Durability of Doctor Sockman
The popular pastor outlasted every other Hall of Fame director in length of service: 21 years.
When Henry Heald resigned as Chancellor in 1956 (the 7th year of Sockman), he was succeeded by a reputable mathematician, author of math textbooks — Carroll Newsom — with the new title of President. Like Heald, Newsom was primarily an educator. A strong champion of flexibility, he had urged a system of 1 – 2 – 3 – year college programs and was instrumental in the spread of community colleges across the nation.
Newsom soon discovered that the presidency was no featherbed. Finding the job “a very heavy administrative burden,” he resigned after what the NYU trustees called five fruitful years,” to pursue what he called his “natural interest.” Whether that interest was natural acquired, he must have been good at it, for in the end he had two dozen honorary degrees.
Except for his brief “greetings” to participants in installation ceremonies during his term of office, Newsom left no record in the NYU archives of his relationship to the Hall of Fame. To some Hall watchers he was just another “bust.”
During Dr. Sockman’s administration there were also episodes of hanky-panky, alfresco. In January, 1959, the Hall, “possible the crowning glory of NYU uptown campus,” was burglarized. The bust of James Kent was taken from its pedestal, and a day or two later was found in front of the Lutheran Church of the Redeemer. The University announced that fraternity initiation season was in full swing. A few years later, General Grant was stolen. Said the press: “Getting into the Hall of Fame . . . is difficult. Getting out appears to be no trouble at all. General Ulysses Grant, a resident since 1923 has been missing.” He came back after “fraternity initiations.”
And one night in the merry month of May, 1967, fifty-eight sculptures were blindfolded. It has been since rumored that this was done to provide a more private ambiance for what was once described as “protracted spooning” in the Colonnade by young people on warm nights (The Hall of Fame at Night).