Visiting Collegiate's Past, Part One
One day recently, I took a walking tour of Collegiate’s North Mooreland Road campus with Alex Smith as my guide.
Who better is there to point out the historical sites, some obvious, some more subtle?
Smith arrived here from Albert Hill Junior High in 1961 and graduated with the class of ’65. After four years as a student and standout athlete at Principia College, he returned as a teacher and coach in 1969. Except for a year away in the early ‘70’s when he worked in the antique business, he’s been here ever since. In 1974, he moved into development, first as director, then as vice-president. Since 2012, he’s served in the area of major gifts.
Suffice it to say that he knows pretty much every nook and cranny of the campus, and he offers insight that even I, who has spent the vast majority of my professional life here, wasn’t aware.
We started in the Reed-Gumenick Library, standing before a plaque mounted on the south wall that lists noteworthy dates in the life of the institution from its founding in 1915 until 1960.
“This looks like a very concise history of Collegiate,” I offered, actually stating the obvious.
“Yes,” Alex responded. “It was given by the Alumnae. It was only the women because there were no boys back then. It’s been helpful over the years. We’ve referred back to it over and over.”
“Has it always been here?” I asked.
“Yes,” Alex answered. “Soon after the opening (of the North Mooreland campus in 1960), the plaque was given to the library. It’s marble. Heavy as it can be. It’s very nicely done, by the way, but it was hard to get it mounted.”
We moved next to the Faculty Garden just west of the library and stood before a circular sundial in the center dedicated to Julia Williams, the long-time head of the Girls School and later the Upper School.
“This was the first attempt to do something nice in this very busy intersection,” Alex explained, “so we said, let’s do this in honor of the faculty. It’s one of the nicer places with the seawalls and so much activity. It used to have a lot of pea gravel which was a pain in the neck because it scattered and went everywhere.
“When it became concrete and decorative brick, it was the beginning of some polishing at Collegiate that we hadn’t done before. It (the transformation) was evolutionary. It got started in the ‘70’s and got it finished in about 1990.”
On the west wall of the RGL facing the garden is a plaque honoring Dallas Cocke, a faculty member who passed away in 1986.
“She left us too early,” Alex said. “The faculty and her family wanted to recognize her and dedicate this garden to her. One of her quotes, and it’s on the plaque, is ‘Life’s mighty hard if you take it yard by yard, but it’s a cinch if you take it inch by inch.’”
We walked next into McFall Hall, the cafeteria once called Memorial Hall but renamed to honor Charlie McFall, Collegiate’s long-time athletic director and football and baseball coach who retired in 2013.
“Do you know why it was called Memorial Hall?” I asked Alex.
“Yes,” he replied. “In the ‘60’s, we weren’t that far from the Korean War and World War II. When this building was built, there were a lot of veterans around, and many were active at Collegiate. There were (headmaster) Mr. (Malcolm U.) Pitt (Jr.) and (business manager) Mr. (Bill) O’Flaherty and many of our trustees.
“So Memorial Hall was named in honor of those who served. It also honors Charlie McFall. He was a great coach and athletic director. He was so good with the kids. He knew their names. He was their friend. He spent a lot of time in here as the lunch monitor…by himself.”
Near the main entrance is a plaque honoring Cornelia Moore Hall, under whose guidance Collegiate became involved with the American Field Service, which brought international students to our campus. Around the room are flags representing the home countries of our guests.
“Mrs. Hall’s enthusiasm was contagious,” Alex explained. “The Village Green Fair was actually invented 50 years ago for the proceeds, or at least part of the proceeds, to go to the expenses of the American Field Service.
“It was a very exciting addition to our school life to have someone from a genuine foreign country join our student body. Today, people come and go in and out of countries all the time. Fifty years ago, it was rare to see someone from Norway or Japan. It was the first thing Collegiate ever did that was international. Mrs. Hall gets all the credit.”
-- Weldon Bradshaw
(This is the first in a series of Reflections pieces on landmarks around the Collegiate campus.)
Back
Smith arrived here from Albert Hill Junior High in 1961 and graduated with the class of ’65. After four years as a student and standout athlete at Principia College, he returned as a teacher and coach in 1969. Except for a year away in the early ‘70’s when he worked in the antique business, he’s been here ever since. In 1974, he moved into development, first as director, then as vice-president. Since 2012, he’s served in the area of major gifts.
Suffice it to say that he knows pretty much every nook and cranny of the campus, and he offers insight that even I, who has spent the vast majority of my professional life here, wasn’t aware.
We started in the Reed-Gumenick Library, standing before a plaque mounted on the south wall that lists noteworthy dates in the life of the institution from its founding in 1915 until 1960.
“This looks like a very concise history of Collegiate,” I offered, actually stating the obvious.
“Yes,” Alex responded. “It was given by the Alumnae. It was only the women because there were no boys back then. It’s been helpful over the years. We’ve referred back to it over and over.”
“Has it always been here?” I asked.
“Yes,” Alex answered. “Soon after the opening (of the North Mooreland campus in 1960), the plaque was given to the library. It’s marble. Heavy as it can be. It’s very nicely done, by the way, but it was hard to get it mounted.”
We moved next to the Faculty Garden just west of the library and stood before a circular sundial in the center dedicated to Julia Williams, the long-time head of the Girls School and later the Upper School.
“This was the first attempt to do something nice in this very busy intersection,” Alex explained, “so we said, let’s do this in honor of the faculty. It’s one of the nicer places with the seawalls and so much activity. It used to have a lot of pea gravel which was a pain in the neck because it scattered and went everywhere.
“When it became concrete and decorative brick, it was the beginning of some polishing at Collegiate that we hadn’t done before. It (the transformation) was evolutionary. It got started in the ‘70’s and got it finished in about 1990.”
On the west wall of the RGL facing the garden is a plaque honoring Dallas Cocke, a faculty member who passed away in 1986.
“She left us too early,” Alex said. “The faculty and her family wanted to recognize her and dedicate this garden to her. One of her quotes, and it’s on the plaque, is ‘Life’s mighty hard if you take it yard by yard, but it’s a cinch if you take it inch by inch.’”
We walked next into McFall Hall, the cafeteria once called Memorial Hall but renamed to honor Charlie McFall, Collegiate’s long-time athletic director and football and baseball coach who retired in 2013.
“Do you know why it was called Memorial Hall?” I asked Alex.
“Yes,” he replied. “In the ‘60’s, we weren’t that far from the Korean War and World War II. When this building was built, there were a lot of veterans around, and many were active at Collegiate. There were (headmaster) Mr. (Malcolm U.) Pitt (Jr.) and (business manager) Mr. (Bill) O’Flaherty and many of our trustees.
“So Memorial Hall was named in honor of those who served. It also honors Charlie McFall. He was a great coach and athletic director. He was so good with the kids. He knew their names. He was their friend. He spent a lot of time in here as the lunch monitor…by himself.”
Near the main entrance is a plaque honoring Cornelia Moore Hall, under whose guidance Collegiate became involved with the American Field Service, which brought international students to our campus. Around the room are flags representing the home countries of our guests.
“Mrs. Hall’s enthusiasm was contagious,” Alex explained. “The Village Green Fair was actually invented 50 years ago for the proceeds, or at least part of the proceeds, to go to the expenses of the American Field Service.
“It was a very exciting addition to our school life to have someone from a genuine foreign country join our student body. Today, people come and go in and out of countries all the time. Fifty years ago, it was rare to see someone from Norway or Japan. It was the first thing Collegiate ever did that was international. Mrs. Hall gets all the credit.”
-- Weldon Bradshaw
(This is the first in a series of Reflections pieces on landmarks around the Collegiate campus.)
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