Features
Hamilton history: College Hill during WWII
By Jon Cohen ’17
October 23, 2015
In the spring of 1944, Hamilton College had 35 civilian students and was on the verge of closing. The vast majority of college-age men were off fighting in World War II or serving their country in some capacity at home. Liberal arts schools had to put their lofty goals of self-improvement and individual growth on hold and either adapt or risk closure.
Fortunately, Hamilton, led by President William Cowley, was able to both keep the school afloat and support American armed forces during World War II.
In 1938, President Cowley predicted to the Hamilton community, “Students of Hamilton College, together with your contemporaries, will fight that war.” However, despite President Cowley’s foresight, students were largely isolationists, hoping the conflict in Europe would sort itself out without American interference. That all changed on Dec. 7, 1941 when Japan bombed Pearl Harbor. Hamilton, along with the rest of the country, would be changed forever.
Commencement for the spring of 1942 was held three weeks early so the graduating seniors could report for military service on time. Additionally, the administration established a 12-week summer semester that allowed students to graduate from Hamilton in two and a half years. By the summer of 1942, one of every eight students enrolled in the College the previous September were in uniform.
However, speeding up how fast students could graduate was not enough. Fortunately, Hamilton had the resources to help the war effort and thus President Cowley decided to use the campus as a training facility.
As soon as the war began, Hamilton reached a deal with the Civil Aeronautics Administration program and began training civilian pilots. After a year, in 1942, the program shifted to training Army and Navy aviators.
In February of 1943, Hamilton made a deal with the Air Force’s Technical Training Command Unit to train 200 pre-meteorological soldiers.
Likely the biggest contribution Hamilton made to the war efforts was their Student Training Language Area program that taught German and French to soldiers before they were deployed to Europe. Hundreds of soldiers flocked to Clinton, NY to receive a crash course in a foreign language that could be the difference between life and death in Europe.
The Student Training Language Area Program became so large that Hamilton hired their first female instructors. Most of them were the wives of faculty and were only employed for the duration of WWII, but this nonetheless represented a major break from tradition for the historically all-male college. After the war, Hamilton would not hire a woman to a permanent position until 1973.
During the war, Hamilton resembled a soldier training facility more than a college. Soldiers marched to class in uniform and many of the dorms were converted into barracks. All fraternities were shut down, and athletics were suspended by 1942. Civilian students spent spare time working as airplane spotters (where they would search the skies for enemy planes), fire wardens or for the New York civil defense program.
By 1945, more than 1,800 living Hamilton alumni had joined the military. The college was able to keep track of their alumni, abroad and at home, with the newsletter Hamilton in the War. The weekly bulletin was sent to all Hamilton men in service and their families. It initially tried to show a sense of calm and familiarity by providing sports scores, information about clubs and updates on President Cowley.
In the first few issues of Hamilton in the War, only a few soldiers submitted pictures or stories. But as the war intensified, the newsletter helped create a sense community that many soldiers deeply valued.
For example, Reginald W. Page Jr., Class of 1943, who worked at a Navy Air Station training pilots, wrote to Hamilton in the War, “It’s funny to see your students leave, while you linger here in the land of rattlesnakes, lizards and mesquite. I’ll always appreciate how lovely Clinton can be.”
Arja P. Adiar, Class of 1940, wrote to the newsletter, “At first glance it is difficult to detect much connection between my present occupation and courses which I studied at Hamilton College … But actually, in my classrooms on the Hill I managed to glean a smatterings of many varied subjects which I feel are untold value to me [on the battlefield].”
In 1944, Hamilton in the War also helped the alumni fund raise over $48,000, which kept the school open and financially stable despite so few civilian students.
The contributions Hamilton and its alumni made to the war efforts were huge considering how small a school it was. Hamilton in the War was flooded with alumni boasting of their classmates’ accomplishments.
For example, Navy Lt. Halsey V. Barrett ’35 and Lt. Ralph A. Nichols ’40 served courageously in the invasion of Normandy. Both lieutenants had their ships sunk that day but fortunately, both survived.
At least five Hamilton alumni were taken prisoner during WWII. The most dramatic POW story likely belongs to C. Coolidge Alden Jr., Class of ’36 who worked as an army surgeon during the war. In 1943, the Germans captured Coolidge and put him to work caring for their wounded in a German field hospital. However, after only three days Coolidge managed to escape and make his way back to Allied lines, where he worked as a surgeon for the rest of the war.
Civilian alumni also made vital contributions to the war effort. John H. Kuck ’37, an electrical engineer at Johns Hopkins, helped design the radio proximity fuse used to detonate explosives as they approached a target. This discovery helped neutralize the German V-1 Bomb attack on London in 1944.
Walcott Watson ’30 and Richard Claassen ’44 were involved in the famous Manhattan Project that designed the first atom bomb.
Contributions of Hamilton’s alumni to the war were acknowledged with the launching in June 1945 of a cargo ship, the S.S. Hamilton Victory. The builder’s plate is now mounted in the College Chapel.
On May 8th, 1945 when the Nazis finally surrendered, students celebrated by ringing the Chapel bell for eight straight hours. In a few short years student enrollment increased, and Hamilton returned to an elite liberal arts college.
The school also began renovations on its Chapel to recognize the 52 courageous Hamilton men who lost their lives fighting in the war. Part of the renovations included the installation of a large bronze plaque honoring the fallen men that can still be found in the Chapel today.