Professor Hamilton's Diary: Dec. 26, 1935

He attends an honor society convention at the Waldorf-Astoria

Waking up the day after Christmas at his in-laws’ home in Bronxville, Professor Hamilton went right back to work, spending the morning typing his dissertation revisions. At 2:30 he left for New York City to attend the Pi Gamma Mu convention at the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel. This is an international honor society in social sciences founded in 1924.

He fills an entire page in tiny writing about the various speakers and attendees he met and their academic institutions. What was on their minds? An article in the next day’s New York Times gave a summary that has surprising echoes in today’s collegiate world.

Paid subscribers can read on. Tomorrow, Professor Lanham’s diary page is blank, and I will share what I have learned about his daughters, Gwennie and Mary Elizabeth, once they reached adulthood. Please consider upgrading to paid so you can fully appreciate the diary, and will be ready for the 1942 diary of Mrs. Gladys Gunn, which begins on January 1.

The postcard here, postmarked 1935, is being offered by a dealer on eBay. On the back it reads, “The new Waldorf Astoria Hotel. Occupies an entire square block bet[ween] 49th to 50th Sts. and bet[ween] Park Ave. and Lexington. It rises to a height of 47 stories. The Waldorf is one of the most magnificent buildings on the outside and the most luxurious inside. The Hotel was built to take the place of that historical home of the rich on 34th St. and 5th Ave., the old Waldorf Astoria, razed in 1929.”