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121 Chestnut Street
Montclair, N. J.
November 9, 1968
Mr. Julian Bond
162 Euhrlee Street, S. W.
Atlanta, Georgia
Dear Mr. Bond:
Among other things, this is a belated note of thanks for your visit here in support of Wynona's candidacy for Essex County Freeholder. As it turned out, she won by a quite comfortable margin. I'm sure your presence gave the campaign a tone and a spirit which very much helped account for its success.
I'd hoped to be able to report to you that Columbia University was prepared to offer you an honorary B.A. degree. The matter was proposed at the honors committee meeting a few weeks ago, but couldn't be acted upon. For one thing, it turned out that New York State law forbids the granting of honorary degrees, and secondly, the committee decided that this was properly a matter for the Columbia trustees--so it's in the latter's lap that the question now resides. Meanwhile a movement has developed among a few Harvard alumni here to see if Harvard couldn't have the honor of granting you a degree, but from that quarter, as yet, there's nothing further to report. In any case, I've been advised that a letter from Mr. Mays and Wynona to Dr. Gloster, indicating their belief in the equivalence of your social experience to the lacking academic experience, should be sufficient. We'll therefore be in touch with Dr. Mays about this upon his return from Michigan.
We were very pleased to have had your wife and her sister present at the Orange and Upper Montclair receptions. A check for her plane fare is enclosed.
Thanks, once again, for visiting here. We know it wasn't easy for you, and we're most appreciative.
Sincerely yours,
(signed)Matthew Lipman
Matthew Lipman