Ahead of the Curve: David Baltimore's Life in Science

TWO: SWARTHMORE

Two S W A R T H M O R E Why else was the pause prolonged but that singing might issue thence.? C O V E R E P I G R A P H O F HALCYOIV Swarthmore Collegeyearbook, 1960 SWARTHMORE COLLEGE IS SNUGGLED in a quaint town outside Philadelphia . When Baltimore arrived, the streets were narrow and wooded, and the few small bridges were made of stone. The thousand students referred to the town beyond the college as "the Village" or simply "the Vil." The campusitselflookedborrowedpartly from the English countryside and partly from a Virginia plantation. It was the kind of place where, in the spring, once the chill left the air, professors sometimes held classes beneath a fragrant magnoliaor near a patch of floweringlilacs. Parrish Hall, which housed the president's offices and the student center, sat at the top of a broad, gently sloping meadow, and the dormitories and academic halls radiated from Parrish to the wooded corners of the campus. Cold Crum Creek and a narrow forest created a natural borderland for the campus from north to west, and the Philadelphiacommuter rail line and Swarthmorestation sliced across the campus's southern edge. West of Parrish Hall was Scott Amphitheater, perhaps the campus's most famous landmark: an outdoor theater embraced by birch, oaks, and dogwoods. The grassy floor was perforated intermittently by white oaks standing like stone pillars, sprouting scores of leafy branches that wove themselves into a living canopy floating above the audience . At commencement, the dogwood trees and a thousand rhododendrons bloomed, carpeting the campus with red, cream, and pink petals. Swarthmore was equally renowned for its politics. It was, and is, perhaps the most liberal college in America.* In 1996the gaffiti in the men's bathroom stallswas limited to magic marker peace signs and "Register to vote!" exhortations; the most vulgar epithet was "N.R.A., neurotics rave agitatedly ." In 1956,during Baltimore's freshman year, a free-speech controversy raged over the cancellation of an appearance by Alger Hiss, six years after he was convicted of perjury after being tried for Communist espionage and treason. It was also one of the few places in America where people openly questioned the Korean War. In David's junior year, Swarthmore protested the National Defense Education Act because it required students to take a loyalty oath and sign an affidavit stating "that he does not believe in [emphasis added] and is not a member of and does not support any organization that believes in or teaches, the overthrow of the United States government by force orviolenceor by any illegal or unconstitutional methods." Swarthmore objected to the legislation of thought, and Swarthmore's president decried the Act as "un-American." Baltimore's liberalism was mainstream at Swarthmore. David started out at Swarthmore in the male freshman dorm, Wharton Hall. Finding the rooms small and his roommate a bore, he set about obtaining better accommodations. No matter that freshmen were supposed to live in the freshman dorm, no matter that the Swarthmore administration frowned on attempts to change dorm rooms during the year. David soon discovered a huge room in the upperclass dorm Mary Lyons that was being vacated by a couple of students moving off campus. Mary Lyonswas situated across the railroad tracks and about half a mile away from the main campus. The room was a double, so Baltimore needed a roommate. He had made a few friends on his hallway in Wharton, so he asked around to see if he could convince anyone to join him, and Detmar Finke leaped at the chance. In January, David and Detmar moved into their new attic room, about twice the size of the freshman doubles. It had direct access to a fire escape, so that they could slip out without the dorm proctor seeing, and women could sneak up the three rickety flights into their room. One of the reasons Swarthmore enjoyed such popularity among students in the 1950swas that it was the only top college that was truly coeducational. Nevertheless, this was the mid-fifties, and women were not allowed in the Swarthmore men's dorm.Alcoholwas also forbidden.The fire escape immediatelybecame Det- 'Its rival, Reed College in Oregon, might contend that only a friendly game of ultimate Frisbee can settle the matter. mar and David's window to freedom. As Detmar recalled, "Women were just as important in our lives...