The Memory Of Certain Persons

THE MEMORY OF CERTAIN PERSONS BY John Erskine J. B. Lippincott Company Philadelphia New York COPYRIGHT, 1947, BY JOHN KR5KXNK PRIHTBD IN THJB UNITED STATHS OF AMERICA FIRST BBJtTION CONTENTS Part I 1879-1903 L FIRST VISIT TO NEW YORK II. THE HOME IN OLD WEEHAWKEN III. THE HOME IN EIGHTIETH STREET IV. LANSINGBURG V. SIX CHILDREN VI. GRACE CHURCH, UNION HILL VII. MUSIC TEACHERS VIII. COLUMBIA GRAMMAR SCHOOL IX. THE COLLEGE ON FORTY-NINTH STREET X. THE UNIVERSITY AT MORNINGSIDE XL THE GRADUATE SCHOOL Part II 1903-1909 XI L AMHERST COLLEGE XIII. THE DICKINSON FEUD XIV. MY FIRST STUDENTS XV. WOODBBRRY AT AMHBRST XVI. EXPANDING WORLD XVII. BRITISH ISLES XVIIL AMHERST GRADUATION Part III 1QO9-1917 XIX, THE NEW COLUMBIA XX-MARRIAGE EXPERIMENTS IN TEACHING 9 ii 27 35 42 49 56 62 7 83 1 02 128 139 i 4 8 160 171 182 193 203 2135 NTS XXII ST. AGNES, AND ST S AGATHA 22O vxkiji. TKB MO AK OBLICSATION TO BE INTELLIGENT 228 XXIV. LAFJ UMp HEARN 235 XXV. WORtDWAR 240 XXVI. PROPAGANDA AND PACIFISM 248 XXVII. ADVENTURE IN FRANCE 256 Part IF 1017-19 10 XXVIII. THE FOYER DU SOLDAT 269 XXIX. ARMISTICE INTERVAL 285 XXX. 76 RUE DU FAUBOURG SAINT-HONORE 295 XXXI. FRENCH AND BRITISH UNIVERSITIES 30 1 XXXII. BEAUNE JII Part V 1919-1987 XXXIII. READING IN GREAT BOOKS 34 XXXIV. CHAMBER MUSIC 346 XXXV. HELEN OF TROY 354 XXXVI. LECTURE TOUR 362 XXXVII. JUILLIAR0 SCHOOL 369 XXXVIII. OPERA LIBRETTOS 375 XXXIX. MUNICIPAL ART COMMISSION 380 XL. METROPOLITAN OPERA 87 XLL LAUSANNE CONFERENCE 393 XLII. ACCIDENT 400 Par FI 19 XLIIL SOUTH AMERICA 407 XUV. THE UNIVERSITY OF MIAMI 42 XLV. ANOTHER WAR 4,36 XLVL A NEW LIFE 430 INDEX 433 IE . A. JBt CHAPTER I First Visit to New York I WAS born on October 1879, in a brownstonehouse at 108 East Forty-fifth Street. The house long ago made way for a succession o other buildings, last of all for the Grand Central Annex The section of this large structure which stands immediately above my birthplace, has am importance to which I in a modest fashion still contribute. It contains the office of the Federal Tax Collector. My arrival at 108 was expected, but not quite so soon, and Father-It was before telephones hurried off in the night to wake the doctor. When I say hurried, I mean he urged the cabby to drive faster. When he got back, Mother and I were expressing our thanks to Mrs. OReilly, a weigh borhood midwife-Nine or ten years later I was troubled to learn I had been helped into this world by a person without a medical degree Our household, when I joined it, consisted of my parents my sister Anna Graham, known to me always as Sister, my senior by a year and ten months and two aunts, Annabclla and Margaret, whom Sister and I to named Nanna and Memmem. Without these sisters of my mother m It, I cannot remember my fathers home Neither could he When I was three years old we moved to 6 West One Hundred Twenty fourth Street, where on January 30, 1883, was born my second sister Helen, whose great qualities, at first sight, I underestimated. The truth is, only two memories survive la me from this period, and both are self centered On pleasant evenings in spring or early autumn 1 walked with Pariter and Mother to an establishment not unlike a farmhouse, with a yard around it. Entering the yard, which I still see clearly, if perhaps inac-9 SO THE ME MOBY OP CERTAIN PERSONS curately, we approached a low window, on the ground level. The window was open, and 1 could seewomen in cool clean dresses busy in a kind o cellar. Father reached down and handed one o them a pail, which she promptly returned full o warm milk. My mother years later assured me that this Harlem memory is essen tially correct. In the days before bottles and pasteurizing, the milk wagon on its rounds dipped out any desired quantity from large cans, but 1 made myself a nuisance by insisting on the produce of one dairy near our home, and I liked to fetch it myself. The rest of the family were concent with what the wagon delivered...