Immigrant Society Makes 3 Awards

Frankfurter, Martinelli and Tesla Signalized for Their Contributions to U. S.

ADOPTED COUNTRY HAILED

Institutions Praised and Early Days in This Nation Are Recalled at Dinner Here

Felix Frankfurter of the Harvard Law School; Giovanni Martinelli, Metropolitan Opera tenor, and Nikola Tesla, electrical scientist, received scrolls of honor last night from the National Institute of Immigrant Welfare as "distinguished citizens of foreign birth who have made significant contributions to American life."

Mr. Frankfurter was born in Austria, Mr. Martinelli in Italy and Mr. Tesla in Yugoslavia.

Their names were kept secret from all but the guests of honor, until they were presented publicly for the award last night before an audience of 300 persons in the ballroom of the Biltmore Hotel, at the annual dinner of the institute.

They were named by Dr. Harry Woodburn Chase, chancellor of New York University, and chairman of an award committee which included Dr. Stephen P. Duggan, director of the Institute of International Education; Dr. John H. Finley, Dr. Henry Goddard Leach, editor of The Forum magazine, and Dr. James T. Shotwell, trustee and director of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.

Frankfurter Hails Constitution

Acknowledging the presentation, Mr. Frankfurter said:

"Gratitude is one of the least articulate of the emotions, especially when it is deep. I can express with very limited adequacy the passionate devotion to this land that possesses millions of our people, born, like myself, under other skies, for the privileges that this country has bestowed in allowing them to partake of the fellowship.

"It has bestowed this fellowship from the beginning. The unfolding of our republic is the story of the most significant racial admixture in history. The very Constitution of the United States was made, in the classic language of the Supreme Court, 'for the undefined and expanding future and for a people gathered from many nations and of many tongues.'

"Nothing is more uniquely American than this hospitality to the human spirit, whatever its source. The times in which we live are bringing to American life doers of great deeds and thinkers of great thoughts, and men and women undistinguished except as the sturdy foundation of every good society.

"We should welcome them as generations before us welcomed the pilgrims of '48. For they come, not merely because persecution drives them; they come because the American tradition beckons them."

Tesla Recalls Arrival Here

Mr. Tesla sent word from his bed in the Hotel New Yorker that he had almost completely recovered from the injuries he suffered in an automobile accident six months ago, but did not feel equal to a public appearance. He sent a statement of appreciation which was read by Dr. Paul R. Radosavljevich, Professor of Pedagogy at New York University.

In it, Mr. Tesla said he still vividly recalled his coming to this country as "a great adventure" when he was summoned from Paris in 1884 by Thomas A. Edison to design and construct his first electric machinery. He recalled Edison's laughter later when he tried to collect the $50,000 which Edison had promised him, and other misadventures with early electrical promoters before meeting with "two capable and honest men and finally George Westinghouse, who took my alternating system and won the battle against prejudice and money power."

"I have to add," he concluded, "that in all my troubles I did not neglect to declare my intention of becoming a citizen of this glorious country and in due course I secured my papers, making me a proud and happy man."

Mr. Martinelli said he was "very poor" when he came here, but "grateful to God that he had been born with a voice." He was grateful also to the Metropolitan Opera Company for receiving him. To struggling young artists now in the situation in which he was then, he gave the simple counsel, "Work hard and you will succeed."

Work of Institute

The National Institute of Immigrant Welfare is an organization of nationally distributed units and individuals, supported by memberships and voluntary contributions. It is active in social service and social interpretation for foreign-born individuals and groups as changing needs may arise in naturalization, relief, adjustments, immigration or emigration.

As part of its work in public policy, the institute started the present awards in 1936 to be given annually. The 1936 recipients were Dr. Alexis Carrel, Dr. Walter Damrosch and Jonas Lie. The 1937 recipients were Dr. Leo Baekeland, Dr. Ales Hrdlicka and Henry Morgenthau Sr.

Leifur Magnusson, president of the institute, presided at the dinner. Mrs. Dave Hennen Morris, as chief hostess, greeted the guests. Addresses were given by Dr. Leach, Dr. Gregory Zilboorg, psychiatrist, and Dr. Leland Rex Robinson, investment banker.

The program also included a dance by the Svenska Folkdans Foreningen, led by Sture Lilja; and Slavic songs by Maria Maximovitch. The presentations and acknowledgments were broadcast nationally by the National Broadcasting Company.