jwg | Entries tagged with reunion

Every year for the past few years there has been a MIT Class of '60 Mini-reunion: lunch and a speaker. This year the speaker was Robert Dimmick, who is an Etiquetteer. He gave an amusing talk about the evolution of the Dinner Party from Queen Victoria to the Kennedy Administration - proper dress, appropriate food and serving procedures, etc. (I jokingly commented to him and the organizer afterwards that we should have invited the staff of the restaurant to this so when we have next year's event it would be more elegant. It was at the Glass House restaurant in Kendall Square.)

This brought up some memories of my childhood. When my parents had dinner parties we used special dinnerware, fancier silver cutlery, we had a live-in cook and a chambermaid-waitress who wore fancier uniforms than the usual ones and we dressed up. Many apartments in NYC had a small suite of maid's rooms behind the kitchen - ours had two small rooms and a bathroom. I still have some of the plates which we use when we have guests for dinner.

Near the end there was a drawing for a door prize and I won. This year it was a delightlful beaver (the MIT mascot of course). Last year I also won the door prize which was a very interesting book by Charles Sullivan of the Cambridge Historical Commission and another author titled Building Old Cambridge. Sullivan was the speaker for that lunch.

The beaver has joined our family. He told us his name which is Barton. He was named after William Barton Rogers, the founder of MIT.

Going to the reunion brought back a bunch of memories.

I went to the Dalton School from 1st through 8th grades. The high school at the time was girls only. It was (and still is) a very amazingly wonderful progressive school in NYC. In 5th through 8th grades the academic work was organized into what was called the Dalton Plan.

Students were divided into Houses which people for each of the grades and there was a House Meeting every morning. Part of the day was called Labvoratory time where you were free to go to any classroom and meet with the teacher or work on projects either alone or with other students. It was a good exercise in learning how to manage time. Classes were called Conferences.

Every month each subject teacher gave each student an Assignment Sheet that described what was to be done that month. It was divided into 20 Units and you had a Unit Card with two columns for each subject, When you completed work you marked the student column and then at a meeting with a teacher the other column would be marked. At the end of the month when the last of the 20 units was completed you got the teacher to sign off. When all subjects had their signoffs you ran back to your House and posted it on the wall and proclaim "I'm off my assingment". It was often a contest to see who would be first. They still follow the Assignment pattern and time allocation but don't have Unit Cards any more.

A few tidbits about teachers and rituals:

My second grade teacher was Norma Jones. Among other things she taught us cooking. The idea was to give us some practical exercises with fractions and the idea of following a recipe. Pretty good ideas i think.

My 5th grade and more Geography teacher was John Seeger, Pete's brother as it happens. He was a great story teller. In addition to geography I was in his House once. It was in geography where I learned how to do research. We would each or sometimes a pair of people pick a country and study it with books and go to the country office if there was one, make a paper maché and prepare a report and make a presentation to the class. He and his wife were also the Directors of Camp Killoleet in Hancock, Vermont that I went to for a few years and then in '59-'61 was councillor. The camp still exists and is run by his daughter Kate. I went to the camp for his memorial service a few years ago (and got to speak to Pete about a common friend).

My 6th and 8th Grade Social Studies teacher was Ethel Mukerji, the wife of Dhan Gopal Mukerji, a well known Indian author who wrote in English. We studied Indian history and medieval history, among other things; She was tough, exacting, and wonderful.

My 5th and 7th grade Social Studies teacher was Mrs. Dal Negro, An Argentinian (or Brazillian - I forget which) and among other things we studied South American History.

Hugo Robus was my science teacher. He was great. In my one year of teaching at Dalton my clasroom was the one that had been his; it looked pretty much the same.

My Math teacher was Kitty O'Connell. Once when I was having trouble being motivated to do my homework my mother made an appointment with her and we went in and she gave a lot of reasons why math was going to be impoortant in my life. It worked.

My 6th and 8th grade English teacher was Hortense Tyroler, or Horty as my mother called her because they had been classmates at Barnard. In 6th grade we were challenged by reading a Shakespeare play, I forget which one, but I think it was Julius Caesar.

The boys gym teacher was John McCook, or Muscles as he liked to be called. He also ran a summer camp, Camp Tacoma Pines (no longer in existence) that I went to as a camper and councillor. The basement had a pool - no longer there, the gyms were on the 10th floor - we sometimes went by bus to another gym and to Randall's Island for outdoor sports - they still use Randall's island, but have a gym building a couple of blocks away.

Lincoln's Birthday, Feb 12, was Book Day. Everybody donated a book to the library and we paraded up to the stage in the Auditorium to leave our offering.

Arch Day was at the end of the year and we all marched up to the auditorium stage and walked through the arch to signify passing on to the next grade or graduation. They still do this.

Around Christmas time we Candle Lighting day where we paraded up to the stage to light a candle.

I'm out of touch with any of my classmates, but it was nice seeing a few of them at the reunion. I do know that several of my best friends from those days are deceased or have disappeared. Dalton tried to have a cross section of people - not everyone was white, but most were moderately or more wealthy. One of my best friends was Chris Kazan, son of Elia. There were some others with famous parents: Eileen, daughter of William Shirer; Fiona, daughter of Marshall Field; Jeff, son of William Paley.

Last weekend I went to New York City for my 60th High School reunion at Dalton School. When I attended there, the high school was girls only so I only attended 1st through 8th grades and then went on to Fieldston. My 8th grade graduation was in 1952 but they treat us as if we were in the class of 56.

I went to NYC on Thursday and my first activitiy after checking into my hotel was to get a ticket for American in Paris which was playing in the Palace Theatre - a magnificent old theatre. I loved it. I am a big Gershwin fan. The dancing was wonderful and they had fascinating scenery/stage effects. I just read that it is coming to Boston in the late fall and I will go again. Times Square at night is pretty amazing.
On Friday I went downtown to take the Statue of Liberty / Ellis Island Ferry. Lots of waiting in line to buy tickets, go through security, wait for the boat to Liberty, wait for the boat to Ellis Island, and wait for the boat back to Manhattan.

I walked around the statue - to go up to the crown you need tickets which have to be bought in advance - way in advance I am told. Many years ago I did get all the way to the top - up a narrow staircase; now Ithink you can only go to the crown.

So as I said earlier in FB: on Thursday I went to see an American in Paris and on Friday a French woman in New York.

Ellis Island is fascinating and overwhelming. I don't remember if I was every there before. (My great grandparents were - since that is how they came to the US). There is so much information - data, pictures, posters, etc. about the whole migration history of people coming to the US. It's definitely a must see.

Then I went uptown, checked out the lobby of the building on 74th St and 5th Avenue where I lived during my last years at Dalton and then Fieldston. It looked nice, the doorman said it had been restored and they found the original marble walls under the plaster. After this I walked to Central Park to the sailboat pond. I didn't see Stuart Little; I used to sail my boat there.

And then up to Dalton. The tour was not well organized but interesting. Our group's guide is a current teacher and was a teacher there during my one year of teaching there in 1960-61. On the 12th floor (which didn't exist in my day) they have lots of science labs for the middle and high schools. I got to ask about what 7th and 8th grade science was like these days (that is what I taught). he auditorium was a lot smaller than I remember.

There were a few of my classmates there, some of which were High School only so I didn't know them. It was fun - but we weren't as chatty as the previous week at my Fieldston reunion.

We sung the Dalton School School Song - I actually remembered it.

We go forth unafraid,
Strong with love and strong with learning,
New worlds will be made
Where we set our beacons burning.
For each child,
Great and small
Is friendly with man and beast,
And the world that holds them all.
We sing to you; this is our praise,
Flung like a banner over Dalton days.
This is the school we have worked in and made.
Here we have learned to go forth unafraid.

Words by Nancy Cowles Cardozo '36 and Music by Lee Russell '38

Then I went down to the LGBT Center for the last couple of dances at Village Contra where I know quite a few of the people from dance camp. And then we went to the Village Den for food and more conversation.

My first year at Fieldston was in Form III - 9th grade. Fieldston is a day school, part of the Ethical Culture system. It has a very nice campus - in imitation of some prep schools and clearly in competition with them. The Quadrangle looks about the same now -although the trees are bigger and some of the buildings look just like I remember them. It is bigger now - about 150 in a class insead of 90 and the athletic fields and buidlings are completely different now.

I and a few other students started that year, the rest had been there the two previous years and then many in either Filedston Lower - next door, or Ethical Culture in Manhattan. I didn't feel any problems with acceptance.

My English teacher was Louise Slipper. What I remember most about her was that she encouraged recreational reading and there was a notebook with pages for each student where we recorded what we had read with a few comments. For a while it was a competition for some of us to see how much each could read. And it was a good way to find out about other interesting books.

History was with Stanley Elkins - I don't remember what period of history it was, Math with Georgia Elgar, and French with René Spodheim. Miss Spodheim was quite a character. I remember one day when Peter Goldman and I were clowning around she uttered: "Jean, Pierre: Qui est le singe?". (Singe is monkey). And who can forget the sentence from the text book?

"J'entre dans la salle de class, Je regarde autour de moi, Je regarde les élèves et le professeur; Je dis "Bonjour" au professeur; Je prends ma place."

I took Fine Arts with Phillip Held. I remember how much fun it was making linoleum block prints. I made one of subway trains and printed it in lots of different ways. And there was Chorus with Bernie Werthman and Ethics with Ies Spetter.

Phys Ed was interesting. The boys were divided into 4 teams, named Lewis, Adler, Kelly, and Elliot (after founders of the school). The scheme was called LAKE. Shirt color for Lewis was blue, Adler was red, Kelly was green, and Eliot was yellow. I was on Kelly. We played football, soccer, field hockey, swimming. basketball, baseball, track, and did tumbling. Not that I have ever been much of an athlete, but it was a good program with exposure to lots of activities and emphasis on team work.

First verse of the school song:

Oh grassy banks and wooded ways,
Oh hillsides echo with our praise;
Iam cantate, jubilate;
shout giant oaks that touch the sky,
Ye massive rocks below reply, Iam cantate, jubilate;
Iam canamus, jubilamus, gaudeamus

Last weekend was my Class of '56 60th High School Reunion at Fieldston (now called Fiedlston Ethical) in NYC.
I went down to New York on Friday and went to Brooklyn Contra that evening - there I saw and danced with quite a few people I know from Village Contra and Dance Camp. It was a very nice dance - it is now gender free).
The plan for Satuday was High Lie, the Whitney Museum, the Cloisters, and the reunion.

I like the fact the some of the tracks are preserved on the High Line - there is even some furniture that rolls on them.

On Saturday I went to the new Whitney Museum after my walk on part of the High Line (the Whitney is right by the lower end of the High Line). There was lots of interesting modern art there and the building itself is pretty interesting with lots of outdoor terraces and outdoor staircases.

After lunch at the Whitney I went to the Cloisters which was on the way to Fieldston (which is in the part of the Bronx near the Hudson River that is called Riverdale - and sometimes a part of that is called Fieldston). Medieval times, the 21st century and a nice reuse of an old railline and then 60 years ago reminiscing all in one day.

The reunion was nice. There were about 11 of us from our class of 95 people and we spent the whole time talking. First in the Quadrangle where wine and hors d'ouevres were served. And then off to a room where we had dinner. There was lots of reminiscing, some gossipping and talking about teachers - the good and the bad aspects. We did so much talking that most of didn't take campus tours. (I did take tours at my 50th reunion).

One bizarre memory: In those days at lunch a a certain time they would flick the lights and then you could light up cigarettes and lots of us did. In my senior year I took auto mechanics and that allowed me to park my car on the small campus lot where we could sneak out and smoke. Because I had taken Driver Ed I got a full drivers licence at 17 - I didn't usually drive to school. Also I remember when I was on the tech crew for a play we would smoke up in the lighting room. Fortunately, a few years later I quit.

My standard way of going to school was 79th st crosstown bus, local and the A train to to 207th st and then the Bx7 bus which stopped at the edge of campus. Going home I would walk down the hill to the 242nd stop of the Broadway subway and took it to 79th St and then the crosstowbn bus home. I lived on 74th St and 5th Ave.
For the reunion I took the A train (and a shuttle because of construction) to the Cloisters and then the Bx7 to Fieldston. I was going to go home the usual way, but it was raining and I got a ride.

My 60th High School Reunions are coming up - on next Saturday, and the other the following Friday. Why 2? I went to Dalton School in NYC for 1st through 8th grades and at that time it was only co-ed through 8th grade; the high school was girls only. Now it is co-ed all the way. So then I went to Fieldston - now called Fieldston Ethical School for 9th through 12th grades - called Form III through Form VI. These were two excellent progressive private schools - and still are excellent. I loved them both - the facilities, the courses, the teachers, the many activities.

I'm looking forward to seeing the buildings - now quite different - and some of my classmates.

I did go to my 50th reunions - see here and enjoyed them both. After graduating from Fieldston I went to MIT and after that I was a PhD candidate in Physics at Columbia. In my first year at Columbia I had a part-time job teaching 7th and 8th grade science in Dalton.

At the end of that year I decided I didn't want to be a Mathematician, a Physicist, or a teacher. My father in one of his one-sentence pieces of advice said: You should take a computer progamming course. This was in 1961. You had to worry about the draft in those days and scholastic deferments were nice to have. I returned to Columbia with a mixed bag of courses and a few weeks into the programming course I knew what I wanted to do for my career. For the Spring term I came back to Cambridge, took several more courses at MIT as a Special Student while thinking of applying. Instead I found a job at Honeywell who was in the computer business then starting in the summer and that launched my career.

Another one of my father's one-sentence pieces of advice was when in my junior year of high school I was wondering about where to apply to colleges he said: Oh, you are going to MIT.

(A long post with information about a very important period of my life and career)

On May 28 and 28th I attended a 2-day conference at MIT to celebrate the 50th anniversary of Project Mac - the second afternoon of which was a Multics Reunion.

Project MAC (Mathematics and Computation, later backronymed to Multiple Access Computer, Machine Aided Cognitions, or Man and Computer) was an interdepartmental project at MIT with lots of ARPA funding. It has transmogrified into MIT Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory (CSAIL) and sits in the Stata building - a Frank Gehry masterpiece.

One of the key projects in Project MAC was Multics (Multiplexed Computer and Information Service). It started as a joint project with MIT, Bell Labs, and General Electric and eventually became a Honeywell product. It was a many-user multiple access "time-sharing" system with an emphasis on security, 24-7 operation, ease of use, segmentation and virtual memory, and had a number of very new design ideas for the time. Many of the innovations have since appeared in other products as people who worked on Multics joined/started other companies and/or were users of it.

In 1967 I left Honeywell where I had spent the beginning years of my career as a Fortran Compiler writer and joined GE to work on this project. My last assignment in Honeywell had been in a Systems Planning organization looking at new Operating System possibilities and new ways to write software and was very frustrated at the difficulty getting them to think ahead. They sent me to an Industrial Liaison Symposium at MIT which was about Multics. Several months later I was working for GE on Multics .

GE was the hardware vendor who planned on making a commercial product out of this. In 1965 at the Fall Joint Computer Conference there was a set of papers presented describing this system. By 1966 the project had started design and development. Bell Labs dropped out in 1969 (the people working on Multics at Bell labs went on to invent Unix (castrated Multics - a joke name).

The GE people and the MIT people were working together, but not very well. My boss at GE, Charlie Clingen, got promoted to be the lab manager for our organization (Cambridge Information Systems Laboratory - CISL) and I got promoted to be manger of the development unit. We started working on getting people in the two organizations to work together. Several years later I became overall (lower level) project manager of the joint project and continued to work- on merging the people in the two organizations (on separate floors in the same building in Tech Square). Sometimes project members did not know which organization their peers worked for. In 1970 Honeywell bought the GE Computer business and committed to making Multics a product. We hired some of the MIT people and went on to make 12 major releases to a number of prestigious customers. It was a great model of a University Research/Industry joint project with effective technology transfer.

After the product was capped in 1985 and CISL closed in 1986 - wotj product maintenance and enhancement handled by our counterpart group in Phoenix and a University if Calgary spinoff company that had done some of the develop,emit in the later years. Some of my team moved to the local Honeywell office and worked with other people on a project, called Opus, to create a new OS for the existing mini-computer system. Opus was cancelled in 1988 - mostly because the growing popularity of PCs was killing the mini-computer business. Some of us also had an attempt for a spin-off to produce secure systems but that didn't pan out and besides Bull - the new owner of the Honeywell computer business wouldn't give up the technology rights - it took a long time for them to agree to release the source code.

The first day and a half of the conference had a number of presentations from Project Mac veterans, some current researchers, and university people from Cornell and Georgia Tech on new educational/research ideas. Some of the presentations described the origins of Project MAC, particularly those projects which are big deals today - either in industry or in the research arena. It was very interesting to attend and it was good to get back in touch with what is going in this industry and research lab that I worked in for 30+ years.

The Multics reunion was on the second afternoon and we had a presentation from the key MIT professor on this project and it's predecessor: Corby (Fernando Corbató) and several other presentations. It ended with a panel session that I chaired; the panelists were Corby, Jerry Saltzer - MIT professors with key roles in the project (and that is an understatement), Bob Freiburghouse - a compiler genius who was a colleague of mine at Multics and previously at Honeywell), and Peter Neumann who was the Bell Labs leader. The Panel session had short talks by each of us and then lots of Q&A which continued after the session was officially over.

There were lots of opportunities to reminisce with many people who I worked with in the past and even before that. I got to talk to Doug MacIlroy - one of the Bell Labs guys who produced a compiler for Multics when the contractor GE had chosen failed, and who was my M-11 (Calculus) instructor in my freshman year at MIT (1956)! I talked to Joel Moses, one of the MIT professors at Project MAC who had nothing to do with Multics but he and I were students at Columbia in 1961 when we both took an introductory computer programming course - which to me was the catalyst that launched my career.

It is interesting to note that this project was conceived in 1964, first ran as a service at MIT in 1969, became a product in 1974, ran in mission-critical applications at a number of big customers - with a total of about 70 systems (5-10 million dollars per system) and whose last system was shutdown in 2000. It was used as a Software Factory in Bull and Honeywell for other products. There is a huge amount of information about the system on the Multicians Web site including the one formal paper I wrote. The source code is on an MIT web site and there are several people working on emulators. And lots of the ideas were adapted by other companies for their products.

The people who worked on it were a great set of people and many of us remain in touch in various ways these days. One of those people is my husband.