Berkeley, a Look Back: U.S. veep Dawes, wife planned 1925 visit to town

"You may be excused for not knowing his name, as he's the now largely forgotten U.S. vice president under Calvin Coolidge. He was making a trip to the Bay Area to attend a San Francisco celebration of California's 75th anniversary of its statehood. Vice President Charles Dawes was coming to Berkeley in late summer 1925, which Berkeley Daily Gazette editors decided merited a headline atop of their Sept. 5, 1925, front page."

"An informal side trip to Berkeley would also be made since his wife's sister, Mrs. H. N. Morris, lived at 28 Plaza Drive. The Dawes were planning to make a private visit to her home but, the Gazette reported, star-struck locals were hoping for some sort of formal public appearance in Berkeley by this famous American and his wife. Dawes was indeed prominent in his era."

"His most notable accomplishment, helping negotiate Germany annual reparations payments the Great War and its economic reform afterward through what was called the Dawes Plan, would make him a co-recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize later in 1925. Dawes is also known for the quip in reference to his career working with Congress, particularly on financial and diplomatic policy, that I should hate to think that the Senate was as tired of me at the beginning of my service as I am of the Senate at the end."

Vice President Charles Dawes visited Berkeley in late summer 1925 while attending a San Francisco celebration of California's 75th statehood anniversary. He planned an informal side trip to visit his wife's sister, Mrs. H. N. Morris, at 28 Plaza Drive, and locals hoped for a formal public appearance. Dawes served in the military during the Great War and later became ambassador to the United Kingdom. He helped negotiate Germany's annual reparations and postwar economic reform through the Dawes Plan, which led to his co-receipt of the Nobel Peace Prize in 1925. Dawes was also remembered for a quip about his tiring experience with the Senate. An epidemic of five missing Berkeley boys was reported on Sept. 1, 1925; the boys were ages 13 to 17, and two 17-year-olds had $75 in cash.

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