A Little Glimpse

David M. Little opened the limousine door at the gate of Logan Airport that balmy commencement morning. Secretary of State George Marshall's climbed in and Little followed, pushing Marshall's bags to one side. After riding for a few minutes, the former general whipped out a seat of typewritten pages and said brusquely, "here are some things I'm planning to say to your alumni this afternoon.' Little thumbed through there sheets slowly, smiled policy, and remarked, "Looks like pretty interesting, stuff." On the steps of Memorial Church that afternoon Little took a deeper interest in the "stuff," for Marshall's planned speech to the Harvard Alumni became his over-all plan for European recovery.

As Secretary to the University, Little entertains all the headline personalities visiting Cambridge.

Little days however, are not entirely spent wining ambassadors and greeting alumni. He is also Master of Adams House, and indeed it is in this post that he spends most of his time. Each day he begins by attend to his House affairs, then hurries over to his Massachusetts Hall Office, down to the House for lunch, and before the day is over he has usually made another trip back to the Yard. "I really know what the Adams people mean when they say they appreciate the House's proximity to the Yard," he reflects.

As a Housemaster Little is devoted and thoughtful with an insatiable interest in student affairs. He believes the House should have a congenial, subtly educational flavor so that students can freely carry out their ideas. According to him the House Committee can take care of most of the problems that crop up short of disciplinary action. In Committee meetings Little has a keen interest, but a quiet voice. "I just suggest the compromises," he says. Perhaps the most well-received of the Little compromises came when two factions of the House Committee were battling out the problem of whether to have women dinner guests on Wednesday or Friday evenings in addition to Saturday. Little carefully listened to the arguments of both sides and then proposed a solution. Now Adams permits women guests on both Wednesdays and Fridays besides Saturday.

Little's sympathetic understanding of the undergraduate stems from a long period in Cambridge as both an administrator and teacher. He graduated from Harvard in 1918, and after a stretch in the Navy returned to the University to work toward his Master's degree. During the next fifteen years he alternated between University Hall and Waren House as an Instructor in English and an assistant dean. In 1935 while Curator of the Theatre Collection in Widener, he received his Ph.D.

It was while directing the Tercentenary celebration that the first exhibited his diplomatic courtesy and salesman's handshake. President Conant who was growing weary of tending to administrative affairs as well as showing Harvard off to visiting dignitaries decided to create a special office in charge of the University's public relations. He initiated the new post of Secretary to the University in 1936 and Little immediately took over the job. Two years later Little received the Adams House appointment when former Master James Phinney Baxter III left to become president of Williams.

Despite his many titles, Little cherishes most his role as a Harvard graduate. Admiring his reverence for the University his class has elected him their first class marshal and insists that he be the keynote speaker at all reunion functions.

Since Little's days are constantly occupied with personal meetings and telephone conversations, he rarely has enough time to attend to his paper work. But with persistent optimism he assures his secretary that the six-inch pile of letters on his desk each morning will be answered by dinner time. When 5 o'clock rolls around and the pile is no smaller than it was when he walked in that morning, he smiles and says, "Well, you know, we've just got to get that stuff out of the way tomorrow."