FILE: C:\User_Nathan\Data\WP Documents\NateBio Part II Chapter V/wpd
Chapter V Columbia University and Marriage: 1945-1946
The GI Bill, officially known as the Servicemen's Readjustment Act of 1944, was designed to provide greater opportunities to returning war veterans of World War II. The bill, signed by President Roosevelt on June 22, 1944, provided federal aid to help veterans adjust to civilian life in the areas of hospitalization, purchase of homes and businesses, and especially, education. This act provided tuition, subsistence, books and supplies, equipment, and counseling services for veterans to continue their education in school or college. The Servicemen's Readjustment Act included the following: 1. The Federal Government would subsidize tuition, fees, books, and educational materials for veterans and contribute to living expenses incurred while attending college or other approved institutions.2. Veterans were free to attend the educational institution of their choice.3. Colleges were free to admit those veterans who met their admissions requirements.
Within the following 7 years, approximately 8 million veterans received educational benefits. Of that number, approximately 2,300,000 attended colleges and universities, 3,500,000 received school training, and 3,400,000 received on-the-job training. By 1951, this act had cost the government a total of approximately $14 billion. The effects of increased enrollment to higher education were significant. Higher educational opportunities opened enrollment to a more varied socioeconomic group than in the years past. Engineers and technicians needed for the technological economy were provided from the ranks of returning veterans. Also, education served as a social safety valve that eased the traumas and tensions of adjustment from wartime to peace. For the American colleges and universities, the effects were transforming. In almost all institutions, classes were overcrowded. Institutions required more classrooms, laboratories, greater numbers of faculties, and more resources. Housing facilities became inadequate and new building programs were established. New vocational courses were also added. This new student population called for courses in advanced training in education, commerce, agriculture, mining, fisheries, and other vocational fields that were previously taught informally. Teaching staffs enlarged and summer and extension courses thrived. Further, the student population was no longer limited to those between 18-23. The veterans were eager to learn and had a greater sense of maturity, in comparison to the usual student stereotype.
My program for my first semester at Columbia University consisted of the following courses: Chemistry 101, General Inorganic Chemistry; Chemistry 123, Experimental Physical Chemistry; Chemistry 133, Chemical Thermodynamics (Physical Chemistry); English U23, Shakespeare. The General Inorganic Chemistry course was taught by Professor of Chemistry Hal Trueman Beans, who was awarded the Ph.D. degree at Columbia University in 1904. The textbook for this course was the Reference Book of Inorganic Chemistry by Wendell M. Latimer and Joel H. Hildebrand. This was the same textbook for my general chemistry course at the University of California and the instructor was Professor Joel Hildebrand. This course was a review of general inorganic chemistry from the point of view of the graduate student.
The Experimental Physical Chemistry course was taught by Associate Professor J.J. Beaver. The course consisted of a one hour lecture session and six hours of laboratory work a week. Two events in this course come to mind. One is that I was in the dark room with a spectroscope that was giving me fits while trying to complete an experiment. I walked out the room and said to the instructor that this “blankedy-blank” spectroscope was not behaving properly. Of course the blankedy-blank words came directly out of the continued use of famous four letter words which were used to win the war while in the army. Of course, I neglected to notice the two young ladies who blushed, however, in the world today there would have been no blushing. The other event was when I was having difficulty in determining the freezing point of benzene. I drove the temperature down much below the expected freezing point without the success of crystallization of the benzene. Someone said put in crystalline benzene seeds to prevent this phenomena of supercooling. Like a darned fool I began walking to a shelf on which there were bottles of reagents and I suddenly realized that benzene at room temperature is a liquid. There were some laughs and I joined in.
The Chemical Thermodynamics course was taught by Professor Victor K. LaMer. While overseas, I did have a head start for this course as I had started taking a chemical thermodynamics correspondence course offered by the University of California. The textbook for this course was the classic book, Thermodynamics and The Free Energy of Chemical Substances, by Gilbert Newton Lewis and Merle Randall.
When I matriculated at Cal, I had to take a Subject A examination. This was an English language examination and I passed it with flying colors. After all, I had recently passed the New York State Regents examination in English with a good grade. To graduate from high school one had to pass the English Regents examination. At Cal, there were groupings of courses of which one had to choose one course from each group to meet the requirements for the first two years of academic studies. English and math were in one group, so I just selected math. When I registered at Columbia University, one year of English at the college level was a graduate school requirement. Being that I was a veteran, I was told that I could select any English course. I chose a one year course dealing with Shakespeare and earlier playwrights. This course was presented at night and I attended lectures three times a week. The textbook in this course was the Oxford University Press The Complete Works of Shakespeare, by W.J. Craig, Trinity College, Dublin. I still have the book. It has seen better days. I noted that many pages of the book have notes written with a pencil. Although the name of the instructor escapes me, I still have the image of an older man who read passages from plays with the passion of an actor. The instructor also had strong opinions about the meanings conveyed by various passages. My classmates and myself quickly realized that opinions asked for in exams had to be the instructor’s opinion.
Classes for this winter semester began on September 27, so I would begin going to classes about two weeks late. On Tuesday morning, October 10, still in uniform, I used the subway to go to Columbia. I walked on Broadway (Astoria) to the elevated train station and took the IRT train to the Times Square station and then changed to the Seventh Avenue-Broadway IRT Line. I got off at the 116th Street station which is on Broadway. I walked on campus to the Havemeyer Building and found my way to my first class; that was chemical thermodynamics. Dr. LaMer told me to go to the Columbia University book store and get a slide rule (Keuffel & Esser log-log in an orange case), a current Handbook of Chemistry and Physics, and several textbooks on chemical thermodynamics. There were at this time no limits on the number of books and educational materials that one could get on the GI Bill of Rights. By the time I had gone to the rest of my classes, I ended up with quite a library of chemistry textbooks plus the textbook for my English course.
It wasn’t very long before I got to know my classmates. Some were veterans who had been discharged from the military services before I was. As a group of new graduate students, a number us went out to lunch together where we got to know each other. Places for lunch included Chock Full O'Nuts. The Jewish Seminary, and other establishments near the University. Many times, as we used the chemistry department library to do our studying a small group would have dinner together. A Chinese restaurant on Broadway and 125th Street comes to mind. One place we had dinner at often was a restaurant at the John Jay Hall dormitory. We learned how to get to John Jay, which was on the South Quadrangle (south of 116th Street) in inclement weather by walking in a tunnel which carried steam pipes.
Several major friendships developed Martin (Marty) Goldstein and I developed a close friendship. It was Marty who spent time with me at a blackboard working out the concepts developed in the chemical thermodynamics course. Marty’s major subject was physical chemistry. I had no real major as I still intended to finish my studies in the medical school biochemistry department. Abraham (Abe) Savitzky was another friend whose major subject was also physical chemistry. We got to know Abe’s wife Evelyn as she joined us at times for lunch or dinner. This fall semester went quickly Occasionally I would meet Rachel B., who was in out thermodynamics class, on the subway train in Manhattan. I thought about dating Rachel, however, what seemed to stop me was that she was not Jewish. Rachel eventually got her Ph.D. in the Chemistry Department at Purdue University and she married a Jewish professor, Nathan Kornblum.
I became more disciplined than in past when it came to studying course material. Having the friends to discuss course contents was of great help. I did most of my studying in the Chemistry Department Library. I also was able to do some studying on the subway trains for the hour trip between the University and the apartment in Astoria. I did not get see much of my father and Mary as they were working during the day and I came home after they had retired for the night. .
On my discharge from the army, I received a notice from the Veterans Administration (VA) that I was declared to have a 40% disability. This entitled me to a monthly stipend from the VA and that along with the GI Bill stipend, I was self supporting. I was rexamined every year by VA physicians and it was sometime after 1948 that my disability rating was 20%. Yearly physical examinations ended and I have been receiving a stipend every year.
I did have several furloughs before going overseas and I usually went home. Beside visiting relatives I visited with several friends from my high school days. Most of the men I knew were in the armed forces except for Gordon Levin. Gordon was working at Gruman, which manufactured military aircraft. After the war ended friends were discharged from the armed forces. Sol Weber, a large man at 6"2" was a member of the 82nd Airborne Division, 509th Battalion. Sol lived a charmed life as a paratrooper as he went through every campaign from the invasion of Africa by the American forces to the end of the war. Sol was behind the enemy lines in Italy at Salerno when only five men from his battalion survived. He was a wartime hero and he was promoted from Sergeant to a commissioned officer. My good friend George Mondrillo had enlisted before he was drafted. George felt it be a way out of his poverty-stricken home. When I met George after he came back from overseas, he was a Major in the U.S. Army and he had a chest full of ribbons indicating that he had been in many combat areas. Several ribbons indicated that he had been awarded some medals. All I could find out is that George worked out of General Dwight D. Eisenhower’s headquarters for the European Theater of Operations and he had something to do with intelligence. George had been very adept with languages when we were in high school. Incidentally, his father, who was out of work during the depression of the thirties, had a good job during the war. George’s father had something to do with leather products. I was told by George that he could never go back to the kind of life he had in a home which depended on relief payments by social agencies. Many, many years later when I met George I found out that he had an engineering degree from the University of Oregon and that he had something to do with computers. Mildred Braun and Norman Ludwig were married. Harold (Chuck) Klein and his wife Gloria, went off to the University of California at Berkeley. He earned a Ph.D. degree in the field of microbiology. Norman used to play piano duets with Vivian B. and I got to know her while on furlough. Vivian had an apartment near Columbia University so we met for lunch once in a while.
After the war ended, cousin Norman returned from his job at the Bureau of Mines and continued his work toward the Ph.D. degree in the medical school biochemistry department. Occasionally I would go to meet Norman at his lab. His lab bench space was limited due to the number of students in the graduate school seeking advanced degrees in biochemistry. I met some of Norman’s fellow graduate students. I also had some conversations with DeWitt Stetten, M.D., Ph.D. and his wife, both of whom were doing research in the biochemistry department. During the end-of-year holidays, Norman asked me to come with him to a Christmas party at Dr. Stetten’s house. Dr. Stetten was an amateur magician and he put on a show for his guests.
The end of the semester final examinations began on January 21, 1946. My new study habits paid off as I got some decent grades in the courses I was taking during the winter semester. Registration for the spring session took place between January 31 and February 2, 1996. Classes began on Monday, February 4, 1946. I registered for four course and they were as follows: English u24; Chemistry 42b, Chemistry148R, and Chemistry 242. English u24 was a continuation of the course dealing with plays by Shakespeare and it was give by the same instructor who taught the first part during the winter semester. Chemistry 42b was an organic chemistry laboratory course. Apparently it did not have an impact as I do not recall anything about this course. I certainly did not learn technics used in organic chemistry laboratories at this time. Chemistry 148b was an organic chemistry lecture course which was of great interest. This course was given by Assistant Professor William von Eggers Doering. Dr. Doering came from Harvard University where he was a member of a Robert Woodward team that succeeded in synthesizing te antimalarial quinine. This was quite an accomplishment and it may have been driven by non-availability of the natural product during the war. The course dealt with organic reaction mechanisms and this was such a new field that there was no textbook. This made it necessary to pay close attention to the lectures and come up with good set of notes. Dr. Doering was unusual in that he allowed unlimited time for one to complete his exams. Chemistry 242 was taught by a real old-timer, John Maurice Nelson, who earned the Ph.D. degree at Columbia University in 1907. The course dealt with the chemistry of natural products which would be of interest to a biochemist.
Harold C. Urey returned to Columbia University after being on leave for a year. He was the Executive Officer of the Chemistry Department. Dr. Urey was a Nobel Laureate who earned this honor by isolating heavy water. As I understood it, Dr. Urey contributed to the work of the Manhattan Project which was involved in the development of the atomic bomb. It was at the traditional meetings of faculty for tea every Wednesday afternoon that we heard about the feelings of some scientists who made the atomic bomb work We also learned about the concern of some scientists that the military would control the making and using the atomic bomb. Eventually an Atomic Energy Commission was formed and the military did not have control of the bomb. Isaac Asimov, the then well-known science fiction write, appeared at the reas. He was working for his Ph.D. under the guidance of Associate Professor Dawson. I overhear the remark by Isaac Asimov that writing was his vocation and studying for the Ph.D. degree was an avocation.
The war had a great impact on our lives and all veterans continued to tell stories about their participation in the armed forces; in other words, war stories. Some of the ex-army graduate students had worked in the Manhattan Project. I did not want to become a member of the American Legion or Veterans of Foreign Wars organization as they had conservative agendas. However an American Veterans Committee (AVC)chapter was formed on the campus and their agenda was more to my liking. At an organization meeting on campus I was elected to a steering committee. I probably was elected because the graduate students from the Chemistry Department outnumbered the students in the Law School. The person I ran against was Wendell Willkie’s son, who was a student in the Law School. Wendell Willkie was the Republican candidate who ran against Franklin D. Roosevelt (FDR) in the year 1940. FDR was elected to serve as President for an unprecedented third term and he also ran and was elected for a fourth term. I recall voting for FDR by completing an absentee ballot in a tent in New Guinea. While I still was on campus, a major project, in which I was involved, was the bringing of Fiorello LaGuardia, the popular Mayor of New York City, to the Columbia University campus to give a talk. Canned goods were requested as the admission price for the talk and we were gratified by the response. The canned goods were meant for some of the European countries decimated by the war. One reason for Mayor LaGuardia’s popularity was that he read the Sunday newspaper comics on the radio.
Marshall Fields, of Chicago started a newspaper entitled PM. This newspaper was unusual in that it did not depend on advertisements to finance it. He had a bevy of columnists who could write articles without feeling pressed by the desires of advertisers. This paper was widely read by the graduate students in the chemistry department. One can say that in the present state of mind in the U.S., PM would be called an ultra liberal newspaper. I will also mention that the newspaper did not last very long, supposedly for financial reasons.
We had neglected any sort of social life during the winter semester as we spent much time with our studies. Sometime after the winter semester ended Marty Goldstein suggested that we should start socializing a bit. I had that in mind when I met Vivian Bursten at lunch sometime toward the end of February. Vivian had an apartment near Columbia University and she was playing piano at a ballet school. At this lunch Vivian mentioned that she was planning a party for some of the girls at the ballet school. Because there was a dearth of men as many were still in the armed forces, Vivian suggested that I should round up some men for this party. I agreed and invited some of the graduate students in the Chemistry Department and several of my friends during my high school days. It turned to be quite a party. The girls from the ballet school were all attractive and men were at a premium these days. My friend, Sol Weber, the ex-paratrooper, met his future, a talented ballet student who subsequently dance din a musical show on Broadway. It was because of this party that Len Henschel met his future wife. As I understand it other marriages came about as a result of the party.
About a week after the party on Friday, March 15, 1946, Marty and I went to a square dance at Barnard College. It took the two of us to hook up with a young lady. Toward the end of the evening we learned that this young lady lived in New Jersey I quietly disappeared. According to the custom of the times, Marty escorted the young lady to her home in New Jersey.
On Saturday night, March 16, 1946, Marty and I went to a Purim dance party at Columbia University. This dance was sponsored by the Jewish Graduate Society on campus. To this day I believe that I spotted Galla when she came to the dance party with her friend Grace. I thought that I would like to meet her, but she got lost in the crowd. Toward the end of the evening Marty came over to me and asked if I would be interested in joining a group that was going to stop somewhere for refreshments. After I said yes, Marty brought Galla over and introduced her. Galla was the girl I saw at the beginning of this dance party. My first question was, “How do you spell your first name?”Galla is an unusual name and Galla explains it by saying that her mother saw the name in a book she read. Even though I was not much of a dancer, we danced and then I did a lot of talking. Galla turned out to be quiet and a good listener. After having refreshments at some restaurant, I found out that Galla lived in Staten Island. This was a long way from Astoria as one had to go to the lower end of Manhattan, take a ferry ride to Staten Island, and then there would be a bus ride to her home in Fort Wadsworth. I thought to myself that Marty was getting even for his trip to New Jersey on Friday night. I escorted Galla to the Staten Island Ferry Terminal and it was there that she said that I did not need to escort her home as it would be a long trip back to Queens. I immediately asked if I could see her again and we agreed to meet the next Friday at the Columbia University Chemistry Library.
On Friday evening, March 22, I sat a library table trying to keep my mind on my studies. A young lady wearing a black coat walked past me and sat down at a table in back of me. I wasn’t sure if the young lady was Galla and I think she wasn’t sure about me. After a few moments I got up and walked to her table and softly said Galla. Indeed it was Galla. That evening was the beginning of our life relationship.
The next six weeks are blurred as I still was busy with my classes and studies, leave alone dating Galla. I suspect that the night we met at the library we must have had something to eat somewhere and Galla took me to a lecture by a mathematician. I believe that I escorted Galla that night to an apartment in lower Manhattan at Knickerbocker Village. Galla’s two aunts lived in the apartment and Galla would stay there at times. We met again the next Saturday at an industrial museum in Radio City. I believe there were movies and perhaps Broadway shows. It wasn’t long before I escorted Galla to her house in Staten Island. On my way back from her house, on a Saturday night, I could buy a Sunday New York Times at the Ferry Terminal in Staten Island and I had read most of it by the time I got back to Astoria in the wee hours of the morning. I was invited to come to lunch at Galla’s house on a Sunday and I met her parents and aunts. I was smitten.
On a Saturday night about six weeks later Galla and I Abe and Evelyn Savitzky, and Marty were to see Carmen Jones, a Broadway musical. On the next day I brought Galla to Astoria where she met my father and Mary. After lunch we went back to Staten Island. That night I asked Galla to marry me and without hesitation she said yes. Galla’s mother and father drove is to the ferry terminal. When I came home, I told my father and Mary that I had asked Galla to marry me and she said yes. The next morning, when Abe Savitzky asked the same question that he had been asking the past three weeks and that was., “Did you ask her?” This time the answer was yes.
Galla’s immediate family consisted of her father, Monroe Solomon, her mother, Rebecca (Ruby) Haller Solomon, and her younger sister, Louise. Monroe Solomon had two sisters, Selma and May Solomon, and a brother Seymour Solomon, who changed his surname to Sommers. Selma and May were never married. Seymour married a Catholic lady, Marie. Selma was employed by the Boy Scouts of America organization and May first worked in the service industry and later rented and operated resort hotels in the summer and had ran a tearoom other times. Both of the sisters were close to their brother Monroe and I eventually got to know them very well. Seymour and Marie were involved with the family on very few occasions.
A certificate from Baron de Hirsch Trade School, 222 East Sixty-Fourth Street, Manhattan, dated July 9, 1914, states that Monroe Solomon had satisfactorily completed the course of instruction in Carpentry and Woodwork. As we understand it, both Monroe and Seymour attended Cooper Union in Manhattan. Monroe completed course in carpentry and drafting and Seymour got his engineering credentials. During World War I, Seymour flew combat aircraft Seymour and later had a position as an engineer with New York State. There is a conjecture that Seymour changed his surname to hide his Jewish identity.
Monroe enlisted in the U.S. Army on May 20, 1918. His occupation was listed as draftsman and carpentry. He served in France in the 51st Pioneer Infantry: He participated in te Meuse-Moselle offensive and the Army of Occupation in Germany at the end of the war after November 11, 1918 (armistice signed). The Pioneer Infantry was demobilized 8 July 1919 at Camp Upton, New York, and that is the day that Monroe was discharged from the army. Rebecca came to the U.S .from Grodno, Russia on the ship Vaterland, August 28, 1910. She went to the nursing school at Lebanon Hospital, New York City, and became a registered nurse. During the First World War, 18,000 American Red Cross nurses served with the Army and Navy Nurse Corps. Nearly half of the nurses served at home to ensure exemplary health and sanitary conditions. The remainder served at American base hospitals in France, on hospital trains, and in evacuation and field units in the zone of advance. The Red Cross provided two out of every three navy nurses and four out of five army nurses. Rebecca served as an American Red Cross nurse. it was in France that Monroe and Rebecca met. They were married in the County of the Bronx, New York City, on February 22, 1922.
Sometime after their marriage Monroe and Rebecca went to Los Angeles, California. Apparently Monroe had a job in that area. Galla was born on June 13, 1924 and her sister Louise was born on November 1, 1926.; both were born in Los Angeles, California. The Solomon family came back to New York City. Monroe was a U.S. Civil Service employee and was the head of maintenance units at the Miller Airfield and then Fort Wadsworth, both in Staten Island. Due to the employment duties, the Solomon family rated a house on the army posts. Fort Wadsworth overlooks the entry from the Atlantic Ocean to the New York harbor; the area is called the Narrows. Fort Wadsworth is directly opposite Fort Hamilton in Brooklyn. Although I said that I would keep away from army installations, I apparently contradicted that statement. The house Galla lived in was near the back gate of Fort Wadsworth. It was an interesting house that apparently was build in the early 1800s. The basement was made of stone and the house had an octagon shape. Living on the army post, the Solomon family could use the commissary, the PX, and could view current movies at a low price.
Galla went to Public School No. 41 in the Borough of Richmond (Staten Island) and the certificate of elementary school course completions is dated January 26, 1037. At the commencement exercises Galla won a scholarship award. She also was on the honor roll. Galla then went on to the New Dorp High School. While in high school Galla was admitted to the League of Arista, an honorary scholarship honor group. The New York Classical Club awarded Galla several certificates of merit for excellence in Latin. Among other citations for Galla were an honor key for attendance and punctuality; placement on the honor roll and an honor key for scholarship; ; a certificate by the Interscholastic Algebra League for proficiency in mathematics; A Ladies Auxiliary of the Staten Island Pharmaceutical Association a prize four outstanding work in chemistry; and a prize awarded to a senior at New Dorp High School with the highest average in three years in mathematics. Galla was awarded a graduation diploma from the New Dorp High School on Thursday, January 13, 1941. She won a Regents state scholarship which was of help financially for her attendance at Brooklyn College. Galla majored in Economics and mathematics at Brooklyn College. She graduated with a Bachelor of Arts Cum Laude degree on June 18, 1944. When I met Galla, she was working at the New York City Health Department ot 125 Worth Street, Manhattan, as a statistician.
After my proposal and acceptance Galla’s mother counseled us to wait for a while so that we could get to know each other better before getting married. Gordon Levin took me to some jeweler to get and engagement ring at a reasonable price commensurate with my low income. I think that we got wedding rings at the same jeweler. We eventually set the date for our marriage and that was December 21, 1946, when there would be a holiday break at Columbia University. It wasn’t long before I was staying overnight at Galla’s house when we went out during weekends. During the summer vacation after classes during the summer session at Columbia University, I stayed at Galla’s house for quite a while. I spent a lot of time studying for the qualifying examinations to become a candidate for the Ph.D. degree, We also spent time at South Beach in Staten Island. Photos taken at the beach show that the front of my mouth was toothless. It was Marty’s father, a dentist, who pulled some of the remains of three teeth broken during childhood. The charge for the dental work which included extraction of teeth and a permanent bridge which lasted 21 years was $100.00. The charge my last bridge replacement during the decade of the ‘90s was $4,000.00 .
My father and Mary were looking for a chicken farm in Lakewood, New Jersey during that summer (1946). They succeeded in finding a small farm where they bred chickens and sold eggs. We cannot recall how we used to go to visit my father and Mary when we had no car. I do have a photo which indicates that Marty went to farm with us at one time. After the war there was a shortage of apartments to rent when the number of veterans outnumbered what was available. I felt lucky as I stayed in our apartment in Astoria. We planned to live in this apartment after we were married. Of course most of the furniture was gone. I think that a kitchen table, some chairs, the studio couch I slept on and a desk were the only items left.
Columbia University: Summer and Winter Sessions (1946)
The Spring Session ended on June 12, 1946 Even though I spent time with Galla, I was still able to pay attention to my studies. In the Spring Session of 1946, I did get some decent grades. I registered for two courses during the summer session which lasted six weeks. The courses were Chemistry S249, Recent Advances in Organic Chemistry and Chemistry S231, Structure of Atoms and Molecules. The organic chemistry course was presented by Dr. Doering and it was a continuation of the organic course during the Spring Session. What comes to mind is the final examination in this course. Some classmates and I became avid readers in the library of the Journal of the American Chemical Society (JACS) and we looked for the new issue before the final examination. Apparently Dr. Doering prevented this issue from being read because he posed a question taken from one of the article. This exam question required the prediction of the reaction mechanism of the given reactants and the conditions of the experiment. It asked to predict the percentage of each of the probable products. At the end of the question the issue of the JACS from which the question came was identified. After turning in the exam answers, several of us rushed down to the library and we found that the latest issue was now available. The article cited in the exam showed the mechanism of the reaction of the reactants presented. We immediately knew if we had a correct or incorrect answer to this particular question. The structure of atoms and molecules course was given by George E. Kimball, Ph.D, Assistant Professor of Chemistry. Dr. Kimball was on leave the year before to help the armed forces to predict the whereabouts of German submarines that were torpedoing merchant ships. The only textbook for this course was Theoretical Chemistry by Samuel Glasstone. This course depended on the content of Dr. Kimball’s lectures and those were mostly outside to the material in the textbook. The course turned out to be an introduction to statistical mechanics and quantum mechanics. Dr. Kimball was quite articulate, so many of us did not take good notes as the information imparted seemed so logical and easily remembered. However on walking out of the classroom there were times when we asked ourselves, “What did he say?”
The 1946 Winter Session began sometime in September. I registered to take Chemistry 141 Advanced Organic Chemistry Laboratory,; Chemistry 241 Advanced Organic Chemistry Lectures, Chemistry 243 Physical Organic Chemistry, and Chemistry 201 Pre-Research Seminar. I cannot recall who taught the advanced organic chemistry laboratory course, however, the contents have not been forgotten. This course consisted of laboratory methods dealing with the characterization or identification of organic compounds by methods of qualitative organic analysis. We were given unknowns to characterize and identify. My lack of real experience in organic chemistry laboratory technics, despite several past courses that should have helped, prevented me from doing well in this course. I was surprised when I got a grade of C and not D. Chemistry 241 was given by Robert C. Elderfield, Ph.D., Professor of Chemistry. The course consisted of the study of heterocyclic organic compounds. I recall that the course content came from the lectures, not any textbook. There were only seven classmates in this course. I remember getting over 90% in the exams given and I ended up with a C-. Dr. Elderfield gave grades usually based on the normal distribution expected in large classes, such as one A, two Bs, and mostly Cs. Large classes would generaly have a Gaussian distribution, however this kind of distribution is not realized in small classes such as we had with eight students. The physical organic chemistry course was given by Louis P. Hammett, Ph.D., Professor of Chemistry. The textbook for this course was written by Dr. Hammett. I found that the lectures were not conducive to staying awake, and since I did not need the credits I dropped it. I was given the grade of H which was for attendance only. I have no recollection of the contents of the pre-research course.
At the suggestion of a classmate, I applied for a teaching assistantship. I have practically no recollection of the duties I had when I was accepted for this post. I have a fleeting image of standing in a classroom, but that is all I can recall. I find that I am listed as a chemistry department assistant in the Columbia University Faculty of Pure Science Bulletin of Information for
Sometime in 1946, I became a member of the American Chemical Society (ACS). On joining the ACS and paying dues, I received the weekly Chemical and Engineering News (C&EN). Although I am now an Emeritus Member of the ACS, I still get and read the C&EN. I also subscribed to the Journal of the American Chemical Society (JACS) and Chemical Abstracts. In 1946 and thereafter for a number of years the subscriptions were affordable. On December 6, 1946, I was also elected to Phi Lambda Upsilon, which is an honorary chemical society. I got a key for this organization and I hung it on a chain that was attached to my belt and ended up with a ring for house keys. This was fashionable back in those days. Actually this custom probably stemmed from the days men wore vests in which a watch was kept in one pocket and some small object in another pocket on the other side of the vest. The watch and the small object were usually connected by a chain.
When I tried to transfer to the medical school biochemistry department at the end of the Summer Session, I was told that all the research space was filled due to the influx of veterans after being discharged from the armed forces. This was corroborated by Norman as his space on a research bench was quite limited. I then went to see Charles R, Dawson, Ph.D., Assistant Professor of Chemistry. Dr. Dawson was interested in the chemistry of natural products. We discussed a possible research project for myself and Dr. Dawson was willing to become a mentor for my earning the Ph.D. degree. I took the exams which would qualify me as a research student. The four exams covered the fields of inorganic, analytical, organic and physical chemistry. I did not do well on the physical chemistry exam, so I was asked to take this exam over again and that was scheduled for early January, 1947.
I spent as much time as I could with Galla during the Winter Session. We went out looking for furniture and we ended up with a bedroom suite made of some light grayish wood. This way I was able to start sleeping in a real bed when I was home during the week. There was one problem with the bed and it was that the slats holding up the Springs and mattress were made of green wood. The slats kept buckling and the springs and mattress would collapse. I learned how to get into the bed without this event.
Since being discharged from the army I had a limited wardrobe. I suspect that I was using the army issue underwear, a field jacket (known as an Eisenhower jacket), and certainly the army shoes. Photos show me that we wore jackets and ties when on campus at Columbia University. I think that I had one jacket and maybe two pairs of odd slacks. So, Marty kept me company when I went to look for a suit to be married in. We went to a Bonds men’s store on Times Square. When I tried on the jacket of a suit, the salesman told me that there was a great fit. Marty differed. I don’t think that we were kicked out, but the ensuing coldness made us decide to leave. I did end up with an oxford gray, pin-striped suit, with a vest and two pair of trousers. At this time, I have no idea of where I purchased the suit.
Galla’s parents planned the wedding to come. Galla and I would be married at the Borough Hall of Richmond. There would be a reception in New York City with a limited number of guests. Then we would go on a honeymoon to a resort suggested by Galla’s Aunt May.
December 20, 1946, was a cold gloomy day with sleet and snow. During the morning I packed a suitcase to take on our honeymoon. I believe that I also had some other matters to take care of. I ended up in my organic chemistry lab in the afternoon. I am certain that lab work was not really on my mind, but the results for an unknown were due before the holiday break began. Marty and I ate somewhere before we went to my apartment in Astoria. We talked a lot that evening. Marty slept on the studio couch and I in our new bed. As for myself, it was a restless sleep. Sometime during the night the slats gave way and I did not try to put them back into place.
Saturday, December 21, 1946 was another cold gloomy day with some sleet and slush on the ground. I am not sure who was more nervous in the morning, either Marty or myself. I managed to get some food out for breakfast, but what we wanted more was coffee. The sight of Marty pouring whiskey into his coffee makes me believe that the bottle was available from the previous night. Marty urged me not to go through with the marriage. On the way to the New York City Grand Central Terminal, on 42nd Street, Marty suggested that we get on a train and go to California. In a way, I wondered what I was getting into. I checked my suitcase at the terminal as we would be taking a train ride from there. From the Staten Island ferry terminal we walked to the Borough Hall of Richmond building and then into the City Clerk’s office. Marty and I were the first to appear for the wedding. Then the Solomon family came into the office and I almost did not recognize Galla. She wore a light gray suit, a gray fur coat and a hat. I am not sure which came first, the usual I dos at an altar or the signing of the marriage certificate. Marty and Estelle Jasper, a friend of Galla, signed the marriage certificate as witnesses. At that time we had to produce the evidence that we were tested for venereal disease. The rite of marriage was brief. Later, Galla’s mother said she was tempted to answer the question if anyone had any objection to the marriage with a yes, but she didn’t. We exchanged the wedding rings which were gold bands, and after a kiss we were off to face life together. There was no religious ceremony for all of us were essentially humanistic secular Jews and had no affiliation with any synagogue.
There seems to be no record of the marriage except some clippings from a Staten Island newspaper. What I remember is the Galla and I were in the front seat of Sam Orloff’s car and my father, Mary, and Celia Orloff were in the back seat. After the ferry ride to Manhattan, we went to the Gramercy Hotel for a reception and lunch. What comes to mind at this time is that there were some cocktails being passed around. Norman was there, Galla’s Uncle Seymour was there and later Marty told me that he and Seymour exchanged jokes. I suspect Uncle Joe and Aunt Bertha, Uncle Isaac and Aunt Miriam, Bertha and Paula, cousins of Galla’s mother were all there at the hotel.
After lunch, Galla and I took a taxi to Grand Central Terminal. We took a New York Central train to Brewster, New York and from there the Mamanasco Lake Lodge, just over the borer of New York State, in Connecticut, sent a car to take us to the lodge. We spent about a week at the lodge. There was a wonderful large fireplace in the4 lobby. We walked, talked, and played ping pong. Also, unfortunately, I had to study some for the upcoming physical chemistry qualifying exam to come early in January. We left the lodge the next Saturday and when we walked into our Astoria apartment, Galla’s mother and father were there. One thing Monroe did was fix the slats on the bed so they would stay put.
After Galla’s parents left, I looked at Galla and realization came with the thought that this wasn’t a date; it was for real. We would now face the future together. We spent the rest of the holiday season getting settled in the apartment. After the end-of-year holiday, Galla went back to work and I went back to the winter session classes. . .