DICK'S HOUSE - Dartmouth's infirmary - and the Class of 1927, which was Dick Hall's class, are celebrating their 40th anniversary this June. Many college generations have come and gone in forty years, and it is safe to say that about three-fourths of Dartmouth's alumni body cannot remember the time when there was no Dick's House next to the hospital on Rope Ferry Road, no formal Health Service, and, practically speaking, no medical facilities for the care of Dartmouth students.
Prior to 1927 boys with minor illnesses stayed in their rooms; severe cases were admitted to the Mary Hitchcock Memorial Hospital. Students with contagious diseases were relegated to the old "Pest House" near the boiler plant, where patients with different diseases were kept on different floors and what patient care there was was provided by a medical student who "lived in" and received his room and board for his services. No medical records were kept other than a highly humorous "Pest House Log" written by the unfortunate inmates. No wonder that Dr. Howard Kingsford, the sorely tried Medical Director of the College, felt that "Dick's House was the best thing that ever happened to Dartmouth."
Dick's House was given to Dartmouth by Mr. and Mrs. Edward K. Hall in memory of their son, Richard Drew Hall '27, who died of polio in the fall of his sophomore year. The Hall family had grown up in the Dartmouth tradition. Mrs. Hall's father, Irving W. Drew, was a graduate of the College in 1870; her brother, Pitt Drew, in 1899. Mr. Hall, Class of 1892, had always been active and prominent in College affairs; he had served on the Athletic Council, had been chairman of the alumni committee to raise money for the gymnasium, had been a leader in the Dartmouth Alumni Club of Boston, and a Trustee of the College. It was consistent with Mr. and Mrs. Hall's background and attitude toward life that they should channel their love and grief into a constructive memorial to benefit other Dartmouth students. From first-hand experience they knew the College's need for medical facilities. Very soon after their son's death they decided what shape they would like their memorial to take.
When Mr. Hall, in a talk with President Hopkins, opened the subject of his contemplated gift of a college infirmary, the response was enthusiastic. In a letter dated November 23, 1925 and now framed and hanging in Dick's House, Mr. Hopkins wrote:
"Nothing ever planned for the College was more needed nor more certain to serve the undergraduate body at a vital point than the gift you and Sally have in mind. And consequently by the same token, nothing could be a more distinctive remembrance of Dick!
"I wake up at night with undefined sense of pleasure and relief and then recall its source in our talk . . . and your statement of your plan. It's simply too good to be true. I have often been worried and often panicsstricken when one of our boys has been sick. Lately with the Hospital crowded to its doors, as its reputation has increased, I have not seen our way out if illness broke out in any number of cases among the boys. And always I have wanted better quarters for the individual boy than usually were available.
"Now all that is to be taken care of. I can't entirely disentangle my personal and official feelings but they are all in harmony, and all permeated with thought of you and Sally and Dick."
The purpose of the House and the hopes of its donors were stated in a letter by Mr. Hall:
"The purpose of Dick's House is to provide a home for the boys of Dartmouth when they are sick or ailing.
"It is our hope that the boys will feel that 'going up to Dick's House' is the next best thing to going to their own homes when they are in need of either the care or the surroundings that the dormitory or fraternity house is unable to furnish.
"The House will richly serve its purpose if it is able to bring some measure of comfort to the boys of Dartmouth when they need it most, and if the boundless joy, the good cheer and the helpful spirit of the boy whose name it bears may for all time abide and carry on within its walls."
The cornerstone for Dick's House was laid in the spring of 1926. The building was finished and open to visitors when Dick's class graduated in June 1927, and it started its service to Dartmouth students the following September.
The ground floor contains offices, an out-patient department with examining rooms, a library, and two charming guest rooms for the use of parents of critically ill patients. No feature of the House has evoked more heartfelt gratitude than these guest rooms. The second and third floors are composed of private and group rooms for patients and the necessary medical and nursing facilities to serve them. The normal capacity of the House is 34 beds but it can be and has been in emergencies expanded to 60.
Because Dick's House is physically connected with the Mary Hitchcock Memorial Hospital, food and laundry services, operating, laboratory and X-ray facilities are provided by the hospital. Dick's House is fortunate and proud to be so closely connected with this outstanding medical center.
MR. and Mrs. Hall put far more than money into the building that was to be known as Dick's House. Once they had decided on the project, they set out to learn as much as they could about college infirmaries. They visited and consulted with hospital and infirmary administrators and talked with doctors and nurses, with the result that they brought to the college architect a great deal of carefully sifted information and many concrete suggestions. No detail was too small to receive the most careful consideration.
When it came to decorating and furnishing. Mrs. Hall was in her element. She combined to an unusual degree an appreciation and flair for both the practical and the aesthetic. Her knowledge and love of American and English antiques were considerable. The appearance and atmosphere of Dick's House is a monument to her taste and perceptive understanding, for literally every piece of furniture from hospital beds to pictures on the walls were the result of her search and selection.
In every way Mr. and Mrs. Hall sought to make Dick's House unique - a perfectly equipped infirmary but one which would have in addition to medical facilities the atmosphere of a gracious home and the unmistakable imprint of Dartmouth. The informal, friendly name by which the House goes set the standard. The decor and furnishings carried it out. Instead, for example, of following institutional practice and designating the patients' rooms by numbers, Mr. Hall conceived the idea that each room be given the name of a Dartmouth president or famous alumnus. Moreover, in each room hangs a picture of the man whose name it bears and a framed letter in his own hand. (This project of placing the letters in the rooms was started by Mr. Hall and is now being completed through the generous help of the Associate Librarian of Baker Library, Edward C. Latham '51, working with the Archives Department.)
As long as she lived Mrs. Hall supervised all the redecorating at Dick's House. In her will she provided for a fund, the income from which is used for reupholstering and redecorating. This farsighted provision has served to free the College from having to question whether it could in good conscience keep up the style and quality of certain features of Dick's House. The fund has proved especially helpful when over the years changes have been made in the use of certain rooms and complete refurnishing has become necessary. Redecorating through the fund is currently the responsibility of the Halls' daughter, Dorothy, the wife of Larry Leavitt '25.
There have been surprisingly few changes at Dick's House since 1927. The most important one was the adoption of the Health Service in 1936. A committee appointed by President Hopkins had made an analysis of existing health facilities and had investigated and compared similar facilities and practices in other colleges and universities. The report of this committee led to the formation of a Health Council, which continues to function today. It is composed of the Medical Director and a representative from both the Dean's office and the Treasurer's office.
Also stemming from the 1936 committee report was the decision of the Trustees of the College to make medical care and hospitalization available to all students without charge. This was accomplished by a raise in tuition rather than by the establishment of a health fee. The immediate increase in both in-patient and out-patient numbers proved the wisdom of the decision. From 3609 in-patient days in 1935-36 the number jumped to 6529 the next year; this dramatic upsurge obviously reflected an increased willingness on the part of the students to seek medical and hospital care once the direct financial charge was removed.
In 1965-66 the yearly figure for inpatient days was 4154, for out-patient visits 13,145. On orthopedic clinic days especially, the library, which serves as waiting room, is often crowded during clinic hours. The average stay of inpatients is not as long as it used to be, thanks to the use of modern drugs and to the present-day medical practice of getting patients on their feet more quickly after surgery. When the rooms are not needed for student patients, they can be and are used for faculty members and "guests" (alumni, for example) who either happen or plan to get medical care in Hanover. The number of non-students naturally varies from year to year; in 1965-66 there were 21 faculty patients and 120 "guests." The income from these patients is a source of revenue to the College and helps defray the expense of running Dick's House. Among the most appreciative of "Dick's House alumni" are many of these older patients.
The size of the staff at Dick's House has grown in keeping with the increase of patients and of services offered, swelling from a mere ten in 1927 to 27 today. Two doctors devote full time to Dick's House patients, while the surgeons and other specialists of the Hitchcock Clinic are always available from the hospital next door.
MOST of the physical changes which have been made at Dick's House stem from the expanded use of the infirmary under the Health Service. The vastly increased number of out-patients has necessitated the enlargement of this department by the rearrangement of existing space so as to get more examining rooms. Office space has also been expanded to accommodate more office personnel and to allow for the processing and storing of more numerous and more elaborate medical records. Two psychiatrists and one psychologist now have their offices in Dick's House in quarters originally planned for the administrative head of the House, who no longer "lives in."
On the second and third floors minor rearrangements have been made in keeping with modern medical and housekeeping practices. The two small lounges, adjacent to the two group rooms, have been converted to patients' rooms, but their function has been happily taken over and fulfilled by a large, sunny, and most attractive room known as the 1927 Lounge.
The Class of 1927 has always had close ties with Dick's House. The class president, Joshua Davis, conducted the ceremony when the cornerstone was laid in 1926. The class flag flies over the door of the House at reunions; meetings are held there, and class pictures are taken on the lawn. The '27 Lounge, set up and furnished in 1959, serves as a focal point for class interest, which through the 1927 memorial funds provides magazines, records, games, and many other services for the patients at the House. Recently, Harry B. Milner, a member of the class, donated a beautiful old grandfather's clock to stand in the room. Here ambulatory patients can read, typewrite, listen to records, or chat with other patients or visitors. Here at Christmas time is the Dick's House Christmas tree, one of the touches which makes Dick's House seem like a home.
The importance of maintaining a truly homelike atmosphere as well as high medical and nursing standards has been the constant concern of the administrators who have served Dick's House since 1928. Miss Laura B. Gilmore, who was on the staff when the House opened, served until 1946 and did a superb job in the days when there were very few guidelines and when the Health Service with all its ramifications was being established and perfected. Hundreds of former patients remember her wonderful smile and cheery personality. Miss Lois Dunn, administrator from 1949 to 1958, labored quietly but effectively to raise medical and nursing standards and saw her efforts recognized when in 1952 Dick's House met the requirements for admission to the American Hospital Association. Miss Ruth Moser, the present head of the House, was on the Dick's House nursing staff under both her predecessors. Long familiar with the Dartmouth Health Service, she has the respect and friendship of patients and professional associates alike and is currently doing a fine job in one of Dartmouth's important areas.
THERE are a number of unique and interesting features at Dick's House. One is the library, the establishment of which was one of Mr. Hall's cherished projects. Each book was the gift of a friend of the Hall family or of Dartmouth, and each bears an inscription from the donor with an explanatory note by Mr. Hall introducing the donor. It is a rewarding experience to pick books at random from the shelves and read the inscriptions. One of the most interesting and revealing is in Have Faith in Massa-chusetts by Calvin Coolidge, who had had the experience of losing a young son. Mr. Coolidge's inscription reads: "To my friend, Edward K. Hall, in recollection of his son and my son, who have the privilege, by the grace of God, to be boys through all eternity."
There are books from Dick's fraternity delegation in DKE, from high school and college friends, and from business associates of Mr. Hall's, and one from an eleven-year-old cousin of Dick's, which reads: "He was always good to little boys and I loved him." On a table lies a copy of a book about Dick, which was privately printed and which through a number of letters and school compositions reveals a gay, warm-hearted boy who loved his family and his father's college and whose greatest enthusiasm was for the outdoors and fishing.
In addition to the library, mention should be made of certain other unusual items, some of which contribute to the distinctly Dartmouth flavor of Dick's House. In the vestibule hangs Daniel Webster's fire bucket. One of the stone steps leading up to the front door bears the date 1784 and was originally a step in the old Dartmouth Hall which was destroyed by "fire. This step, preserved for years, was given to Dick's House by Dr. Kingsford. The knocker on the front door, the gift of one of Dick's best friends, is a Napoleon eagle, cast in France in 1805, which once adorned one of the lamp posts in the Place de L'Etoile in Paris. In the 1927 Lounge is framed a small American flag which was flown over the South Pole by Admiral Richard E. Byrd and given by him to Dick's House. A companion piece is a fragment of a flag planted at the North Pole by Commander Robert E. Peary in April 1909. It was given to Dick's House by an associate of Peary, Henry E. Rood.
Today with Dartmouth's summer programs Dick's House is a busy place for twelve months of the year. There are always patients with minor illness and others who have had major surgery or who have been injured in sports or in automobile accidents. Out-patients come and go, sometimes in large numbers. The physicians of the Hitchcock Clinic come through on rounds, only a minute's walk through the corridor to the Hospital. Visitors drop in to see family or friends; often among them is President Dickey. There are, of course, occasional tragedies and emergencies which tax to the full the skill and ingenuity of the staff, but usually the routine is relaxed and cheerful. In the words of a recent patient, Dick's House is a "happy ship."
In 1927 Eugene F. Clark '01, then Secretary of the College, wrote an article about Dick's House for the ALUMNIMAGAZINE. In his concluding paragraph he observed that "the real success of Dick's House lies in having invested it with a heart and a personality." The outward signs of this "heart and personality" are the gracious furnishings, the guest rooms for parents, the welcoming, friendly library. Also contributing to the atmosphere of Dick's House are those who work there and those who set standards and policy. Through them Dick's House is a reflection, as its donors intended, of the "good cheer and helpful spirit" of their son. But, and to no less a degree, Dick's House is also the reflection of a Dartmouth father and mother and a permanent expression of their deep concern for succeeding generations of Dartmouth men.
The 1927 Lounge on the second floor is a cheerful and comfortable room whereambulatory patients can get together to read, talk or entertain their visitors.
The Dick's House library, used as a waiting room for out-patient service, has anespecially busy time on orthopedic days in the winter. An oil portrait of Dick Hall'27 as a Dartmouth undergraduate hangs above the fireplace.
Miss Ruth Moser, Administrator of Dick's House (the title House Mother wasdropped some years ago), confers in her office with a Dartmouth freshman.
Mrs. Olive Hall, RN, a member of the special Dick's House nursing staff, pours acooling drink, for one of the students in the Hopkins Room for surgical cases.
Paul Baiocchi '69, who had a long stayin the infirmary, is visited by one of hisstudent friends from Streeter Hall.
Dr. Raymond S. Jackson, Medical Directorof the College, listens to a studentseeking out-patient medical assistance.
Dr. G. Winthrop Sands, one of the twofull-time doctors on the Dick's Housestaff, pays a bedside visit to one of theundergraduates in his care.
Prof. Francis W. King, Clinical Psychologist with the College Health Service,confers with a student at Dick's House.
One of the two guest rooms available for parents of seriously ill students.
Dr. Ruth Gosselin, with the help of Richard Snaith, LPN, changes the dressing for astudent who was injured in an automobile accident the week before.