Delta Kappa Epsilon - University of Alabama

Sighs of Psi 5 FROM THE HISTORIAN Alabama. He was born in Mobile and moved with his family at a young age to Birmingham, where he lived the rest of his life, and was one of sev- eral Bromberg family members who were Psi DKEs. Ms. Byrne believes that her mother, Margaret, was one of the wives who accompanied her husband on the trip to Havana. Brother Bromberg subsequently engaged in the jewelry business, a business still thriving in Birmingham today. He passed away in September 1956. The 1926 DKE Catalogue shows Brother McGowin as a native of Brewton, Ala., studying at Pembroke College, Oxford, England. On December 2, 1920, he applied for a U.S. passport in Tuscaloosa, list- ing his intended foreign destination as "Cuba," the purpose of his travel as "Fraternity Convention," and his intended port and date of departure as Key West on December 28, 1920. 3 His passport appli- cation was attested to by well-known Psi alumnus and longtime "house father" "Uncle Tom" Garner. Brother McGowin was a cousin of brother Nicholas Stallworth, Psi 1858, who served in the Confederate army and was present with General Robert E. Lee at the surrender of Lee's army at Appomattox Court House in April 1865 (see "Psi at Appomattox, April 1865," Sighs of Psi, Summer 2015, page 6). 4 Brother McGowin died in June 1992. Shortly after arrival in Cuba, a delegation of fifty brothers went to the Cuban Presidential Palace to pay respects to brother Menocal. Because of the president's personal involvement with the convention, the gather- ing became an event of international interest, and each day English and Spanish language newspapers devoted front-page stories to the delegates' activities. DKEs were given red-carpet treatment throughout their stay, and enjoyed hobnobbing with Havana's bigshots. Activities included tours of the island, a DKE versus Cuban Athletic Club basketball game, gambling at the quaintly named Palace of Chance, newly constructed of marble, and a memorable New Year's Eve celebration. The actual "con- vention business" took place at the Presidential Palace, the residence of President Menocal. The convention banquet was held at the prestigious Vedado Tennis Club, and, along with a Grand Ball and reception at the Presidential Palace, provided the grand finale for the convention. In mid-December 2015, your humble correspondent had the pleasure of traveling by boat with three friends from Key West to Havana, following, almost exactly 95 years later, the same route followed by the DKE-laden Cuban warship and the steamer Governor Cobb of December 1920. Our 63' Hatteras yacht, the Restless Too, owned by Jim Huger, reached Cuban waters early on the morning of December 15 th . As we approached the island, the thing that struck us most was the complete absence of water- craft of any kind—no fishing boats, no sailboats, no skiffs, no rowboats, no commercial vessels—NOTHING. Pretty odd for an island nation. We found out later that watercraft of any kind are virtually impossible to obtain and/or operate in Cuba, because the communist Cuban government fears (rightfully) that such vessels will inevitably be pointed to Florida and freedom. So much for life in a "workers' paradise." After a surprisingly easy time getting through Cuban customs (the Castro government craves U.S. dollars, so is very wel- coming to Americans, despite over a half-century of official hostility), we moored at the Marina Hemingway (named for famous American author Ernest Hemingway, who lived on and off in Cuba) in Havana. I was now on the trail of the 1920 convention. Our English- speaking Cuban guides were very educated, surprisingly sophisticated, and quite open in their disdain for the Castro regime. I asked about the former Presidential Palace, where President Menocal hosted our brothers on their 1920 visit. "That's now the Museum of the Revolution," our guide, Humberto, said; "I'll take you there." We headed for Old Havana, and arrived at the Presidential Palace/ Museum of the Revolution, which I quickly recognized from old photos I'd seen (see photo). Notice the army tank on the right side of the photo, incongruous- ly parked in front of this majestic old building. The Museum itself is about what you would expect: a shrine to the Castro brothers and their cronies. If communist propaganda, spun out in tur- gid, mind-numbing prose, is your thing, this is the place for you. In any event, I got to see, first-hand, the main site of the 1920 DKE Convention, perhaps the most famous DKE convention ever. Our guides were also very familiar with the El Vedado neighborhood of Havana, but had never heard of the Vedado Tennis Club, site of the 1920 convention's grand finale banquet, so I was disappointed that I would not get to see it, though I suspected that such a fancy tennis club was probably Brother Earl McGowin '22 represented the Psi chapter at the 1920 Havana convention. Photo courtesy of MEHistory, findagrave.com Memorial #54509156. 3. Brother McGowan's and Brother Bromberg's passport applications can both be found on ancestry.com. 4. http://www.epageflip.net/i/543851-summer-2015-newsletter Convention banquet at the Vedado Tennis Club. Photo from A Century and a Half of DKE, page 49. (Left to right): The author and friends Jim Huger, Murray Calhoun and Lee Finkelstein aboard the Restless Too at Marina Hemingway, Havana. Photo courtesy of Murray Calhoun. The author outside of the former Cuban Presidential Palace in Havana on December 14, 2015. Much of the 1920 DKE Convention activity took place here. (Continued on page 6) The Vedado Tennis Club in Havana in its heyday." Photo from http:// images.delcampe.com/img_large/auc- tion/000/175/689/882_001.jpg?v=1 The now-abandoned and empty Vedado Tennis Club building today. Photo from https://notesontheamericas. wordpress.com/tag/cuban-tennis/

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