ATHLETICS
“Fuzz” Merritt Becomes Football Coach
Earl J. “Fuzz” Merritt ’25 graduate, a former football, track, baseball, and basketball star who had been working at since his graduation as a freshman advisor and instructor of physical education, became football coach in 1935. He would to continue in that role, with an interruption for World War II, until 1958, guiding the Sagehens to a 95-59-9 record. In 1961, Merritt retired, and in 1991, Alumni Field was renamed Earl J. "Fuzz" Merritt Field in his honor.
FINANCES
Recovery Begins
From reaching a low point two years before, Pomona’s enrollment began to recover in 1935. The trustees were so encouraged by this recovery that they voted to restore five percent of the 15-percent pay cut made in 1932 and 1933. They also took steps to move forward with long-delayed construction projects, including an additional women’s residence hall (which would become Blaisdell Hall).
ALUMNI
Vladimir Ussachevsky
Composer Vladimir Ussachevsky ’35, who emigrated from Russia to the United States, created the first electronic music with his teacher Otto Luening. In 1952, he and Luening performed a live concert of electronic music, including Ussachevsky’s composition “Sonic Contours,” which was broadcast live from the Museum of Modern Art in New York City. He co-founded the Columbia-Princeton Electronic Music Center, one the leading electronic music studios in the United States.
ELSEWHERE
Adolf Hitler announced German rearmament in violation of the Versailles Treaty.
President Franklin Roosevelt signed the Social Security Act into law.
Parker Brothers released the board game Monopoly.