W.F.G. Thacher To Leave University
After 33 Years of Literary Teaching
By BARBARA HEY WOOD
“I hope I will have time to do
some writing now, myself,” said'
W.F.G. Thacher, professor of Eng
lish, who is retiring in June from
33 years of teaching University of
Oregon students advertising and
■writing.
Thacher, who owns a shelf of
books either dedicated or inscribed
to him by 13 authors, came to the
University in 1914 when Friendly
hall was a dormitory, Fenton hall
the library, and the buildings on
the new campus non-existant with
the exception of Mary Spiller hall,
and the president’^ house.
Before this time, he had been
associate editor of the “Pacific
Monthly,” a now defunct mag
azine, and had done advertising
work. He had also taught English
at Portland academy, and in Jack
son high school, Jackson, Mich-,
igan, where he met a young music
student just back from her piano
studies in Vienna with Les
chetizky.
She later became his wife, the
present Mrs. Jane Thacher, pro
fessor of music at the University.
Thacher had graduated from
Princeton university in 1902, and
1907 received his masters degree
from there.
was at uo in ]«14
“The University was very differ
ent in 1914,” reminisced Thacher.
“There were only 700 students,
and I knew almost every one by
name. The students did not seem
so serious as those today, until
the first World War brought a
feeling of unrest to the campus.”
Elis writing classes after the war
manifested the cynicism and dis
illusionment of the times, said
Thacher, but some of his most suc
cessful writers went to school dur
ing this period.
Although Thacher has always
been affiliated with the English
department, his work, on account
of advertising and short story
writing, has been on the journal
istic side. He was one of the four
professors who occupied the four
rooms which comprised the old
Shack in which the school of jour
nalism was housed while waiting
for the present building to be
erected. Making his alliance with
this department even closer, his
younger daughter, Janet, married
Vinton Hall, 1930-31 Emerald edi
tor.
many magazines, irom "Auanuc
Monthly" to “Triple X” have pub
lished fiction works and articles
by Thacher.
Held World War I Commission
Thacher and the United States
army have brushed elbows several
times. During the World Wax' I
he was commissioned a second
—lieutenant, and was personal ad
jutant of the Student Army Train
ing Corps at the University of
Oregon. His promotion to rank of
first lieutenant was waiting for
signature, so it never came
through.
Thacher said laughingly that he
still feels very bitter about this
circumstance. In World War H,
Thacher, as a field officer, taught
for a year in a University at Shriv
enham, England, established by
the U.S. army for the higher edu
cation of men who had come out
of combat. Thacher loves England,
and would like to return there
sometime. Nostalgicaly he de
scribed the rolling downs, the
copses, ruined castles, and lanes
near Shrivenham, and said the oc
casional U.S. army ammunition
dumps or quonset huts formed a
jarring contrast.
Ideas Come While Gardening
“I really haven’t thought much
*about what I shall do after I re
tire," ’the 70-year-old professor
said. “I shall always have some
project on my hands, and then, I
enjoy puttering around the house.
Often very good writing ideas
come to me while working in the
W. F. G. THACHER . . .
will retire in June after 33 years’ service to the University.
i
garden. i nacner said wnen ne
was younger he had intended when j
he retired to bring back the scenes
of his childhood by raising a gar
den and chickens in the country—
but not in Oregon.
He has given up this idea now.
At present Thacher is working on
the script for the pageant held
every three years at the Oregon
county fairgrounds, for which he
has written all the scripts since
1026. He will also go to Chicago
this summer on business connect
ed with Alpha Delta Sigma, na
ti ' ■ 1 professional advertising hon
or.1 of which he is national
hea ’.
Hat !ers Plan Big Meet
(Continued from page one)
‘ Reta changes in Readjustment
Period.' Raymond L. Miller of
Forest Grove will give the address.
“Fa: ‘ ai.i Unfair Trade Practice
Lav. :,” v.be the topic of the
3 p. n. conference, with the ad
dress to Lr. given by Professor
Robert <7. l i e of Montana State
university.
Open ci.: 'ons will follow
each spec ii.
At 4 p. i.i. questions will be ans
wered by the r . ration box commit
tee, in which c'jsru.rsion of various
problems wili ta.hc place.
The conference v ill not only'
deal with the prob’onts of the mer- i
chants, but will a.Vo give the stu- ’
dents a chance to . tudy the prob
lems to be dealt ’. ith i.i the con
ference, and to give them an op
portunity to get in teach with the
merchants.
Phi Chi Theta, women’s business
administration fraternity, will as- j
sist with the registration.
Iran is the official name of Per
sia. The people refer to them
selves as Irania.
M
Neuberger Lashes Frustration
Of Journalists; Offers Remedies
By BOBOLEE BROPHY
Every person in the newspaper profession should strive
toward integrity in the press and reinstate the newspaper in the
eyes of the American people, Richard L. Neuberger, Oregon
writer and lecturer, said Thursday evening in his speech before
the Theta Sigma Phi Matrix Table in the Eugene hotel.
We do not have free press anyplace if news is suppressed
whether by government, advertisers, or publishers,” Neuberger
saiu. 11 newspapers nave lost
caste it is their own fault because
they have made the people mis
trust them.”
Neuberger pointed out that pub
lishers who have not been profes
sionally trained are controlling
newspapers for financial gain and
are killing stories which will
offend big business and advertis
ers.
In his travels around Oregon,
Neuberger said he had met many
intelligent newspapermen “frus
trated in their desire to help the
people of their community” be
cause many of their stories “die on
the publishers’ desks.” This cre
ates a situation in which profes
Cut' Show
(Continued from page one)
University library. He said that
dramatic possibility was a large
factor in selecting scripts to be
broadcast.
/ Marvin A. Krenk, instructor in
speech and drama, earlier ex
plained that many types of dramas
had been broadcast on “The Uni
versity Hour.”
Sports staff this issue:
A1 Pietschman
Wally Hunter
Don Fair
George Skorney j
Advertising Staff:
Day Manager:
Kit Wilhelm
Solicitor:
Jim Ivory
Layout
Miriam Sullivan
Marge PgterseS IkXISIlll
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sional people are unable to per
form the work for which they
wei'e trained, the writer said.
As possible solutions for this sit
uation, Neuberger suggested the
staff ownership of newspapers so
that the people who actually do
the work on papers can control the
stock. Another solution proposed
that the great universities of the
country should publish the news
papers.
Neuberger urged the students to
have faith in themselves and to
broaden the horizons of their pro
fession.
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