Saturday, November 29, 1919

Mild fall day with some rain in P.M. Up 9:30 A.M. Down town. Bought shoes etc. Took nap in P.M. Candled eggs etc. Down town at night to bowl with Ruth, Wilber Hayes, Hanford and Dot Gallup. To bed 11 P.M. Thankful for health, education, friends etc.

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I guess bowling was pretty popular in those days!

Friday, November 28, 1919

Cool fall day. Out on business with Father till noon. Out on hike in P.M. H.H., Lew Larkin, Merlin Finch, Russell Norris and I! At end of Campbell Ave [something] line. Fine time. Bowled game and a half with Church league. HHes 131 Me 191.

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I couldn't figure out what word Stanford was writing in that space I've indicated with the brackets. It looks like car, but then that doesn't make sense to me--car line? What's that? There is currently a nature trail on Campbell Road as well as a park, but I don't know if either were there then. It could refer to a railroad line, I guess.

Any readers have a clue? Please advise.

Thursday, November 27, 1919

Beautiful bright day. Thanksgiving. To early morning service with D.W.S. Out after John, Gertie, Ed and Leila. Uncle Charlie also to dinner. Walking with Finch and Norris. Bowled at Y. To social at night at church. Fine time. Home with D.W. Smith.

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A busy day for our Stanford! Below is an interesting cover from Life magazine for their 1919 Thanksgiving issue:

 And a prayer from 1919:

Wednesday, November 26, 1919

Cold wet day. Trees covered with ice. To College 11-12. Bolted French at 8 A.M. Took nap in P.M. Candled eggs etc. To Albany Theatre at night with Doris Smith. "Broken Blossoms." Fine. Home. To bed 11:15 P.M. Thankful for health, friends, parents etc.

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This is one of the few times Stanford mentions the name of the movie he saw. This one, Broken Blossoms, or The Yellow Man and the Girl, is an adaptation of a short story by a British writer, Thomas Burke. Released in 1919, Broken Blossoms was directed and produced by none other than D.W. Griffith and starred the beautiful Lillian Gish. Richard Barthelmess played the yellow man, a role that made him a silent film star. There was one Chinese actor in the film--Moon Kwan, who must have been a well-known Chinese director, having directed 51 Chinese films, working until 1987 when he was 93.  Donald Crisp played Battling Burrows, the girl's abusive father. Unlike Mr. Barthelmess, Donald Crisp made a successful transition to talkies, appearing in films for 44 more years.

Here is the IMDB site for the film: Broken Blossoms. It is set in London. One convenience of silent film, it seems, is that none of the actors had to fake a British accent.

There is a video available of the film, in case you're interested in seeing what Stanford and Doris saw. It's available from the Library of Congress at this address: Broken Blossoms. There's no music with it, though, something that makes me realize how much such accompaniment added to the enjoyment of a silent film, since music let the audience know what emotions they were supposed to be feeling.

I wonder if "bolted" meant cut class? I can't picture our upright Stanford missing class! He must have been very tired . . .

I couldn't find an Albany Theater in Schenectady at that time. Maybe it was in Albany? It's not clear.

Tuesday, November 25, 1919

Cool fall day. No rain or snow. To college 8 to 12 M. Lost debate on Philippines question. Took nap in P.M. Wrote in diary for week etc. Down to Hayes' room. Out walking. Over to Church. Home with Doris Smith.

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I guess sometimes Stanford has to catch up on his diary writing! Well, at least now we know what the debate was on. I wonder what side Stanford argued?  More to the point, what was the "question"?

Monday, November 24, 1919

Fair in A.M. Snow and rain in P.M. Father home 8:10 A.M. To college 8-9; 11-12; 1:30-3:15. Candled eggs in A.M. and P.M. To library in evening to work on debate. Home. To bed 10 P.M. Thankful for home, parents etc.

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Another debate, eh? No topic or title mentioned. Oh, well. I wonder if Stanford had to go to the library to get away from candling eggs? Hmmm.

Sunday, November 23, 1919

Cool wet day. Some rain and some snow but not enough to accumulate. Down to Hayes's room and waited for him to get ready. To S.S. To Win My Chum meeting in P.M. at our church. Over to city mission. Home. To Trinity Church with Doris Smith in P.M. To bed 10:30 P.M.

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I was disappointed to see that Stanford never even mentioned that it was his 19th birthday. I wonder why? Did they not celebrate their birthdays in that family?

Never having before heard of this "Win My Chum" phenomenon (and not even sure I was reading it correctly), I did some investigating and lo and behold such a thing did exist! It was a particular Epworth League event designed to get more young people involved in the church, apparently. I'm still not sure what happened at the meeting, though.

Here is a part of an article that appeared in the November 25, 1920 Christian Advocate in which there is praise for the annual Win-My-Chum Week:

Saturday, November 22, 1919

Cool damp day with some rain in A.M. and evening. To college 9-11 A.M. Candled and delivered eggs. Frosh peerade [sic] in P.M. Union R.P.I. football game. Union outplayed all the way through but failed to score. To Van Curler at nite with D.W.S.

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I think Stanford is trying to be funny by calling the Freshman parade a pee-rade. It's customary for upperclassmen to look down upon freshmen, after all. The parade must have had something to do with the football game that Union lost.  This was not an unusual occurrence, apparently. I'm not sure if Stanford is saying that Union was the team outplayed or did the outplaying, but in any case, they "failed to score." Ah, well. More questions that will never be answered.

However, I did learn that Union and RPI were and continue to be big rivals. Their football game is a major event each year, at least according to one person commenting on his YouTube video of the final minutes of the 2012 contest:

Published on Nov 10, 2012

This is usually the biggest game for each team each year. They've been at it for 110 years. This one was a barn burner. RPI was down by 8 with less than a minute to go...you can watch the video to see what happens. Shot with a Sony HX5V. Played on November 10, 2012

Here is a link to the video if you're interested: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZmagIZajY-o

As testament to the rivalry between the teams, there is a collection of football programs available on the RPI site (The Art of Football) that includes many from Union-RPI games over the years.  Below are a couple of them. The first is from 1916; the second is from 1959, though it looks older. I'm not sure what year that program's drawing is meant to depict, but the '86 Field was the field paid for by the class of 1886 and was first used in 1906.

Friday, November 21, 1919

Cool overcast autumn day. To college 9-8 [sic]; 11:12 A.M. and 1:30 to 2:30 P.M. Filled orders between classes in A.M. Deliveries in P.M. To Mission Study Class in evening with Ruth. Good class. Took bath. To bed 9:30 P.M.

**********
It seems as though Ruth is now home and so probably working in the Schenectady schools as a music teacher. Stanford doesn't mention that, though. This is the first I've read of his "filling orders." I wonder what that consisted of?

It's interesting what Stanford leaves out in his daily accounts.  He hardly ever expresses his thoughts or feelings on any subject, though he occasionally declares an experience to be "fine" or as in the above entry, "good" or (much more seldom) poor in some way. I wonder what was so significant about what he choose to record? Or perhaps he was just putting down what he most wanted to remember. I guess we'll never know.

Thursday, November 20, 1919

Very bright cold fall day. To College 7:45 to 12 M. Out on route in P.M. to Mt. Pleasant. Quite chilly. To Burnt Hills to chicken supper at Baptist church. Dot Gallup, Finch and Doris along. Fine time. Rode all around town and country. Big crowd at supper. To bed 11:15 P.M.

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Mt. Pleasant is a neighborhood of Schenectady, apparently. I didn't know this. I guess Stanford liked to go for rides like I and my husband and other members of our family do.  Is this hereditary or just something that humans like to do?

Wednesday, November 19, 1919

Fair cool typical autumn day. To college 8:9; 11:12 A.M. Candled eggs. Took nap in P.M. Greased both autos etc. To Armory for last drill under N.Y.S. law. Home. To bed 10 P.M.

**********
So, apparently there was a limit to how many years of ROTC Stanford had to endure. Since he was a junior that fall, I'm guessing the limit was two years.

An interesting fact about the Morrill Act which created land-grant colleges: the act was amended in 1861 by a Vermont congressman who wanted to add military training to the requirement that the land-grant schools teach agriculture and mechanics. It passed because many of the opposing lawmakers were from states that had seceded. Lincoln signed it into law July 2, 1862.

Tuesday, November 18, 1919

Beautiful bright November day. To College 7:45 to 12 M. Snoozed in P.M. Studied. Candled eggs. Played piano etc. Over to Church at night. Bowled with Church League 198-161-145. Father left on 8:51 train for Detroit Y.M.C.A Convention.

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Stanford sure was a good bowler. His father took the New York Central RR train, probably, then hooked up with the Michigan Central when he got to Michigan. I wonder how long of a trip it was?

The YMCA Convention mentioned by Stanford was an International Convention, held in Detroit. I haven't been able to learn much about what events of importance may have occurred during that convention, but it was one which Stillman must have felt was worth attending.

Monday, November 17, 1919

Fair autumn day. To college 8 to 12 and 1:30 to 3:30 P.M. Over at Star Alleys and bowled. Down town and bought several articles. Home in evening. Studied. Candled eggs, played etc. To bed 9:30 P.M. Thankful for health, friends etc.

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A run-of-the-mill day for Stanford, though I must say he sure packs a lot of activity into them!

Sunday, November 16, 1919

Up 9 A.M. Beautiful bright day. To church and Sunday School. Hanford up 2 P.M. Took nap. Out for walk with Hayes. To Epworth League. Union College Gospel team lead. Fine meeting. Walked home D.W.S. To bed 11 P.M.

**********
Do I detect a smug little jab at Hanford for sleeping until 2 P.M. and missing church? Hmmmm.

I tried to find out something about the Gospel team but was unable to find anything but the most current information about the Heavenly Voices Gospel Choir, which still exists at Union.

Saturday, November 15, 1919

Cold fair all day. Started for Clinton 8:30 A.M. by bus. 5 buses went. Broke spring etc. Arrived at Clinton 2:30 P.M. Union played fine game but got trimmed 6-0. Started from Clinton 7:30 P.M. and Utica 9:30 P.M. Cold trip. Fine time. To bed 4:30 A.M.

**********
So here we have the trip to Hamilton College described briefly.  Clinton, NY is about 90 miles west of Schenectady. It sounds like their return trip (2+ hours) was much faster than their trip out there (6 hours), no doubt because on the way back there were no mechanical problems.

Stanford uses etc. to summarize a great many details throughout his diary. I sure do wonder what else is covered by the etc. that went with broke spring.

I can only guess that the game they played was football, and that the Hamilton team won by a touchdown. Must have been a close game, worthy of Stanford's declaration that "Union played fine game," but then it was one of only three games (out of 8) Hamilton won that year, so the two teams were probably pretty evenly matched.

Friday, November 14, 1919

Most beautiful bright fall day. To college 8:9; 11-12; 1:30 to 2:30 P.M. Took short nap. Helped wash auto etc. Chored around. Up after Doris. Took her down to Proctors to meet Hayes and Anthony. Bowled with church League 145-169-135. Met after Proctors 11 P.M. Ate. Walked home. To bed 1 A.M.

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As you may remember, Proctor's is a movie/vaudeville theater in town. Anthony is probably Gertrude Anthony, whom I identified (tentatively) in the June 29th post. She must have been a friend of Doris's because that is whom she was with at the Epworth League meeting in June. Perhaps Wilber Hayes was dating Gertrude? (See May 11th post for info about Wilber.)

Thursday, November 13, 1919

Fair cold autumn day. To college 7:45 to 12 M. Long chapel exercises to make arrangements for Hamilton trip. Helped candle 25 cases eggs. Studied. Down to Hayes' room. Walked around. Took bath. To bed 10 P.M.

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After some puzzlement over what Stanford meant by Hamilton trip, I looked ahead a couple days in the journal, did a bit of research on the internet, and determined that the trip was to Hamilton College in Clinton. Apparently five busloads of students went to what was a game of some sort (probably football, though Stanford doesn't say).

I looked up Hamilton College, still going strong today as an expensive liberal arts college in Clinton, NY. It's a very attractive school with a long history, having been planned as an academy in 1793 by a missionary to the Oneida Nation, Samuel Kirkland, with the goal of educating the children of the Oneida as well as the children of New York settlers recently migrated from New England. The list of people involved in the school's origins is impressive, as shown by this excerpt from Hamilton College's history, taken from their website:

In 1793 the missionary presented his proposal to President George Washington in Philadelphia, who "expressed approbation," and to Secretary of the Treasury Alexander Hamilton, who consented to be a trustee of the new school, to which he also lent his name. The Hamilton-Oneida Academy was chartered soon thereafter. On July 1, 1794, in colorful ceremonies attended by a delegation of Oneida Indians, the cornerstone was laid by Baron von Steuben, inspector general of the Continental Army and "drillmaster" of Washington's troops during the War for Independence.

The school celebrated its bicentennial last year, having been opened as a institute of higher education in 1812.

Hamilton's athletic director (and football coach) in 1919 was Albert I. Prettyman, whose main claim to fame was bringing ice hockey to the Utica area and Hamilton College in 1917. He coached the football team from 1917-1920; his record was 11-10-3. What is most interesting about Coach Prettyman, though, in my estimation, is the fact that he coached the U.S. ice hockey team in the 1936 Winter Olympics.  Here is a fascinating little story about that event, taken from the Hamilton Alumni Review:

Hamilton's hockey coach, Albert I. Prettyman, had charge of the ice hockey team that represented the United States in the 1936 Winter Olympics held in Germany. When the regular goalie for the team fell ill, Fran Baker, the Continentals' first-string goalie, was invited at the last minute to join the squad as a reserve player. He accompanied Coach Prettyman (who had become a kind of father-figure to him) to Garmisch-Partenkirchen and, as luck would have it, the United States drew the host country as its first-round opponent. Before the game was played, however, Germany's leader, Adolf Hitler, asked to speak with a member of the U.S. team, and Fran, who had studied German at Hamilton, was asked to do the translating. When the Nazi dictator boastfully assured the two Americans that their team would lose to Germany, Fran summoned up his courage and best German to forcefully assert that there would be no such outcome. On the contrary, "The United States will always defeat Germany."

The game, played in a blinding snowstorm, was close, but the result was a 1-0 victory for the U.S.A. The American team went on to reach the medal round, in which Great Britain captured the gold, Canada the silver, and the United States the bronze. Ironically, Fran Baker never took to the ice because the regular goalie had recovered from his illness and was able to play after all. However as a member of the squad, Fran was awarded the bronze medal along with his teammates, becoming the only Hamiltonian ever to have taken home an Olympic medal.

Little did Stanford know he would be witnessing a future Olympic coach at work when he attended the game! More on the trip is forthcoming in the November 15th post.

Wednesday, November 12, 1919

Mild rainy day. To college 8-9, 11-12. Home in A. M. Chored around. Took nap after dinner. Down town. Bowled at star alleys. Studied. Drilled at armory 8:9:30 P.M. Down to Morse Alleys to watch bowling. To bed 11 P.M.

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Lots of bowling this day! It doesn't sound like Stanford had to do much studying. He was bright, after all.

Tuesday, November 11, 1919

ARMISTICE DAY. Rain in A.M. and wet most of day. To college 7:45 to 10:45 A.M. Marched in parade with Union College student body. Took nap in P.M. Candled eggs. Cleaned shoes, shaved etc. Phi Beta Pi & Kappa Epsilon Pi from our church entertained Phi Beta Pi & Kappa Sigma Pi from Albany St. Church. Fine time. Home with Doris Smith. To bed 1 A.M.

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This was the first anniversary of the first Armistice Day, now known as Veterans' Day. That the college marched in the parade is interesting.  Also interesting is the entertainment between religious fraternities; that confirms my suspicion that Phi Beta Pi was a religious organization like Kappa Sigma Pi. I wonder what kind of entertainment it was?

Monday, November 10, 1919

Fair autumn day. To college 8 to 3:30 P.M. Chemistry laboratory in P.M. Home. Fooled around. Candled eggs. Over to church to help make arrangements for social. Down to Quinn's after Hot chocolate. Home with Doris Smith.

**********

Quinn's, I discovered from a publication of the time, was a drug store in Schenectady.  Here is a story that appeared in a drug store trade journal (National Drug Clerk) about marketing for the upcoming Christmas season, with its example of an effective ad from Quinn's Drug Store in Schenectady:



 You can see that "Schenectady Husbands" are the target of the ad from Quinn's proclaiming their fine hair brushes and combs.

Also interesting is the reference in the above article to "fattened purses" due to "enormous salary increases," a feature of the soon-to-be-roaring twenties that eventually brought about the stock market crash ten years later.

Sunday, November 9, 1919

Cool autumn day. Heavy frost at night. Studied S.S. lesson. Down after Hayes. To church and S. S. Dinner. Out walking in P.M. with Finch, Hayes, H.H. and Merris. To Epworth League. Out to Dorothea Reynolds home to supper. Finch and D. Gallup along. To bed 11 P.M.

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I wonder if the lesson Stanford is studying is one he taught? By this time he should be teaching Sunday School rather than merely attending, it seems to me.

Saturday, November 8, 1919

Typical beautiful autumn day. To college 7:45 to 11. Home. Candled eggs. To Union-N.Y.U. football game. Union got trimmed 17-6. Down town. Bowled at Morse. Home. Took bath etc. To Union College gym at nite with Doris Smith. Dramatic Club presented plays. Good. To bed 11:15 P.M.

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The Dramatic Club was also known as the Mountebanks. Here is some information about them, taken from the Union College website:

The word "Mountebank" literally means "mount-on-bench" and dates back to sixteenth-century Italy. It describes a traveler who, from a bench or platform, entertains his audience with stories, tricks, and songs in hopes that they might purchase pills, balsams, charms, and quick medicines. Traditionally, a Mountebank wanders, and Union's Mountebanks have often traveled from space to space, performing wherever they might find a spot, whether it was in the lunchroom or Jackson's Garden.

Founded in 1912, the Mountebanks claim to be the oldest continually-operating student theater organization in the country. Student theater actually began at Union in 1801 when a group of students petitioned the Board of Trustees for "permission to present a tragedy or comedy in College Hall," located at the corner of Erie Boulevard and Union Street. There is no record if the play was ever produced.

One of the spots the Mountebanks found to perform, apparently, was the college gym. I wonder if the acoustics were any good?

Here is a photo of a play, X=O, that the group produced in 1929. Looks a little strange.

Friday, November 7, 1919

Beautiful autumn day. Few flakes of snow in A.M. To college 8-9; 11-12; 11:30-2:30 P.M. Down town. Bowled at star with H.H. Fooled around. Over to Mission Study class at nite. Also committee meeting. Home with D.W.S.

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Spending quite a lot of time with young Doris, hmmmm?

Thursday, November 6, 1919

Fair cool windy autumn day. To college 8 to 12 M. Chemistry test. Delivered eggs etc. To country place with Father and H.H. Cleaned up leaves out of yard etc. Football smoker at 8 P.M. Down town. To bed 11:15 P.M.

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A football smoker is an old college tradition, I discovered. Here is a description of it from the University of Michigan historical website:

Smokers were social events that became popular in American universities at the beginning of the 20th Century, specifically among male students. One of the first smokers recorded at the University of Michigan was organized by the Senior Class of 1901. Soon other students from other classes and from the various schools and colleges at the university would hold their own Smokers. Throughout the year a number of these events would take place; the Sophomore Smoker, the Senior Football Smoker, the Architectural Smoker, the Senior Pharmic Class Smoker, and the Michigan Union Smoker, among others.

The 1915 Michiganensian included this description of the Union Smoker:  "Each year, immediately after the close of the football season, members of the Union hold a mammoth smoker in the combined gymnasiums, in honor of the football team. This function has become a well-grounded institution in University life, and its popularity is made evident from the number that must be refused admission every year, because of the limit placed by the Board of Regents on the number allowed in Waterman Gymnasium. The annual smoker held last fall was attended by a full capacity of fifteen hundred men. It was undeniably the 'peppiest' smoker of all." 

Wednesday, November 5, 1919

Rainy wet cool fall day. To college 7:45 to 9 and 11-12. Home from 9-11. Chored around. Down town in P.M. Took camera for repair. Ruth washed my hair. Took nap. Studied etc. Played piano. To armory for drill 8-9:30 P.M. Walked around with Hayes & H.H. To bed 10:15 P.M.

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I wonder if this was the camera that took that picture of the twins in their ROTC outfits? (See October 4th post.)

He doesn't say what kind of camera it was, but it could have been a folding Brownie like this one:

I obtained this picture from the website The Brownie Camera Page.

Tuesday, November 4, 1919

Fair cool autumn day. Up 8:30 A.M. Election day. No college. Up to Ed & Leila's to dinner. Took Uncle John & Aunt Gertie along. Helped husk corn. Fine time. Home 5:30 P.M. Candled eggs. Bowled with Church League 142-123-165. LUNN elected.

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Lunn was Dr. George R. Lunn, a Presbyterian (also Dutch Reformed) minister who served in various public offices over the course of his life. In 1919 he was elected Mayor of Schenectady for the third time (the first was from 1911-13; second from 1915-17) after a two-year stint as a U.S. Congressman. Following his final term as mayor, in 1923 Dr. Lunn was elected Lieutenant Governor of New York, serving one year.

He was also a war veteran, a socialist, and an advocate for workers' rights. Dr. Lunn figured prominently in works by Kenneth E. Hendrickson, a historian who wrote about socialism in Schenectady.

Below is Dr. Lunn's picture. I think he was an interesting and handsome man. I wonder what Stanford thought of him?

George R. Lunn, D. Div, 1873-1948

I took the above information and picture from the Wikepedia article about him at this address:  George R. Lunn.

Monday, November 3, 1919

Beautiful bright fall cool day. To college 8-9; 11-12; 1:30 to 4:15 P.M. Down town in P.M. Bowled at star alleys. Looked around and traded. To church to E.L. [Epworth League] business meeting. Home with Doris Smith. To bed 11 P.M.

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I'm not sure what Stanford means by trade here. He might just be referring to shopping--trading money for goods. Or he might be talking about something more specific having to do with the butter and egg business--trading with merchants for goods in exchange for butter or eggs. Hard to say.

Sunday, November 2, 1919

Fair fall day, cool and windy. To E.L. committee meeting 11 A.M. To S. S. Out walking to Dorothea Reynolds house with H. H., Merlin Finch and Russel Norris. Ruth out on car. Fooled around etc. Light refreshments. To Epworth League. Home with Doris Smith. To bed 11 P.M.

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At last we have a first name for the mysterious Mr. Norris!  So I was able to find him in the census and other records. In 1915 he was living with his parents, George M. and Anna L. Norris. He had a brother Charles Dotter (half brother?). They lived at 613 Chapel Street in Schenectady. George was a Machinist.  In 1920 the Norrises lived on 68 Schenectady Street and Mr. Norris worked as a machinist at GE.  Russell was at that time a patternmaker at GE.  This must have been how he knew Merlin Finch--they were patternmakers together.

By 1930, however, Russell Norris was a teacher of Industrial Arts in the public schools of Endicott, NY, though he had no college degree (at least not according to the 1940 census).Endicott is about 132 miles southwest of Schenectady. Interesting that Russell and Merlin ended up in the same career once again. Russell was also married by this time. Nora was his wife's name; they had a baby, Russell Jr.  He and Nora and their son Russell continued to live in the Endicott-Binghamton area for the rest of their lives.  Russell continued as a teacher, but their son Russell Jr. became a mechanical engineer for IBM.  Russell Jr. was apparently a conservative fellow, in later years very active in the politics of his community. Here is an article that appeared in the Binghamton Press, January 9, 1964:

Junior was a big supporter of Goldwater that year, according to an earlier article. In fact, their pictures appeared side by side in the paper:

Russell Sr. was born 22 January 1901 in Carbondale, PA.  He died in Endicott February 1980.  His son Russell Jr. was born 23 November 1929 (Stanford's 29th birthday) and died June 29, 2006.  He served in the Korean War. Here's his obituary.

He had a big family, apparently, and was a successful man. It sounds like they had a good life.

Saturday, November 1, 1919

Damp mild disagreeable day. Rain at night. To college 7:45 to 11. Fooled around. Took nap in P.M. Helped candle eggs. To college at night to hear lecture on Burns with H.H. & Wilber Hayes. Fooled around church. To bed 11:30 P.M.

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I'm concerned about this growing trend of fooling around! Stanford speaks of it almost daily now. Tsk, tsk! What will become of him?

I'm not sure what this lecture on Burns might be about, unless it's about burns (with a small letter) rather than someone by the name of Burns. If it is about the injury of burns, it would certainly be a pertinent topic in 1919 after veterans of WWI returned with terrible injuries, many of them burns caused by the chemical weapons used in that war. Another reason burns might have been of real interest, especially in an industrial town like Schenectady, was the concern over industrial accidents that might result in burns.

On the other hand, this being November of 1919 and the World Series that was to go down in history as the Black Sox Scandal recently concluded, and since one of the principal players involved in that scandal was Billy Burns, it's possible the lecture was on that topic. 

Bill Burns

But since Stanford makes no mention of the series or the scandal in any earlier entry, it's unlikely that he was referring to the disgraced baseball player. 

What other Burns is possible? Well, perhaps Robert Burns, the poet, is meant.

I guess we'll never know. Alas!