1944
Avery, McCarty, and McCleod reported discovering DNA as a hereditary agent in a virus.
Roosevelt presented Congress with a $99.8 billion budget. On June 6, the Allies under General
Eisenhower invaded Europe in Normandy and by August had liberated Paris. The first of the
German V-1 rockets hit London in June and the V-2 rockets in September. Roosevelt was
elected for an unprecedented fourth term as president. The Armed Forces used great quantities
of penicillin, sulfa drugs, and DDT to control diseases and infection. Woodward and Doering
at Harvard synthesized quinine to fight malaria. President Roosevelt signed the "G.I. Bill of
Rights," guaranteeing veteran's benefits in training, loans, and education. The St. Louis
Cardinals won a "subway" World Series as they defeated the St. Louis Browns in the sixth
game. Readers enjoyed Tennessee Williams'
The Glass Menagerie
and Somerset Maugham's
The Razor's Edge
. And Bing Crosby won an Oscar for
Going My Way
. On Christmas Eve,
Glenn Miller, popular band leader playing for the GIs, was reported missing over the English
Channel, and was never found. Immediately after creating a new military rank of five-star
general, the Senate promoted George C. Marshall, Douglas MacArthur, Dwight Eisenhower,
and Henry Arnold to those ranks.
• Commencement
• Rumor of Closing
• Airport
• Baseball Contract
• Alumni Association
• Rothermel, Pitcher
• William J. Lowe
• Draft Deferments
• "Lucky Dozen"
Commencement.
Clarkson held two Commencements, graduating 62 on February 13 and 24
on October 15. To ease the burden of parents travel- ling on working days, the College moved
its Commencement exercises to Sunday and have been holding them on Sundays ever since.
Airport.
In May, Clarkson purchased the Dullea farm, 176 acres of land along the Hopkinton
Road, one and one-quarter miles out of town to allow the construction of two 2,500-foot
runways for small and medium-sized planes to land.
Named for Trustee Ralph Damon, president of American Airlines, and later chairman of
Clarkson's Board of Trustees from 1945 until his death in 1956, this airport recognized a gift of
$10,000 to the College by Republic Aviation Corporation in appreciation of Damon's work at
Republic. During the war, he had been drafted by the government to render special service to
that aircraft corporation, and this gift from Republic was made when he left Republic and
returned to American Airlines as executive vice president and general manager.
For a hangar, the local CAP unit moved an old barn onto the 175-acre hay meadow; a
second building was moved nearby to become an office and control room. Two 1,800-foot
runways were laid out, graded, and rolled into good condition, and a gas tank and pump were
installed. In September, Damon Airport opened with a ceremony which included short flights
over Potsdam by visiting Civil Air Patrol pilots. The College deeded the airport to the village of
Potsdam on August 1, 1968.
