ESMWT.
Clarkson also had another program underway to help the war effort. During the
month of June 1941, the US office of Education, through the agency of the College, began the
operation of adult industrial training in Northern New York under the title of Engineering,
Science, and Management War Training (ESMWT). This program offered a series of defense
courses designed specifically for industrial employment with no attempt made toward broad
education.
A high school education, or its equivalent, was required for admission to these courses,
and only such subjects were included as deemed necessary by industry. They were entirely free
of expense except for the cost of texts.
The program served two specific purposes: the pre-employment training of adults for
new positions in industry, and the upgrading of people already employed by industry. A course
in the Fundamentals of Radio, for example, covered subject matter which prepared the students
not only for employment, but also for specific service in the Signal Corps, Marine Corps, or Air
Corps.
Over time, this program grew to offer courses not only in Potsdam, but also in
Watertown, Carthage, Massena, Malone, Saranac Lake, Dannemora, Elizabethtown, Tupper
Lake, Ogdensburg, Gouverneur, Lowville, Plattsburgh, and Champlain. At its peak it taught 32
courses to 1,600 people, and employed 152 teachers in the 14 training centers across the top of
New York State. During its war-years' life, this program enrolled 5,389 students under the able
coordination of Prof. Powers and the US Department of Education. Dr. Powers' office
maintained a separate office requiring two men and three secretaries for the administration and
supervision of these courses and for providing information to those interested in this work. It
cost the Federal Government over half a million dollars for this program.
Because this work had to be carried on during the evenings, both Profs. Powers and
Farrisee taught full schedules of courses during the day in Potsdam, and then helped teach the
other courses elsewhere between 4:00 p.m and midnight.
Particular emphasis was placed on the training of qualified women, as they were highly
needed by industry during the war. One particularly popular course on the elements of electrical
engineering enrolled five young women as well. In laboratory class one evening, these women
were told that they really couldn't be engineers unless they smoked pipes. At the next
laboratory, these five smoked pipes during the entire period. One of these women, Ann Peck,
sister of Clarkson alumnus George Peck '37, went on to become a highly placed and well-
respected researcher at General Electric Company.
The business administration department offered additional courses as theneed arose:
W-1 Industrial Purchasing, Stores, and Inventory Control
W-2 Shop Supervision
W-3 Executive Supervision
W-4 Office Management
W-5 Time and Motion Study
W-6 Job Analysis
Norman Rea Prize.
Norman L. Rea '01, superintendent of electrical installations at General
Electric in Schenectady, offered an annual prize of a $25 Defense Bond or $25 cash to the
member of the graduating class chosen by a special committee of the faculty as having attained
