Schenectady Torch
Club Programs from Inception in 1931 to 1996-1997
* indicates a guest speaker.
(43), e.g., indicates
attendance.
For recent years, see home page.
1931 First Thursdays from Feb 5 on
January
21 Dr.
George
Cutten*, President of Colgate "Is Man Doomed to
Extinction?"
(at the Van Curler)
February 5 Mr.
Richmond
D. Moot
"The Need for Reforestation of Hardwood
Trees" (at Mohawk Golf Club)
March 5
Dr. W.
Leon
Godshall "A Revised Estimate of
the Responsibilities for the World War"
April 2 Rabbi Jerome
Rosen
"Is There a God?"
May 7 Dr. Ellis
Kellert
"Recent Advances in Medical
Bacteriology"
June 4 Dr. Willis R. Whitney
"Technology and Material
Progress"
(Ladies' Night)
October 1
Dr.
E. MacDonald
Stanton
"Longevity"
November 5 Dr. Frank
Parker
Day
"College Athletics"
December 3 Dr. Ernest M.
Ligon
"Psychoanalysis"
[At the business session, the membership voted to limit membership to
50]
1932
First
Thursdays
January 5
February 2
March 1
April 5
May 3
June 7
October 6 W. L. Godshall
"The Shanghai Incident"
November 3 S.
Wilcox
"Present Problems of Distribution"
December 1 J.
L. March
"Practical versus Cultural
Education"
1933
January 5 W.H. Main
"The Place of the Newspaper in
Democracy"
February 2 Ernest A. R. Cohen
"Freedom"
(at YMCA) (30)
March
2
D. E. Selko
"Technocracy"
April
6
L. L. Park
"Stabilizing Industrial Development"
May 4
Lou Navias
"Ceramics"
June
1
B. R. Buckingham
"Enlarging Our Definitions"
October
5 E. M. Ligon
"Football"
November 2
P. I. Wold
"Cosmic Rays"
December 7
C. A. Smith
"A
Recreation Program for Schenectady"
1934
January 4
W. B.
Blowney
"The Steam Turbine"
February 1
E. E. Dale
"Evolutionary Theory Since Darwin"
March 1
E. G. Dewey
"The Challenge of the New Leisure"
April
5
V. Rojanksy
"Implications of Recent Advances in Physics"
May
3
H. C. Ackley
"Religion and Ethics"
June
5
W. D. Thayer
"The Problem of Crime"
1934-35 [ Program year changed to October
to June ]
October
4 E. MacD. Stanton
"The City Manager Form of Government"
November 1
O.
M. W. Sprague*
"The Present Situation"
December 6 E. O. Hoffman
"Education in the Senior
High School"
January
3 A. J. Bedell
"Photographs of the Living Eye"
February
7 R. T. Bliss
"The Source of Faith"
March
7
E. W. Briggs
"Development of the Teeth"
April
4
E. C. Miller
"A Municiplally-Owned Power Plant"
May
2
B. McLeary
"Private Profit and Social
Responsibility"
June
6
O. U. Chapman
"Word Pictures of the Orient"
1935-36
October
3 E. E. Charlton
"X-Rays and Their Application"
November 7
A.
W. Hull
"Power Transmission"
December
12 F.
M. Snyder
"Where the United States Stands in
World Politics"
January
9 Earl E.
Cummins
"Labor Relations Under the New
Deal"
February 6 W. H.
Pillsbury
"Tax Limitation"
March
5
C. J.
Potter
"Morning and Noon in Ideals"
April
2
B.
Johnson
"Newspapers and their Reporters"
May
7
D. R.
Fox
"What are the Social Sciences?"
June
4
E. S. C.
Smith
"Glacial Geology in This Section"
1936-37
Second Thursday for six
meetings, third Thursday for three
October 15 P.J.
French
"Some Permanent Aspects of Temporary Government"
November 12 E.
Kellert
"Determining Non-Paternity by Means of Blood Tests"
December 10 F. B.
Cliffe*
"Social Security"
January
12 K. G.
Kelley
"How Music is Made"
February 16 D.
Marvin
"The Press and Public Opinion"
March
18 E.
MacD.
Stanton
"Experiences in Big Game Photography"
April
15
H. J.
Linton
"The American High School"
May 27
Henry A.
Vruwink*
"Trends in Europe"
June
10
Samuel L.
Leonard
"The Endocrine Glands"
1937-38 Generally, a reversion to first
Thurday
October 20 Ernest M.
Ligon
"Some Lessons Learned in My Year in Europe"
November 1 Bishop G. A.
Oldham
"Oxford and Edinborough Conferences of Churches"
December 2 C. G.
Bowers
"Where New Garden Plants Come From"
January
6 John
Bellamy
Taylor
"Flying Over Schenectady in a Zeppelin"
February 3 John E.
Burke
"Reasons for Personality Disorders and Asocial Behavior"
March
10 Harry
J.
Linton
"An Important Issue in Secondary Education" [Torch
mag. October 1938 ]
April
7
Morris Mandell Cohn
"The Sanitation of Cities"
May
5
C. A.
Harrell
"Personnel and Personal Relation Problems of a City
Manager"
June
7
Burges
Johnson
"A Remembered Island - A Journalist in NYC at the turn of the century"
1938-39
October 6
R. K.
Hamlen*
"Proportional Reprsentation"
November 3 Gardnier
Kline
"Traversing Equatorial Africa"
December 1
January 5
Bradley H.
Kirschberg*
"Modern Aids in Criminal Investigation"
February 2 Dr. E. K.
Cravener
"Socialized Medicine - Pro and Con"
March
2
L. A.
Hawkins*
"Research at the GE Research Center"
April 6
May
11
Vladimir
Rojansky
"Transmutation of the Elements"
June 7
K. G.
Kelley
"The Vocabulary of Contemporary Music"
1939-40 Back to second Thursdays
October 12 F. L.
Bronner
"Neutrality Again"
November 9 Rev. Leon M.
Adkins
"Religion's Fourth Dimension" [Torch magazine,
July 1940 ]
December 14 Dr. William J.
Jameson
"Social Customs and Habits of the Tamils of Ceylon"
January 11 MacDonald
King
"Wills"
February 8 W. Howard
Pillsbury
"The Regents Inquiry into New York State Schools"
March 14 Harry E.
Pratt
"Rambling Remarks of a Pedagogue"
April
11
Dr. J.M.W.
Scott
"Remarks on Insanity"
May
9
P.H. Crafton* & J.G.T. Gilmour*
"Televison Today
and Tomorrow"
June
13 C.
W.
Gartlein*
"Facts and Fallacies Regarding the Aurora" (Van Curler)
1940-41
October 10 Harold L.
Hamill
"State Education Department's Survey of the Schenectady Public
Library"
November 14 Dr. Hurber H.
Race
"From Fair to Fair via Panama"
December 12 Count Carlo Sforza*
"Great Personalities of England"
January 9 David C.
Lithgow*
"Art and the Subconscious"
February 13 Herbert
Merrill
"Social Medicine and the War Crisis"
March 13 G. S.
Lindgren*
"Some Notes on Weather Concepts and Their Application"
April
10
Venancio F. Lim*
"Industrialization and Power Development in the Philippines"
May
8
Henry T. Moore*, Pres.
Skidmore
"Academic Freedom"
June
12 A.
W.
Bray
"The Influence of Language on Social Progress"
1941-42
October
9
?
November 13 P.
Wold
"My Experience in the Hawaiian Islands" (One month before Pearl
Harbor!)
December 11 Philip
Stanley
"Semantics"
January 8 T. R.
Rhea
"The Local Civilian Defense Council"
February 12 Panel
Discussion
"Of Course We Can Win the War, but How Can We Win the Peace?"
March 12 S. A.
Holme
"Planning for Peace While Producing for Victory"
April
16 B.
L.
Vosburgh
"Medical Appraisal of
New GE Employees"
May
14
?
June
11
?
1942-43
October 15 Panel
discussion
"The Contribution of Organized Education to the War Effort"
November 12 Joseph
Rotundo
"Internat Strife in Labor"
December 10 George H.
Danton
"But the Bullfight Always Begins on Time - a Trip to Mexico"
January 14 Drs. Sullivan,
Smith, &
Kellert
"Civilian and Military Medical Practice in Wartime"
February 11 Walter C.
Langsam
"Reflections of North Africa"
March 11 Stanley
G.
Holden
"What the Schools See of the Youth Problem"
April
8
Dr. N. A.
Pashayan
"The Near East"
May
13
James
Stokley
"Receding Horizons"
June
10
?
1943-44
[
Not surprisingly for this wartime, there seems to be a theme. ]
October 14 Dr. A. A.
Samorini
"From Ancient Rome to the the Italy of Yesterday"
November 11 Roman
Schmolokowski
"Poland before the War"
December 9 Mark
Mohler
"Our Red Ally . . . An Amateur View" [Torch
magazine, Jan. 1944]
January
13 George H.
Danton
"One Approach to China"
February 10 ?
March 9
Harold W.
Bibber
"The Background of Japanese Thought" [Torch magazine,
April 1944 ]
April
13
Danyal N.
Keroen*
"The Development of Turkey Since the Fall of the Ottoman Empire"
[Torch
magazine, October 1945]
May
11
Mrs. George
Danton*
"Those Who Should, and Those Who Should Not (Lead our Country)"
June
8
Burges
Johnson
"On the Writing of Essays"
1944-45
October 12 George F.
Mahar
"Post-War Employment"
[Torch magazine,
January 1945]
November 9 Frank
Tolman
"What's Wrong with Education?"
December 14 Dixon Ryan Fox, Union
Pres.
"Reflections - A Brief History of Union College"
January 11
Ferbruary 8
March 8
April 12, 1945
[ FDR dies at 3:35 p.m.; meeting
probably cancelled ]
May 10
June 14
1945-46
October 11 Vladimir
Rojansky
"An English Village in Wartime"
November 8 L. A.
Hawkins
"Post-War Research"
December 13
January 10 Lt.
Col. Owen Begley*
"Military Operations in the Far East"
February 14 Arthur Cornelius,
Jr.*
"Espionage and Sabotage During the Last War"
March
14
Harold
Hemivich*
"Homeostasis and Related Conditions"
April 11
May 9
Dr. Hans
Rosendahl
"Experiences with the Military Government in Germany"
June 13
Giles van der
Bogert
"Homes of the Future"
1946-47
October 10
November 14 Thomas E.
Linville
"Germany at the Moment of Surrender"
December 12
January 2
Charles
Watland
"Chile"
February 13 John
McAllister
"The German V2 Rocket"
March 13
April
17
Robert
Kazmayer
"The European Picture"
May 8
June
5
Dr. Charles
Godcharles
"Psychological Fatigue"
1947-48
October 9
November 13
December 11
January 8
February 12
March 11
April 8
May 13
June 10
1948-49
October 14
November 11
December 9
January 13
February 17 A. J.
Nerad
"The History of
Rocketry"
(30)
March
18
Dr. W. S.
Gross
"What to Expect in
Dentistry"
(25)
April
7
Blandy
Barton*
"America, a Land Choice Above All
Lands"
(26)
May
12
Burges
Johnson
"Who Was Your
Grandmother?"
(63)
1949-50
@Nott Terrace H.S., all on
second Thursday
October 13 Dr. Edward
Marz
"The Nature of the
State"
(32)
November 10 Frederick A.
Klemm*
"The Many-Sided
Goethe"
(30)
December 8 Prof. William T.
Winne
"The Liberian
Hinterland"
(27)
January 12 Dr. Joseph
Rotundo
"The Two-Party System in
America"
(33)
February 9 Dr. Ellis
Kellert
"Medical Science and Social
Progress"
(32)
March
9
Dr. Eugene Davidoff*
"Medicine and
Psychiatry"
(31)
April
13
Arthur
Davis*
"What a Sociologist Learns from
History"
May
11
Robert Stowe, Sylvia Horwitz, Mr.Currie "Selections from
the SLOC production "The Wizard of the Nile"
1950-51
October 12 Edward
Kasner*
[1878-1955]
"Geometry and Nature" [ The only math talk in our history
] (27)
November 9 William E. Cass*
"What Do Plastics Mean to
You?"
(26)
December 14 Karl Pauley*
"National Parks of the
West"
(31)
January 11 J. Herbert
Holloman*
"The Importance of Metals in Modern Warfare"
February 8 Carl Guthe*
"From Atom to Adam"
(26)
March
8
C. M.
Suter
"The Relation of Chemical Research to Medicine"
[ A motion that
members wear name tags failed ]
April 12 James Allen
"Responsibilities of the State Ed. Dept. for Public
Education" (24)
[ A motion to schedule
a May meeting failed. That made the June 14 meeting the last ever held
in June. ]
June 14 Film and group
discussion
"The Navajo Indians and Their Reservation"
1951-52
@ Nott Terrace
H.S. Dues: $18 / year
October 11
Rev. J. Edward Carothers
"Psychological Explanations for Corruption in Government"
November 8 R. S. Hoagland
"Thc Concept of
Israel"
December 13 Allen Mosley
"The
Snails of Africa"
January 10 ?
February 14 ?
March 13 Clifton Bradt
"Modern Art"
(25)
April 3 Duane
Featherstonhaugh
"Spelunking"
(30)
May 8 John Vrooman
"Historic Houses in Our State"
1952-53
October 9
Prof. __ Morley*
"Is Japan Safe for Democracy?"
November 13 Prof. Murphy (pro), Dr. Davidson
(con) "Federal Aid to Education - a Debate"
December 11 Joseph Rotundo
"Individual Freedom"
January 8 Rev. Darwin Kirby
"Wills"
February 12 George
Baldwin
"Time, Its Nature and Measurement"
March
12
Dr. Bellamy
Taylor
"Time-Lapse Photography of Flowers"
April
23
Gerald
Perkins
"Hawaii"
May
21
Mrs. Harold
Langworthy
"My Teaching Career in Beirut"
1953-54
October 8 Horace
S. Van Voast Jr.*
"A Six-Month Expedition to the
Bahamas"
(39)
November 12 R. K.
Kapur*
"Gandhi's
Philosophy"
December 10 Rabbi Solomon
Bernards*
"The Attack on Freedom"
January 14 George E.
Henry
"Ultrasonics"
February 11 Morris Mandel
Cohn
"Present Day Metropolitan
Government"
(32)
March 11 Benjamin
P.
Whitaker
"Taxes"
(25)
April
8
Dr. Harry
Reynolds*
"Devils, Drugs, and Doctors - The History of
Medicine"
(35)
May
13
Yu Kuan Chew*
"Oriental Art in Its Life
Setting"
(60)
1954-55 [ An unusual year in which no
Torch member spoke.]
October 14 V. C.
Wilson*
"Cosmic Rays"
November 18 Edward
Keonjian*
"Professional Education in Soviet Russia"
December 9 Donald S. Smith*
"The Modern Museum"
January 13 Hon.
W. Sterling
Cole*
"Some Problems with Atomic Energy Legislation"
February 10 Arthur A.
Merrill*
"Memory"
March
10
Neil B. Reynolds*
"The Past Around Us"
April
21
Wm. C. L.
Diefenbach*
"Some Historical Aspects of Blod Transfusion and Anesthesia"
May
19
Dr. Albert Corey*, NYS Historian
"New York State History 1775-1777"
(38)
1955-56 @
Nott Terrace H.S.
October 20 Miles
Martin
"The Art of Photography as a
Hobby"
(31)
November 10 Karl
Schmidt
"Post Election
Ruminations"
(18)
December 8 W. Norris
Paxton*
"Journalism"
(31)
January 12
Dr. Walter
Osinkski*
"Mental
Health"
(31)
February 9
Dr. Reuben
Frodin*
"Public Health Administration in New York
State"
(29)
March
8
Christopher I.
Savage*
"Economic Trends int
Britain"
(29)
April
12
Alex
Diamond
"Ethical Attitudes of Scientists and Their Impact on
Society" (23)
May
10
?
?
1956-57 @ Mohawk Golf Club
October
18 Vincent Schaefer
"Operation Skyfire"
November
8 ?
December 13 Calvin
Gross
"Quality in
Education"
(31)
January
10 Dr.
Louis
Tischler
"Infertility"
(29)
February 14 Arthur
Newkirk
"Conservation in the Forest
Preserve"
(26)
March
14
Sherwood
Fox
"Applications of Social
Science"
(25)
April
11
Miles
Martin
"Industrial Research and the
Public
Welfare"
(41)
May
9
W. T.
Winne "Primitive Village Life in Liberia"
1957-58
October
10 Benjamin
Whittaker
"Impressions of Japan"
(26)
November 14 John
G. Hutton
"A Look Behind the Iron
Curtain"
(30)
December 12 Augustus
Fox
"Sputnik and Rocket
History"
(26)
January 9
Rev. Edwin D.
McLane
"Speak Truth to Power - Peace and
Disarmament"
(26)
February 13 Lewis
Eldred
"Higher Education in New York
State"
(20)
March 13
Samuel
Weingarten
"The Family and Society"
(25)
April
7
Joint with Albany in
Albany "My Job Isn't Like That -
Misconceptions about the Professions"
Panel
Discussion
David Beetle, Editor, Knickerbocker
News:
Journalism
Hamilton H. Bookhout, Sup't, Bethlehem Central Schools:
Education
Judge John Holt
Harris:
Law
Daniel K.Lepak, Chief NYS Budget
Examiner:
Government
May
8
Herb
Pollock
"Jefferson the Scientist"
@Hale
House
1958-59 at Linton Faculty Dining Room
October
23 Kenneth
Ruthman*
"Ground
Water"
(24)
November 13 Dr. Seymour
Horwitz
"Problems in Medical
Education"
(29)
December 11 Harvey
Handel
"Teacher
Tensions"
(32)
January
8
Rev. J. Edward
Carothers
"Soviet Russia
Today"
(33)
February 12 Ralph
Alpher
"Origin and Evolution of the
Universe"
(33)
March 19
Dr. Shahab
Rehavy
"The Middle East as Seen by a Middle
Easterner"
(32)
April
9
Dr. Val Wilson*, Skidmore
President "
Problems Confronting American
Colleges"
(43)
May
14
J. A. Moss (at Hale House)
"The Underdeveloped
Countries"
(58)
1959-60 at Linton H.S. Faculty Dining Room
October
8 Dean V. L.
Parsegian* (RPI)
"The Academic Funtion in
Today's World"
(35)
November 12 John
Stehn
"The Sport of Collecting Nuclear
Data"
(33)
December 10 Charles
Lovitt*
"Existentialism"
(34)
January 14 Abraham
Costik*
"Problems of Aging"
(37)
February 11 Harold Chestnut
"Automation"
(42)
March 10 Dexter Bellamy
"Biochemical Aspects of Life"
(40)
April 14 Dr. David Ast*
"Aspects of Dental Care"
May 12 Alex Diamond
"What Every Woman Should Know About the Law"
(69)
1960-61
October
13 Dr. Weller
Fisher
"The Evolution of Man - Skulls and Teeth"
(32)
November 10 Leslie
Cook
"The Discovery of Uranium
Fission"
December 8 Robert
Proctor*
"Family
Challenge"
January 12 Richard
Shuey*
"Information
Theory"
February 9 Clare
W.
Graves*
"Morality in Our Times""
March 11 [ cancelled due to Weather ]
April
13
Rabbi Michael
Szenes*
"Judaic Religion and Ethics"
May
11
Carter
Davidson*
"Torches (trouble spots) in the East"
1961-62
@ Linton H.S.
cafeteria
October
12 James
Hughes
"This Is Your
Dollar"
November 9 John Hoffman
"Impressions of Egypt"
(38)
December 14 Leo
Jandreau*
"Changing Times in the Labor
Movement"
(33)
January 11 John
Bragg
"Operations
Research"
(39)
February 8 Ken
Mathes
"The Situation in India- Food, Population, and
Education" (36)
March
8
Pfeiffer, Pollock,
Watson
"The Relation of the Scientist to the
Government"
(41)
April
12
Neil
Allen
"The Old and the New in Contemporary
Britain"
(35)
May
10** Donald
Mochon*
(RPI)
"The New American Art"
** "This is the big
meeting of the year, when the beauty
and wit of our wives is added to the solemnity and sagacity of our
members"
- "Rev. Lee A. Howe"
1962-63
October
11 Rev. Lee A. Howe,
Jr.
"Religion, Uniting or
Dividing
(29)
November 8 Lewi
Tonks
"Economics of an Affluent
Society"
(32)
December 13 John E.
Weinrich
"The Common
Market"
(34)
January 10 Rev. Eric
Roy
King
"The Drama of Human Life"
(38)
February 14 Prof. Carl
Niemeyer
"A Valentine for Playwrights - Classical and Modern
Drama"
(26)
March 14
Prof. Henry
Butzel
"Recent Advances in Human
Genetics"
(36)
April
11
Dr. George Graham* & Jay
Riedel
"Medical Care for Older People - A Debate" (37)
[ Moved, seconded,
and passed:
"Henceforth the location of Ladies' Night shall be one where liquor is
served."
May 16
Harrison
Karp
"Medical Hypnosis"
&