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36 3 From Soldier to Pacifist The month after war broke out in Europe in 1914, Robert Sherwood entered Harvard University as a freshman. His father, Arthur, had graduated from Harvard in 1877, his brother Arthur in 1910, and Philip, now a senior, was scheduled to complete his degree in 1915. Sherwood’s experience at Harvard duplicated those at the Fay School and at Milton Academy. He excelled in the arts and creative writing while turning his back on academics. Still, his two and a half years at the university exposed him to the wider world, especially as the war in Europe moved closer to home. In 1917, when the United States entered the conflict, the still immature Bobby found himself drawn to the romance of military service. As a soldier in the Canadian army, he would come face to face with the reality of war, and its sobering effect would change his life forever. When Bobby left home for college, his mother worried that he might find the attractions of wealth that he would be exposed to in Cambridge and Boston so appealing that he would not be able to “practice the most rigid economy” required by his family’s financial problems.¹ Before he entered Harvard, everything he needed had been provided for him, and Posie was naturally concerned that this freewheeling child might easily become distracted, even overwhelmed, by his independence. Bobby, however, immediately proved her wrong. Because of an initial delay in receiving Posie’s first check, he spent several days in the cheapest hotel he could find, Mooneys Pleasure Palace, eating hardly any food except for an occasional cup of coffee and a sandwich. Having been told that he must conserve money, he hesitated to ask for any. Finally, exhausted, hungry, and somewhat depressed, he cabled home. Posie was appalled. “Such an ordeal,” she told Lydia. “The last thing I wanted to do was to starve the poor thin overgrown tired child! . . . He is so uncomplaining.”² Once settled into his comfortable dormitory room in the then new James Smith Hall, he evaluated the Harvard scene, and as his parents feared, he immediately worked his way into sports, literature, writing, and the arts, while giving his courses a casual shrug. In today’s terms, one might say that for Bobby Sherwood, Harvard University was a party school. His outgoing personality won him immediate popularity with his classmates, as did his skill at sports and his eagerness to From Soldier to Pacifist 37 join organizations such as the Signet Society, the Stylus Club, Delta Kappa Epsilon (D.K.E.), the Hasty Pudding Club, and the Lampoon, all of which demanded a great deal of time. His Harvard records show that at the midpoint of his first year, after he received D’s in Greek, Latin, history, geography , and algebra, the college’s administrative board considered placing him on probation but decided to hold off because he had begun the term on a good footing. Midway through the second term, however, Bobby was placed on probation because of his continued poor grades (2 D’s and 3 E’s, the latter the equivalent of today’s F) and a request from his German instructor that he be removed from the course because of his slipshod performance and innumerable absences. His son’s failures prompted Arthur to begin writing to Henry A. Yeomans and other deans, a correspondence that lasted until 1917, when Bobby left the school. Arthur, and to a much lesser extent Posie, were used to intervening with deans on behalf of their sons, as Arthur Jr. and Philip had also performed poorly during their first two years there. To Arthur Sr., seeing his sons graduate from Harvard was of utmost importance, and he was determined that nothing, not even failing grades, would undermine his goal. His initial approach in Bobby’s case was to issue a plea for leniency on the grounds of his son’s various physical ailments—including colds, sore throats, viral infections, and “extreme growth . . . [which] retarded his power of concentration and ability to work.”³ Yeomans was most sympathetic, offering Bobby a friendly ear, recommending tutoring with members of Phi Beta Kappa, and emphasizing that only “perfect attendance . . . and the most faithful attention to business” would get him out of his mess.⁴ Posie added her voice as well. She had “no excuses to offer” for her son’s unsatisfactory start to his advanced education, except that he was...

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