April 2019
The History Corner
by David Mostardi, Club Historian
Once Upon A Hillside: 25, 50, 75 and 100 years ago
April 1919
Social Evening: “An Evening of Music in the Drawing Room.” Mr. and Mrs. Bliss Cayenne and Mrs. Pepper entertained, and what a delightful time we “Peeping Toms” had. Peeking through the windows we saw and heard all that was going on: the cook’s excitement over the arrival of the refreshments, not to mention a mild flirtation between Marie, the little French maid, and one of the guests; and we all felt that the “Drawing Room” would not have been a success without the efficient services of Simplex, the butler. The Cayennes were fortunate in having so many talented people among their guests for, in the lapse of conversation, and in order to keep things from lagging, a musical program was rendered most charmingly and was highly appreciated.
April 1944
Fireside Meeting: The program will be presented by Mr. Lester Uren, Professor of Petroleum Engineering at the University of California. His subject will be “Our Future Supply of Oil.” Professor Uren is a world authority on matters pertaining to petroleum. We hope that he will have words of cheer and comfort for us regarding the amount of petroleum and its products that will be available for our use in the years to come. [Lester Uren (1888-1960) was born in Grass Valley, California and spent his entire academic life at UC Berkeley. He developed the country's first full curriculum in petroleum engineering in 1915. This, coupled with his 1924 textbook on petroleum engineering, led to his title of “father of petroleum engineering education.”]
April 1969
Fireside Meeting: This is a critical time for Berkeley. There are some very serious problems for the City Manager and the City Council to solve. To give us a better understanding of these problems and how the city Government proposes to handle them, Mr. William C. Hanley, the City Manager, has agreed to be our guest speaker. He has selected for his subject, “Berkeley, 1969 and the Decade Ahead.” At this critical period for our City a non-political analysis of current city problems is appropriate and should be of great interest to the Club. [On 12 December 1971, the New York Times reported: “William C. Hanley, the City Manager of Berkeley who has come under steady attack by radical City Council members, announced his resignation today. Mr. Hanley said he was resigning because of ‘the necessity for a high degree of rapport between the City Manager and a majority of City Council members.’ Four members of the eight-member City Council, including Mayor Warren Widener, has called for Mr. Hanley’s resignation. All four were elected in an upset victory of radical candidates last April. The radicals have called for the abolition of the city manager form of government, saying that it is unresponsive.”]
April 1994
Fireside Meeting: Dr. David K. Leonard will address the Hillside Club on “Recent Political and Economic Developments in Africa.” Dr. Leonard is in the Department of Political Science and is a researcher in the Center for African Studies at the University of California, Berkeley. [Dr. Leonard is now Professor Emeritus at Cal.]