Wednesday, December 13, 1922

Beautiful, bright and cool. Arose 7:30 A.M. Breakfast, studied. Swept out room. Classes 9:30 to 11:30. Dinner. Worked 12 M to 2 P.M. Classes & chapel 2:15 to 4:45 P.M. Downstreet. Supper. Wrote letter to R.E.P. Studied. To bed 12:15 P.M. Thankful for health and friends.

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So, I guess he's still friends with Ruth Pettit, maybe looking forward to seeing her during the holidays.

Tuesday, December 12, 1922

Bright, cool, breezy and damp. Arose 7:15 A.M. Washed etc. Breakfast. Studied. Classes 9:30-11:30 A.M. Dinner. Worked 2 M to 2 P.M. Classes and chapel 2:15 to 4:45 P.M. Down street with H.H. Supper. To Prayer Meeting. S[t]udied. To bed 12:30 P.M. Thankful.

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Monday, December 11, 1922

Beautiful, bright, cool & clear. Arose 7:30 A.M. Breakfast etc. Wrote letters, studied etc. To Dinner. Worked 12 M to 2 P.M. Classes & chapel 2:15 to 4:45 P.M. Bishop Nielsen spoke on European and Russian situation. Supper. Volley ball. Shower. Mr. Arthur moved in. Studied. To bed 12 P.M.

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It seems that Stanford now has a roommate. Perhaps he will say more later about that.

I couldn't find any information on Bishop Nielsen, unfortunately.

Sunday, December 10, 1922

Bright, cold and breezy. Arose 9 A.M. Shaved, washed etc. Breakfast. To Harvard Chapel to Church. Dean Fenn spoke. Dinner. H.H. & I walked back from Cambridge. Took nap. Letter to Nellie. To Park Street Congregational in evening. Inspiring service. Talked. To bed 12:15 P.M.

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Dean Fenn

In 1922, William Wallace Fenn was the Dean of the Harvard School of Divinity, from whence he received his STD (Doctor of Sacred Theology) in 1908. 1922 was his last year as Dean, so Stanford may have seen one of Dean Fenn's last speeches, but Dr. Fenn continued on as a Harvard professor until his death at age 70 in 1932.

The Park Street Congregational Church is another historical church in Boston. This one was built in 1809 and has been the site of some notable historic events. Here is an excerpt from the Wikipedia article about the church that tells about some of those events:

In 1826 Edward Beecher, the brother of Harriet Beecher Stowe and son of Lyman Beecher, a notable abolitionist, became pastor of the church. On July 4, 1829, William Lloyd Garrison delivered his Address to the Colonization Society at Park Street, making his first major public statement against slavery. From 1829–1831 Lowell Mason, a notable Christian composer, served as choirmaster and organist. The church hosted the debut of My Country, 'Tis of Thee, also known as America, by Samuel Francis Smith on July 4, 1831.[7] Park Street also played a role in founding the First "Homeland" or American Mission to the then Sandwich Islands (now Hawaii), where that church still stands; the Handel and Haydn Society started there. Benjamin E. Bates, an industrialist who founded Bates College in Maine in 1855, was a Sunday school teacher and active attendant of Park Street in the mid-19th century. In 1857–58 evangelist, Charles Finney led a revival at Park Street which led the pastor, Andrew Leete Stone, to experience a spiritual awakening.

Below are two pictures of the church, early (19th C.) and late (2006). You can see how the church was almost alone on the street in the early days, whereas now it is surrounded by buildings that dwarf its distinctive steeple. Both images are from the Wikipedia article.

Saturday, December 9, 1922

Bright and mild. Wet & slushy. Arose 7:30 A.M. Breakfast etc. Studied in library. To dinner. Worked 12 M to 2 P.M. Down street with H.H. To "72." Played volley [ball]. Shower. To supper with E.F.S. To market. Read & studied. Talked. To bed 11:45 P.M. Thankful.

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Friday, December 8, 1922

Overcast, cool & slushy. 2 or 3 inches of snow in night. Arose 7:30 A.M. Breakfast. Shaved, washed etc. Studied. Classes 9:30-11:30 A.M. Dinner. Worked at Ginter Co. Band Box Luncheonette, 32 Tremont street 12 M. to 2 P.M. Down street with H.H. Xmas shopping. Supper. Studied. To see Jackie Coogan in "Oliver Twist," with Ernest F. Steinkraus. To bed 11:45 P.M.

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I'm not sure whether the Band Box Luncheonette was a place different from Ginter's restaurant, but here is what 32 Tremont looks like these days (now the home of CitiDental):

As for the movie, Oliver Twist, starring Jackie Coogan and Lon Chaney. The movie is based on the book of the same name by Charles Dickens. The version Stanford and Ernest watched was the latest of a number of productions prior to 1922. Here is some information about the film from Turner Classic Movies:

The busiest year for Oliver Twist movies was 1922, when versions from both Germany and Hollywood reached the screen. The star of the American edition was Jackie Coogan, eight years old and already a seasoned performer with eight pictures under his belt (including The Kid [1921], the Charles Chaplin dramedy that made him a star) plus his own company, Jackie Coogan Productions, to produce some of his films. Oliver Twist was the company's third venture - released by First National Pictures, directed by the hugely prolific Frank Lloyd, and featuring Lon Chaney, the master of makeup and menace, as Fagin, one of Dickens's most memorable villains. At a brisk 74 minutes, it leaves out countless details of Dickens's novel; but it makes up in colorful acting and creative cinematic touches what it lacks in Dickensian length.

Now that I have a full name for Mr. Steinkraus, I can see that he is probably a student at BUST with Stanford, and is probably the Ernest Frank Steinkraus who was born in Germany in 1887. He was a naturalized citizen by the time he registered for the draft in 1919, and was living in Cleveland as a student. By 1920 he was still in Cleveland, living with his father and presumably still going to school. By 1930 he was living in Buffalo with his wife, Florence, his daughter, Dorothy, and his widowed father, Herman. His occupation was clergyman for the Methodist Church. He continues to work in that profession, moving by 1934 to Bridgeport, Connecticut where he was pastor of the German Methodist Episcopal Church, founded in 1881. In 1952 it was merged with the Summerfield United Methodist Church, one of the two Methodist Churches left in Bridgeport. By 1940, Rev. Steinkraus had two more children; he died in Woodbury, CT at age 77 in 1965.

Thursday, December 7, 1922

Overcast and cool. Snow at nite. Arose 7 A.M. Breakfast. Studied. Class 9:30 to 10:30. Day of Prayer. Dr. Goodell spoke in A.M. and P.M. Very good. Worked 12 M to 2 P.M. Read. Supper. Talked with Dean Beebe. Supper. To [bed] 11:30 P.M. Thankful for Christian training.

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What would Stanford think if he knew about the Reverend's philandering past? Would he reject him?

I wasn't able to find any reference to a Day of Prayer on December 7th, but it will become a national day of mourning in less than 20 years.