Tradition in a turbulent age

Professor Edwards’s first book about the College, The Triumph of Tradition, published in 1992, chronicles how Whitman survived difficult growing pains from the time it was established as Whitman Seminary in 1859 until 1925, by which time it had become a respected institution.

His new book, Tradition in a Turbulent Age, takes up the narrative in 1925 and pursues it through the next 50 years, concluding in 1975 when Robert Skotheim became president. Edwards notes in the preface that this volume covers a period in which the College “struggled even more with the pressures of external forces. From the Great Depression through the disruptions atten-dant upon the Vietnam War, Whitman experienced considerable turbulence.”

Understanding Whitman’s history is critical to understanding the College as it is today, according to Edwards. “It is fair to say that, at the end of the 20th century, Whitman is a highly successful institution. Its present academic standing is owing to dozens of dedicated women and men. Their contributions are chronicled in The Triumph of Tradition and its sequel.”

Among the many who play significant roles in the pages of Tradition in a Turbulent Age are presidents Stephen Penrose, Chester Maxey, Lou Perry, and Donald Sheehan; deans Thelma Mills, Miriam Wagenschein, Fredric Santler, and Kenyon Knopf; professors Benjamin Brown, Edith Davis, Tom Howells, Deborah DuNann Winter, and Robert Fluno; trustees Donald Sherwood, Baker Ferguson, Art Lee, and Mary Cooper Jewett; staff members Winks Dunphy, Paul Harvey, and Vern Kinsinger; and students — from outstanding scholars to campus leaders, activists, and athletes.

Edwards includes tidbits of information about these people that bring not only their contributions to the College but also their personal convictions into sharp focus. He explores Penrose’s persistent efforts to convince the trustees and overseers to raise faculty salaries and reduce class size. At the same time, he notes that during the 1933 campaign to repeal Prohibition, the president worked hard in favor of retaining the 18th Amendment.

With similar detail Edwards introduces or calls to our memory other remarkable teachers and staff members. He tells us that during the Depression, chemistry professor Frank Haigh formulated his own wintergreen shaving cream in his laboratory. Professor Reginald Green, who taught accounting and other subjects from 1925-1958, is “fondly identified as a campus character.” Says Edwards, “One alumna recalled him as being ‘distinctive in that he was somewhat like Ichabod Crane. He was tall, and his hair kind of stood up.’”

Edwards also describes circumstances and events, policies and decisions, problems and solutions that made up campus life — both academic and extracurricular — in each era. In the 1920s, “the women’s code advised that a ‘true Whitman woman’ would not loiter on street corners, eat on the streets, or work or drive downtown alone at night. Furthermore, a woman would be ‘very thoughtful and courteous to Mrs. Penrose, the Dean, and Housemother and would rise when any of these women entered the room.’”

A chapter on student activism explores a far different time in Whitman history: “Early in 1969, the BSU [Black Student Union], joined by some white students, formed the Coalition, receiving sympathy and advice from a few faculty members. The Coalition insisted that Whitman hire at least two black professors and initiate a black studies program. . . . On the steps of Memorial Hall, the Coalition formally handed Knopf [Kenyon Knopf, dean of the College] a set of demands.”

Edwards’s work is based on extensive research of College records, minutes of board meetings, letters, documents, alumni and student publications, oral histories, and interviews. Whitman is fortunate, he says, to have hundreds of carefully preserved documents available as primary references. The two volumes of Whitman history make up “one of the most detailed and thoroughly researched studies of any college or university in the Northwest,” notes President Cronin.

In spite of his connection to Whitman, Edwards sought to view its history critically. In the preface to Tradition in a Turbulent Age, he states, “Collegiate history is often uncritical. It is difficult for scholars to be objective when writing about their institutions and colleagues. It is tempting to gloss over difficulties and miscalculations, and to praise people and programs. Aware of this problem of objectivity, I have made every effort to be fair.”

There are many reasons why Whitman’s story deserves to be told, Edwards also explains in the preface to Tradition. Not only have outside events had an impact on the College, but also “the College has had a tremendous impact upon the region and nation.

"This present history does not include a detailed record f its alumni. Penrose often asserted the truism that, ‘While teachers make a college, its alumni make its reputation.’
The accomplishments of alumni explain the need for a study of the school that prepared them for significant contributions to their occupations, families, neighborhoods, regions, and nation.”

n an interview, Edwards adds, “The College has consistently attracted remarkable men and women. The faculty have enjoyed these students, and they have enjoyed each other. The friendships made at Whitman in any decade are quite remarkable. Many alumni have told me that among the very happiest years of their lives were the years they attended Whitman College.”

Concluding the preface, Edwards voices the hope “that alumni, who have expressed pangs of nostalgia in interviews or in informal conversations, will find in [the two volumes of Whitman history] accounts that will remind them of their happy undergraduate experiences.”

The Triumph of Tradition: The Emergence of Whitman College 1859-1924 and Tradition in a Turbulent Age: Whitman College 1925-1975, by G. Thomas Edwards, William Kirkman Professor of History Emeritus, are available at the Whitman College Bookstore. Each book is $29.95. The two-volume set is $50. Purchases may be made online or by calling the bookstore at 509-527-5274.

The author's favorite Whitman figures.

About Professor G. Thomas Edwards.