School of Business and Civic Administration (Baruch College) in World War II

School of Business Students – Soldiers Lexicon, 1942

Seventy years ago World War II began in Europe. After the experiences in World War I, many Americans were unwilling to get involved in the new conflict. The School of Business and Public Affairs - the future Baruch College located at 17 Lexington Avenue was no exception. When polled in 1939, eighty-five percent of seniors stated that they would not fight in the war abroad. An organization called the Youth Committee Against War was present on campus and actively working to keep the United States out of the war. All this was to change after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941. Much like the rest of the country, the School of Business rallied to the noble cause. The Lexicon quoted the words of the English poet Sir Owen Seaman when addressing the graduating class:

Using materials from the College newspaper, The Ticker, and the Lexicon, the college yearbook, this exhibit will look at the war years in the School of Business and the contributions made by the college and its students to the war effort.

The College Gears Up for War

Students’ Resolution After Pearl Harbor  The Ticker, December 15, 1941, pg 1	Students Leaving 17 Lexington for the Army Lexicon, 1942

In October of 1941, two months before the attack, the college Student Council created a Defense Committee, one of the first groups of its kind to be organized at a college in the United States, to deal with the issues of an imminent war. No thoughts to classes were given as shocked students listened in response to President Roosevelt's call for war on December 8th. Students who were only recently thinking of their business careers now knew that it was only a matter of time before they would have to move to locales around the world to serve their country. Most knew that the conflict was to be for a long haul and thought that the war would last for three or more years. To lead the fight on the college front, the administration created a Civilian Defense Council which merged with the Defense Committee of the Student Council.

On Tuesday, December 9, just two days after the attack on the U.S. fleet, New York had its first air raid alarm when unidentified planes were sighted approaching the city. To prepare the school for a possible bombardment, plans were made to tape the glass windows in the hallways and doorways to prevent shattering. To keep the students supplied with coffee in case of a prolonged confinement, water boiling facilities were increased in the cafeteria and the magic club offered its services to keep up the morale of the student body during the bombardments. Shipments of sand, stretchers and various medical supplies were also stockpiled at the college.

Monroe D. Franklin ’39, Lexicon, 1939

Just weeks after the war began the college had a central figure to rally the student body. The first casualty from the Business School became Lieutenant Monroe D. Franklin from the class of 1939. Franklin was killed during the intense fighting against the Japanese on the Bataan peninsula. The loss of Lieutenant Franklin, who had had a visible presence when on campus - member of The Ticker staff for three years, member of the advertising society and the manager of the fencing team - was held up as an example to everyone. To honor the first student hero, the Franklin Society was organized in January of 1942 by the ROTC as a military and social society with the expressed purpose of furthering interest in military life and fostering good fellowship. The first faculty member to die was Lieutenant William Henderson, a member of the Sociology department who was killed in an airplane crash in Alaska.

The College Contributes

Give.....

YOUR MONEY to the Red Cross, to the War Relief Drives, and for Defense Bonds and Stamps.

YOUR BLOOD to the City College Blood Bank.

YOUR BOOKS to the Victory Book Drive.

YOUR TIME to aiding the War Effort. (The Ticker, Feb 9, 1942, pg.2)

Students Teaching the Troops The Ticker, November 9, 1942, pg. 1.	Educational Society Lexicon, 1942

To help improve the well being and morale of the troops quartered near the college as well as to improve their education, the college opened up its facilities to them. In addition to allowing the troops to use the athletic facilities, classrooms where opened to the troops where student volunteers, many of whom belonged to the Educational Society and were studying to be teachers, taught the soldiers reading, writing, and math.

Selling War Bonds  Lexicon, 1942	Theater Ad The Ticker, November 29, 1943, pg. 3.

The college became very active in selling war bonds and stamps to help pay for the war. On top of setting up a booth in the lobby of the building, various events were held on and off campus to raise funds to contribute to the war effort.
Theatron, a dramatic society formed at the School of Business in 1935 staged frequent plays whose proceeds were donated to the war effort. Dances were held where the admission was a ten cent war stamp. One of the more creative ways used to sell more war stamps was done by "a corps of beautiful women" who sold kisses as a contribution to the war effort.

Spirit of C.C.N.Y. National Archives Northeast Region

One of the more publicized bond drives at the college was to raise $75,000 for the purchase of a pursuit plane to be named the Spirit of C.C.N.Y. to honor the students' commitment. After buying everything from ten cent war stamps to 25 dollar war bonds, the money was eventually collected and given to the Treasury Department. When some students wanted to get in touch with the crew of the plane, they were told that no such plane existed. The Ticker ran a desperate headline "Gremlin's Steals C.C.N.Y. plane," asking for any information on the aircraft. The publicity prompted the Treasury Department to assure the college of the existence of the plane although they would not guarantee that enlisted men from the college would actually be the ones who would fly it. Photographs of the completed plane were provided to the students in 1944 who ecstatically regained their "spirit".

Students and Faculty Donating Blood at Red Cros Lexicon, 1942	Student Council The Ticker, December 7, 1943, pg. 1.

Donating blood was another way that students could become more directly involved in the war effort and they stepped up to the challenge. The entire student council donated blood and the Red Cross set aside a CCNY hour from 12:30 to 1:30 on Thursdays, as students and faculty would march to give their blood en masse.

Victory Book Campaign Lexicon, 1942

Book drives were frequently held to supply the troops with entertaining as well as educational materials. Books had to be in good condition and fall within one of four categories: fiction and nonfiction bestsellers, biographies, technical books of recent publication and human adventure and mystery.

Hygiene Faculty, Lexicon, 1944	Economics Faculty, Lexicon, 1944

First Aid Class, Lexicon,1942

To better instruct the soon to be soldiers, nurses and the general public new classes were created and others modified. They included accounting for the army, first aid, hygiene, and military psychology. Special seminars discussing the economic and political issues were open to the public and were given by faculty members throughout the war.

Benny the Beaver, the School Mascot, Goes to War Lexicon, 1946	Monday Moanings” by Barry Schilit  The Ticker, February 22, 1943, pg.2.

“Monday Moanings” by Barry Schilit The Ticker, March 8, 1943, pg.2.	Monday Moanings” by Barry Schilit  The Ticker, May 6, 1943, pg.2.

To complete their studies the majority of students were organized into the Enlisted Reserve Corps during the summer of 1942. In 1943 when the corps was activated the college lost a large part of its male population.
To keep the remaining student body abreast of the events going on in the army, some soldiers sent letters of their first impressions in the service. The most popular became the account of Pvt. Barry Schilit, whose humorous portrayal of his experiences in the column "Monday Moanings" kept students entertained. Schilit went on to serve in North Africa, Sicily, Italy and France eventually coming back to 17 Lexington and resuming writing for the same column.

The Ticker

Lexicon, 1942	The Ticker Staff, ca. 1940’s

Lexicon, 1945	The Ticker, March 7, 1944, pg. 4.

During World War II the college newspaper, The Ticker, became an international paper for the first time. Former students and alumni based all over the world wanted news from their alma mater to remind them of their home life. To keep up morale, Tickers were regularly sent out by the Servicemen's Morale Bureau, an organization formed to keep contact with the enlisted men from the college. At the height of this service, two thousand Tickers were being sent around the world to Europe, Asia, North Africa and around the United States. According to some responses from the soldiers, issues of The Ticker came in handy not just in supplying information to former School of Business students but was also used for various other purposes from teaching English to the natives in New Caledonia, to being used for hula skirts in Hawaii and shoe lining by Inuits in Alaska.

The Ticker, November 29, 1943, pg. 4.	The Ticker, April 25, 1944, pg 1.

In addition to providing the servicemen with news of their old school, The Ticker was also used to collect information on the men in service to better serve their needs. Questionnaires asking soldiers questions such as their favorite brands of cigarettes and whether they would like to correspond with a girl attending the college, allowed the men to feel closer to their alma mater no matter where they were. The staff at the Servicemen's Morale Bureau even went so far as to offer to do the servicemen's shopping for their friends, family or even themselves.
To ensure that the students would be able to cast their votes in the 1944 Presidential election, The Ticker included a war ballot request form on its front page. The Ticker urged the servicemen not eligible to pass this on to their friends who were.

War Bonds and Stamps in The Ticker

The Ticker, January 8, 1945, pg. 3.	The Ticker, December 15, 1941, pg. 3	The Ticker, March 14, 1944, pg. 3.

The Ticker, April 4, 1944, pg. 4.	The Ticker, April 4, 1944, pg. 4.	The Ticker, December 4, 1944, pg.4.

By the end of 1943, sales of the bonds at the college amounted to two and a half million dollars, enough to pay for the construction of eight flying fortresses.

Other War Ads in The Ticker

The Ticker, November 29, 1943, pg.4.	The Ticker, November 29, 1943, pg.4.	The Ticker, October 2, 1944, pg.4.

The Ticker, April 28, 1943, pg.3.	The Ticker, May 16, 1944, pg. 4.

Poetry in The Ticker

( The Ticker,  May 23, 1944, pg 2.)

Albert Mellin, The Ticker September 20, 1944, pg. 2.

The Ticker November 20, 1944, pg. 4.

Army Specialized Training Program (A.S.T.P.)

A.S.T.P. CadetA.S.T.P. Collage Lexicon, 1944	Lexicon, 1944

However in March of 1944 the army abandoned most of the program and activated most of the soldiers. Only those in pre-med and advanced engineering were left. Out of the original number of almost four thousand, only a hundred were left at the college.
A new program called ASTRP was instituted to replace ASTP, however its purpose was only to provide students seventeen to eighteen years old with general education. Once the students turned eighteen, they were shipped out to receive army training.

End of the War

Seymour Kahn ’45 Lexicon, 1945

The last known casualty from the Business School was Saymour Khan from the class of 1945 who was killed in training.

Men in Service, Lexicon, 1946	Men in the Service, Lexicon, 1945

Lexicon, 1946

By 1944 it was pretty evident that the war was winding down and hundreds of veterans would be coming back to finish their education or to begin it. To facilitate the transfer from military to civilian life the veterans club was formed. In the fall of 1945 two hundred veterans registered; one year later the number was more than six hundred. The club increasingly became one of the most powerful organizations on campus lobbying the school for greater facilities and renovations that the college needed. The club was disbanded in 1946.

In Honor of the School of Business Students of 1939-1945 Who Gave Their Lives During WWII (Known List)

Corp. Herman D. Grafman ’33 – Munda Island
Pvt. William Goros ‘34 – France
Lieut. Francis L. Harris ‘36 – France
Pvt. Alexander I. Saladuchin ’36 – Germany
Lieut. Roger A. Gutterman ‘39 – Italy
Pvt. Jerome B. Halpern ‘39 – Italy
Lieut. Monroe D. Franklin '39 - killed in action on Bataan by a Japanese sniper
Pfc. Hyman S. Cohen '39 - killed in action in Tunisia
Aviation Cadet Francis G. Conway '39 - killed in training in Hamond, Louisiana
Lieut. Martin B. Unger '39 - killed on a bombing mission over Yap in the Southwest Pacific
SSgt. Bernard Bauer ’40 – South Carolina
John P. Gifford ’40 – Germany
Lieut. Sherwin Levitan ’40 – Germany
S/Sgt. Nathan R. Gelber, AC - 40 - killed in action in Tunisia
Capt. Paul Altomerianos '40 - killed in infantry action in Sicily
Lieut. Melvin P. Fox '40 - Killed in action in West Africa
Lieut. Samuel I. Posner, AC '40 - killed in action over Emden, Germany
Pvt. Frederick Goldstein ’41 – France
Lieut. Robert A. Meyer ’41 – Germany
Corp. Edwin Slone ‘41 – Yuma, Arizona
Pvt. Herman B. Stanton ’41 – Germany
Lieut. Alvin S. Weiss ’41 – Germany
Lieut. Frederick W. Crockett, AC '41 - killed in a training crash at Montgomery, Alabama
Lieut. Harold H. Seltzer '41 - killed in a training crash at the Delaware Water Gap
Flight Officer Arthur R. Johnson ’42 – Germany
Corp. Harry Leibowitz ’42 – France
Lieut. Arnold Luxenberg ’42 - Yugoslavia
Lieut. Arthur Rueffer ’42 – England
Aviation Cadet Elliot Blutman '42 - killed in a training crash at Oxnard, California
Lieut. Stanley Nadel '42 - killed in an airplane takeoff at Podlington, England
Lieut. David Saltiel '42 - killed in an airplane accident at Ephrata, Washington
Pfc. Louis L. Marchbein '42 - killed at Bridgeport Air Field
Lieut. Benjamin Zelasko '42 - killed in training at Selman Field, Louisiana
Lieut. Vincent A. Avallone ’43 – Germany
Lieut. Norman F. Hirsch ’43 – Germany
Pfc. Wilbur Levinson ’43 – France
Lieut. Richard A. Pinner ’43 – Italy
Leonard H. Schwartz ’43 – Germany
Lieut. Albert J. Golub '43 - killed in action at Cherbourg, France
Lieut. Anthony J. Ankuta ’44 – Germany
Pfc. Felix Frankel ’44 – Germany
Pfc. Jerome Harris ’44
Lieut. Henry S. Karger ’44
Pfc. Jack Kramer ’44 – Germany
George P. O’Reilly ’44
Lieut. Edward F. Riley ‘44 – Key field, Mississippi
Pfc. Murray L. Turetsky ‘44 – France
Lieut. Gerald Wasserman ’44 – Germany
Pvt. Salvatore A. Torre '44 - of the Medical Corps, killed at Attu
Lieut. Patrick J. Fiero ‘45
Lieut. Neal P. Frank ‘45 – Germany
Lieut. Edward L. Karp ‘45 – Leipsig, Germany
Pfc. Max Shafran ’45 – France
Lieut. Emanuel Stolbach ’45 – Marshall Islands
Pfc. Seymour Kahn '45 - killed in training
Lieut. Solomon Gans ’46 – France
Pvt. Philip Miller ’46 – France
Sgt. Philip Feuer ’48 – Holland
Pvt. Kervin Fingerhut ’49 – Italy
Sgt. Morris Ginsberg ’49 – Germany
Lieut. Morton S. Reiter ’49 – Gowen Field, Idaho

Lexicon Yearbook, 1943

This Exhibit is curated by Aleksandr Gelfand, BA ’04
under the supervision of Professor Sandra Roff
and designed by Rasun Williams