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F5
Columbia in the "American Century" Timeline, 1945-1964 1945 April -- 83-year
old Nicholas Murray Butler resigns as Columbia's 12th and longest serving
president (44 years), effective October 1, 1945. May 7 --
Trustees form a 4-member presidential
search committee, Thomas Parkinson, Chr.; University Council appointed
a 17-member faculty search committee, George Pegram, Dean of Graduate
Faculties, Chr. August --
Japan sues for peace, following nuclear attack upon Hiroshima and Nagasaki;
Columbia physicists I.I. Rabi, Enrico Fermi and
chemist Harold Urey figured prominently in the wartime development of
radar and construction of atomic bomb; other faculty served in military
intelligence and OSS. September
– Faculty search committee proposes
names of four faculty (Jacques Barzun, Philip C. Jessup, Raobert Calkins,
John A .Krout) October 1
-- Provost Frank Fackenthal named acting president; search committee
formed by Trustees; another formed of faculty members December --
United Nations Charter Convention held in San Francisco; several Columbia
faculty and administrators figured prominently
in proceedings; Barnard Dean Virginia Gildersleeve is the only American
woman delegate 1946
-- Columbia College Committee on Plans published A College Program
in Action. Written by Jacques
Barzun, it was “a study of the present health of Columbia College.” Call
for increased selectivity based on intellectual seriousness. July – Trustees
organize committee to start planning for the University’s Bicentennial
in 1954; professor Dwight Miner commissioned to write
a history of Columbia September
– University enrollments top 37,000 students, its historic high, with
surge of students enrolling under the “GI Bill.” October –
Trustees offer presidency to James Phinney Baxter, III, president of Williams;
he declines. Others considered included Vannevar Bush, J. William Fulbright,
Arthur Compton, John J. McCloy. 1947
-- January – President of University of California, Berkeley, lets
known that he was offered and declined the Columbia presidency February 21
– Eisenhower on the Columbia campus for a “Convocation for America’s War
Heroes” Millicent
McInotosh, headmistress of the Brearley School, appointed Dean of Barnard
College May – Watson
presses Eisenhower to consider the Columbia presidency; assures him that
the job will not be taxing May 20 – Morningside
Heights, Inc., a community organization organized at the urging
of David Rockefeller and various no-profit institutions inhabiting Morningside
Heights, created. Columbia Treasurer
the organization’s treasurer. June 2 – Columbia
Trustees authorize Watson and fellow Trustee Thomas Parkinson to approach
Ike with an offer of the presidency; five Trustees, including a majority
of the search committee and the Cahir of the Trustees,
opposed offering the position to Eisenhower. June 21 –
Eisenhower accepted the offer to become Columbia’s president, after receiving
assurances from Tutstees Watson and Parkinson that he would have no major
responsibilities for fundraising and “a minimum of concern with details.”
His tenure to begin upon his release from the Army. June 29 –
Trustees formally announce their choice of Eisenhower as 13th
President of Columbia University; Dean of the Law School Albert Jacobs,
named Provost. October --
Lawrence M. Orton, a member of Mayor William O’Dwyer’s
City Planning Commission, appointed
Executive Director of Morningside Heights, Inc. November –
Columbia offered the first computing course taught at a University. December 6
– Nicholas Murray Butler died, age 85. 1948 May – Morningside
Heights, Inc. increased Board membership to 24; includes representatives
of most neighborhood institutions.
David Rockefeller, Chairman. Barnard’s President Millicent McIntosh its
first vice president. July – 1947-48 operating deficit of $1,500,000 October 12
– Eisenhower officially installed as Columbia’s 13th president.
Festivities arranged by Professor of Political Science Grayson Kirk. November 1948
– May 1949 – Eisenhower mostly in Washington attending to the reorganization
of the armed forces; Columbia Business
School beomes a graduate program; accepts only college graduates; hereinafter
to accept only college graduates 1949
-- May – Provost Albert Jacobs resigned to become Chancellor of the
University of Denver June 1 – Eisenhower
presides over his first commencement At
Trustee Arthur Hays Sulzberger’s urging, the motto,“Man’s Right
to Knowledge and His Free Use Thereof,” adopted for the Bicentennial
Celebration four years hence. October –
Morningside Heights, Inc. formed Remedco, a corporation to act jointly
for the organization in real estate matters; purchased its first mortgage
in 1950. November 1
– Grayson Kirk appointed Provost upon Jacobs’ departure Lamont Geological
Observatory founded in Palisades, New York. Most of Geology Department
and geological research relocated there. 1950
December –
Eisenhower named Commander of NATO; takes leave from Columbia; Provost
Kirk unofficial acting president December –
Howard Fast banned from speaking on campus because he was on the HUAC
subversive list.o 1951 -- NAACP calls on Columbia to remove fraternity covenants against Blacks
September
– Trustees decide to extend Eisenhower’s leave rather than look for a
new president October –
First reports of neighborhood opposition to Morningside-Manhattanville
redevelopment plans. November
13 – Morningside heights, Inc-sponsored Morningside
Gardens and City-financed General Grant Houses to be built north of Teachers
College Decemebr 6
-- School of General Studies supercedes the Extension Program; offers
BS to adult-age students; opposed by some Columbia College alumni and
faculty Max Frankel
(CC 1952), as editor of Spectator; criticized banning of Howard
Fast from the campus. 1952
-- January – Eisenhower enters the
New Hampshire Republican presidential primary; endorsed by both the New
York Times and Herald Tribune, whose ownerships were represented
on the Columbia Trustees. Spring – Trustees
declare they would not countenance the presence of “avowed Communists”
on the teaching staff. April – Strike
of John Jay dining hall employees led by TWU leader Mike Quill; Acting
President Kirk refuses to June – Acting
President decides not to renew contract of Gene Weltfish, a long-time
lecturer in Anthropology and identified June 10
– Eisenhower renews residence at 60 Morningside Drive as his base
during the presidential primaries and campaign; Trustees extended his
leave indefinitely. September
30 -- Columbia Daily Spectator endorsed Eisenhower’s opponent Adlai
Stevenson for president October 16
– “Columbia Faculty for Stevenson” place full-page ad with 324 signatures
in New York Times publicizing their October 23 -- Pro-Ike group of faculty and administrators place ad with 714 names in both the Times and the Herald-Tribune; pro-Stevenson faculty challenge many of the pro-Ike names as not Columbia faculty. November 4
– Eisenhower wins the presidential election, defeating Adlai Stevenson
by 442 electoral votes to 89; November
15 – Following substantial victory in the presidential election,
Eisenhower submitted his resignation as president of Columbia, effective
January 19, 1953. Lease on Rockefeller
Center land renewed for 21 years with only modest periodic escalation
provisions. 1953
-- January 5 -- Grayson Kirk named 14th president of Columbia
University. Appointment applauded by Columbia Spectator. JANUARY
- Dwight D. Eisenhower is inaugurated as President of the United States.
Columbia UniversityTrustees appoint then Acting President Grayson
Kirk as the 14th President of Columbia University. February –Professor
of History John A. Krout appointed Vice President and Provost (served
until 1958) June – President
Grayson Kirk becomes a member of the IBM Board; already a member of the
Mobil Board November –
Morningside Heights, Inc. hires a Director of
Crime Prevention Program,, Lewis Yablonsky; to work with the 24th
Precinct, NYPD 116th
Street, between Broadway and Amsterdam, closed to vehicular traffic in
anticipation of the Bicentennial. Watson Lab
designed the Naval Ordnance Research Calculator, the most powerful computer
at the time and for the next decade. The mathematician John von Neumann
was a member of the design team. Columbia College
alumni (Robert Condon?) complain of the College being shortchanged by
the University. 1954 October -- Year-long celebration of Columbia's Bicentennial on the theme, "Man's Right to Knowledge and the Free Use Thereof"; festivities attended by leading world figures and English royalty; More than a dozen historical accounts of the various divisions of Columbia University are published in observation of the Bicentennial; no substantial fundraising efforts accompanied the celebration. University
adopts an Ad Hoc tenure system that requires all prospective tenured faculty
(not law faculty) to have their credentials reviewed by a University-wide
committee drawn from outside the candidate’s department; ends the tradition
of departmental autonomy in tenure decisions and formalizes “up-or-out”
system for junior faculty. 1955 -- Department of Defense created Institute for Defense Analysis [IDA] to coordinate defense research among five founding universities; Columbia initially not among them June -- Jacques Barzun appointed Dean of Graduate Faculties October 6 – Jacques Barzun on cover of Time; featured in story on “Intellectual Life in America.” November -- Professor of Physics Polykarp Kusch awarded the Nobel Prize Columbia
received $3,115,000 from the Ford Foundation for faculty salaries; one
of the largest single 1956
-- Ivy League football inaugurated; Columbia one of eight teams in
league June – Booth
family give $1,000,000 to Columbia to construct a student center. Law School
building on 117th St. approved; later thought to resemble a
toaster. October –
Jacques Barzun brought into being
the Columbia University Student Council, which had student representatives
from all parts of the University. English Instructor
Charles Van Doren implicated in a cheating scandal on the TV program,
“The $64,000 Question.” 1957
-- May – Lawrence
Orton resigned as Executive Director of Morningside Heights, Inc. September
– Rockefeller Brothers Funds underwrites comprehensive study of the Morningside-Manhattanville
area (106th to 135th Streets) The Morningside
Heights, Inc. sponsored Morningside Gardens and NYC-sponsored General
Grant Houses, between 122nd and 125th Streets, and
between Broadway and Amsterdam, open for occupancy. Stanley Salmen
hired, at Jacques Barzun’s initiation, to oversee University planning
and community relations. October 4
– The Soviet Union successfully launched a satellite – “Sputnik” into
an orbit around the earth; prompted widespread concern about the scientific
competitiveness of the United States. Presidential
Committee chaired by Professor Arthur Macmahon published The Educational
Future of the University December –
President Kirk replacing David Rockefeller as Chair of
Morningside Heights, Inc.; marks beginning of Rockefeller’s disengagement? 1958
-- University and
NYC officials (Robert Moses[CU
PhD 1919]) begin
discussions on a CU gym in Morningside Park October –
Morningside Heights, Inc. released its commissioned Skidmore, Owings
& Merrill present redevelopment plan for Morningside. Interchurch
Center opened on corner of 120th and Claremont; property purchased
from Barnard College by John D. Rockefeller November – Groundbreaking for the new Columbia Law School building on east side of Amsterdam Jacques Barzun,
heretofore Dean of Graduate Faculties, appointed Dean of Faculties and
Provost Congressional
passage of the National Defense Education Act; ushered in a decade of
increased comprehensive federal aid to private higher education Student request
for separate kosher dining facility rejected by College Dean Palfrey 1959 March – Groundbreaking
for the new engineering building; cost largely covered by $10,000,000
from Henry Krumb. May --
Columbia drops to 11th in AAUP ranking of University
salaries Carman Hall
under construction; funded with state money December –
Columbia and NYC agree on gym construction in Morningside Park; still
required state approval 1960 Spring – Spectator
series on Columbia’s difficulties attracting top faculty. May – NASA
facility established at Columbia. October –
Kirk-appointed faculty committee on the curriculum of Columbia College,
chaired by Justin Buchler, urges expansion to 4000. November –
John F. Kennedy narrowly elected President of the United States, defeating
Vice President Richard Nixon; 1961
-- February -- Upper West Side Councilman Franz Leichter leading opposition
to Columbia evictions efforts Spring --
Columbia College students vote in referendum to abolish their student
government April – Some
600 persons, including faculty and students, protest
the mandating by New York State of air raid drills on campus; first act
of civil disobedience on the Columbia campus since WW II May – AAUP
reports Columbia faculty salaries for 1960-61 slipped from 11th
to 17th. August --
City and CU agree on construction of gym in Morningside Park, following
uneventful public hearings; expected
cost of $10,000,000 to be raised in a fund drive, chaired by Trustee Harold
McGuire Fall -- Morningside
Renewal Council formed; generally critical of CU expansion in neighborhood Provost Barzun
creates preceptorships for advanced graduate students to teach in the
College Core Columbia announced
plans to construct faculty apartments on 125th/Riverside Drive
site. Henry Krumb
gift to Engineering School raised to $16,000,000 and prompted renaming
of the School of Mines. Then the largest single benefaction to Columbia. December –
Columbia College referendum abolishes undergraduate student government
by a vote of 690 to 378. Spectator supported its abolition. Proposal
for a Student Assembly not implemented. Some College
students, among them Eric Foner (CC ’64) , form student political party (ACTION) in wake
of the demise of student government. 1962
-- June - Students for Democratic Society [SDS] organized at University
of Michigan; Tom Hayden issued Port Huron Statement Plans quietly
underway to move both the School of Social Work and the School of Pharmacy
to Morningside Heights; Fall – Columbia
College Today, edited by George Keller, critical of recent architecture
on campus; Fall –
Student-led Progressive Labor Club formed on campus; advocates
of socialist revolutionary activity 1963 Spring – NYC
Mayor Wagner indicates City will no longer cooperate with Columbia
and Morningside Heights, Inc., Spring – Issue
of women allowed in the Columbia dorms debated between students and deans October 10
– South Vietnam’s Madame Nhu on campus; her presence protested by picketers November 22
-- President John F. Kennedy assassinated in Dallas, Texas;
Lyndon Johnson assumes presidency Rosemary Park,
President of Connecticut College, appointed president of Barnard College December –
Atomic Energy Commission approves on-campus TRIGA reactor for Engineering
School December --
First recognition of the appearance of drugs on campus. 1964 January --
Administration prohibits picketing of official guests on campus in anticipation
of visit of Queen Fredericka of
Greece. January –
Professor of Sociology Daniel Bell commissioned by College Dean David Truman to write a report on
General Education at Columbia. February 5
– Queen Fredericka of Greece on formal visit to Columbia (for Barnard’s
75th Anniversary); Visit
opposed by ACTION. April -- President
Kirk rejects suggestion of Columbia University Student Council to form
a tripartite committee on student
life; cites administrative workload June 23 --
Columbia buys apartment building at 618 W. 114th Street, intending site
for School of Social Work; Morningside Heights, Inc. bought “Bryn Mawr,”
420 W. 121st Street; cited as a “narcotics den” by the press. July - Harlem
experiences rioting and store-front destruction; one of many urban disruptions
that summer September
-- Administration gearing up for a University-wide Capital Campaign; John
Price Jones as outside consultant September
- About 25 Columbia College black students formed Students Afro-American
Society [SAS]; Hilton Clark, CC '67, among leaders September
- Student protests at UC, Berkeley, ban on on-campus political activity;
disruptions through most of the
academic year; emergence of Free Speech Movement. October –
Black novelist James Baldwin on campus; critical of Martin Luther King’s
non-violent strategy and called for “bad niggers.” November --
Lyndon Johnson overwhelmingly elected to full term, defeating the Republican
nominee Barry Goldwater November 23
– Columbia School of Dentistry and Dental Surgery lost its accreditation;
complicates fund-raising efforts underway. Fall – Effort
by CORE to unionize cafeteria workers; University agrees with other NYC
universities to oppose unionization of
dining halls to protect student job opportunities. December 9 – Berkeley student organizer Mario Savio on Columbia campus for a sundial demonstration. At invitation of SDS?
Last revised: September 27, 2003 For comments, ram31@columbia.edu Can be continued on F5 Columbia in Crisis Timeline, 1965-1969 |