| Exonians on Aging
Three Exonians who took part in the original Grant Study at Harvard-the basis for much of Dr. George Vaillant's research-discuss their experiences and their own conclusions about aging well.
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As part of their work with the Grant Study-the ambitious research effort at Harvard in which undergraduates were recruited for a lifelong study of adult development-George Hanford '37 (top), Tim Coggeshall '40 (middle) and Don Cole '51 (Hon.) (bottom) completed 20- to 30-page surveys on every aspect of their physical and emotional well-being. "Every two years you had to sit down and answer some remarkably provocative questions," recalls Coggeshall. "It was like taking an examination." |
M uch of the research that makes up Aging Well is drawn from the Grant Study, an ambitious research effort begun at Harvard in the late 1930s in which 268 members of the classes of 1941 through 1944 were recruited to take part in a lifelong study of adult development. Not surprisingly, as the Grant Study began in the days when large numbers of Exeter graduates went on to Harvard, a good many Exonians participated in the study. We spoke with three of them: George Hanford '37 of Cambridge, MA; Tim Coggeshall '40 of Barnstable, MA; and Don Cole '51 (Hon.), former dean of faculty and chair of the history department who retired from the Academy in 1988.
All three spoke of not really comprehending the scope of the study when they first signed up. Hanford, whose father happened to be dean of the college at the time of the study, says, "It seemed like a good thing to do, to participate. There was no sense in the beginning that this was going to go on forever."
They also agree that the initial examinations, both physical and psychological, were extremely thorough. "You spent maybe 15 hours with all kinds of doctors-internists and hematologists and psychiatrists," Hanford recalls. "After all that time, you got so you leveled with them."
The examinations also included discussions with the participants' families. "They sent someone out to interview my mother," Cole recalls, "and I knew they got an earful then."
Coggeshall was especially struck by "the caliber of the people who worked with you. I can remember with great affection the staff people who would take you one at a time to find out what made you tick. I expected it to be an impersonal study, but the thing I liked about it was they treated you as a unique human being, not somebody to be measured and calculated and appraised."
George Vaillant '51 didn't join the staff of the study until 1967, but he, too, is fondly remembered by the study participants. Cole in particular has the goods on Vaillant; he taught him for two semesters at Exeter. "He was an excellent student," Cole recalls, "bright and cheerful, interested in talking and vivacious. I've gotten to know him during the study. He interviewed me once on the lawn of the Library of Congress, where I was doing research."
Cole notes that the biennial surveys, 20 to 30 pages long, would ask questions ranging from the political ("asking specifically for whom I voted and my opinion on the role of government in American society") to the personal ("what I thought was important in life") to the potentially embarrassing ("like how did I get along with my wife, and what was my relationship with my children like?"). Those questions, he says, forced him "to think about my life more than I normally would. You were really pinned down."
He adds, "As I got older, there were physical questions that were delightfully specific: How strong do you feel? Could I carry a suitcase through an airport? How many times did I go upstairs a day? Those questions were rewarding to answer, too. They helped me to think for myself where I stood in life. They were a guide to go by."
Coggeshall also enjoyed the surveys. "Every two years you were pulled out of your ho-hum routine. You had to sit down and answer some remarkably provocative questions-it was like taking an examination. Just pausing in the normal turmoil of life to say, 'OK, what have the last couple of years been like?' makes you think about what the next two years will be like."
One character in particular from Aging Well might make Exeter readers curious: one Frederick Chipp, a retired Phillips Exeter schoolteacher (and a pseudonym). One immediately wonders if it's Cole. "That's silly. I don't like gardening," Cole declares, pointing out that in the scene in which Vaillant comes to interview Chipp, the former teacher is covered with mud from weeding his vegetable garden. Cole reads from the passage about Chipp: " 'He looked extremely handsome'-that's not me. I deny it," he laughs.
Coggeshall, however, unravels the mystery. "I'm Fred Chipp," he says, noting that he was a teacher at Noble and Greenough School in Dedham, MA, and that the book concludes with a lengthy passage from a valedictory address he gave in 1987. While he demurs at the subject of his appearance, Coggeshall does say the representation of their conversation is remarkably true to life. "I was not aware that George had a tape recorder, but he has the most amazing memory for phrases," Coggeshall says.
Hanford says he learned a number of lessons from the study, offering a list that sounds a bit like Polonius' advice to Hamlet: "For God's sake, stay away from drugs. Don't overindulge in alcohol. Be smart enough to pick out a good wife. Be accepting of what your fate is. People who get involved in activities are better off. Join up! Get involved in the community-it makes you think about things that you probably wouldn't pay attention to otherwise."
The lesson Cole says he took away from the book is that "you've got to be doing things when you're old. That's certainly been true for me. I'm such a puritan that I don't feel good unless I've gotten something done during the day. It must be very difficult when you don't have anything to do."
Says Coggeshall, "I thought the book was fantastic. I hope a lot of people approaching old age will read it because it's so reassuring. If you really wish to, you can take charge of your life and move it in new, positive directions. I found that really exciting."
-S.C.
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