Harvard Rich in Tradition

Somehow "Ivy-covered" and "ancient traditions" seem to go together in people's minds, and Harvard has more than its share of both, as is befitting its three centuries of existence. Some of these a Freshman who is completely strange to Cambridge can pick up as he goes along--but it is a good idea to know who "Copey" is, what "Rheinhardt" signifies, and who "Barry Wood" was, to cite a few examples.

A quick perusal of this article will not make a member of the Class of 1946-September a Harvard man familiar with all its names and customs, but it should go a long way towards making him with some of the better known of them.

Yard No Campus

To start with, anyone who calls the elm-shaded area where the University lives and moves and has its being a "campus" is likely to be shunned by the knowing ones from that point forward. Because it was once a cow pasture, it is now and forever shall be known as the "Yard." Through the rooms in the Halls (not dorms, please) the cry of "Rheinhardt" has echoed for years.

Don't be mystified if you hear it this fall; but don't respond to it unless you are very anxious to meet the Dean and can't think of a quicker and better way of doing so. For "Rheinhardt" is the Harvard riot call, and has started such famous rampages as the one in 1936 which wreaked destruction galore on the fair city and fair citizens of Cambridge, not to mention Radcliffe. Its origin, according to the tale, is to be found in the habit of a very lonely young man by that name, who used to go downstairs underneath his window and call up to himself so that his neighbors would think he was popular.

The Old Oaken Pump

The drinking pump in front of Hollis and Stoughton was placed there at the time of the tercentenary, in 1936, on the site of a similar apparatus which used to supply water to the residents of those Halls before "modern" plumbing was installed there.

Of course everyone, whether they come from Cambridge, Los Angeles, La Grange, Illinois, or even New Haven has heard of the Harvard-Yale rivalry, which has extended since the time "Harvard was old Harvard when Yale was but a pup." Football games between the Crimson and the Blue have made the names of Charley Brickley, the great place-kick specialist, Charlie Buell, another great kicker and field general, and Eddy Mahan, the wonder back, familiar to generations of Harvard men.

Barry Wood Legend

In recent years, Barry Wood, a triple-threat All-American Dean's List scholar-athlete and Ben Ticknot, a deadly tackler from his post at center, and another All-American captain, are the most celebrated. Chub Peabody, who is one of the greatest linemen in Harvard history, an All-American guard (he made every nation-wide team and collected a horde of trophies) from last year is the latest addition to the Crimson Football Hall of Fame.

Another great rivalry is the one between the CRIMSON the University's daily, and the Lampoon, the funny magazine. The annual colorful baseball game between the two groups of journalists, where beer flows free, and such minor equipment as bats and basealls are virtually forgotten, is one of the high spots of every year for the organizations. In times past the 'Poonsters have walked off with honored CRIMSON possessions, but probably the most notorious snatch occurred in 1941 when the "Crime" editors scaled the roof of the Lampoon building on Mount Auburn Street and sawed off the Ibis, the symbolic bird. It was returned several weeks later.

The editors of the humor rag have made themselves famous by such pranks as the removal of the "sacred cod" from the House of Representatives in the State House at Boston, and the purloining of the Yale fence, which has served for countless years as a backdrop for the pictures of all Eli gridiron captains.

During many of these escapades they ran afoul of "Colonel" Charles R. Apted, for many years kindly head of the Yard Cops, who was a personal friend of many well-known graduates. His experiences could fill a book--and nearly did; though the volume has never officially been published.

Another famed Harvard character is "Copey"--Professor Charles Townsend Copeland, the second in the immortal trio of "Kitty and Copey and Bliss." "Kitty" was Professor George Lyman Kittredge '82, renowned Shakespearean scholar, who died a year ago, while "Bliss" was Professor Bliss Perry, beloved English teacher. Professor Copeland, Boylston Professor of Rhetoric and Oratory, emeritus, and his readings have thrilled thousands. Annually be attracts a packed hall to listen to him as he intones familiar and unfamiliar words from the Bible, Kipling, Stephen Leacock, Harvardman Robert Benchley '12, and many more." About each of these the legends are never-ending.

And so the list goes on--but it is too long to relate here. Each man will have to absorb and learn it for himself. But to help him, Samuel Eliot Morison '07, professor of History, wrote a book called "Three Centuries of Harvard." It should be a "must" for every Harvard student