Albert Schweitzer's Visit to America

Albert Schweitzer made only a single trip to the United States.  It was during the summer of 1949, when America was enjoying mounting prosperity, Europe was struggling to recover from the devastation of World War II, and Africa was about to shed its colonial past.  He came to speak in Aspen, Colorado, at a festival celebrating the bicentennial of Goethe's birth, to earn funds for a leprosy clinic at Lambarene, and to meet with American drug manufacturers about modern leprosy treatments.  Acclaimed everywhere he went and invited to speak at countless dinners and assemblies, Schweitzer stuck to his original schedule, traveling relentlessly and returning to Europe after only 25 days.

The following summary was gathered from his writings and from contemporary newspaper and magazine accounts.  It is incomplete; his activities are well known on some days and almost unknown on others.  If you can add anything to this account, please contact jnf@pcisys.net.

Before The Visit
Tuesday, June 28, 1949
Wednesday, June 29, 1949
Thursday, June 30, 1949
Friday, July 1, 1949
Saturday, July 2, 1949
Sunday, July 3, 1949
Monday, July 4, 1949  (Independence Day)
Tuesday, July 5, 1949
Wednesday, July 6, 1949
Thursday, July 7, 1949
Friday, July 8, 1949
Saturday, July 9, 1949
Sunday, July 10, 1949
Monday, July 11, 1949
Tuesday, July 12, 1949
Wednesday, July 13, 1949
Thursday, July 14, 1949
Friday, July 15, 1949
Saturday, July 16, 1949
Sunday, July 17, 1949
Monday, July 18, 1949
Tuesday, July 19, 1949
Wednesday, July 20, 1949
Thursday, July 21, 1949
Friday, July 22, 1949
After the Visit
Endnotes
 
 

Before The Visit

It seems an odd circumstance.  World War II was only a few years in the past when Robert Hutchins, Chancellor of the University of Chicago, decided to hold a convocation to celebrate the bicentennial of the birth of a German, Johann Wolfgang von Goethe.  It would be twenty days of speeches about Goethe's work, and of symphonic music heavily emphasizing another German, Johann Sebastian Bach, located in the then-obscure mountain town of Aspen, a thousand miles from the nearest center of culture.  As Hutchins himself would say half-jokingly during the festival, 99 percent of Americans had never heard of Goethe.  Certainly the most to hope for would be a small, scholarly event for intellectuals, perhaps covered by a few high-brow journals and magazines.  But that was not to be.  Instead it became a huge event, bringing perhaps 2,000 people--twice Aspen's permanent population--including leading celebrities from the arts and scholarship, and covered at least in part by almost every national publication.  Much of this success can be attributed to the prestige of one speaker: Albert Schweitzer, doctor, theologian, missionary, organist, and Goethe scholar.

By 1949, Albert Schweitzer was a well-known and -loved figure.  His lectures, organ playing and theological writings had made him famous in Europe even before his first mission to Africa in 1913.  His reputation grew over the following years, despite--or possibly due to--his long sojourns out of the spotlight at his hospital in Lambarene.  Having arrived in Europe from Africa in February 1939, he recognized that world war was imminent and immediately returned to Lambarene.  He spent the war there, often under house arrest but at least not interned as an enemy alien as he had been during the first World War.  Finally, in September of 1948, he returned to Europe, visiting his wife Helene in Konigsfeld and also meeting his four grandchildren for the first time.  He was 73 years old, and much of his time was spent in his home in Gunsbach, writing and resting.

Upon his arrival in Gunsbach, he found at least six invitations to address Goethe bicentennial festivals.  But he turned them down, preferring his work and rest.  When Dr. Hutchin's invitation to speak in Aspen arrived, it presented a stronger temptation.  Hutchin offered an honorarium of 2,000,000 francs (about $6,100) for a speech at the Goethe festival and another to the University of Chicago where Schweitzer would be awarded an honorary doctorate.¹  (On July 5 the New York Times reported that there was a misunderstanding; he was not in fact expected to make a speech in Chicago and did not do so.) In 1949, that amount of money would fund a fine leprosy clinic in Lambarene.  His opportunities for earning a similar sum in war-ravaged Europe were nil.  After six days of thought, Schweitzer accepted the invitation.¹ 

Schweitzer had long been a Goethe devotee, having lectured on his indebtedness to Goethe after receiving the City of Frankfort's Goethe Prize in 1928.²  But the lectures in America required additional research and preparation.  Schweitzer spent months preparing French and German version of his Aspen speech, finally finishing the text one and half hours before his ship arrived in America.^3,4
 

Tuesday, June 28, 1949  Arrival in America

Schweitzer had refused previous invitations to come to America (although Helene had previously given lectures there), largely, his friends said, because of what he had heard about US publicity and "ballyhoo methods".¹  When his ship, the Holland America liner Nieuw Amsterdam, docked in Hoboken, New Jersey, he got his first taste of it.  When he and Helene debarked, they were met by more than forty photographers and as many reporters.  By all accounts, they enjoyed the experience.  Albert was variously described as "in high good humor" and "merry, vigorous and full of Gallic wit", with a "wrinkled face beneath a shock of graying hair", and a "scraggly walrus moustache sprouted beneath his big nose"; he was dressed "in the style of fifty years ago".  Helene, herself over seventy years old, had "her white hair bound about her small head and her face as fresh and unlined as a baby's".  Helene, as was her custom, stayed in the background while Albert answered questions for more than a hour.^x3,5

Schweitzer noted that he was grateful to Americans for attempting to keep his hospital going during the war, and that "after all America has done for me, I'm happy to see America."   The reporters wanted to know how he could renounce civilization and sacrifice his life in the jungle.  "It is not renouncing anything," he said, a twinkle in his eyes. "When you are doing some good, you are not making a sacrifice.  There was a great need for a doctor in that part of Africa."   He indicated that he was anxious to return to Africa to organize a campaign against leprosy, using the latest American discoveries in the control of the disease.

When asked whether he had an answer for the atom bomb, or the world's troubles in general, he answered, "No, he who lives in Africa can't speak about the outer world."⁶  When the reporters asked about what sort of positive faith can oppose communism in Africa he said: "The best thing to oppose communism is non-communism.  Give all the liberty possible, material, spiritual."⁵  But still, "one who comes out of solitude into the world can give no message to the world--just as those who come to us can give us no message."

The Schweitzers were met at the dock by Dr. Emory Ross, secretary of the Africa Committee of the Foreign Missions Conference of North America and treasurer of the Albert Schweitzer Fellowship.  Albert was impressed by the lack of control at the port of entry: "The packing and listing [in European countries]," he would later say, "Ooh-la-la! When I come here, with so many things, all they ask is do I have any gifts.  That's all they need to know!"

Wednesday, June 29, 1949  In New York City

Albert and Helene apparently stayed in New York City for four nights, taking all their meals at Dr. Ross' home at 156 Fifth Avenue.  Albert's celebrity status continued, as he would later note: "When I arrived in New York, and all those reporters were let loose on me, I felt like a virgin thrown to the lions in the arena.  In the apartment where I was staying, one day a piano tuner came in and when he thought I was not looking he was taking photographs."⁷

Thursday, June 30, 1949  In New York City

Schweitzer is described as "resting" during this period in preparation for his journey to Aspen.  In fact, as he wrote Lotte Gerhold-Schall, a colleague and assistant, "New York was lovely but tiring.  I had to receive or pay visits all day long.  My friend Ross ... kept inviting five or six people to every lunch and dinner.  This meant conversing at the table.  It is hard to endure all this until July 22, the day I sail back to Europe.  And I won't even have peace and quiet on the boat because the other passengers keep making demands on me."⁸

Friday, July 1, 1949  In New York City/Enroute to Colorado

On this day Schweitzer wrote his childhood friend and current tailor, Jean Baptiste Kempf, that as he was departing for America the French customs agents noted that he had two suits, and that they appeared new and therefore required payment of duty.  Schweitzer refused, saying they were old suits.  Higher and higher-ranking customs officers questioned him, until finally one asked who the tailor was who could turn old suits into new.  "Sir," Schweitzer replied, "he is Jean Baptiste Kempf in Gunsbach."  As it turned out, the officer knew of Kempf as a master tailor, and allowed Schweitzer and his belongings on board, saying "Have a good time in America." ⁹  Given this incident, one wonders what Schweitzer thought of having been described as being dressed "in the fashion of fifty years ago."

Emory Ross, who traveled with Schweitzer and often acted as translator, related an incident on this day that Schweitzer described to journalist Fulton Oursler later in the trip when they were discussing the importance of forgiveness: "He remembered a fortnight before, in New York's Pennsylvania Station. He was waiting with Mrs. Schweitzer and their small party of friends to board the train for Aspen, Colorado. The usual crowds were milling before the gates. It was the first American railway station he had ever entered. There must have been a thousand things to see. But Schweitzer saw a sweeper with broom and pan. He was steadily sweeping up paper, cigarette stubs, refuse, moving among the people. He swept a space clean and moved on. When he looked back, there was more paper and refuse already thrown by people. Did he fume and fuss and hate? Not at all. He went on steadily, serenely sweeping. That was his part. He did it. In the business of forgiveness, we must always be using our broom and pan."¹⁰ 

Saturday, July 2, 1949  Enroute to Colorado

Albert was on a train from New York to Denver, a fifty-hour journey. As always during Albert's visit in America, his wife Helene accompanied him.

He wrote in a letter to Mathilde Kottmann, a longtime nurse at Lambarene now temporarily in Bordeaux, "For the past hour we've been traveling through a plain filled with grain and tobacco[?].  Nothing but isolated farms.  The houses look strangely small.  We'll be in Chicago in another three hours, with a one-hour stopover.  There E. [Edith] Lenel will be coming to the train.  I hope to be back in Gunsbach on July 30.  I believe I did the right thing in agreeing to give this speech and coming to America."^x1

Sunday, July 3, 1949  Enroute to Colorado

While on the train, Schweitzer wrote that "For ten hours now we have been rolling at sixty-five miles an hour, crossing an immense plain in wonderful weather.  It is enchanting." ⁸

It may have been this day that Schweitzer referred to in a later anecdote as told by Charles Joy: "In the summer of 1949, when Schweitzer was traveling across the America prairies, he was told the story of the airlift that had carried food to the snowbound animals the preceding winter.  'Ah,' he said, 'what a magnificent feat!  Vive l'Amerique!'  Later, in Europe, Albert Schweitzer told me he believed there was more reverence for life in America than anywhere else in the world." ¹¹

Monday, July 4, 1949  (Independence Day)  Arrival in Aspen

Albert Schweitzer arrived in Aspen on Monday evening, having been driven from a train station. The New York Times reported that he was delayed for several hours by a rockslide 30 miles east of Glenwood Springs, so it was likely the Glenwood Springs station.¹²   Earlier in the day, a forty minute mountain thunderstorm had all but drown out the Minnesota Symphony's concert in the tent amphitheater (which cost over $54,000, a vast sum in those days) where the festival's lecture and concerts were given; they finally had to stop when the "presumably leak-proof tent began to sag at the top with great blisters loaded with water.  Soon the water began to pour down through the canvas, forming big puddles."¹³

Albert and Helene stayed in a house on Walter Paepcke's estate in Aspen. Paepcke was the president of the Container Corporation of America, founded the Aspen Institute and Aspen Skiing Company, and was central to the organization of the Goethe Convocation.

Tuesday, July 5, 1949  In Aspen

Albert Schweitzer said in an interview that despite accusations of materialism, the United States has demonstrated that it is one of the greatest spiritual forces in the world today.  "During these last months, with the help of America," he said, "the situation in Europe has definitely improved and we can now hope to master the situation.   Those who know history have been very much moved by what you have done.  The Marshall Plan has given us new confidence in the future."¹⁴   He declared himself broadly optimistic regarding the future, despite difficulties and evils that beset the world.  "I have great confidence in the incalculable forces of the spirit.  The future depends on it.  But if these spiritual forces are brought into play the world's future will be improved.  ... Behind materialism it is often possible to discover great spiritual forces at work.  And behind spirituality an element of materialism also exists."¹⁴  The great problem of our times, he said, "is to safeguard the integrity of the individual.  Two great forces are in eternal conflict in the present-day world, he added, one being the force of collectivism, represented by Hegel, who wanted the individual subordinated to the all-powerful state, and the other, the force of individuality whose great proponent was Goethe. ... Collectivism in various forms has deprived the individual of this individuality.  All the troubles of the world come from this. ... The task immediately before us is to safeguard the integrity of the individual within the modern state."¹⁴

He also indicated that he was "happy to be in such nice surroundings, despite the altitude which I find trying.  But I think my heart will support it."  He was described as "a round-shouldered man with shaggy, graying hair, a luxurious mustache and eyes that twinkle with humor and benignity."¹⁴

Wednesday, July 6, 1949  In Aspen

Schweitzer gave his lecture at 9 PM in the tent amphitheater, speaking slowly in French to the largest audience of the festival.  Dr. Hutchins presided, and Dr. Ross acted as Schweitzer's interpreter.  As usual with Schweitzer's writings, it is impossible to summarize his lecture because it is already so succinct and to the point that any summary can only leave out important points.  Therefore I will not try but will settle instead for three short excerpts:

"At the time of his death Goethe was famous, but not known.  His own people had little comprehension of his work.  Abroad he was admired in certain quarters as the author of Werther and of Faust, but his work as a whole was not appreciated.  How little devotion for Goethe there was in his native city of Frankfurt a few years after his death is shown by the fact that the centenary of his birth was not celebrated there because the masses, animated by the revolutionary sentiments of 1848, did not feel inclined to pay homage to one they misjudged as having been the lackey of a prince.

Even he had to admit to himself that his works were not popular.  Only Gotz von Berlichingen and Werther had been successes.  The others found no large audience.  To Eckermann, the devoted companion who was with him from 1823, he expressed his conviction that his writings were not popular and could never become so.

In this he was mistaken.  They have become so.  With the years they have found their way to the hearts of men.  More and more, not only in his country but throughout the world, he had become a chosen one among poets.  Why?  Because this great poet is at the same time a great master of the natural sciences, a great thinker, a great man.  This many-sidedness commands respect and strikes people as something quite special.

And thus it is that in this year 1949 the bicentenary of his birth is a date for the whole world, whereas the centenary had not roused even his native town."¹⁵

---

"How an individual by himself and through his own study can arrive at conviction capable of guiding him on the right road throughout his existence: that to Goethe is the question that matters.  He feels that he cannot reach these simple and sound convictions except by starting from reality, from the knowledge he gains by observing nature and by observing himself.  To be a realist in order to win through to true spirituality--this is Goethe's keynote.

The fundamental idea which is of the utmost import is that in nature there is matter and spirit, the two together.  The spirit acts upon matter as an organizing and perfecting force.  It manifests itself in the evolution that is taking place and that we are able to document in nature.

Looking with the eyes of the spirit upon nature, as it is within ourselves, we find that in us also there is matter and spirit.  Searching into the phenomena of the spirit in us, we realize that we belong to the world of the spirit, and that we must let ourselves be guided by it.  The whole philosophy of Goethe consists in the observation of material and spiritual phenomena outside and within ourselves, and in the conclusions that can be drawn from this.  The spirit is light, which struggles with matter, which represents darkness.  What happens in the world and within ourselves is the result of this encounter."¹⁵

---

"Such is Goethe, the poet, the scientist, the philosopher, and the man, towards whom our thoughts are particularly directed at this time.  Among us here and among those who are afar off there are those who think of him with gratitude for what he has given them in his so ethical and religious wisdom, so simple and so deep.  With joy I acknowledge myself to be one of their number."¹⁵

Thursday, July 7, 1949  In Aspen

A Denver Post article on this day notes that while it is clear that Schweitzer is here only because the Goethe Bicentennial Foundation will make a gift of 2,000,000 francs to the Lambarene hospital, Schweitzer "has resisted the inroads of civilization on himself to the extent of turning down offers of $5,000 or more to appear at meetings of luncheon clubs, fraternal orders and the like." Schweitzer was also quoted as indicating that the US press has treated him "like a big banker or a prizefighter."¹⁶

The New York Times indicated that during the day Schweitzer made a special point of meeting with "several hundred college students" in Aspen and "put up with autograph seekers and over-eager readers of his works and has inscribed books and programs at length".¹⁷

Friday, July 8, 1949  In Aspen/Enroute to Chicago

Early in the morning, Albert Schweitzer met with Kurt and Alice Bergel at the house where the Schweitzers' stayed. Kurt published a collection of Schweitzer's writings in German and raised some money for the Lambarene hospital, and they had exchanged letters for some time. According to Bergel's diary, Albert told him that the elevation of Aspen was hard on him: "How many a box on the ear did I get as a child when we were in the mountains and I made a nuisance of myself," until "they realized that I could not stand the elevation. Even 800 feet make me uncomfortable, and now they have dragged me up to 8,000." Helene, Walter Paepcke, Professor Giuseppe Borgese (from the University of Chicago and son-in-law of Thomas Mann), and Sam Libschitz (a filmmaker and musician) were also present.

At 10 AM, Schweitzer repeated his same lecture of two days ago, this time in German.  G.A. Borgese introduced Schweitzer, while Thorton Wilder (the playwright and novelist) translated.  As for all festival shows, ticket prices ranged from $1.50 to $5.40 for reserved seats, or $1.20 unreserved.  The tent was almost full, and the audience gave Schweitzer a standing ovation when he was introduced. According to Bergel, Schweitzer "stood on the podium as erect and concentrated as a much younger man."

Immediately after the lecture, the Bergels and Lipschitz drove the Schweitzers to Glenwood Springs, about an hour away. Albert was clearly exhausted. While waiting for the train from Glenwood Springs to Denver, Schweitzer said he regretted that most of his time in America had to be devoted to the purchase of medicine.

Saturday, July 9, 1949  In Denver/Enroute to Chicago

James Brabazon indicates that Schweitzer "rested for a day at Denver"¹⁸ while enroute to Chicago. It is not clear if he stayed with friends or at a hotel, though the former seems likely.

Sunday, July 10, 1949 In Chicago

Albert and Helene attended a Society of Friends (Quaker) meeting in Chicago. Albert thanked the Society of Friends in America for providing supplies to his hospital in Lambarene during World War II when his suppliers in Europe were cut off.³³

Monday, July 11, 1949  In Chicago

Schweitzer received the honorary doctorate of laws from the University of Chicago. More than 5,000 people attended the ceremony, with 2,400 inside the Rockefeller Memorial Chapel and the rest outside listening via a speaker system.¹⁹  Adlai Stevenson was among the dignitaries attending. ²⁰  The degree was presented by Dr. Ernest C. Colwell, and Schweitzer was formally introduced by Dean Bernard Loomer of the University of Chicago divinity school.¹⁹  The citation reads:  "An interpreter who has revived for his own generation the vision of scholar, interpreting the works of Jesus; as musician, interpreting the compositions of Bach; as humanist, interpreting the writings of Goethe; as historian, presenting in philosophic terms the meaning of history; and as a Christian medical missionary, rendering distinguished service to Equatorial Africa."²¹

After receiving the honorary degree, Albert and Helene were guests at a luncheon in the Stevens Hotel where Albert was given $1000 by the Conference of Club Presidents and Program Chairmen for his "distinguished service to humanity". At some point during the day, Schweitzer gave an unscheduled organ concert in the Rockefeller Memorial Chapel.²²

Tuesday, July 12, 1949  In Cleveland

Schweitzer arrived in Cleveland by train in the morning, and spent several hours with Walter Blodgett, curator of music at the Cleveland Museum of Art, and Walter Holtkamp Sr. of the Holtkamp Organ Company. Holtkamp was an organ maker and an old friend of Schweitzer. They talked and played the McMyler Organ at the Cleveland Museum of Art. In the afternoon, Albert played the organ built by Holtkamp at Our Lady of Angels Catholic Church.^{23, 24}

Albert and Helene had dinner with friends in the Fred Harvey Oak Room at the Cleveland Terminal, and then caught a train towards New York City.²³

Wednesday, July 13, 1949  Enroute to New York

Schweitzer's activities on this day are unknown. He may have spent most of the day on a train enroute from Cleveland to New York.

Thursday, July 14, 1949  In New York City

Schweitzer's schedule for this and the next several days included inspecting organs and visiting pharmaceutical factories in the morning, and receiving visitors in Dr. Ross' apartment in the afternoon from two to seven.⁸ While in Aspen Schweitzer indicated his honorarium would be spent for promine diasone serum for the treatment of leprosy²⁵; he likely arranged this during his New York City visit.

Friday, July 15, 1949  In New York City

Schweitzer apparently continued his schedule of inspecting organs and visiting pharmaceutical factories in the morning, and receiving visitors in Dr. Ross' apartment in the afternoon from two to seven.

Saturday, July 16, 1949  In New York City

Schweitzer apparently continued his schedule of inspecting organs and visiting pharmaceutical factories in the morning, and receiving visitors in Dr. Ross' apartment in the afternoon from two to seven.

Sunday, July 17, 1949  In New York City

One of Schweitzer's meetings on this day was with G. A. Kellogg, a representative of Ethicon Suture Laboratories. There are pictures of Schweitzer inspecting their surgical gause and suture materials. Following the meeting Ethicon apparently donated a year's supply of sutures to Schweitzer's hospital in Lambarene. ³²

Later he talked with Larimer Mellon. Mellon was an heir to the Mellon fortune who was then working as a rancher in Arizona. He was inspired by Schweitzer, and they had corresponded several times before first meeting on this day in Gramercy Park. In 1950, Schweitzer would write to Mellon that "I often think of those hours of pleasure I had in seeing you because you went to the trouble of undertaking such a tiring trip. I am grateful to you. It is one of the fondest memories of my trip." ²⁶ Mellon, further inspired, would go to medical school and then found the Hospital Albert Schweitzer in Deschapelles, Haiti, which continues to this day. Albert and Larimer would remain friends until Schweitzer's death in 1965.

Monday, July 18, 1949  In New York City/Enroute to Boston

Both Albert and Helene Schweitzer were guests of honor at a luncheon in the Gramercy Park Hotel sponsored by the Department of International Justice and Goodwill of the Federal Council of the Churches of Christ in America.  Albert spoke in French, with Dr. Ross translating.  He said that the future of the Protestant world rests on "all of us finding ourselves tied together by our Christian faith. ... This country has assumed leadership in the problem of the union of churches. ... As little by little there is understanding of churches here and in Europe, there is great satisfaction that you in America realized before Europe the need for church union." ²⁷

Helene, described as a "tiny, gray-haired woman in a white dress, leaning on her cane" was reluctant to speak, but was persuaded by Mrs. Ross to say a few words.  Mrs. Schweitzer, speaking in good English, said she met Dr. Schweitzer nearly fifty years ago in Strasbourg, when she was Helene Bresslau.  "It started over his manuscripts," she said, describing how she read proofs on several of his books on St. Paul, Bach, and the Quest of the History of Jesus.  She also told of music that served as a mutual interest.  She played the piano, and used to pull the organ stops as Dr. Schweitzer played Bach.  She also described the next step in her career, nursing.  She started nursing in 1902 before it required any state examinations.  She had to study nursing again to pass the necessary tests before leaving with Albert (whom she married in 1912) for Africa in 1913. ²⁷

There is also a note that Helene Schweitzer "took issue with such articles as 'God's Eager Fool' in a recent Reader's Digest and a current article in Vogue asserting she took up nursing to work with her husband.  It was their common feeling, she said, 'to find their own way, to take what was given and what we had learned and give it to others to help humanity,' she said.  'That brought us together.'"²⁷

That evening, Albert and Helene left for Boston.

Tuesday, July 19, 1949  In Boston and Cambridge

Schweitzer's plans for his three days in Boston were "to see people and to see organs".  He also planned to go to Harvard University where "I will likewise see organs and friends." He considered his time in Boston to be a vacation.

He held a press conference at the Unitarian Universalist Church building at 25 Beacon Street. The UUC's Beacon Press published many of his works. Dr. Ross apparently acted as interpreter. When asked what impressed him most about his visit to America, Schweitzer replied "All these impressions--My impression is that America is not a thing apart by itself; not such a different sort of thing as some have the impression it is in Europe. The buildings are a little higher and the streets are a little longer, but the people are the same. My principle impression is of the very great kindness of the American people and the fact that my philosophy of reverence for life has spread among so many people as it has in this country."²⁸

When asked what he considers the world's greatest need, he said "The Spirit. Because a world which is not under the rule of the real Spirit will perish. There is another thing. The Spirit is so powerful that if one could see the creation of a new spirit in the heart of man there would not be a single problem in the world."²⁸

During the press conference Helene was asked how she likes America, and she responded simply "I have been here before--twelve years ago."²⁸

Albert and Helene attended an informal buffet supper in their honor at the Ritz Carlton Hotel in Boston at 7 PM that evening. Other guests included distinguished people from the fields of music, religion and academia.²⁹

Wednesday, July 20, 1949  In Boston and Cambridge

During the press conference the previous day, Ross indicated that on Wednesday Schweitzer would see some organs and that he has appointments with various agencies who have helped him in the past and then "he has got to do some government formalities that all travellers have to do and to buy a new trunk to take some of the books and papers and learned documents back that have been given him."²⁸

Thursday, July 21, 1949  Return to New York City

Schweitzer returned to New York, in preparation for his departure for Europe.

Friday, July 22, 1949  Departure for Europe

Dr. and Mrs. Schweitzer left for Europe on the Nieuw Amsterdam, the same ship they had arrived on.  Other notables on the ship included Supreme Court Justice Harold Hitz Burton, and Shirley May France, a seventeen-year-old girl from Somerset, Massachusetts, who planned on swimming the English Channel (a front page New York Times article reported on September 7 that the attempt failed after 10 hours and 40 minutes when her father and her coach pulled her from the water, exhausted and hysterical but wanting to continue, six miles short of France³⁰).

Before leaving, Albert spoke a few words with reporters, with Dr. Ross translating as usual.  "I have been very much touched by the kindness the photographers and reporters have shown, and I am happy they haven't been too generous with the superlatives that I dislike so much." he said.  "I have been greatly impressed by the simplicity and naturalness of the American people, and much moved by the kindness everyone has had for me and my work."  Schweitzer also made it clear that, despite reporters' comments, neither the temperature nor the humidity that day in New York (ninety degrees Fahrenheit and ninety percent humidity) impressed him after his years along the equator.³¹

Schweitzer said that while here he had sought all that was available in new medicines "to help in the struggle against tropical diseases. ... You can imagine what a great satisfaction it is to a doctor who has had thirty-five years in the tropics to see the successes in these laboratories that have simplified our work."  He indicated that he was taking back samples of new medicines and had ordered shipments sent to his headquarters. ³¹

After the Visit

Upon arriving back in Europe, Albert Schweitzer went to his home in Alsace.  Over the next few months he visited Paris, Strasbourg, Bordeaux, and other cities.  He sailed for Africa on October 28, where using the money and knowledge gained in America he intensified his work with the leprous.

Endnotes

1. "Reverence for Life", Time Magazine, 11 July 1949. p. 68,72  ↩ ↩ ↩

2. Goethe Prize speech available in Goethe: Four Studies by Albert Schweitzer  ↩

3. 2 July 1949 letter to Mathilde Kottman. Albert Schweitzer Letters 1905 - 1965  ↩

4. Dr. Schweitzer of Lambarene p.121   ↩

5. "Schweitzer Here for Goethe Event", New York Times, 29 June 1949. p. L-13  ↩ ↩

6. "'World's Greatest Living Genius' En Route to Aspen Festival", Denver Post, 29 June 1949. p. 1  ↩

7. My Days With Albert Schweitzer, p. 168.   ↩

8. 3 July 1949 letter to Lotte Gerhold-Schall. Albert Schweitzer Letters 1905 - 1965  ↩ ↩ ↩

9. 1 July 1949 letter to Jean Baptiste Kempf. Albert Schweitzer Letters 1905 - 1965  ↩

10. Ross Emory. "Portrait: Albert Schweitzer", The American Scholar, Winter 1949-1950, 19(1):83-88.  ↩

11. The Animal World of Albert Schweitzer p. 37.  ↩

12. Austin Stevens. "Goethe Fete Hears a Plea from East", New York Times, 4 July 1949.   ↩

13. Barnet Hover. "Thunderstorm Disrupts Concert At Aspen as Big Tent Leaks", Denver Post, 4 July 1949. p. 3  ↩

14. Barnet Hover. "Schweitzer Praises Role Of U.S.", Denver Post, 5 July 1949. p. 2  ↩ ↩ ↩ ↩

15. Albert Schweitzer. "Goethe: His Personality and His Work" in Goethe and the modern age, edited by Arnold Bergstraesser. 1950. Chicago:Henry Regnery Co. p. 95-110.  ↩ ↩ ↩

16. "Dr. Schweitzer Pays Homage To Goethe's Religion of Love", Denver Post, 7 July 1949. p. 31  ↩

17. "Schweitzer Meets Students of Goethe", New York Times, 8 July 1949.  ↩

18. Albert Schweitzer: A Biography p. 409.  ↩

19. George Eckel. "Degree Presented to Dr. Schweitzer", New York Times, 12 July 1949.  ↩ ↩

20. John Bartlaw Martin. Adlai Stevenson of Illinois 1976. p. 421-422.   ↩

21. http://www-regsis.uchicago.edu/Honors-citations1926-1950.html Viewed 6 February 1999. This link seems to have be deleted and replaced with a page that reports the honors award but not the actual award citation: https://convocation.uchicago.edu/traditions/honorary-degree-recipients/past-honorary-degree-recipients/ ↩

22. "Schweitzer Receives U. Of C. Degree, Gives Unscheduled Concert", Chicago Daily Tribune. 12 July 1949. p. 22.   ↩

23. "Schweitzer Here For Day At Organ", Cleveland Plain Dealer, 13 July 1949.   ↩ ↩

24. The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art, Part II. Annual ReportIssue for the Year 1949. 1950. 37(6):137.  ↩

25. Austin Stevens, "Goethe Festival Runs Up Big Debt", New York Times, 9 July 1949.  ↩

26. 20 April 1950 letter to Larimer Mellon. Brothers in Spirit: The Correspondence of Albert Schweitzer and William Larimer Mellon, Jr.  ↩

27. "Schweitzer's Wife Honored With Him", New York Times, 19 July 1949, p. 19.  ↩ ↩ ↩

28. Transcript of 19 July 1949 press conference provided by Andover-Harvard Theological Library, Harvard Divinity School, Manuscripts and Archives Office.  ↩ ↩ ↩ ↩

29. Guest list for 19 July 1949 supper at Ritz Carlton Hotel provided by Andover-Harvard Theological Library, Harvard Divinity School, Manuscripts and Archives Office.  ↩

30. "U.S. Schoolgirl, Exhausted, Pulled From Channel With 6 Miles to Go", New York Times, 7 September 1949.  ↩

31. "Schweitzer Sails, 'Thankful' to U.S.", New York Times, 23 July 1949, p. 8.  ↩ ↩

32. Photographs and associated text available at the University of Washington Library Special Collections. See https://archiveswest.orbiscascade.org/ark:80444/xv170928. There is some uncertainty about the date of this meeting as the photographs' text indicate they were taken on Sunday, February 17, 1949 in New York. Because Schweitzer was in France in February, and February 17 was a Thursday, July 17 is likely the correct date. ↩

33. Personal communication from Jane Dever Vogt, who also attended the Society of Friends meeting. ↩