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About the turn of the century the Board of Trustees entered into the first of several major development programs to grow the Academy. The primary benefactor from 1891 to 1913 was Melville Cox Day, a lawyer by profession and a member of the Class of 1858. He donated five dormitories and two cottages to help in the realization of Principal Bancroft's goal of having all students living in Academy residence halls; one of these dorms was built in the northeast quadrant. Thomas Cochran, an active partner in J.P. Morgan & Co. and member of the Class of 1890, assumed the role of Academy benefactor in 1924 and in the following seven years transformed this quadrant into the focal point of the Academy. He was directly responsible for, or was the major contributor to, nine edifices and the Sanctuary during his period of active involvement as Trustee of the Academy.
As a result of the desire to bring all students into school buildings rather than having them residing in private homes, plans were drawn up during the 1909-10 school year for a new dormitory.
The Trustees planned on funding this project with one hundred $500 twenty year, 4-1/2 percent notes, redeeming four notes each year. When the Academy had realized $30,000 of the $50,000 required, Melville C. Day offered to furnish the entire amount at terms very favorable to the Trustees. This largesse made it possible to start the construction in January 1911. In the meantime the Board of Trustees kept up their pursuit for the $50,000 with the intention of erecting another dormitory.
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The architect for Day Hall, named for its donor, was Guy Lowell; the contractor was Holt-Fairchild Co. of Boston. The building, completed in the fall of 1911, is 115 feet long, 45 feet wide, made of brick with stone trimming and a slate roof. When first built, it housed 45 boys and two instructors. Each study had a fireplace but the primary source of heat was steam from the central heating plant. Renovations were made to the building in the 1940's, the 1960's and again in 1987. The north side was converted to include a married instructor's quarters in the summer of 1955.
On December 6, 1980, a minor fire was experienced in the south hall which destroyed one Upper Middler's room. It broke out when a cheap plastic lamp malfunctioned and ignited. The fire spread throughout the room before it could be extinguished by the Andover Fire Department.
The first of the buildings constructed under the Thomas Cochran era of growth was Samuel Phillips Hall. Built in 1924, it was known as the New Main Building until the Trustees meeting of January 1926 at which session it was named for the founder of the Academy. The plans for the building were approved at the September 1922 Trustees meeting and the construction started that fall. This new recitation building was an integral part of the Quadrangle development which induced the moving of Pearson Hall. The architect was Guy Lowell of Boston (M. C. Day's architect) in collaboration with Charles A. Platt of New York City (T. Cochran's architect) although it was basically Platt's designs which were accepted. Funding for this project was achieved in 1924 through the generosity of over 2500 Alumni and friends.
The approach to the entrance is by a flight of granite steps more than 70 feet wide to a granolithic platform from which more steps lead to the main entrance door. Rising from this platform are six Doric columns; above them is a central tower of wood on a granite base. The tower has supporting columns at each of the four corners. A clock with a face of Andover blue and with gold figures and hands is on the front of this tower. The bell tower has a balustrade and a cupola with a copper dome and a weather vane finished in gold leaf. The total height of the building and tower is 117 feet.
The building itself is constructed of granite and brick 250 feet long, 33 feet deep with north and south wings 31 feet wide and 37 feet deep. Stairways are on each side of the central tower and at each end of the building. The basement contains six classrooms, two exam rooms and receiving stations for the electric power and steam heat. The first floor contains ten classrooms and a faculty room; the second floor has the same configuration. Fifteen of the recitation rooms are named in memory of key donors o the Building and Endowment Fund (they are defined in Chapter II). The windows are recessed and beneath each is a steam radiator. For the first time in the Academy's history, it was possible for each instructor to have his own classroom. The first recitations were held in this building upon the opening of the winter term of the 1924-25 school year. This Main recitation building presently houses the Modern Languages and History Departments.
The area immediately in front of Samuel Phillips Hall is called the Great Quadrangle --- defined on the other sides by George Washington Hall on the north, Foxcroft and Bartlet Halls on the west and Pearson and Morse Halls on the south. This quadrangle extends into the Vista, a mall cleared in the late 1920's permitting clear vision to the west from Samuel Phillips Hall.
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Tucker House, Bancroft Hall and Pemberton Cottage had to be moved to create this Vista (see Chapter VII) and several of the elms in the famed Elm Arch were removed.
In the summer of 1928 a three foot Concord granite wall was erected around the Mall and Vista areas in place of the hedge which previously marked the boundary; this wall, built by the John Swanson Granite Co. of Concord, was 2000 feet long and extended down Chapel Avenue, south along the east side of Main Street and down Salem Street. The enclosed area had been the site of the second classroom building, Brechin Hall, the Old Stone Chapel and many athletic contests --- both of the officially sanctioned and unofficial "pickup" variety.
A wooden club house was erected for the Academy Radio Club in the fall of 1923 on the slope behind the New Main Building. Its site was one of the highest points of ground on the Hill --- an attribute essential to maximum transmission and reception capability. The building as well as the best apparatus available needed to equip this facility was donated by Fred Edward Weyerhauser, Class of 1892, of St. Paul, Minn. This club house was in use at least into the 1950's as it is where the author first tried his hand (rather unsuccessfully I must admit) at the hobby after earning his novice license.
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Thomas Cochran announced in 1925 that he would give $500,000 for an Administration Building which would be named for George Washington in honor of his association with the Academy. He also purchased a Gilbert Stuart portrait of the "Father of our Nation" to hang in the lobby of this hall. The construction contract was awarded to Thompson Starret Co. of New York; the architect was Charles A. Platt. Ground was broken before the end of July 1925 and the completed building was opened for the 1926-27 school year. The Georgian Colonial building of Bulfinch period design was constructed of Dover River brick and Deer Isle granite. A parking area was installed to the rear of the building where the former Seminary Farm/Harrington House had been located.
A huge auditorium measuring 80 feet by 57 feet and 31 feet high was located on the first floor and was to be used for all school exercises except the Sunday church services. The floor was slightly inclined to permit maximum visibility for the 1270 person seating capacity: 770 on the main floor, 300 in the gallery and 200 on stage. The rest of the first floor was devoted to the Registrar in the east wing and the Principal in the west wing. The Alumni Secretary, Purchasing Agent and Treasurer all had their offices on the second floor. The third floor consisted of two large rooms 38 feet by 50 feet. One of these rooms was converted to a Trustees Room. It was panelled in butternut wood with vaulted ceiling, bookcases and cupboards built in the walls to house James A. Sawyer's collection of books on great English public schools. A large fireplace of black Belgian marble was flanked by two doors leading into several smaller committee rooms; a long Duncan Phyfe design table ran down the center of the room. A model of the Academy was also located in the Trustees Room which included the 300 acres owned by the school with the surrounding property and all school buildings reproduced in perfect miniature. The other room on the third floor was finished off the same way and was initially set up to display historical exhibits during the Academy's 150th Anniversary in May 1928. It later became a faculty meeting room.
The auditorium on the first floor housed the Martha Cochran Memorial Organ, also purchased by Thomas Cochran for the Academy at a cost of $50,000. The organ was moved to Cochran Chapel in 1932 following completion of that building.
It was in this auditorium that the Adminstration initiated Saturday night movies in the fall of 1927. Three years later the Trustees voted to install complete talking picture apparatus and on November 22, 1930, this new equipment was used for the first time to present Eddie Cantor in "Whoopee".
The stage was significantly remodeled in the 1962-63 period during which the Arts and Communication Center was constructed adjacent to and contiguous with George Washington Hall. An elevator was installed at that time at a cost of $46,000. The Alumni Office was remodeled in 1966 and the entire building is scheduled to be renovated in 1990.
In 1927 the Trustees started planning for a new science building which was to be identified as the Samuel F. B. Morse Hall in memory of the inventor of the telegraph and the Morse Code. He entered the Academy in 1779 at the age of 8 but returned home that year; he reentered in 1802 and graduated in the spring of 1805. The search for the required $250,000 was answered by Alfred I. Dupont, Class of 1882, Oliver G. Jennings, Class of 1883, and Thomas Cochran who contributed substantially. Built in 1928, the hall was designed by Guy Lowell and built by Thompson Starrett Co. of New York City. Thomas Cochran also purchased a chair belonging to Samuel F. B. Morse to equip this new structure.
The main portion of the building is 122 feet long, 45 feet wide, three stories high. At the easterly end is a one-story wing 50 feet long, 42 feet wide which contains the laboratory area. The walls are of dark water-struck brick laid in Flemish bond with base, belt-course window sills and lintels of Deer Isle granite. The main entrance opens into a small vestibule which in turn opens upon the entrance hall, 16 feet square. This hall has a cloister, vaulted ceiling; the floors are marble. In the hall opposite the entrance is a memorial panel containing a portrait of Morse. Corridors extend east and west leading to the stair halls and the various rooms of the Department of Chemistry. The lab is in the one story wing along with a student's room, supply room, office and a large classroom.
The Department of Physics occupied the second floor including a large lab, two classrooms, supply room, office, library and a repair shop.
When built the third floor accommodated both the Departments of Biology and Mechanical Drawing. The latter comprised a large drafting room on the north side of the building. The biology lab, classroom, supply room and conservatory for raising plants and keeping aquatic specimens were also located on the third floor.
The basement was used for storage and had an underground passageway to Pearson Hall. A school shop was established in the basement in 1934 and money was given for the purchase of tools for it. An auto shop was established in the east end of the basement and the Radio Club in the west end in 1941.
The mural located on the wall of the Biology Conservatory was the result of a project given to the class in advanced painting. It was designed by Cleve Gray and six students helped him execute it.
The entire building was remodelled in 1965 to convert it to a Math building since Evans Hall had been completed as a science building. It was renovated to house three computer labs at a cost of $279,000. It contains sixteen classrooms, department office space and a large lecture room which accommodates 80 students and is equipped for Audio-Visual aids. The former chemistry lab was renovated into a Faculty Room named in honor of J. Alex Smith, Class of 1918, former Trustee and Alumni Fund Chairman. Dedicated on October 30, 1965, the architect was T. Timothy Anderson, Class of 1951.
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Paul Revere Hall, the dormitory which signaled the final accomplishment of Cecil P. F. Bancroft's dream of having all students in school dorms rather than boarding houses, was made possible by a gift of $300,000 from Thomas Cochran. It was designed by Charles A. Platt to provide rooms for 52 boys and two unmarried instructors. Erected using brick and stone over a steel framework by Thompson Starrett Co. of New York City, it was named for the noted patriot who cut the Academy seal in 1782. Four stories high, it was divided into two entries with 26 boys on each side in single and double rooms. The double suites were equipped with fireplaces. The first proctors were Dirk Van der Stucken and Emory Basford.
The Paul Revere Press was established in the basement of this hall in 1941. The bachelor quarters were upgraded to apartments for married instructors during John M. Kemper's term as Headmaster, in 1953. The facility became a girl's dormitory in the fall of 1973 following the merger of Abbot Academy with Phillips Academy.
The housing of all of the Academy boys in dormitories and the elimination of boarding houses produced a very heavy load on the Dining Hall facilities and new quarters had to be placed on the Trustees' agenda. Several generous alumni contributed to the realization of this facility --- Nathaniel Stevens, Class of 1876, Alfred Ripley, Class of 1873, Russell A. Alger, Class of 1893, Thomas Cochran, Class of 1890, and others.
Thomas Cochran agreed to pledge $300,000 if the Trustees could raise the other $300,000 needed. Built over the 1929-30 time period, the architect was Charles A. Platt and the builders Thompson Starrett, both of New York City. Construction proceeded rapidly in 1929 but delays in the installation of equipment resulted in postponement of the opening to the beginning of the spring 1930 term.
The opening of the Commons marked the start of the requirement that all students, except those in Williams Hall, eat in the dining rooms where each class had its special room. Two of the dining rooms were located on the ground floor and were panelled to the ceiling in framed oak with spaces for portraits of distinguished graduates. The corridors were richly ornamented in Carrara marble. Two more large dining rooms, panelled in walnut, were located on the second floor along with a smaller faculty dining room and two private dining rooms for special occasions. The kitchen was located in the basement.
Names were given to these dining rooms in 1930: Faculty Room --- Ropes Hall for James Hardy Ropes, '85, President of the Board of Trustees; Senior Room --Stearns Hall for Alfred Ernest Stearns, Headmaster; Junior Room --- Sawyer Hall for James Cowan Sawyer, '90, Treasurer; Upper Middler Room --- Alger Hall for Alexander Russell Alger, '93; Lower Middler Room---Stevens Hall for Nathaniel Stevens, '76.
Barry Faulkner, an artist of New York and Cornish, N.H., and a friend of Charles Platt, created six large murals in the winter of 1930-31. Painted on canvas, they show idealized New England landscapes. A Stuart Travis mural was placed in the lobby in the 1935-6 school year. This six foot by 12 foot panel depicts a map which traces the evolution of animal life on the earth from the earliest times to the present day.
After the final Summer Session meal on August 13, 1970, J. Timothy Anderson, Class of 1951, was given the go-ahead to direct a team effort over the next 27 days. The tasks included separation of dishwashing and food serving operations, installation of conveyor belts to pick up dirty trays from the dining hall and carry them mechanically to the dishwasher, inclusion of beverage machines in addition to milk, reorganization of the serving lines, faster service and an "eater's choice" in the selection of the dining hall. The cost of this crash program was $125,000 and included the redecoration of Bob Leete's office with fire-engine red walls and carpet.
Ropes Salon, the former faculty dining room on the second floor, was opened as a student social center in mid-winter 1973-4 with coffee and tea makings, newspapers and some comfortable chairs.
Stahl Associates, Inc., of Boston was chosen as architect for Commons Dining II in the fall of 1976. They were sent back to the drawing boards in the winter of 1977 because their approach contained too many problems. A new design was endorsed in May 1977. In the winter of 1978-79 they brought in a project which had too high a price tag and they were told to bring the price down below $3.5 million. The project was killed in May 1979 when they came back in over $4 million.
The Trustees made the decision to refurbish the present Commons with no expansion but with a student center and snack bar in the basement space for less than $2 million. Work was begun in January 1980. The facility was closed for an entire year and in its place students used the Abbot Dining Hall at the rear of Draper Hall; 1200 dining tables were set up there and in the Abbot Library. The renovations ran to almost $3 million and included changes in the interior design, the electrical system, food preparation equipment and exterior surfaces. Riley Room was created in the basement --- a new student center with grill items.
The Commons reopened on January 6, 1981, the first day of the winter term, after a full year of walking nearly a mile for meals at the Abbot Campus. The event called for formal wear (or its moral equivalent), candlelight dinner and dinner music (three groups). Visible changes were noted in the serving areas --- they were opened up to be cheerful and more efficient, flexible serving areas. The meal was a feast of Delmonico steaks, baked potato, home made cream puffs and eclairs.
Completion of the Commons in 1930 marked the formation of the "Small Quadrangle" along with Paul Revere Hall, Samuel F.B. Morse Hall, Pearson Hall and Day Hall. Later known as Flagstaff Court, the flagpole in the center was dedicated in 1931. This quadrangle was the gathering place for Seniors for many years.
The next building in the long list of donations by Thomas Cochran was the Oliver Wendell Holmes Library. He offered $500,000 for this new library in the names of his brothers, William, '95, and Montcrieff, '00, and his sister, Louise Cochran Savage. This donation was tied to ten teaching foundations of $160,000 each being presented to the school --- he donated the first two. Only a total of seven of these were purchased but he and his sister donated the library anyways.
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The architect and builders were again Charles A. Platt and Thompson Starrett Co., respectively. The basement excavation was hampered by the presence of underground springs which filled the hollow with water and led to the affectionate descriptive title of "The Oliver Wendell Holmes Memorial Swimming Pool". Completed in 1929, this new edifice was named for one of the Academy's graduates of 1825 --- the doctor and poet, Oliver Wendell Holmes. It was constructed of brick and stone in a colonial style; the entrance had a portico of four limestone monolith columns. Entrance was through a vestibule with a coat room on one side and a stairway on the other to the book delivery room located under a skylight two stories up. Behind the counter in the delivery room was the stack area consisting of five levels. The library to that date, located in Brechin Hall, consisted of fewer than 25,000 books and was moved into the new facility in November 1929. By 1962, the number of volumes had grown to 77,000 and to 95,000 by 1974.
The second floor housed several seminar or conference rooms of varying sizes and smaller work rooms for faculty members.
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A large room on the left, the Garver Reading Room, measured 34 feet by 73 feet and was designed for reference reading. The Freeman Room on the right was intended to be a browsing room with lighter reading material.
On the east wall of the Freeman Room is a remarkable specimen of modern cartography --- a seven foot by thirteen foot map designed and painted by Stuart Travis of New York City. It is decorated with miniature portraits of founders and alumni and with pictures illustrating the development of the school from the Revolutionary times to the time of the painting. The background of the painting is the town of Andover in 1830.
The David Poynter Room was established in 1946 as a room for the junior members of the Andover community --- faculty children from the ages of 2 to 8. This room was created from a fund given to the Library by Mr. & Mrs. Horace M. Poynter of the faculty in memory of their son David who died when he was two years old.
In 1959 a gift was received for a new wing to the Library from James S. Copley, Class of 1935. Ground was broken on September 19, 1959, and the dedication of the $196,000 facility was held on June 4, 1960. The James S. Copley Wing, built around the History 4 course, had both a reading room capable of seating 80 students and 40 individual study cubicles on a balcony. This balcony also held three microfilm readers and The New York Times microfilm dating back to 1851. The wing took much of the pressure off the older Garver Reference Room although it still remained the large silent study. The Freeman Room, with comfortable chairs and sofas, became a room devoted to periodicals.
A small fire was experienced in the proctor's area of the Copley Wing in September 1971 caused by a faulty electrical rheostat mounted on the proctor's desk. The wing itself was virtually unharmed but the proctor's desk and chair were charred beyond repair. During the process of installing a new roof on the Library in the summer of 1981, the contractor's temporary covering gave way during a rainstorm. Water poured inside down through the stacks. The recently appointed Library Director Lynne Robbins summoned all on-campus bodies to help remove the books to the Commons where she set up a drying operation using fans. She placed most of the books into the freezer until they could be individually repaired. Only 110 books were lost, 4200 were successfully dried.
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The groundbreaking ceremony for a new addition to the Library was held on the weekend of April 30 to May 2, 1987. The architects, Shepley, Bulfinch, Richardson and Abbot, were instructed to integrate this addition with the original building designed by Charles A. Platt to create one unified building. The old (western) entrance was to be maintained but the lobby was to be converted to a reading room. The Garver and Freeman Rooms were to be restored. The second floor offices and gallery were to be restored to house the Academy archives, rare books, Andover and Abbot memorabilia, seminar rooms and a gallery. There was also to be an entrance on the campus (eastern) side which called for the removal of the James S. Copley Wing. The porch at this entrance was donated by the Class of 1954. Computer classrooms were added and space increase was provided to allow growth from 100,000 to 200,000 books. The cost of the renovation was estimated to be $10,500,000. Dedication ceremonies for the completed facility were held on May 19, 1989.
As the result of a study by Olmstead Brothers, landscape architects for the Trustees, a recommendation was made to the town of Andover early in 1929 to close off Bartlet Street at Wheeler Street rather than at Chapel Avenue. This closure, coupled with the moving of the original Stowe House to Bartlet Street and the razing of the wooden ell of the Phillips Inn, paved the way for the Trustees to authorize building of a new Phillips Inn at their meeting on September 21, 1929.
Planned to be completed in June 1930 it was the gift of Thomas Cochran and others. The supervising architect was Charles A. Platt while the overall designer was Sydney Wagner of Messrs. Bottomley, Wagner and White of New York City.
Georgian Colonial in design, the Inn was built of brick and stone, three stories high. It had three dining rooms and guest rooms for 40 people. The first floor housed offices, a lounge, parlor, library and the three dining rooms for 125 guests. The facility also contains its own laundry, a complete kitchen, a telephone in every room and an elevator.
The first inn keepers were Mr. & Mrs. John M. Stewart who had been in charge of the old Inn.
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A pillared portico provides entrance to the spacious lounge. Opposite the doorway is a great fireplace, above the mantle of which hung a Peale portrait of George Washington. To the right was an office with a coat room and telephone booths; across the passageway was a small parlor furnished with antiques, now the bar area. At the east end was a great parlor in which hung Peale's portrait of Martha Washington. West of the main lounge is the main dining room. On one side of the corridor to it is a private dining room, on the other, a ladies dressing room. The dining room has great windows facing south, west and east which have been pleasantly draped.
The spaces between these windows are filled with water color panels executed by Mr. D. C. Sindons of New York City. North of the dining room is the kitchen and bakery.
On January 1, 1940. Phillips Inn was christened the Andover Inn and placed under the direction of L. G. Treadway, managing director of the Treadway Inns; the Stewarts retired. The new resident manager became George M. Bradley, his wife became hostess.
"Sam the Barber" was located in the basement of the Inn for many years to serve students and faculty alike. In 1977, when the legal drinking age in the state was lowered to 18, the Trustees allowed the establishment of a Student Pub in the basement of the Inn; this pub disappeared when the age was brought back up to 21. The Inn continues today as a popular stopping place for parents of students and returning alumni.
In the latter part of 1929 the Trustees approved a new infirmary donated by Dr. Fred T. Murphy, Class of 1893, of Detroit; he was a Trustee at the time. The facility which would have more the appearance of a home than a hospital would replace Isham Infirmary, erected in 1912, which was considered inadequate to the needs of the school. The plans were drawn by Charles A. Platt and the site selected was on high ground east of Samuel Phillips Hall with a view onto the Great Quadrangle. The building was to be Georgian Colonial architecture, three stories high with projecting wings. The ground floor would house a reception room, living room, dining room, offices and quarters for the nurses. The basement was designed to include an operating room, X-Ray facilities, extra rooms for nurses, servants quarters, a kitchen and a laundry. Wards for seventy boys would be located on the second and third floors as well as a sun porch and solarium, respectively. Other, more important priorities apparently prevailed for this facility never materialized and Isham Infirmary continued to serve the needs of the Academy for several years to come. Unfortunately, no sketch of the proposed design appears to be available.
Another building which never materialized was the proposed Student Union. A sketch of that facility was shown in the Bulletin for Autumn 1945 but there was no accompanying article in that or subsequent issues.
This sketch shows the proposed location to be the same as that selected for the new infirmary. The Student Union was to house a shrine in which Andover's Roll of Honor would be displayed. The facility would serve as a living memorial by providing recreation facilities and rooms for undergraduate activities.
The next building which was constructed on the northeast quadrant was the Addison Art Gallery. On January 10, 1930, Thomas Cochran offered the Trustees $1,480,000 to build a gallery, endow it and provide a fund for the purchase of works of art --- to enrich permanently the lives of the students of Phillips Academy by helping to cultivate and foster in them a love for the beautiful.
It was to be called the Addison Gallery of American Art in memory of his friend, Mrs. Keturah Addison Cobb. He specified the location and limited the main collection to works of art by American artists (temporary exhibits of foreign artists could be shown). An Addison Gallery Committee was established to approve the purchase of works of art. These conditions could later be modified by 3/4 vote of the Trustees plus the approval of the Chief Justice of the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court and the Presidents of Harvard and Yale.
$400,000 of the gift was for the building itself, $650,000 for the endowment fund, $50,000 for the purchase fund plus $380,000 of works he had already bought.
The architect was Charles A. Platt and the construction was started in 1930. The exterior appearance was designed to balance Oliver Wendell Holmes Library on the opposite side of the Vista. It was dedicated at a simple ceremony on May 16, 1931, attended by only the family of Mrs. Keturah Addison Cobb, for whom it was named, and a few friends. Charles A. Platt also attended representing the architect and the builders as well as Dr. Stearns, the Headmaster.
A reception was held on May 17, 1931, for members of the faculty and staff of the school as well as representatives of the art world and other museums. The gallery opened to the public on May 18. It comprised six exhibition rooms on the first floor and nine smaller galleries on the second floor. The basement housed a library, two study rooms, work rooms and storage. On entering the gallery, one passes through a vestibule into an octagonal exhibition room. In the center of the vestibule is a fountain statue of Venus Anadyomene by Paul Manship as well as paintings on the walls.
Charles Sawyer was the first Director. he was succeeded in 1940 by Bartlett H. Hayes, Jr., and then by Christopher Cook in 1969. The Gallery and its Directors have achieved national significance.
Cochran Chapel was the final gift of Thomas Cochran and completed his orchestrated reorientation and development of the northeast quadrant. He officially donated the building to the Academy in the fall of 1930 in memory of his parents. Again Charles A. Platt was the architect and Thompson Starrett Co. the builders. Its design proved to be one of the finest Georgian Colonial churches in New England; of early Renaissance motif, it was in the style of Sir Christopher Wren. At the official opening on Sunday, May 8, 1932, Thomas Cochran handed the keys to Dr. James Hardy Ropes, acting on behalf of the Trustees.
The site selected for the chapel necessitated the relocation of Samaritan House and Woods House. The latter was moved down Bartlet Street to Judson Road, the former across Main Street to School Street. Headmaster Alfred E. Stearns was quite unhappy about the move of his home as he believed the Headmaster's House should retain its view across the Mall to the Memorial Tower. He finally relented and the moves took place in the summer of 1929.
The building was constructed of brick, granite and Indiana limestone and has a steeple rising to a height of 200 feet.
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The extreme dimensions are 76 feet by 177 feet; the auditorium is 72 feet by 126 feet and seats 1000 people. The interior is finished in fumed oak. The vestibule is Early American. Fluted columns with carved capitals support the arches and the vaulted ceiling and serve to divide the central portion of the nave from the side aisles of the auditorium. The choir with seats for sixty-five persons was placed on either side of the pulpit with the organ in the rear. Behind the pulpit is a highly ornamented organ screen. The Martha Cochran Organ, previously located in George Washington Hall, was moved here in 1932. Thomas Cochran and Charles A. Platt were so strongly opposed to stained glass that they forbade its use in this edifice forever.
The Sylvia Pratt Kemper Chapel was built in the lower level of Cochran Chapel as an intimate gathering place for all types of services and ceremonies. Donated by Mr. & Mrs. Thomas D. Neelands, Jr., Class of 1920, it was dedicated on June 8, 1963. This chapel was named for the first wife of Headmaster John Mason Kemper.
The Abbot girls started attending Sunday Services at the Chapel in the fall of 1965; this permission was granted by a vote of the Trustees.
A new organ was commissioned in 1977 to be built by Robert J. Reich specifically for the Cochran Chapel. It was installed in 1981 and was dedicated by a series of concerts held on May 22 through 24 of that year. Refurbishment and renovation of the chapel interior was performed in 1980. The wood of the paneled walls, pews and pillars topped with seraphim were oiled and restored; the ceiling was acoustically painted. The organ balcony was enlarged to accommodate the entire Academy chorus as well as the new organ which had been made for the chapel.
The Baldwin Cloister, named for Rev. A. Graham Baldwin, school chaplain for many years, was conceptualized in 1983. It is located in the central area immediately behind the Kemper Chapel and adjacent to the newly refurbished offices and classroom of the Department of Philosophy and Religious Studies.
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The Arts and Communication Center which links the Addison Art Gallery and George Washington Hall was initiated in 1962 to the designs of Benjamin Thompson of TAC (The Architects Collaborative) of Cambridge, Mass. The two floors of new construction added 32,000 square feet to the Academy physical assets as well as the remodeled stage in George Washington Hall mentioned earlier which added another 8,000 square feet. This increased area provided facilities for design, drama, painting, photography, pottery, woodworking, sculpture and welding. It also added an Audio-Visual Center which includes a 286-person capacity auditorium, a four-room visual library, a recording booth, film making, screening and editing rooms, photography darkrooms, computer graphics facilities and a classroom.
The auditorium, dedicated on May 25, 1963, was named in memory of William Thornton Kemper and was donated by his grandson, Rufus Crosby Kemper, Jr., Class of 1945. The Faculty-Student Lounge which occupies the first floor of this complex was donated by David M. Underwood, Class of 1954, presently President of the Board of Trustees; it was also dedicated on May 25, 1963. The Audio-Visual Department is located on the second floor. The cost of this new facility and the remodeling of the stage in George Washington Hall was about $1,150,000; the contractor for the effort was the George A. Fuller Company of New York.
Benjamin Thompson of TAC and the George A. Fuller Co. were also responsible for the new science building which was constructed on the site previously identified for the new infirmary (1929) and the proposed Student Union (1945). The groundbreaking exercises were held on June 10, 1961, and work commenced less than a month later on July 3. This new facility cost $1,371,000 and was made possible by a contribution in 1959 by Thomas M. Evans, parent of Edward P. Evans, Class of 1960. Formal dedication was held on April 27, 1963.
The Thomas M. Evans Hall replaced Morse Hall as the Academy science building and contained classrooms and laboratories for biology, physics and chemistry as well an observatory, a greenhouse and a small zoo maintained by the students. Facilities are also provided for WPAA, the school radio station and the student newspaper, "The Phillipian". The two floors provide an area of 62,000 square feet which includes eleven classrooms, nine laboratories, department libraries and the specialty areas noted above. The layout of the three basic science functions is such as to share the central lecture area located on the lower level. The John Barber White Auditorium was given by Mr. White in memory of his son, John Barber White III, who was killed in a training accident in the U.S. Marine Corps in 1952.
The Phillip B. Stewart (Class of 1886) Biology Wing contains laboratories, a greenhouse, an animal room and the pond and aquarium in the main lobby. The Greene collection of American Birds is housed in the lower level of the building. The Perkins Chemistry Wing contains four labs, several classrooms and equipment rooms. The Physics Wing also includes four labs and several classrooms. The Thornton Observatory is located on the second floor and contains a six inch refracting telescope built by Brashear of Pittsburg under a dome rotated by a motor. The station of the PA Radio Club, W1SW is also housed in the Physics Wing.
The entire facility was reroofed in October 1976 and a new observatory dome was finished in December 1977. This observatory improvement was needed to properly house. a sixteen inch reflecting telescope valued at $12,000 which was given to the Academy by the USAF in 1976; it was made available for student use in the spring term, 1980.
Evans Hall now houses the Office of Academy and Resources and other administrative functions as well as the science departments and the old Academy fire pumper which is displayed in the lower level hall.
The land behind the Andover Inn, George Washington Hall and the former site of the Seminary Farm contains Rabbit Pond and for many years was known as Missionary Woods. The pond was a popular skating area throughout the 19th century. A November 1889 "Phillipian" article read: "The pond can be enlarged at a very reasonable expense thus making a permanent skating pond in place of paying $40 a year for the privilege of overflowing the 'Rink'".
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Rabbit Pond was the official Academy hockey rink from 1898 to 1922 and again from 1942 to 1950. The twenty year interim was filled by use of a rink near the West Quadrangle and 1950 signaled the move to the Sumner Smith Hockey Rink. In the summer of 1942, digging and blasting was done in the pond and boards were set up in an exact copy of the St. Paul's School rink in Concord, N.H.
The Andover Country Club erected a club house on the rocks overlooking Rabbit Pond in 1900. It was a small building consisting of a 16 by 16 foot main room containing lockers and an 8 foot square ladies room. A six foot wide piazza was built around the outside of the house.
The $500 cost of the facility was borne by subscription. The Club later moved its facilities to the golf course located in the Shawsheen/West Andover area.
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Missionary "Bowlder" was placed on Rabbit Rock in 1910 as a memorial to the Andover Seminary students who started the first American Society for Foreign Missions. It was set up in the centennial year of the American Board, 1910. The Memorial Tablet was mounted on a native granite "bowlder" brought from Carmel Woods in Andover and erected by the citizens of Andover. The placing of the memorial was a result of the devoted labors of Rev. C. C. Carpenter of Andover for many years a loyal and efficient friend of the Seminary and the Academy.
A sanctuary was built around Rabbit Pond in 1928 in accordance with direction from Thomas Cochran. A fence was erected around the area and two islands were constructed in the middle of the pond from rubble made available when Bancroft Hall was moved to create the Vista. Flocks of swans, geese and ducks were brought into this sanctuary just prior to the 150th anniversary celebration in 1928. Duck houses were constructed on the islands for the fowl. This arrangement soon proved to be inadequate to Thomas Cochran and he replaced it with the Montcreiff Cochran Sanctuary.
Records in the Academy archives demonstrate that the Rabbit Pond Yacht Club was recognized by Yacht Clubs throughout the world.
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When Thomas Cochran realized that Rabbit Pond was too limited for his sanctuary complex, he bought 125 to 150 acres of wild land to the east of Samuel Phillips Hall. It started out in 1929 as the Academy Bird Sanctuary named for his brother Montcreiff, Class of 1900. A seven foot high fence was constructed around the entire property --- over 11,000 feet of it. The fence was inserted into the ground for a foot and then horizontally underground for another foot to stymie the burrowing of animals. The lower part of the fence was then sheathed in metal flashing to bring the total cost of this fence up to $39,000. Flowering shrubs were added and three miles of gravel road was constructed. The brook running through the land was dammed up to provide two artificial ponds for birds displaced from Rabbit Pond.
The sanctuary was stocked with birds in the late 1920's but care of them stopped after Cochran's death in 1937. The birds were set loose or sold and the facility became an arboretum. By 1977 the Montcreiff Cochran Sanctuary had been reduced to a 65 acre tract still containing the brook and two ponds to attract nesting ducks and geese.
In 1931 a semicircular seat of natural stone was built just to the rear of a large flat rock as a memorial to Porter Thompson, Class of 1929. From this seat one can look across the duck ponds to the towers and roofs of the school in the distance. Clumps of laurel and rhododendrons brought from the countryside near Thompson's grave in Pennsylvania were planted in this area.
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That same year some generous alumni enabled the erection of the Log Cabin at the east end of the Sanctuary. Built from rough-hewn logs brought from Nashua, N.H., it was intended to serve as a center for undergraduate gatherings. It consisted of one large room with a fireplace and facilities for serving simple meals. There were two golf putting greens outside the cabin. Judge John M. Woolsey, Class of 1894, provided beds, blankets and other camping equipment in 1932 so that groups of boys might spend the night there. Unfortunately, this facility never took hold as a popular gathering place for the undergraduates and has served primarily as a locale for alumni functions.
A natural swimming pool was opened in the Upper Sanctuary Pond of the Bird Sanctuary in the summer of 1942. It was named for Robert Torrey Thompson, Class of 1936, who left Yale to enlist in the Army Air Corps. He was killed in a training accident on April 9, 1941, when his parachute failed to open after he had jumped from a disabled plane. The memorial was given by his parents, Mr. & Mrs. Charles D. Thompson. The Trustees allocated $2,000 for a U-shaped swimming cradle using 55 gallon drums for float support. The sand used for this pool was from Crane's Beach, Ipswich. In 1955 a hot, dry summer forced curtailment of fresh water which was piped into the pond continuously. The pool became contaminated and it was closed down, never again to open.
Beginning in the late 1950's the Academy Trustees began expanding the dormitory area to include clusters located around Rabbit Pond. Six dormitories have been constructed in that area to date --- Abbot Stevens House, Alfred E. Stearns House, Henry L. Stimson House, Claude M. Fuess House, Nathan Hale House and Elbridge H. Stuart House. All but the last two cited were designed by TAC (The Architects Collaborative). Benjamin Thompson designed the Nathan Hale House after he left TAC and the architects for the Elbridge H. Stuart House were Pietro Belluschi, Inc., and Jung/Brennan Associates, architects in joint venture.
The Abbot Stevens House was a gift of Dorothy & Abbot Stevens, Class of 1907, and was dedicated during the commencement activities of June 1958. This forty boy dorm cost $580,000 to construct. It has as one of its major attractions a House Living Room which became an immediate part of the housemaster's quarters, it opening to his study. This facility became a girl's dormitory in the fall of 1973 following the merger.
The Alfred E. Stearns House was built at the same time as the Abbot Stevens House to permit a cost savings of $50,000 resulting from commonality of tasks and related synergism. The dorm master and 16 of the forty boys designated to occupy this dorm moved in at the opening of school in September 1958 --- weeks before it was declared ready. The dedication of this $554,000 building was held during Alumni weekend in June 1959.
The Henry L. Stimson House was made possible by contributions from Parents of Academy Boys in 1959. Built the following year it was named for H. L. Stimson, Class of 1883, former Secretary of War and President of the Board of Trustees. Completed in the fall of 1960 at a cost of $694,000 this 40-boy, two instructor family dormitory was dedicated on the weekend of February 24-25, 1961.
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The fourth of the new dorms, the Claude M. Fuess House, was built in 1962 at a cost of $551,000. Its dedication was held in October 1962 with Dr. Fuess being the main speaker --- a year before his death. The first housemaster of this dormitory was Peter Q. McKee, the last appointment made to the faculty by Dr. Fuess.
The Nathan Hale House is situated on rising wooded ground at the east end of Rabbit Pond and was the gift of John W. Watzch, Jr., of Chicago, member of the Class of 1910. Work by the Turner Construction Co. began on July 7, 1965, and was substantially complete by June 1966 at a cost of $792,000. The dorm was occupied that September and the dedication was held on October 15, 1966.
This new dorm can be used as two separate units, each with its own attractive common room, or it can be used as a single dorm with both common rooms drawn together. It can house 40 to 46 boys and two faculty families.
The common room contains one of the seven existing original letters written by Nathan Hale and a true copy of the words to "America" in the handwriting of the composer, Samuel F. Smith, written in 1890. A bronze statue of Nathan Hale is located on the brick terrace at the dormitory entrance. It was made from the casts created originally in 1898 by the sculptor Bela Lyon Pratt; the original stands on the Yale University campus.
There was a fire in the stairwell of this dormitory in January 1984 that caused $4,000 damage. The "Phillipian" cited the probable cause of the fire as firecrackers.
The sixth Rabbit Pond dormitory, situated in a pine grove southeast of the Henry L. Stimson House, was a gift of Elbridge H. Stuart, Class of 1908, of Los Angeles. It was completed during the summer of 1972 and ready for occupancy in September for the new school year. Dedication took place on September 24, 1972, as one of the significant events on the occasion of the installation of Theodore R. Sizer as the 12th Headmaster. Mr. Stuart had died in Los Angeles a week earlier.
The Elbridge H. Stuart House accommodates forty students and two faculty families. It is similar in design to the other Rabbit Pond dorms but does combine the student quarters into wings of eight with each wing containing a central living room. This facility became a girl's dormitory in the fall of 1973.
Several of the houses on Main, Wheeler and Bartlet Streets have been associated with the Academy at one time or another. The Ellis House on the southwest corner of Main and Morton Streets was a student boarding house for many years and was discussed in Chapter III. A little further up the street is the Nehemiah Abbot House; it was his wife, Sarah, who was the founder of Abbot Academy in 1829. This home was later occupied by Samuel C. Jackson and Charles Stone.
The Edwards House at 148 Main Street was built by David Sewall Pearson as early as 1825. It was the residence of Prof. Bela Bates Edwards of the Seminary from 1840 to his death in 1852. Mrs. Edwards conducted her young ladies school, which was affectionately termed "the nunnery", in that home from 1832 to 1864. The house was later occupied by William H. Ryder and Judge Frederic N. Chandler.
Graham House located on Wheeler Street was constructed in 1915 as the AUV Society House and is discussed in Chapter IV. This building is now the Academy counseling center. Other buildings located on Bartlet Street which were used as Society Houses are also discussed in Chapter IV.
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The Woods House was originally located on the south side of Wheeler opposite Graham House. Academy records show it being renovated in 1914 but there are no further mentions of it in either the Bulletin or the Catalogs. The building was named after Prof. Leonard Woods who was chosen as the first Professor of Christian Theology at the Seminary. It was relocated to Judson Road in 1928 to make room for Cochran Chapel and used thereafter for faculty housing. The first occupants after the move were Mr. & Mrs. Frank M. Benton.
The house on the northeast corner of Bartlet and Morton Streets was long (1870's to 1921) occupied by Matthew S. McCurdy, Instructor in Mathematics, and is often referred to as the McCurdy House (a confusing situation considering the McCurdy House named for him on Highland Avenue discussed in Chapter VIII).
A Phillips Memorial Gateway was designed by Guy Lowell in 1913 and constructed by E. W. Pitman Co. of Lawrence. Located along the present Vista on the east side of Main Street, it was donated by sons and daughters of John Charles Phillips, Class of 1854, a descendent of the Academy's founder. It was dedicated on the second Founder's Day, October 10, 1914. Built of granite and bricks, the main entrance has two massive pillars on either side surmounted by balls of granite two feet in diameter.
During the creation of the Vista in 1928-29, this Gateway was moved to the Main Street side of the West Quadrangle where it stands today.
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An Armilary Sphere was presented to the Academy in 1928 by Thomas Cochran. It is eight feet in diameter and was cast in Paris by Paul Manship. It is a type of sundial in the form of metal hoops representing the Equator, Ecliptic Tropics and Arctic and Antarctic Circles. Considerable symbology is represented by the various figures and ornaments on the sphere. It was originally situated in front of Samuel Phillips Hall between Foxcroft and Bartlet Halls (see figure 136). It was moved to its present location in front of the Library in 1931 so that it would not interfere with the Vista and so it would not be in the center of the undergraduate activity. (When it was in the center of activity it was a favorite depository for all types of articles and clothing.)
In preparation for the Bicentennial celebration of Phillips Academy in 1978, calls were issued for a sculpture to properly represent that event. The work selected was one of ten samples designed by Art Instructor Gerald Shertzer. The twenty foot stainless steel structure is located in the southwestern part of the Great Quadrangle in front of Bartlet and Pearson Halls. It was constructed by a group of students under Shertzer's supervision and was unveiled during Constitution Day ceremonies on April 21, 1978.