The Good, The Bad, and The Hazy In-Between

While a student at the California Institute of Technology in the late-1920s, my grandfather was chosen for the Henry Ford II Scholar Award and provided the opportunity to travel across Europe with three other standout engineering students. The young men drove from Pasadena to Detroit, where they explored the Ford automobile manufacturing plant, witnessed production efficiency that would usher the country into the Industrial Age, and were gifted a Ford Model T for their journey. They drove to New York and then took a ferry across the Atlantic to begin their trip across Europe.

My great-grandparents had sold their general store in El Paso to fund their son’s $5,000 trip, which would equate to $90,000 today. It was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity and, despite the hardships of the Great Depression, they weren’t going to let their son miss out.

During his trip, my grandfather kept a travel journal, which my mother and I worked to transcribe over the last year. He noted the historical landmarks, cultural events, the discovery of cheap on-campus dining, the weather, and the Caltech contacts they has been scheduled to meet. Throughout his trip, he attend Latin Catholic mass at a number of different churches, often noting the prismatic depictions of Christ. It’s obvious from his journal that the Texas-raised boy was cultured and acutely aware of the names, style, and time periods of all the cathedrals and castles they visited.

My late grandfather was a smart man so it comes as no surprise that, shortly after his return, he was recruited by the American government to work on a top-secret project that would put his brains and his educational experience to the test. The project that he worked on may be viewed as controversial today, but can we really say what is “good” or what is “bad,” or is it just a mater of perspective? Join us over at the Heart of the Matter to discuss Books, Bombs, and Ethical Situationalism.