Comments from the Former History Chair

Professor John C. Pflaum taught History at Dickinson College from 1946 to 1972. This year the John C. Pflaum Memorial Lecture took place on Wednesday, March 28, 2001. I thought it would be a good idea to share some recollections recently submitted by alumni. Thank you for sending these wonderful stories.

Pflaum Memories

Surely someone will remember the time in Prof. Pflaum's European History class (probably in 1952) when he was lamenting at great length the dolorous results of a test when Ted Adourian pulled from under his desk a violin and began to play with feeling "Hearts and Flowers."

What I remember most about Professor Pflaum is his personal interest in each student. He cared about his students and how they performed and he was interested in their lives outside class. One semester I had lunch with him on a regular basis at a small luncheonette around the corner from Denny Hall. We both enjoyed talking about all kinds of things while we ate our sandwiches. In class the most memorable thing was his booming voice and this was particularly effective in recounting biographical stories about virtually every character who entered his lectures. He was clearly one of the best teachers I have ever seen perform and his students truly loved him, even though he was a challenging grader.

I am a 1968 graduate, and a history major. I was in the Phi Delta Theta fraternity, which, during that period, was not the most, shall we say, academically integrated into the Dickinson community. Fortunately, one brave soul agreed to be our fraternity's faculty advisor--John Pflaum. And thus was born a curious bond. Despite our woeful academic performance elsewhere, we tried our best for Professor Pflaum. We stayed up all night to learn his "hairfacts." And we attended his classes (reinforced, no doubt, by his rigid cut policy). There we would be, in the back of his classes, sometimes six Phis at a time. The Professor would bounce into class, attired in his vest-of-the-day, and frequently observe our presence, which he dubbed the "Macedonian Phalanx."
Well, a Pflaum course represented a large commitment, and I had taken two of them. Then in my junior year my friend and fraternity brother Lew Miller persuaded me to take a third: 20th Century European History. It was an early class to boot, but after much discussion and cajoling by Lew, I relented and signed on for the course. One morning, after a particularly late night, I was ready to stay in bed. It was a beautiful May morning, the birds were singing, and a soft breeze streamed through my bedroom. It was a morning made for sleeping. But fortunately Lew was there, and dragged me out of bed.
That morning Professor Pfaum began the lecture, which focused on World War II and the German invasion of the west after the surrender of Poland and the ensuing several month "Sitzkrieg." He began his discussion, and then paused. Perhaps it was the beauty of the morning. Perhaps he did this in all of his 20th Century European History classes. But after the pause, he began to recite his personal experience of that invasion. He had been in Holland, and was caught up in the Allied retreat from the German onslaught. For the rest of the class he paced the classroom, describing his memories of that terrible time. Back and forth he walked, sometimes pausing and cocking his head, as if to ensure that he was bringing to his recollection the detail with which he imparted all of his history. I was spellbound. This was more than history--he made it seem as if the events had happened yesterday.
Although my profession is the law, I have spent my leisure time since graduation reading and studying history. When I see old Phi Delts, we always exchange tales of the Professor. And when Lew Miller and I get together, as we often do, we frequently think about that magical class in the Spring of 1967, when a great professor made history particularly come alive for us.
Thanks for the opportunity to submit this recollection.

Professor Pflaum was certainly among my favorite of professors at Dickinson College. I'm sure that my experiences paralleled those of many other students in terms of the "war stories," if you will, of learning from and interacting with him. One of my fondest experiences at the College was our trip to Gettysburg and tour of the battlefield.
The first class session of the first course in which I enrolled with Professor Pflaum started in what perhaps was a traditional way and perhaps has been related by many other alumni. His first question to the class was "who are the three most famous of JCs in history?" A bright, cocky senior, as I recall, stood up and said: "Sir, the three most famous JCs in history are--Jesus Christ, Julius Caesar, and John Christian Pflaum--and not necessarily in that order.
Throughout the courses that I took with him, he never failed to add to this by identifying in Civil War history or World War I history those other individuals who were "JCs" and whether they contributed to the honor of the initials (John C. Breckenridge, Calhoun and so forth).

There are a million JC Pflaum stories! Here are a few from the late 1960's and early 1970's:
On his American History tests you were always asked to list the "Great J.C.'s of history." You got credit for the following: Jesus Christ, Julius Caesar, John C. Fremont, John C. Calhoun, John C. Pflaum!
Professor Pflaum always called the processional of the President and Faculty in their gowns "The Macedonian Phalanx."
Those of us who did independent study with him on the civil war were "treated" to rides in his cadillac convertible. The Professor would go tearing down back roads pointing with both hands and steering with his knees (if at all!) while pointing out where Jubal Early's cavalry went or where Lee watered his horses. On several occasions we almost ended up in the ditch and once we did go roaring into a cow pasture.
The good Professor was devoted to a Cemetary Association in Philly whose Board meetings he served as secretary for. He said that he was ensuring a good place of rest for himself!

I graduated in '73 and took every course Pflaum taught. I was somewhat of a "legacy", as we used to say at the fraternity house, since my brother in law (and now law partner, Sam Asbell 66') was another of Pflaum's devotees and made my connection with JC my freshman year with that relation.
Now, any Pflaum story is really not adequately told without resort to the high pitched nasal voice was so distinctive and I know that it will "lose something in the translation" unless a designated Pflaum story teller is on hand to assist. Since I can't make the lecture on March 28th, I cannot assist. With that introduction, let me list a few of my favorites.
Sophmore Year, Civil War, Spring, 1971: The highlight of this course was known to be a personal tour of the Gettysburg battlefield by none other than JC himself. After we studied the course of the battle through course books and lecture, we arranged for a car caravan down to the battlefield on a Saturday afternoon. As we proceeded through the
tour of the battlefield we came to the area overlooking Devil's Den, a pile of flat topped rocks overlooking a chasm with a sharp drop off. As he was describing the scene at the time of the battle, he paused and smiled. "You know", he said, several years ago I had a student of mine who I knew well come out here for this trip. I think he was a little inebriated though because when we got to this very spot he walked out out onto the edge of the rocks and told me he thought he'd try to jump off!" As he said this Pflaum turned to me and said "Andy, I think that was your brother-in-law"--which indeed it was!
Of course there is the most common Pflaum story relating to his first two names, "John Christian" or "JC". In each course he could always sneak in the question of the great "JCs" of history. Beginning with Jesus Christ, J.C. Calhoun, J.C Breckenridge and, of course, J. C. Pflaum.
Pflaum's method of instruction differed from almost every professor I encountered in college or law schools. He had a unique ability to personalize history, whether discussing the invasion of Italy by a Holy Roman Emperor in the middle ages or his experiences in Germany just a few days before the onset of World War II. He tought me how to critically view a history book. I still look at historical non-fiction by turning to the bibliography first to see the author's sources and then look at the jacket cover or chapter summaries. His famous "map tests" which required us to purchase "blank" maps of the region of the world we were studying, and then locating places on the maps served two purposes: First, the test did not just require you to locate a particular place or battle, but required you to answer the question, first to determine the right place. Next, one had to place a "dot" and locate the place or battle within a quarter inch of the correct place on the blank map. I really don't recall if that seemed pedantic at the time but in retrospect it allows me to amaze my children in their own studies. Well, not really amaze, perhaps a grudging acknowlegment of some small degree of expertise.
I probably could run on for much longer but will spare you.

My best Pflaum story (2 parts): Throughout the term, I had managed to get an 89 on every exam, book report, etc. The Saturday before midterms, I broke my collarbone playing rugby. So I visited the great JC and told him I couldn't write. He said no problem, I could take an oral exam. So the afternoon of the exam, I showed up at his office for the oral exam, and another guy showed up as well. The great JC asked each one of several questions, we dutifully answered, and after about an hour, he ended the exam. Then he said, in that unique voice, "Well, Brother Borger (I am a Phi Delt, and the great JC was our house advisor), it looks like you got an 89, and Mr. __________, it looks like you got a 73." Now how can you get an 89 (or a 73) on an oral exam? An 85, a 90, a 75 - but an 89 or a 73? And yes, the other fellow had gotten 73's consistently throughout the term!
Same course, final exam - I happened to be visiting the great JC to discuss which history course(s) I should take the following semester. I then asked him how well I would have to do on the final to get a A in the course. He opened his book, examined my grades so far, and responded, again in that wonderful voice of his, "Well, Brother Borger, it looks like you've got an 89 going into the final. With everything weighted properly, it looks like you'll need about a 96 on the final to get an A, and you know how difficult my finals can be!" So then I asked him, "What do I have get on the exam to get a B?", and he responded, "Well, I think if you put your name on the blue book, you'll get a B!".
So the night before the exam, believing that I had no shot at an A, and that I had a lock on a B, I went to a Jethro Tull concert, and had a really good time. The next morning, I got up at 8:00, studied for two hours, and took the exam at 10:00. I must have studied the right material, because, when final grades arrived at home that summer, I was stunned to see that I got an A in the course!

 

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