World War II Resources in the Norwich Archives: University History

1937 June 5 –> Norwich trustees grant university president Porter Hartwell Adams' request for a leave of absence due to health concerns. Dr. John Martin Thomas is asked to step in as acting president.   

1938 June 4 –> A cornerstone ceremony is held for Cabot Hall, a new barracks intended to address a shortage of student housing. The building is renamed Dodge Hall in 1965.

1939 June 12 –> Porter Adams' resignation as Norwich University president is officially accepted by the Board of Trustees and John Martin Thomas is elected as his successor.

1939 September –> Flight training of Norwich cadets under Civil Aeronautics Authority (CAA) and Civilian Pilot Training Program (CPTP) is authorized and begins to to organize. CPTP training at Norwich continues until 1942.

1940 February –> Plans are announced to add a course of study in mechanical engineering the Norwich curriculum. Classes for freshmen start in Fall 1940 with upper-level instruction for juniors and seniors beginning in 1942.

1940 September –> Hawkins Hall, a second new barracks with a capacity of 104, reaches completion.

1941 January –> Norwich begins to offer specialized training to Vermonters employed in national defense industries through the Engineering, Science, and Management War Training Program (ESMWT). The program at Norwich reaches a total enrollment of over 1,000 by the time it is discontinued in July 1945. 

1941 June 9 –> Cornerstone ceremonies are held for two more new buildings, an electrical and civil engineering laboratory, later named Partridge Hall, and White Hall, a mess hall that is converted into a chapel and renamed White Memorial Chapel in 1956.

1942 February 23 –> Faculty vote to replace final exams for the senior class with additional military training in mechanization.

1942 September-October –> An ROTC Signal Corps unit is established at Norwich.

1942 October 9 –> The Norwich Guidon (student newspaper) announces plans for winter warfare training and an intensive course in Ranger training to be added to the Norwich curriculum.

1943 February 1943 –> A program for training aviation cadets in the Army Air Forces is established at Norwich University as the 56th College Training Detachment.

1943 March 27 –> Norwich University holds commencement early due to the imminent departure of the entire Corps of Cadets for active service. About 300 student soldiers from the Army Air Forces are already on campus and also attend. 

1943 May –> An initial group of about 170 engineering students in the Army Specialized Training Program (ASTP) are sent to Norwich for specialized training.

1943 July 5 –> Eighty eight students under 18 years of age enroll at Norwich, forming the university's new freshman class. A program of similar 17-year old freshman classes entering in July continues until the end of the war.   

1943 August –> The Army begins to send 17-year old students to to Norwich for pre-induction academic and military training through the Army Specialized Training Reserve Program (ASTRP).

1943 December 11 –> Norwich president John Martin Thomas asks the trustees to be relieved of his duties. He officially retires the following year on 1 May 1944.

1944 February 4 –> The Fledgling (student newspaper) announces that the 56th College Training Detachment at Norwich University will come to an end. Aviation cadets currently on campus will complete their training but no more new students will arrive. 

1944 February 5 –> Norwich trustees approve a plan for a Junior Cadet Corps, composed of young men who have not finished high school and wish to receive military training while completing their secondary education, to begin in July.

1944 April –> With the exception of some advanced engineering students, college-level training in the Army Specialized Training Program (ASTP) at Norwich ends.

1944 May 1 –> The last aviation cadets from the Army Air Forces to be trained at Norwich depart campus.

1944 May 13 –> Homer Levi Dodge is elected Norwich University's next president, assuming his new duties on August 1st.

1944 July 5 –> An optional accelerated program, allowing graduation in three years for cadets pursuing an engineering or liberal arts course, is introduced.    

1944 August 6 –> Although there are no regular commencement ceremonies, Norwich celebrates its 125th anniversary with speakers including Under Secretary of War Robert P. Patterson.

1945 March 31 –> At a war-time commencement diplomas are awarded to twenty-seven members of the Junior Cadet Corps for completion of their college preparatory course. Baccalaureate degrees for five students who completed their studies at other colleges are also conferred.

1945 August –> Homer Dodge outlines plans for veterans at Norwich and encourages their return in an article in the Norwich Record (alumni magazine). Over 1,200 World War II veterans are educated on campus from 1945-1950, including veterans not engaging in any military training and a "Veterans Cadet Corps" participating in the ROTC program.

1946 April-May –> Trailers obtained from the Federal Public Housing Authority serve as housing for married student veterans and their families. Seventeen additional two-family prefabricated houses are completed later in 1946 and 1947.

1946 June 8 –> A "Victory Commencement" at Norwich features Army Chief of Staff General Dwight Eisenhower and an address in support of the fledgling United Nations.

1947 April –> Norwich announces the acquisition of an activities building or "student union" through the Federal Works Agency. The following year structures for housing armored vehicles and supporting mountain and cold weather warfare training are acquired through the same source. 

1947 June 9 –> General Jacob L. Devers speaks at Norwich University's commencement. Following his visit, he supports Norwich as a location for mountain and winter warfare training.

1947 August –> Mountain and Cold Weather training at Norwich is approved by the Department of the Army. 

1948 February 12 –> National Defense Conference is held at Norwich with speakers including General J. Lawton Collins, Admiral Louis E. Denfeld, and Lieutenant General Idwal H. Edwards.

1948 June-July –> Following the transition from mounted cavalry to armored cavalry in 1947, the university's horses are sold or donated to other colleges and plans made for the Taylor Riding Hall to be converted into a hockey arena.

1950 February 1 –> Homer Levi Dodge retires from his position as president of Norwich University.

1958 June 7 –>Medal of Honor recipient, James Montross Burt, speaks at the dedication of the "Norwich Memorial Tank," later known as Sabine Sally. The tank, which was acquired from Camp Drum, New York, and never saw action was intended as a memorial to World War II alumni who served in armored divisions of the U.S. Army.