Class of 1946 Will Never Know Latest Of Harvard Greats

Four Harvard "greats," all masters in their own fields, have passed too soon for the class of '46 to know them other than through the stores of knowledge and whispered traditions which they have left behind.

The group includes Abbott Lawrence Lowell '77, president of the University from 1910 to 1933; George Lyman Kittredge '82, until his death indisputably the world's authority on Shakespeare, Chaucer, and much else of English literature; Charles Townsend Copeland '82, Boylston Professor of Rhetoric and Oratory, emeritus, the "Copey" who has been literary father to many American writers; Alfred North Whitehead, the zrilliant mathematican and philosopher.

Turning over the presidency of Harvard nine years ago to President Conant, Lowell could look back on one of the most successful terms of office in the three centuries of the University's life. His contributions of the Tutorial System and the House Plan have become vital parts of Harvard life.

Gurney Professor of English Literature, emeritus, with a beard "as pure as driven snow", George Lyman Kittredge retired in 1935, and his death last year leaves a gap in literary scholarship that no other authority can protend to fill. His "English 2; Six Plays" of Shakes peare, which he insisted on spelling "Shakespeare", was one of the most famous courses in the country.

Charles Townsend Copeland's method of teaching English composition was once described by Walter Lippmann '10 as a "catch-as-catch-can wrestling match." Anyone who interested him was entitled to enjoy "Copey's" friendship and genius. Once or twice every year Copeland still gives a reading to the Freshman class, a highlight in the student's first year at Harvard.

Professor Whitehead, who retired in 1937, taught at Cambridge University and the University of London before his appointment at Harvard. He has done considerable work with Albert Einstein in the mathematical field and is the author of "Principia Mathematica" and "The Principle of Relativity"