{"id":729,"date":"2012-02-22T21:28:44","date_gmt":"2012-02-22T21:28:44","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/social.rollins.edu\/wpsites\/libraryarchives\/?p=729"},"modified":"2020-02-24T13:09:32","modified_gmt":"2020-02-24T13:09:32","slug":"celebrating-presidents-day","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.rollins.edu\/libraryarchives\/2012\/02\/22\/celebrating-presidents-day\/","title":{"rendered":"Celebrating Presidents’ Day"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

In honor of Washington’s Birthday and Presidents’ Day, we remember past presidents who have visited Rollins.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Calvin Coolidge, January 1930<\/em><\/p>\n

From left to right:\u00a0 Rollins President Hamilton Holt, Mary E. Bacheller, Grace Coolidge, President Coolidge, Alexina Holt (wife of Pres. Holt), and Irving Bacheller<\/em><\/p>\n

Hamilton Holt promised that the former President (widely known as “Silent Cal”) would not be asked to speak or accept an honorary degree if he came to Rollins.\u00a0\u00a0 This prompted one newspaper to comment that “Calvin Coolidge, past president of the United States, wrote yet another chapter in the legend of his taciturnity” with his visit to campus. \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 The Coolidges attended a program in the College’s recreation hall, where they heard some “delightfully whimsical reminiscences” from trustee Irving Bacheller, a speech from Hamilton Holt, and a performance by the Rollins string quintet.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a> \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 <\/em><\/p>\n

Franklin Roosevelt, 1936 <\/em><\/p>\n

President Roosevelt accepts an honorary Rollins degree from Hamilton Holt, accompanied by Military Aide Col. E. M. Watson and Eleanor Roosevelt<\/em><\/p>\n

The Roosevelts were longtime friends of Hamilton Holt (called “Hammy” by FDR).\u00a0 A local columnist wrote that “the First Lady was graciousness personified,” and the President “was in a happy vein. . . In his speech which was largely serious, he took occasion to crack a few jokes that brought a ready response from the packed Chapel” (Winter Park Herald<\/em>, 3\/27\/1936).\u00a0 One such happy moment seems to have been captured by the New York Herald Tribune<\/em> (below):<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a> \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 <\/em><\/p>\n

Harry Truman, 1949<\/em><\/p>\n

President Truman sets his stone in the Walk of Fame, accompanied by Hamilton Holt
\n<\/em><\/p>\n

In January 1949, Hamilton Holt wrote to President Truman, telling him that this would be his last year at Rollins and going on to say, “When you first became President you remember that you promised to come here and let Rollins honor itself by conferring upon you an honorary degree.”\u00a0 Truman kept his promise, accepting his degree before giving a brief address, in which he stated that “America’s hope, and the hope of the world, is in education.”<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a> \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 <\/em><\/p>\n

Ronald Reagan, 1976<\/em><\/p>\n

A student presents Nancy Reagan with roses, in honor of the Reagans’ wedding anniversary
\n<\/em><\/p>\n

While campaigning for the 1976 Republican nomination, Ronald Reagan and his wife, Nancy, visited Rollins, appearing before a crowd of 2,200 at the Enyart-Alumni Field House.\u00a0 This was the date of their 24th wedding anniversary, which they celebrated at Winter Park’s Langford Hotel.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

The Reagans, as featured in <\/em>The Sandspur (3\/19\/1976)<\/em><\/p>\n

We have been honored to welcome these leaders to our campus.\u00a0 Happy Presidents’ Day!<\/p>\n

~ by D. Moore, Archival Specialist<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In honor of Washington’s Birthday and Presidents’ Day, we remember past presidents who have visited Rollins. Calvin Coolidge, January 1930 From left to right:\u00a0 Rollins President Hamilton Holt, Mary E. Bacheller, Grace Coolidge, President Coolidge, Alexina Holt (wife of Pres. Holt), and Irving Bacheller Hamilton Holt promised that the former President (widely known as “Silent…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":375613,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[8,38,87,114,136,150,171,231,261,267,301],"class_list":["post-729","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-alexina-holt","tag-calvin-coolidge","tag-eleanor-roosevelt","tag-franklin-roosevelt","tag-grace-coolidge","tag-harry-truman","tag-irving-bacheller","tag-nancy-reagan","tag-president-hamilton-holt","tag-presidents-day","tag-ronald-reagan","wpcat-1-id"],"post_mailing_queue_ids":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.rollins.edu\/libraryarchives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/729","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.rollins.edu\/libraryarchives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.rollins.edu\/libraryarchives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.rollins.edu\/libraryarchives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.rollins.edu\/libraryarchives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=729"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.rollins.edu\/libraryarchives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/729\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":376238,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.rollins.edu\/libraryarchives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/729\/revisions\/376238"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.rollins.edu\/libraryarchives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/375613"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.rollins.edu\/libraryarchives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=729"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.rollins.edu\/libraryarchives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=729"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.rollins.edu\/libraryarchives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=729"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}