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The class of 1923 entered in the “first full college year after the War,” according to its yearbook’s class history, which was one reason why many of its members are “ex-servicemen and have taken prominent places as leaders in all departments of college life.” Below, an accounting of fees for students around that time.
100 Years
As UNH celebrates the 100th anniversary of our official name change we thought it was a good moment to look back and mark other 100-year milestones
In 1923, Robert Frost published his fourth book of poetry, “New Hampshire: A Poem with Notes and Grace Notes,” featuring his many Granite State associations, for which he would win a Pulitzer Prize the following year. Also in 1923, Roy and Walt Disney founded The Walt Disney Company. Harlem’s famed Cotton Club opened, President William G. Harding died, and a new Studebaker cost about $995.
At UNH, courses like electrical railways, stenography and household design and decoration were among the more traditional academic pathways of English, engineering, mathematics, history and world languages. Much of the news in that year’s editions of The New Hampshire student newspaper was about athletic contests, $25 scholarships being awarded and Glee Club members.
It was also the year that UNH became a university, when then-Governor Fred H. Brown signed a bill (House Bill 385) changing the name of the New Hampshire College of Agriculture and the Mechanic Arts to the University of New Hampshire on April 23, effective July 1, 1923.
UNH’s 1923 “situation” seems very similar to what it is 100 years later: a beautiful campus, easily accessible in the middle of everything.
Happy Birthday! Rob Chase, son of Bob Chase ’45 (pictured below), recently shared that his dad has many happy memories from his association with UNH. “We had a celebration of his 100th birthday at our home recently where he was surrounded with the love of many of his offspring. We only wish our mother, Ann Chase ’46, was still here to share our love and joy.”
Bob Chase ’45 celebrated his 100th birthday surrounded by friends and family earlier this year.
Bob Chase ’45 celebrated his 100th birthday surrounded by friends and family earlier this year.
At left, Tyler O’Connell ’23 and her dad, Sean O’Connell ’87 ’95JD, at a commencement party, 100 years after Tyler’s great-grandmother, Helen (Murphy) O’Connell (below)
At left, Tyler O’Connell ’23 and her dad, Sean O’Connell ’87 ’95JD, at a commencement party, 100 years after Tyler’s great-grandmother, Helen (Murphy) O’Connell (above)
Generations of Wildcats
This year’s commencement was a little extra special for at least one Wildcat family. When Tyler O’Connell ’23 walked across the stage after completing her bachelor’s degree in anthropology, she was doing so 100 years after her great-grandmother, Helen O’Connell, earned her degree in English. But it doesn’t end there: Tyler’s father, Sean O’Connell, earned a political science degree in 1987 and his juris doctorate in 1995, and her grandfather, Lawrence O’Connell ’56, was a faculty member in the Political Science Department here for more than three decades. Talk about Wildcat pride!
Share a memory or words of advice
UNH has quite a few alumni celebrating 100th birthdays this year. If that’s you (or if you’re pretty close at 98 or 99) or if you know of a family member who fits into those categories, we hope you’ll reach out to us. Share a favorite memory of your UNH years or impart some wisdom for recent graduates. Email us at alumni.editor@unh.edu, or mail a letter to: UNH Magazine, 9 Edgewood Rd., Durham, NH 03824, and we may feature your submission in an upcoming issue of the magazine.