Saltonstalls Pepper Harvard's 350 Years

"Nine bachelors commence at Cambridge; they were young men of good hope, and performed their acts, so as gave good proof of their proficiency with tongues and arts."--John Winthrop, Commencement of 1642

When Thomas L. Saltonstall '70 speaks of his family's history, the number that keeps cropping up is 355, not 350. While Harvard University may be commemorating its 1636 founding date, the Saltonstalls can look back five years earlier to find their American roots. It was in 1631 that Sir Richard Saltonstall's boat, the Arbella, came to the Charles River bearing Thomas' ancestors, and spawning an 11-generation Harvard tradition of staid Brahmins and liberal activists alike.

Even though Thomas' scope may lie five years beyond Harvard's own, his family is very much tied to the University; the Saltonstalls have grown and prospered alongside this birthday-elebrating institution.

But the Saltonstalls are neither the Cabots nor the Lowells. There are no buildings named after Saltonstalls, and, until the middle of this century, no endowed chairs in their name. And again, until recently, no Saltonstall had achieved national fame. Even so, it is this family more than any other that reflects Harvard's steady and impressive growth from a small-time center of learning to the nation's most talked-about and arguably most prestigious university.

The Saltonstalls' 11 consecutive generations of Harvard graduates began on a certain summer day in 1642, when Richard Saltonstall's son, Henry, toted the first-ever Harvard degree back to the family farm. He would later go to Padua for a medical degree, the first Harvard graduate to become a doctor.

Trumbull Professor of American History Donald Fleming notes that this consistent, on-campus presence of a few, select Harvard families over the centuries has been historically important to the University. In addition to the financial support that accompanies their presence (Richard left his estate of 350 pounds to Harvard upon his death), he adds that these families gave a certain "tone" to the University. "President [Charles W.] Eliot [Class of 1857] always thought that it was important for young aristocrats to polish the others," Fleming says, though noting that such influence wore itself out by the 1940s.

It is perhaps a singular irony, then, that such a staid and quintessentially Harvard family also has a long tradition of placing its reputation on the line to support some unpopular points of view. And sometimes the maverick stands have put family members at odds with each other.

The Saltonstalls fought on both sides of the Revolutionary War. Among the many Tories was a British captain; among the revolutionaries was a Saltonstall who spent years as a British prisoner.

In the 1960s two Saltonstalls fought on the same side--in the protests against the Vietnam War--much to the dismay of a Republican senator relative.

Nathaniel Saltonstall, Class of 1659, is said to have refused to participate in the Salem witch trials. Sir Richard Saltonstall, the family scion, spoke out against slavery early in the 17th century. Another Saltonstall refused to obey orders and lost a fleet in the War of 1812. He was discharged from the U.S. Navy.

Today, there are two Saltonstalls studying at Harvard--one undergrad and the other at the Graduate School of Education--while distant relative Robert Saltonstall Jr., associate vice president for operations, sits in one of the University's top posts.

The Saltonstalls come from an era when there was little accountability expected from public servants or educators. Personal, if not idiosyncratic, ethics substitute for public scrutiny; in the public arena, that means anything but mainstream political views. Each member of the family can--and does--claim to represent the family's thinking.

It is not extraordinary that when one member of the family, John Lee Saltonstall Jr. '38, began working for a Democratic candidate, that one of the senior members of the family, long connected to the Republican party, wrote in to The Boston Globe to publicly disassociate himself from the unprecendented party switch.

This tradition of taking personal responsibility for political activity worked in days past when government was dominated by aristocrats. In modern times, the development of political movements has left this generation's mavericks in limbo.

Stephen L. Saltonstall '67, an 11th-generation Harvard Saltonstall, was a member of Students for a Democratic Society during his Harvard years and was an early and vocal opponent of the Vietnam War.

When Robert McNamara, then Secretary of State, came to a visit late in 1966, he was blockaded by a mass of 2800 protesters and aggressively questioned by Stephen, among others. "How many South Vietnamese citizens did you kill this week, and why don't you release the figures?" Steven shouted. McNamara quietly replied that he did not know the number, and was greeted by more heckling.

Though Stephen himself says he has mellowed since the turbulent 1960s, he still terms his aggressive confrontation with McNamara a "moral decision."

"People were being killed needlessly--some impoliteness was necessary to get them to understand this," he says.

Stephen remembers that his activities "made some enemies within the family." These family foes apparently did not include his cousin Leverett Saltonstall '14, the Republican senator from Massachusetts, who as Senate Arms Service Committee chairman was in part responsible for financing the war. During this time of campus upheaval, Stephen managed to conduct a correspondence with his eminently establishment cousin.

"It was a decent exchange, no name-calling," the younger Saltonstall remembers.

But Stephen's notion of family loyalty does not extend to his family's early history. "When all is said and done, it is not that important that so many generations have attended Harvard," he says. Rather, it is the present-day accomplishments of individual Saltonstalls that deserve attention. Stephen is now a lawyer in a small Vermont town, where, he proudly proclaims, his name means nothing.

Thomas Saltonstall, another voice of 1960s liberal dissent, admits, "No question the family name has helped me, but there have been times when I have been singled out because of the family name."

He terms his heritage a "double-edged sword," noting the special attention given his protest activities--including the 1969 takeover of University Hall. That same year, Thomas was charged with six felony counts for preventing the delivery of linen to Dunster House while the Teamsters union was striking against Harvard Student Agencies, though he says he was only a witness to the events. Thomas says he still believes his family name led Harvard to single him out for prosecution. The charges were later thrown out of court. On the other hand, Thomas says, his name has helped him advance his career in government.

"For 355 years our family has been involved with public service," boasts Thomas, who has also opted to follow that calling. Since graduating from the Kennedy School of Government in 1975, he has worked for the Dukakis administration and for civil rights activist Eleanor Holmes Norton. Most recently, he resigned from the New England Equal Opportunity Commission, a government oversight agency on civil rights. "I could not carry out my oath," Thomas says, because of the Reagan Administration policy that seeks curbs on affirmative action programs.

The duty to public service is not one that Saltonstalls take lightly, and Thomas is not the only one to resign over a difference between personal and government ethics. William L. Saltonstall '28 recently resigned as a Massachusetts state senator because of a law that would require state candidates to list their financial holdings.

He says he resigned because the law also requires that senators disclose the financial portfolios of spouses and other family members. A research librarian at the Massachusetts Historical Society notes the irony of the resignation: William's father, Leverett, made a career of stressing "good government" efforts, such as stricter financial disclosure laws.

Both Thomas and Stephen can say with a straight face that taking part in anti-Vietnam War protests was "in the best traditions" of their family. And to some degree, this attempt to reconcile personal behavior with family tradition is testament to the domination of the family over its members, much as they try to fight it.

"When you talk of the Saltonstalls, the words that have to come are public service," says the Massachusetts Historical Society librarian. The Society is now in the process of adding a fifth volume to the collection of Saltonstall papers. While families like the Adamses or the Lodges may have reached greater pinnacles in public service, the librarian believes the Saltonstalls' 350 years of continuous public service is unparalleled.

Arguably the most devoted public servant of the clan, however, was Sen. Leverett Saltonstall '14, who died in 1979 after holding an impressive list of Massachusetts posts ranging from Speaker of the House to governor to U.S. senator.

But family loyalty still runs high. Sen. Leverett Saltonstall, when asked what he most believed in, responded: "It might sound more impressive if I said something like 'democracy' or the 'the country,' but let's not be pretentious. What I believe in most is Harvard and my family."

Inevitably, each Saltonstall feels the pull of both these large and fabled institutions. And this 350th weekend is no exception. After Harvard's festivities subside, nearly 125 Saltonstalls from across the country will be asked to attend a family reunion next weekend to celebrate their 355th year in America.