Dartmouth’s rigorous curriculum is a central pillar of the College’s world-class education, but rigor also creates less space for students to explore self-

directed opportunities to enrich their education.

Yet even when undergraduates are willing and able to learn more about Dartmouth’s history, few know where to start. Not everyone in the student body knows about Rauner’s staggering wealth of documents, photographs, blog posts and podcasts that tell Dartmouth’s story, and those that do may not feel comfortable working with primary sources. Despite the best efforts of alumni outreach programs, generation gaps and a lack of experience with networking can still prevent students from making valuable contacts with older alumni.

Dartmouth must understand its history to preserve age-old traditions in the present and chart a better course for the future. Dartmouth’s students, professors and alumni alike share a responsibility to keep Dartmouth’s history alive and acknowledged.

The student body itself bears most of this responsibility — student-led organizations must do more to engage with Dartmouth’s history. Few other institutions can motivate large numbers of students over the long-term to pursue structured extracurricular enrichments to the Dartmouth curriculum. Rauner relies on student groups to supply the publicity and turnout they need to justify themed displays of their collection. Student groups can enrich their usual activities while performing a public service to the Dartmouth community by offering more opportunities to learn about Dartmouth’s history.

Professors should also increase institutional awareness by adding historical context to their curriculum or teaching students to interpret primary source documents. Writing 5 courses and First Year Seminars alike do not put a proper emphasis on primary source research strategies; neither list primary source research as a mandatory pillar of their curricula. Mandatory instruction in primary source research would help the student body make the most of Dartmouth’s research-heavy curriculum and the wealth of knowledge on Dartmouth’s history.

Alumni must also do more to keep their stories and traditions alive by directly engaging with Dartmouth undergraduates. While generation gaps affect students and alumni equally, alumni have much more networking experience than Dartmouth undergraduates ever could — alumni have a unique responsibility to build crossgenerational relationships within the Dartmouth community. Class Connections events between matriculation and commencement would make student-alumni mentorships more possible, just as alumni guest lectures would increase intergenerational dialogue.

The Dartmouth community must engage in these efforts to help its undergraduates remember Dartmouth’s roots because Dartmouth history is too important to be forgotten every four years.

Student body decisions large and small are already shaping the College for generations to come. Dartmouth must remember the lessons of the last 250 years to successfully confront the challenges of today. Lest the old traditions fail, or old vices thwart new opportunities, dear old Dartmouth must give a rouse for its history.

The editorial board consists of opinion staff columnists, the opinion editors, both executive editors, the Special Issue opinion editor and the editor-in-chief.

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THE DARTMOUTH WINTER CARNIVAL ISSUE

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Snow Sculptures Through the Ages Compiled by Elizabeth Janowski The Dartmouth Staff

COURTESY OF DARTMOUTH DIGITAL LIBRARY COLLECTIONS COURTESY OF DARTMOUTH DIGITAL LIBRARY COLLECTIONS

COURTESY OF DARTMOUTH DIGITAL LIBRARY COLLECTIONS

A student molded a clay prototype of his sculpture. Students posed with the first Carnival snow sculpture in 1924.

This sculpture by the Delta Kappa Epsilon fraternity won first prize in the 1951 inter-fraternity snow sculpture competition.

COURTESY OF DARTMOUTH DIGITAL LIBRARY COLLECTIONS

A guest checked out a snow sculpture outside of a residence hall in 1941.

COURTESY OF DARTMOUTH DIGITAL LIBRARY COLLECTIONS

The 1981 ski team posed with a larger-than-life sculpture of Dr. Seuss’ “Cat in the Hat.”

COURTESY OF DARTMOUTH DIGITAL LIBRARY COLLECTIONS COURTESY OF DARTMOUTH DIGITAL LIBRARY COLLECTIONS

A student skied down a miniature slope in the center of the Green during the 1980 Winter Carnival.

The 1987 snow sculpture, standing at nearly 50 feet, once held a world record for the world’s tallest snowman.