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Show 162 MADELYN CANNON STEWART SILVER Harold missed his convention dinner and the four of them went to the Rainbow Room for dinner and thence to see Noel Coward's Blithe Spirit, which Madelyn called a "superb come dy; we laughed until we were faint." Their last day in New York they climbed up the Metropolitan balcony to see Don Giovanni. Madelyn said the opera was "heavenly" and then confessed that another adjective would be better as Don is consumed by flames at the end. Dressed very for mally, Madelyn and Harold attended the big manufacturers' ban quet at the Waldorf in the evening. Among others, they passed Franchot Tone (famous movie actor) escorting his new bride. They went on to Boston to spend a couple of days with Sister Nora and her medical student husband Robert (Bob) Snow. Monday morning, December 8, as they approached Toledo, they heard for the first time of the attack on Pearl Harbor and the American declaration of war," After their return to Denver, which experiencing the coldest weather since 1875, Harold took a contract with the u.S. Navy to build ships in Denver. For this he was given the Navy's Certificate of Achievement for meritorious was contribution to the war effort. He led Colorado manufacturers in the program to produce the machinery for the war in 1941-46; became a director (later president) of the Denver Chamber of Commerce and member of the Regional Advisory Committee on defense workers. As Colorado's leading manufacturer, he training became industry member of the Regional War Labor Board, and industry advisor of the Regional War Manpower Commission. He served on the Regional Board of Governors of the Smaller War Plants Corporation. His activities caused him to receive the Award of Merit for Business Achievement of the University of Colorado School of Business. The war had a major impact on the Silvers, as it did on all Americans during the next four years. At the time of the Pearl Harbor attack, Madelyn and Harold were forty, Elizabeth was 11, Barnard 8, and Judith 6. When the Selective Service Act was passed in 1942, Harold registered, but was classified 4-F on account of his damaged foot. As with other American housewives, Madelyn "made do" without some goods no longer available because of the war, and |
