June 23, 1967: The Glassboro Summit

Kosygin (left) and Johnson

June 23, 1967: The Glassboro Summit Conference is held at Hollybush Mansion, the residence of the president of Glassboro State College, 20 miles south of Center City Philadelphia. It is, to date, the only summit meeting ever held in New Jersey, whether U.S.-Soviet, G7/G8/G20, or anything else.

President Lyndon B. Johnson meets Soviet Premier Alexei Kosygin, and they discuss the state of the world in the wake of the recent Six-Day War between Israel and its Arab neighbors, Red China's "Great Leap Forward," and the ongoing Vietnam War. Nothing really got done, but the discussions were amicable.

This would be Kosygin's only summit. After his lenient attitude toward the Prague Spring the next year, Leonid Brezhnev pushed him out, and ruled the Soviet Union until his death in 1982, 2 years after Kosygin himself died, officially still in power, but who was kidding who?

The school that hosted the Summit was founded in 1923, in Glassboro, Gloucester County, as Glassboro Normal School. It became New Jersey State Teachers College at Glassboro in 1937, Glassboro State College in 1958, Rowan College of New Jersey after a major donation by thermal energy tycoon Henry Rowan in 1992, and Rowan University in 1997.

Hollybush Mansion, a.k.a. Whitney Mansion, was built by the Whitney family in 1849, and, instead of the official residence of the school's president, is now a museum.

It is the largest university in South Jersey, but has never gotten big enough to become "The University of New Jersey," or "New Jersey State University," or even "The University of South Jersey." Rutgers, in New Brunswick, remains "The State University of New Jersey." Rowan's teams compete in NCAA Division III.

On October 30, 1970, the college's auditorium hosted the 1st American concert by British rock band Black Sabbath, with Ozzy Osbourne singing lead. Notable graduates include Philadelphia Phillies public-address announcer Dan Baker, and Welcome Back, Kotter actor Robert Hegyes.

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June 23, 1967 was a Friday. These baseball games were played:

* The New York Yankees beat the Detroit Tigers, 3-1 at Yankee Stadium. Al Downing outpitched Denny McLain, and hit a home run in his own cause. Steve Whitaker and Tom Tresh also hit home runs. Mickey Mantle was 0-for-1 with 3 walks. Al Kaline went 1-for-4 and had the Tigers' only RBI.

* The New York Mets lost to the Atlanta Braves, 12-4 at Atlanta Stadium (later Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium). Hank Aaron had no official at-bats, but 3 walks, 2 runs scored, and an RBI on a sacrifice fly (which isn't counted as an at-bat). For the Mets, Cleon Jones went 3-for-4 with a home run, a walk and 3 RBIs.

* The Boston Red Sox beat the Cleveland Indians, 8-4 at Fenway Park in Boston. Tony Conigliaro went 2-for-3 with a home run, a walk and 2 RBIs. Carl Yastrzemski went 2-for-3 with a walk and 2 RBIs.

* The Washington Senators beat the Baltimore Orioles, 3-2 at District of Columbia Stadium (later Robert F. Kennedy Stadium) in Washington. Paul Casanova went 2-for-3 with a home run and 2 RBIs. Brooks Robinson went 3-for-4. Frank Robinson went 0-for-4.

* The Pittsburgh Pirates beat the Cincinnati Reds, 4-2 at Crosley Field in Cincinnati. The Pirates scored 3 runs in the top of the 9th to win it. Sammy Ellis allowed a leadoff single to Andre Rodgers, and was relieved by Ted Abernathy, who walked Gene Alley, and gave up an RBI single to Maury Willis and a sacrifice bunt to Manny Mota.

Reds manager Dave Bristol brought Gerry Arrigo in to pitch to 1 batter, Jim Pagliaroni, and to walk him intentionally, to set up outs at any base. Bristol then brought in his 4th pitcher of the inning, Bob Lee. With José Pagán at bat, Lee threw a wild pitch that tied the game and moved the other runners up, and then gave up a sacrifice fly that scored Wills with the winning run.

Roberto Clemente went 0-for-4. Willie Stargell did not play. This was also a rare Reds game in which Pete Rose did not play. He missed only 14 games in 1967, and, from 1963 to 1978, appeared in 2,507 out of 2,593 games, or 96.97 percent of them. Johnny Bench made his debut on August 28.

* The Chicago Cubs beat the Houston Astros, 9-8 at Wrigley Field in Chicago. Ernie Banks and Billy Williams hit home runs.

* The Minnesota Twins beat the Chicago White Sox, 1-0 at Metropolitan Stadium in the Minneapolis suburb of Bloomington, Minnesota. Dean Chance pitched a 3-hit shutout, outpitching Joe Horlen, who pitched a no-hitter later that season. The only run came in the bottom of the 7th, when Harmon Killebrew hit a home run. Rookie Rod Carew went 1-for-3.

* The St. Louis Cardinals beat the Philadelphia Phillies, 3-2 at Busch Memorial Stadium in St. Louis. Roger Maris hit a home run for the Cards. Lou Brock went 0-for-4, but had an RBI on a groundout. Dick Allen and Johnny Callison homered for the Phils.

* The California Angels beat the Kansas City Athletics, 2-0 at Kansas City Municipal Stadium. Rickey Clark pitched 7 1/3rd innings of 3-hit shutout ball, and Minnie Rojas completed the 3-hit shutout.

* And the San Francisco Giants beat their arch-rivals, the Los Angeles Dodgers, 7-1 at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles. Mike McCormick went the distance for the win. In his own cause, he went 2-for-4 with 2 RBIs, including a home run off Don Sutton, who couldn't get an out in the 3rd inning. Willie Mays went 3-for-5, including his 553rd home run. He hit it off Jim Hickman, normally a slugging outfielder, who came into the game as a pinch-hitter for pitcher Dick Egan. He pitched 2 innings, allowing only that run. It was the only pitching appearance of his career.