Brown in the Great War

 “THE BOYS ARE COMING HOME – SOME OF THEM MEMBERS OF THE CLASS OF ’18 AND SOME OF THEM GREY HAIRED MEN, BUT ALL OF THEM RICH IN EXPERIENCES AND WITH TALES TO TELL.”                                                                  –Thomas B. Appleget, February 5, 1919[1. BUA MS-1E-13]

The Armistice that brought an end to the war and victory for the allies, went into effect at 11 a.m. Paris time on November 11th, 1918. On campus, bells and whistles started the celebration around 3:00 in the morning. A couple of hours later, reveille was blasted under the windows of the Naval barracks. Classes were held until 10:30 a.m., and then cancelled. 900 students and faculty crowded into Sayles Hall. The chapel bell rang for two minutes, followed by speeches. Pandemonium nearly broke out when about 30 members of the American Expeditionary Forces club, who had been “there” got up and sang Over There. The audience would not be silenced until an encore was given. The singers finally responded with Madelon.[2. BUA, BDH. December, 1919. pg89]

Brown University Students’ Army Training Corps Marching on Westminster street in the Armistice Celebration, November 11, 1918. BUA. BAM, 19:5. December 1918.

Delegations from the various schools on the East Side cut through campus on their way to join the cheering mobs downtown. Automobiles, bedecked with bunting, sped downtown. Brown’s military and naval units, followed by civilian students, marched through the city where a tremendous crush of people gathered.[3. BUA. BDH, November 12, 1918] Biology Professor Walters reported that “Providence just naturally boiled over. Westminster was no longer a one-way street. It was an every-which-way street. I dimly remember finding myself with a cowbell in the midst of the downtown mob along with a disgraceful squad of faculty whose names I won’t recall – all insane and all with cowbells more or less.”[4. BUA. MS-IUF-W1. H.E. Walters Papers. Review Hints, November 25, 1918] That evening a large bonfire was lit on Lincoln field and the day ended with songs and cheers. Members of the University community had not yet learned that at a hospital in France, Charles Wheaton Vaughan (1918) died of his wounds, two hours after the signing of the Armistice. [Read excerpts of Vaughan’s letters to Professor Walters.]

Mother’s Parade, Providence, Rhode Island. November 14, 1918. BUA, Photographs I-J. Commencement 1908-1920.

Descriptions of Armistice day celebrations in Europe are found in World War I Correspondence Collection held in the Brown University Archives. A Letter sent from Edward Roscoe Kent (1919), stationed in France, describes the scene upon the announcement of the Armistice and the weary hike to reach a railroad  that he endured afterwards. “Finit la guerre! Finit la guerre! I dove for a dugout upon hearing the celebratory rockets. I just couldn’t help it. We’re coming home! [ ]…I guess I’ll have to live nearer the street car line that I used to, for I’m going to do mighty little hiking when I get back.” Charles Scanlon (1923), with the ambulance service of the Italian Army, wrote of the celebrations in Italy. “It seemed as the whole town had suddenly gone mad. After four years of suffering and privation this sudden turning of the tide (the whole glorious offensive lasting only eight days; it was enough to turn the people mad, with joy. [ ]…Everyone was out — walking running, jumping, dancing, shaking hands, crying and kissing one another. Cheering Italy, the King, the Army, and all the allies.”[5. BUA.MS-IUF-W1 – H.E. Walters Papers. Ambulance Service. #192]

The following Spring, on May 11th, 1919, the city of Providence held an Armistice Celebration. A Parade marched down Washington Street, into Kennedy Plaza, and through a Victory Arch inscribed “To the memory of those who went forth and returned now whose souls are marching on.”[6. rigov. wiki kennedy plaza]

World War I Victory Parade, Providence, Rhode Island. May 11, 1919. Courtesy of the Rhode Island State Archives.

Shortly after the Armistice, Providence’s Chamber of Commerce, and Brown University, extended an invitation to Cardinal Mercier of Belgium. Mercier was Cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church, well known and highly respected for his resistance of German Occupation. On a bright and balmy day in September of 1919, Cardinal Mercier arrived in Providence to much fanfare. Belgian, French, and American flags waved in the streets.[7. Providence Magazine. October, 1919] After several speaking engagements in the city, Mercier may his way up College Hill to Brown, where he addressed 1,200 exuberant students who had gathered on the Middle Campus. The students gave the Cardinal three long cheers for Brown, followed by three for Belgium. President Faunce conferred upon Mercier an Honorary Doctorate of Laws.[8. BUA. BDH, 29:6. September 30, 1919] Following his 20 minute address, Cardinal Mercier thanked President Faunce for lending his name to a committee working towards the restoration of the University of Louvain. “I thank him and your institution and my new colleagues at Brown University and you beautiful youths, for your sympathy and cordiality to the youth of Belgium.”

Cardinal Mercier’s address, September 30, 1919. Liber Brunesis, 1920. pg19.

On the first anniversary of the armistice, November 11, 1919, a Victory Ball was held in Sayles Hall, which was bedecked with American flags and red, white and blue bunting. About 150 couples attended the ball that featured “a true Parisian atmosphere, with its brilliant cafes and its service huts of war days.” Regulation “army grub” was served with “Van Rouge.”[9. BUA, BDH. November, 5, 1919, p243] Revelers sang the “Cassion Song” and “Today is Monday.” At midnight there was a toast to Brown’s ex-servicemen, followed by two minutes of silence was observed in honor of those who had sacrificed their lives.[10. BUA, BDH. November 12, 1919. p2]

In 1921, Armistice celebrations at Brown included a visit from Ferdinand Foch, Marshall of France, who was awarded an honorary Doctorate of Laws degree from the University. In his acceptance speech, Marshall Foch stated “This University shows by its history that it is strong not only in science and literature, but in patriotism and patriots. [ ]…I doubt not that in all the future, whenever your country has need of men, in war or in peace, the response will be just as great as when your students came to France in the great war.”[11. BUA, BAM. 22:5, December, 1921. pg114]