“as a spur”: GRC diary, April 27, 1914.
“university people,” “swells”: GRC diary, June 14, 1914.
“distracting task of making money . . .”: TWR, “Retrospect.”
“The habit of attempting . . .”: JBC, “Theodore William Richards,” Biographical Memoir, 258.
“defective”: Sir Harold Hartley, “Theodore William Richards Memorial Lecture,” April 25, 1929, CFP.
“My long imprisonment . . .”: GRC diary, August 17, 1910, CFP.
“cross, selfish, and quarrelsome”: GRC diary, October 18, 1910.
“overstudy”: TWR to Kenneth G. T. Webster, chairman of the Academic Board of Radcliffe, May 10, 1916, GRC papers, Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study, Schlesinger Library, Cambridge, MA.
“genius”: Interview with Martha “Muffy” Henderson Coolidge.
“narrow existence”: GRC diary, 1916, CFP.
“chiefly Papa’s advisees”: GRC diary, June 20, 1913.
“Sometimes I’d feel . . .”: GRC diary , October 2, 1918.
“stuck,” “And now, of all times . . .”: Ibid.
“all the ardor”: GRC diary, January 4, 1919.
“wholly unimpressed . . .”: John H. Finley, eulogy for GRC, 1985, CFP.
“believe in it . . . ,” “great comfort”: GRC diary, January 4, 1919, CFP.
“blind alley,” “wallowing in the laboratory,” “pay dirt”: MSL, 53.
“so many irons in the chemical fire”: JBC to GRC, July 27, 1920, CFP.
“down east,” “a mirage . . .”: JBC to GRC, August 31, 1920, CFP.
“shout”: Ibid.
“I still have a strong taint . . .”: Ibid., August 13, 1920.
“too much influenced . . .”: Ibid., July 27, 1920.
“fine-grained,” “I realize only too well . . . ,” “clash,” “possible difference . . .”: Ibid., September, 27, 1920.
“paper offensive,” “miserable performance”: Ibid., September 21, 1920.
“Accepted him finally . . .”: GRC diary, September 24, 1920, CFP.
“dark fears and timid doubts”: Ibid., September 26, 1920.
“passed the line of decorum”: JBC to GRC, September 30, 1920, CFP.
“cheapness” and “dissipation”: Ibid., September 27, 1920.
“conquer”: Ibid., September 30, 1920.
“a few false moves,” “in the spirit of joviality . . . ,” “The whole question . . .”: Ibid.
“Let our love for each other . . .”: Ibid., October 10, 1920, CFP.
“stormy month”: GRC diary, October 22, 1920, CFP.
“It’s no use . . .”: JBC to GRC, October 15, 1920, CFP.
“Engaged again for the final time”: GRC diary, October 22, 1920, CFP.
“vague fear,” “vanish again”: JBC to GRC, October 25, 1920, CFP.
“A heavenly hour alone . . .”: GRC diary, March 18, 1921, CFP.
“excellent match”: Norris Hall to JBC, undated, CFP.
“Why shouldn’t I be looking . . .”: JBC to GRC, December 2, 1920, CFP.
“There’s no question . . .”: Interview with John B. Fox Jr.
“You’re certainly one lucky fellow . . .”: JBC to GRC, March 31, 1921, CFP.
“It didn’t seem dreary . . . ,” “a sort of halo,” “goggles,” “It was all most lovely . . .”: MTR to Edith Henderson, April 19, 1921, CFP.
“always dress attractively . . . ,” “Jim’s air-castles”: GTR diary, January 27, 1921, CFP.
CHAPTER 7: THE SPECIALIST
“Gambling on the stock market . . .”: JBC to GRC, June 29, 1930, CFP.
“with the more or less explicit . . .”: MSL, 55.
“delightful time”: JBC to Esther Conant, July 3, 1921, CFP. The letter is reprinted in MSL, 55–56 and all quotes describing that trip are taken from there, including JBC’s regret about Germany being excluded because it was “tainted by war guilt.”
“slip in”: MSL, 56.
“Almost alone among American chemists . . .”: Caryl P. Haskins, draft eulogy, 1978, CFP.
“restless soul”: MSL, 52.
“one of the most brilliant . . .”: BDG, December 24, 1931.
“the best years”: MSL, 59.
“almost a point of honor . . .”: As quoted in Martin Saltzman, “James Bryant Conant and the Development of Physical Organic Chemistry, Journal of Chemical Education 49, no. 6 (June 1972): 411.
“open mind,” “calculated gambler”: Paul F. Douglass, Six upon the World, 338.
“He spanned the whole spectrum . . .”: G. B. Kistiakowsky and F. H. Westheimer, “James Bryant Conant, 1893–1978,” Biographical Memoirs of the Royal Society 25 (November 1979): 212.
“scientific imagination”: Pringle, “Profiles: Mr. President,” pt. 2, September 19, 1936, NY, 23.
“The combination of hemoglobin . . .”: MSL, 61.
“searching logic”: Paul D. Bartlett, “James Bryant Conant, 1893–1978,” National Academy of Sciences Biographical Memoir 34 (1983): 95.
“the state of oxidation . . . ,” description of oxidation experiments: MSL, 61.
“foreign field”: Ibid.
“When I read your paper . . .”: Ibid.
“Teaching is certainly the thing . . .”: GRC to her parents, April 17, 1923, CFP.
“a bit small”: MSL, 58.
“draughts,” “Jim and I . . .”: GRC to MTR, (undated) 1922, and March 20, 1923, CFP.
“overapprehensiveness,” “Jewish doctor”: WTR to MTR, November 7, 1932, CFP.
“borrow trouble”: MTR diary, undated, CFP.
“the perfect husband . . .”: GRC to MTR, October 6, 1921, CFP.
“be prompt . . .”: GRC 1924–25 diary, undated, CFP.
“Patty did not have a practical bone . . .”: Interview with Martha “Muffy” Henderson Coolidge.
“Jim wants perfection . . .”: GRC 1924 diary, CFP.
“invidious remarks,” “the servant question . . .”: GRC to parents, June 4, 1925, CFP.
“screed,” “I have an incorrigible impulse . . .”: GRC 1924 diary, CFP.
“bantering sense of humor”: Tuttle, “James B. Conant,” 16.
“straightness . . .”: John H. Finley, JBC eulogy, 1978, CFP.
“do my bit . . . ,” “conservative and parrot-minded . . . ,” “vulgar”: GRC to MTR, October 6, 1921, CFP.
“a wider view . . . ,” “too shy”: MSL, 65.
“Which will make eight in all . . .”: GRC to TWR, July 10, 1924, CFP.
“You are a thoughtful . . .”: GRC to TWR, January 9, 1925, CFP.
“a most sadly defeated . . .”: GRC to parents, March 9, 1925, CFP.
“fearfully bad”: GRC diary, March 4, 1925, CFP.
“horrible Socialist burgermeisters”: Ibid.
“It seems like dragging . . . ,” “the center of discontent”: GRC to parents, March 9, 1925, CFP.
“That’s all very well . . . ,” “Such sentiments . . .”: MSL, 68.
“when friendly intercourse . . .”: TFAR, 165.
“The rivalry among universities . . .”: MSL, 71–73.
“massive contributions,” “elaborate and tricky”: Ibid.
“impressive output”: Ibid.
“[Jim] is simply delighted . . .”: GRC to parents, March 9, 1925, CFP.
“father of chemical warfare,” “anathema”: MSL, 630.
“curious”: Ibid.
“a great discovery”: Ibid., 60.
“He paid me the greatest . . .”: Ibid., 630.
“a most attractive offer”: MSL, 74.
“The sky’s the limit”: JBC to GRC, March 16, 1927, CFP.
“anxious to avoid anything . . . ,” “foolish,” “They will end . . . ,” “hardly regard such a fate . . .”: MSL, 74–75.
“neck and neck”: GRC to MTR, January 8, 1932.
“superacidity” experiments: Kistiakowsky and Westheimer, “James B. Conant,” 212.
strong impetus to progre
ss: F. H. Westheimer, “James Bryant Conant: March 26, 1893–February 11, 1978,” Organic Synthesis 58 (March 1978): vi–xi.
“He was among the group . . .”: Ibid.
“magnetic attraction for budding chemists”: Kistiakowsky, eulogy of JBC, 1978, CFP.
“He was a very, very energetic . . .”: Oral history interview with Paul D. Bartlett, July 18, 1978, Niels Bohr Library.
“a constant stimulus . . .”: Bartlett, “James Bryant Conant,” Biographical Memoir, 106.
“without ever removing his eye . . .”: James Hershberg, James B. Conant: Harvard to Hiroshima, 54.
“living in his laboratory,” “never bear to be separated . . .”: BH, May 14, 1933.
“turned his face to the wall . . .”: Interview with Martha “Muffy” Henderson Coolidge.
“nervous load . . .”: JBC, “Theodore William Richards,” Biographical Memoir.
“hustling scholars”: Melvin Maddocks, “Harvard Was Once, Unimaginably, Small and Humble,” Smithsonian 17 (September 1986): 160.
“synthetic carbonated beverages”: Amster, “Meritocracy Ascendant,” 52.
“play the market,” “the depression days . . .”: MSL, 115.
“even my closest friends . . .”: Michael J. Halberstam, “James Bryant Conant: The Right Man,” HC, June 19, 1952. Voting record detailed in JBC, “A Guide to Public Education,” 15.
“professional chemist,” isoprene, “monopoly on the production . . . ,” “pang”: MSL, 77, 62–63.
“sharp insight”: Borrowman, “Conant, the Man,” 58.
“overpowering amount . . .”: GRC to MTR, January 8, 1932, CFP.
“refrain from the use . . .”: Chemical Bulletin.
“Jim was the sensation . . .”: GRC to MTR, November 29, 1931, CFP.
“I came to think of Conant . . .”: Bartlett, “James Bryant Conant,” Biographical Memoir, 106.
“Of course, the more talk . . .”: GRC to MTR, October 2, 1931, CFP.
“highly strung”: Ibid., July 8, 1930.
“I have been a little shocked . . .”: GRC to JBC, June 13, 1930, CFP.
“a bit neurasthenic”: GRC to MTR, November 13, 1930, CFP.
“fairly blush”: GRC to Marjorie Conant, February 20, 1933, CFP.
“problems”: GRC to MTR, November 22, 1931, CFP.
“nervous strain,” “irritable streaks,” “I pounce on him . . .”: GRC diary, December 17, 1928, CFP.
“somewhat unmanageable”: GRC to MTR, July 3, 1930, CFP.
“It’s all right . . .”: JBC to GRC, June 17, 1930, CFP.
“collection,” “Marjorie withstood the shock . . .”: Ibid., June 29, 1930.
“queer and unremunitive”: Ibid., July 15, 1930.
“I hadn’t realized . . .”: Ibid., June 29, 1930.
CHAPTER 8: THE DARK HORSE
“1933 was quite a year . . .”: As quoted in Robert Shaplen, “Sabbatical,” NY, October 3, 1958.
“mouth shut”: James B. Conant, “Shall We Shoot Him First or Interview Him?” Harvard Bulletin, October 5, 1970, 21.
“abdicating from chemistry”: Pringle, “Profiles: Mr. President,” pt. 1, 20.
“somewhat piqued”: MSL, 83.
“a little circle of seven men . . .”: BG, November 27, 1932.
“the most exclusive club . . .”: Pringle, “Profiles: Mr. President,” pt. 2, 23.
“outsider”: NYT, May 9, 1933.
“the chilling effects . . .”: Amster, “Meritocracy Ascendant,” 54.
“Back Bay Lear”: Richard Norton Smith, The Harvard Century, 64.
“Shall the institution of learning . . .”: New York World-Telegram, April 15, 1935.
“declared without question”: MSL, 81.
“material rather than intellectual growth”: Pringle, “Profiles: Mr. President,” pt. 1, 20.
“negative views,” “mediocre men”: MSL, 82.
“A university was a collection . . .”: MSL, 83.
“unduly critical”: Ibid., 82.
“I rather doubted . . . ,” “My wife . . .”: Ibid.
“crossing the Atlantic . . .”: Smith, The Harvard Century, 103.
“deist”: MTR diary, CFP.
“attractive personality”: Amster, “Meritocracy Ascendant,” 57.
“hardest boiled alumni . . .”: BSP, May 14, 1933.
“safer and surer . . . ,” “The more I . . .”: Amster, “Meritocracy Ascendant,” 58.
“rescue the college . . .”: MSL, 107.
“good authority”: MSL, 67.
“The Cambridge atmosphere . . .”: GRC to Marjorie Conant, February 20, 1933, CFP.
“ENJOYED YOUR LETTER . . .”: JBC to GRC, March 29, 1933, CFP.
“a fool,” “poor choice”: MSL, 87–90.
“It was painfully evident . . .”: Ibid.
“They said you wanted . . .”: Ibid.
“Parting with chemistry . . .”: JBC, “An Account of the Year 1933,” CFP. And Biebel, “Politics, Pedagogues and Statesmanship,” 39.
“I hope events will prove . . .”: Hershberg, Harvard to Hiroshima, 75.
“dark horse,” “weak acids and bases”: HC, May 8, 1933; BG, May 8, 1933; NYT, May 9, 1933.
“used to flee . . .”: NYT, May 28, 1933.
“ease, accessibility . . . ,” “stuffed shirt”: BH, May 11 and 12, 1933.
“An admirable choice”: Boston Post and Boston Globe, May 9, 1933.
“a man who to a large extent . . .”: HC, May 9, 1933.
“100 percent a scientist,” “enigma”: NYT, May 14, 1933.
“I don’t in the least . . . ,” “The trouble is that Jim . . .”: WTR to GRC, May 11, 1933, CFP.
“few illusions, “the most thankless job . . . ,” “If the president . . .”: JBC to Marjorie Conant, May 17, 1933, JBCPP.
“brain trust”: John T. Bethell, “Frank Roosevelt at Harvard,” Harvard Magazine, November–December 1996.
“relieved at the outcome”: Ken Murdock to JBC, undated, CFP.
“serene mysteries of the laboratory . . . ,” “You idolize Jim’s chemistry . . .”: MTR diary, May 14, 1933.
“wonderful wife . . .”: JBC to GRC, May 17, 1933, CFP.
“out of danger”: MSL, 99.
“better half”: JBC’s favorite term for GRC, author recollection.
“I am very happy”: JBC to GRC, May 17, 1933, CFP.
“A clear-cut social philosophy,” “handle educational problems . . .”: Tuttle, “James B. Conant,” 24.
“declare war”: MSL, 91.
“cranky New Englander,” “The magic of words . . . ,” “education is not something . . .”: JBC, “A Guide to Private Education,” 15.
“a good excuse”: MSL, 107.
“have a minute,” “but behind the intimated . . .”: BH, September 6, 1933.
“Today more than ever . . .”: JBC, “Address to Freshmen,” September 9, 1933, reprinted in NYT, September 10, 1933.
“You and I are both facing”: Ibid.
“wretched temperance punch”: Samuel E. Morison, “The Installation of President Conant,” JBCPRESP, HUA.
“No Pomp”: Boston Traveler, October 10, 1933.
“cold-fish chemist”: Halberstam, “James Bryant Conant: The Right Man.”
“even the most collegiate . . .”: JBC to Marjorie Conant, May 17, 1933, JBCPP.
“Politically and intellectually . . .”: Smith, The Harvard Century, 109.
“That’s what all the ballrooms . . .”: Pringle, “Profiles: Mr. President,” pt. 2, 27.
“The hard reality . . .”: GRC to Marjorie Conant, June 23, 1933, CFP.
“Remember! You can never afford . . .”: GRC diary, fall (undated) 1933, CFP.
“I have been . . . ,” “loaded down with cares . . .”: GRC diary, August 29, 1934.
“Negro question,” “exaggerated prejudices . . . ,” “Jim says . . .”: GRC diary, November 16, 1935.
“Jim has all this . . .”: GRC diary, February
27, 1934.
“the only way to keep . . .”: GRC diary, May 19, 1934 or 1935.
“looked into the matter . . . ,” “New Deal . . .”: Halberstam, “James Bryant Conant: The Right Man.”
“Never set foot . . .”: Smith, The Harvard Century, 109.
“I thought we had come . . .”: Pringle, “Profiles: Mr. President,” pt. 1, 20.
“something more than a New England school . . .”: Theodore H. White, In Search of History: A Personal Adventure (New York: Harper, 1978), 41, 43.
financial pressures of the times, “There is a limit . . . ,” “Whether one was a liberal . . .”: MSL, 116, 119.
“were men, not buildings”: NYT, January 24, 1936.
“We should be able to say . . . ,” “artificial barriers,” “nearest my heart”: MSL, 129.
“exclusivity . . .”: MSL, 122.
“sliding-scale”: Amster, “Meritocracy Ascendant,” 117.
“a promising device”: MSL, 131.
“burned with a fierce disapproval . . .”: Nicholas Lemann, The Big Test, 21.
“science with limited possibilities . . .”: Ibid., 5–6.
“State of the University . . .”: Biebel, “Politics, Pedagogues and Statesmanship,” 60.
“a truly national university . . .”: JBC, Annual Report, 1932–1933, 1–5, JBCPRESP, HUA. NYT, January 29, 1934.
“If we fail . . .”: Biebel, “Politics, Pedagogues and Statesmanship,” 61.
“too obviously sacred”: MSL, 136.
“Under James Conant . . .”: “Chemist at Cambridge.”
“best brains”: H. I. Brock, “Conant States His Creed for Harvard,” NYT Magazine, March 18, 1934, 3; “Chemist at Cambridge.”
“quality, not quantity”: NYT, January 29, 1934.
“High character”: Jerome Karabel, The Chosen, 148.
“the privilege of higher education . . .”: Robert van Gelder, “Dr. Conant’s Triple Life,” NYT Magazine, July 20, 1941.
“mistaken philanthropy . . .”: Amster, “Meritocracy Ascendant,” 94.
“to ensure a permanent career . . .”: Pringle, “Profiles: Mr. President,” pt. 1, 24.
“inbreeding among tenured faculty . . .”: Amster, “Meritocracy Ascendant,” 96.
“has a clear vision . . .”: Brock, “Conant States His Creed for Harvard.”
“conduct under stress,” “the liar . . . ,” “to expect the worst . . .”: MSL, 86.
“The presidency is an awful job . . .”: As quoted in MTR diary, May 1, 1934, CFP.
Man of the Hour Page 69
