Before the meeting, every effort was made to have the best cooperation from all local chemists. Students were urged to join the American Chemical Society and take their part in the plans. Among those who became members in 1915 were C. S. Marvel, L. H. Reyerson, J. B. Brown and Ruth Okey. In 1916, S. D. Kirkpatrick and E. H. Volwiler joined. Kirkpatrick, as many might guess, was the editor of the Illinois Chemist which had just been started in 1915. He prepared a special number for the meeting. It has always been thought that Dr. Noyes cleverly managed to persuade the women students to organize a society which was first called Alpha Theta Chi, which adopted the camphor ring in his honor as their insignia. The group was the forerunner of the Illinois Chapter of Iota Sigma Pi. At the time of the meeting, this women's group helped to serve refreshments. The general tea for all women in attendance was held at my home, a personal touch which would be impossible today. The last American Chemical Society women's tea in a home that I recall was at the White House. Previous to the meeting, the Chicago Chemical Bulletin advised its readers that the Illinois Central Railroad would send down a special train at two in the afternoon the day before the main meeting started. After a trip of three and a half hours, it would arrive at Champaign and remain for the few days on a siding from which it would start for the return. At present, the Panama Limited makes this run in one hour and fifty-five minutes.
Monday evening, dinner would be served in the Home Economics cafeteria, which had been completed but four years before. The management was under the direction of Miss Bevier and the service would be by the Home Economics students. Tuesday morning, a general session was held in the university auditorium, where Dr. G. H. A. Clowes spoke on the results of his research, "On the Influence Exerted by Electrolytes on the Equilibrium of Emulsions, Jellies and Living Cells." Luncheon was served on the campus at the Gymnasium Annex or Armory, because a return to town to the hotel would not have been feasible by street car or hack. Besides, there were more people than the hotel could accommodate. Tuesday afternoon was devoted to excursions somewhat hampered by rain. The College of Agriculture displayed the Dairy Laboratory, Model Creamery, Animal Nutrition Laboratory and that of crop production. The Agronomy Department was able to show with pride the oldest experimental plot in the country which was modeled after those at Rothamstead, England, where some of the scientific ideas of Liebig were instituted. The tour was to have continued to flori-culture, the vegetable greenhouses and Farm Mechanics Building, but the inclement weather prevented. It had also been planned to have a stock show, which was called off because of an outbreak of hoof and mouth disease. By four-thirty in the afternoon, the sun shone bright for a University Brigade Review on the Drill Ground. Charles Herty, the president of the society and President James of the university took the salute.
The evening's entertainment was first a complementary concert by the University of Illinois' First Regiment Band, which is said to have quite outshone itself that evening. The concert was followed by a smoker in the Gymnasium Annex, with Dr. E. W. Washburn as chairman. Floyd Mohlman, later to be Chief Chemist for the Sanitary District of Chicago, directed an orchestra and provided parodies of popular song hits of the day. Dr. Mohlman was well qualified, as he had written the music for one of the most successful student operettas in 1912. He had also paid his expenses through to his PhD by his dexterity with the piano. He made a hit with a parody of "Mammy", which was addressed to Dr. Parsons. The Cosmopolitan Club furnished a good bit of the entertainment which included a Zulu war dance in costume by a student from South Africa and dances by two experts from Hawaii. The beverage served was ice cold apple cider from the orchard of State Senator Dunlap, who was the staunch supporter of the university at Springfield. The souvenir of the meeting was a white porcelain ash tray with a picture of the Chemistry Building in the bowl. This smoker was the most largely attended by the entire group, for in the small town, there was no where else to go.
Division meetings and presentations of papers were held Wednesday morning and most of the day Thursday. Dr. Marvel recalls clearly that a small classroom in the Chemistry Building was more than adequate for the Organic Division. All divisions were said to have had an average attendance of about fifty.
The dedication exercises for the Chemistry Building were held in the auditorium with no less a person than the Governor of the state, the Honorable Edward J. Dunne, as presiding officer. The addresses were given by President James, Doctor W. R. Whitney of General Electric, and Professor Alexander Smith of Columbia. After the ceremonies, there was an inspection of the new building. The convention banquet Wednesday evening was the largest ever held in Champaign and a sell-out at four hundred. It had to be served by the Beardsley Hotel management in the Masonic Temple a block away. Again, I quote Doctor Beal who said that the morals of the Twin Cities were protected at that time by the "Four-Mile Limit," so all entertainment was dry. However, the grapefruit constituting the first course was well drenched with a good Amontillado, which was appreciated. Marston Bogert was the toastmaster and President Herty and Senator William B. McKinley of Champaign were the principal speakers. Professor Bogert was always much in demand for his role as he had a great fund of old chestnuts which he pulled out for such an occasion. Sir Joselyn Thorpe of England once remarked he had heard Doctor Bogert twenty years before and Bogert had then supplied him with enough jokes for him to use in the intervening years. Reports of lack of smoothness of operation at the banquet and inconveniences were forgotten by the delightful atmosphere engendered by the "airy persiflage of the speeches."
Late Thursday afternoon, a second campus tour covered the Engineering College with its power plant, locomotive testing laboratory, the mine rescue station, and the electrical, mechanical, civil, theoretical and applied mechanics laboratories. In the same area, the tour included the vivarium and the new Ceramics Building. That evening, there were two public lectures. One was presented by Doctor Parsons on the "Production of Radium." This was illustrated with lantern slides and motion pictures. The other was by Curtis F. Burman on "The Use of Radium in the Treatment of Cancer."
The Chemistry Library in the new part of the Chemistry Building was furnished and opened for business on the very day, April 17th, when the American Chemical Society Council meeting was held that morning. Perhaps the outstanding decision of the council at Urbana was the agreement to publish a decennial index of Chemical Abstracts.
During the meeting, there was a very fine exhibit of chemical equipment, apparatus and books located in the rooms in the basement of the Chemistry Building. This show was assembled by Doctor H. L. Olin, who was able to obtain material from forty-two companies. The General Electric Company brought to Urbana everything which they had shown at the recent Panama-Pacific Exposition. This included various electric furnace products, Mazda lamps, tungsten and molybdenum manufactures, radiographs, the latest developments in magnesium alloys, and calcium, lithium and sodium tungstates. Sample books were shown by several publishing houses. This was not unique, but sufficiently ambitious for a meeting to prove to be a great attraction and general rendezvous for the members.
In the eyes of Sid Kirkpatrick, who was a senior, the greatest impression was made by the dignitaries who were there to see. In addition to those already mentioned, he met Ira Remsen, Theodore Richards, Edward Morley and L. C. Tolman. He admired Parsons plump and rosy cheeks, Bogert's commanding presence and Herty getting ready with fire in his eye to take over Industrial and Engineering Chemistry and fight the good fight for the American dye industry. Sid's recollections include the fact that he had all the thrills that anyone has from the presentation of his first and what proved to be the only paper he ever read before the society. It was the summary of his senior research under the direction of Oliver Kamm. He, Sid, had the courage to ask Doctor Herty for a job with Industrial and Engineering Chemistry. Herty replied that as soon as he made as much money as Chemical and Metallurgical Engineering, he (Herty) would hire Kirkpatrick. That remark gave Sid the idea to sell his services via Grinnell Jones to H. C. Parmelee, the editor of Chemical and Metallurgical Engineering. This started his career with McGraw-Hill, which was never regretted. Margaret Perry, a graduate student, was promptly told by Doctor Derrick about the so-called "corridor meetings." With Doctor Derrick on one side and Dr. Clarence Balke on the other side, she was introduced to more people in one afternoon than she could expect to meet in years. The general chairman confessed to have attended only those "corridor meetings," but it is of these friendly contacts that chemical conventions are made.
The final day, Friday, offered, for those who wished to take part, an excursion to Danville by means of three double header inter-urbans. A zinc smelter, a sulfuric acid plant, the Western Brick Company kilns and the Three Rivers Coal Company’s Strip Coal Mine were visited. To Danville came the zinc ore from Joplin, Missouri, to be reduced by the easy access of coal. At this point, the meeting disbanded. The Illinois chemists agreed that it had been a wonderful experience for them from start to finish.
No little satisfaction was also given by H. S. Grindley, who, as the treasurer, could report at the end of the meeting an income of $3308.28, and expenditures of $3143.52, which left a margin of safety of $162.76
As the national society expanded to larger and larger proportions, opportunity for presentation of papers grew more limited. It was never possible for everyone to attend the national meetings, especially if they were too distant. To extend the advantages of association with other chemists, the first mid-west regional meeting was held at Milwaukee, the second at Northwestern University, and the third with the University of Illinois Section as host in Urbana for a two-day session in May 1923. The advance notices of this meeting as published in the Chicago Chemical Bulletin are informative. The Chicago delegation was notified that they could board an eastbound street car upon disembarking at the Illinois Central Railroad Station in Champaign. The conductor would show them their destination because the trolley line ran directly by the Chemistry Building. Those who were to arrive by the Big Four Railroad would find the car line after a short walk of four blocks from the station in Champaign and one block in Urbana. The local members would however make a definite effort to meet all the trains with automobiles. The hotels, all located on the car line, would have rooms available at rates from $1.50 to $1.75. It was drawn to the attention of motor enthusiasts that the trip would in likelihood be six hours from Chicago to Urbana. (Parenthetically, I drove from Glencoe, a northern suburb of Chicago, to Urbana in three hours and twenty-five minutes and I claim that I do not drive over sixty miles an hour most of the time.) The auto enthusiasts proved to be E. H. Volwiler, David Klein, Otto Eisenschimel, Frank Whitmore and W. Lee Lewis. In jocular vein, they were called aspirants for Tommy Milton's crown, but there were no mishaps, except a few blown tires. This was the era of unpredictable mud roads in Illinois that became almost impassible with rain and were strewn with horseshoe nails. A trip of three hundred miles might produce four flat tires, on the average, which made motoring a somewhat hazardous sport. Members were urged to bring golf clubs and tennis racquets, but horseshoes were to be provided.
The general chairman of the regional meeting was Charles D. Hurd, who was assisted by a number of the younger staff in the Chemistry Department. They were E. K. Carver, H. A. Neville, Edith Nason, M. J. Bradley, T. A. Phipps, B. L. Souther and C. S. Rasweiller. The section meetings included Education under B. S. Hopkins, organic with Roger Adams, industrial under S. W. Parr, physical with W. H. Rodebush. The latter formulated a program with the following speakers - Gerald Wendt, H. P. Cady, W. D. Harkins, J. H. Mathews, R. E. Wilson, and Rodebush himself. At the general meeting, Doctor Noyes presided. E. G. Franklin addressed the group on "The Ammonia System," and Lloyd Nickell of the Monsanto Chemical Company spoke on the subject, "Organic Chemistry in Industry." The inspection trips, which were arranged, were much the same as for the national meeting eight years before, with the difference that cars were provided to reduce walking to a minimum!
At the end of the first day, the group adjourned for recreation at the Urbana Country Club. A baseball game developed into a pitcher's battle with Indiana versus Illinois. The winning pitcher, John Waldo of Eli Lilly, stopped the combined efforts of Carver and Phipps, but it might be said that "We" beat "Us," as John Waldo was an Illinois graduate. C. S. Marvel proved to be the star of the game of one-eyed cat.
After dinner, there was some light entertainment furnished by some of the Chemistry organizations. The Alpha Chi Sigma members provided an orchestra. The Iota Sigma Pi girls actually presented a song and dance act, which was quite unsophisticated compared to what a coed might portray today at a college carnival. Otto Stanger led the singing and W. Lee Lewis made an after-dinner speech. Saturday morning at eight, Paul Nicholas Leech lectured on "Home Remedies, Their Claims versus Composition." The reporter noted a very large attendance. Lunch Saturday was served for fifty cents and followed by the inspection trip. These regional meetings were so successful that they have been promoted in one form or another to supplement national conventions.
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IOTA SIGMA PI CHORUS Straight laced, severe and very dignified Fun loving maidens we are quite care free |
For years, the University of Illinois Section tried to hold one meeting a year, or, at least, one every other year in Decatur. This is the most active area outside of Champaign-Urbana in the territory. In that city, there are several pharmaceutical houses, the Staley Starch Company, and the Mueller Manufacturing Company, in which many chemists are employed. The chance to conduct the meeting and show the group from Urbana the industrial plants was beneficial to both. Sometimes as many as eighty from Urbana would make the annual trip to Decatur on the inter-urban. In 1927, which was a typical meeting, after the inspection trips to the plants and dinner, there were two talks - one by Professor G. L. Clark on "Microcematograms and Micromanipulation Experiments on Rubber Latex" and a second more popular talk by Justa Lindgren, Head of the Analytical Laboratory and football line coach. Although the Decatur chemists occasionally came to the meetings in Urbana, the winter weather was not always propitious nor were some of the programs of special interest to the industrial chemists. In addition, the Illinois Section held no regular meetings in the summer, when the trip would be less of a hazard.
It was a reasonable request from the Decatur group that they be allowed to form a sub-section. Negotiations started formally when Doctor Glen Finger was the Illinois Section chairman and continued the following year. On February 19, 1952, the officers of the Illinois Section went to Decatur to help establish friendly relations and discuss the formation of a sub-section. By March 14th, the officers of the section constituted a committee to further the plan. Doctors Glen C. Finger, Virginia Bartow, Milton Tamres and B. R. Ray, with the aid of Doctors C. J. Cavillito and Hans Wolff of Decatur, showed an active interest. They asked for $40.00 for the balance of the year and $100.00 for the following year. By May 6th, after the sub-section was fully organized, a lawyer from Michigan named Dean Lawrence was invited to present what was a very informative talk on the nature of and application for chemical patents. The gathering for the meeting proved to be a very auspicious start for the plan which seems to have developed to the satisfaction of all concerned.
In the course of fifty-five years, there have probably been about five hundred monthly meetings. For each individual, there have been many highlights among them, because most of the noted men of the period came to visit the Illinois Section. I saw the first color camera film and color slides brought out by a man from Eastman Kodak Company. Ernst Cohen came to talk of his piezo chemistry and the pressure gauges, as he called them. Kahlenberg assured us there were no ions. We have listened to Nobel laureates such as Stanley and Pauling. I recall hearing of Ira Remsen's visit in 1918 when he spoke on the subject, "What Chemists were Thinking of Fifty Years Ago." There were at that time two rival atomic weights of oxygen, Kekule's theories were resently proposed, and alizarin and indigo had recently been manufactured. Remsen's theme was, "Always there will be a new chemistry because knowledge is infinite." The new chemistry continues to be presented and always will be featured at the monthly meetings of the Illinois Section of the American Chemical Society.