{"id":3411,"date":"2016-09-13T13:53:23","date_gmt":"2016-09-13T17:53:23","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/willistonblogs.com\/archives\/?p=3411"},"modified":"2020-09-26T23:48:09","modified_gmt":"2020-09-27T03:48:09","slug":"ford-hall-turns-100","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/willistonblogs.com\/archives\/ford-hall-turns-100\/","title":{"rendered":"Ford Hall Turns 100"},"content":{"rendered":"

Williston Northampton is 175 years old this year.\u00a0 But almost forgotten amidst the dodransbicentennial [yes, it’s a real word!] hoopla is another milestone: Ford Hall opened a century ago this fall.<\/p>\n

\"Ford
Ford in 1916, with the original landscaping.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

After the Homestead, it is the first structure to have been built on the so-called \u201cnew\u201d campus.\u00a0 The Senior Dorm.\u00a0 (Not any more.)\u00a0 The Gold Coast.\u00a0 (No longer.)\u00a0 The Fraternity.\u00a0 (Ditto \u2014 perhaps, perhaps not.)\u00a0 Even in these unsentimental twenty-teens, some students \u2014 many of them the sons of alumni \u2014 will claim that to live in Ford Hall is to have arrived.\u00a0 It goes without saying that their non-Ford peers might not agree.<\/p>\n

\"Ford
Ford from the Quad, 1916, with newly-planted elm trees.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

But if any campus building can be said to embody Tradition, with a capital T, it must be Ford.\u00a0 No doubt some individual traditions are best left unrecorded in a family publication like the From the Archives.<\/em>\u00a0 Alumni of various generations will recognize references to the Phantom, those \u201cuseless\u201d fireplaces, the Bomb Sight, the Great Newspaper Caper, Couchie\u2019s Carlings, and the mythical Kid Who Was Taught His Colors Wrong.\u00a0 If you have to ask, you weren\u2019t there.<\/p>\n

Four decades since the previous picture, the campus was shaded by gorgeous mature elms. Sadly, by the late 1960s they had all succumbed to the Dutch elm blight and were replaced by maples.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

On the other hand, readers who were<\/em> there are invited to add their favorite Ford Hall stories to the comment form at the bottom of this article.\u00a0 What, after all, is a history blog for?\u00a0 Be advised, though, that publication is likely, unless you\u2019ve forgotten that there is no statute of limitations on good taste.<\/p>\n

\"Another
Another early view. The water tower was removed in 1929, to make way for the Recreation (Reed Campus) Center.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

It is hard to imagine that a structure so much a part of the fabric of Williston Northampton life was almost never built.\u00a0 Samuel and Emily Williston\u2019s estates had provided an endowment for the operation of the school, which was originally situated at the head of Main Street, on a site now occupied by two banks and a supermarket.\u00a0 Emily\u2019s will conveyed the Homestead and surrounding land \u2014 the present campus \u2014 to Williston Seminary, with the proviso that the school erect at least one new building on the property.<\/p>\n

That was in 1885.\u00a0 A quarter-century later, nothing had been built.\u00a0 Much of Samuel Williston\u2019s endowment comprised securities which had not yet matured, and factories which had, as New England\u2019s textile industry moved south, become unproductive.\u00a0 The Seminary\u2019s debt was substantial.\u00a0 In 1899 Headmaster Joseph Sawyer turned to the school\u2019s alumni for assistance.\u00a0 He sought $25,000.\u00a0 As Sawyer wrote in his History of Williston Seminary<\/em> (1917), \u201cthe effort failed through the inexperience of the solicitor, and . . . because it was the first time aid had been sought for the school through gifts from friends, and in consequence the belief prevailed that the school had superfluous wealth.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"A
A corner double room, ca. 1945 (William Rittase)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

But Sawyer, nothing if not persistent, kept asking, and financial support began to arrive.\u00a0 He and his trustees instituted a variety of economies which, if not rectifying the school\u2019s finances, at least stabilized them.\u00a0 Sawyer had the vision to realize that for Williston Seminary to succeed in the new century, a commitment must be made to progress.\u00a0 Modernization of the curriculum and expansion of athletic and extracurricular programs were part of this vision.\u00a0 But a physical commitment to the future was essential: Sawyer desired a new, modern dormitory on the Homestead property, which would stand in contrast to the aging structures on Main Street.\u00a0 It would be the first step toward an eventual move of all school operations to the present campus.<\/p>\n

\"Donor
Donor John Howard Ford (1854-1914), class of 1873.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Such a building program, initiated just as the world was sliding irrevocably into the First World War, was risky.\u00a0 The War, and a weak national economy, were causing a substantial decline in enrollment, and the school\u2019s deficits were mounting.\u00a0 Arguably, any project requiring cash should have been put on hold.\u00a0 But a donor, John Howard Ford, class of 1873, came forward.<\/p>\n

In a bizarre combination of circumstances, John Howard Ford never knew he\u2019d built the building.\u00a0 For many years Ford had maintained no contact with the school.\u00a0 By 1910, Williston no longer had even an address for him.\u00a0 Nonetheless, in 1914 two alumni, James Sheffield \u201882 and Charles Hill \u201890, called on Ford.\u00a0 They appear to have been acting independently of the school administration.\u00a0 But they knew of Williston\u2019s need, and thought that Ford, a successful manufacturer of waterproof rubber shoes, might be convinced to be generous.<\/p>\n

He was.\u00a0 Ford promised to contribute $100,000 \u2014 a huge sum for the time \u2014 toward the construction of the new dormitory, and made a memorandum in his account book to the effect that the funds should be transferred to Williston Seminary.\u00a0 For some reason, Sheffield and Hill never communicated this to the school.\u00a0 And a short time later Ford walked home in a heavy snowstorm, took ill, and died.\u00a0 His brother and executor, James Bishop Ford, found the memorandum and sent the money to Headmaster Sawyer.\u00a0 James Ford must have assumed \u2014 incorrectly \u2014 that Williston knew of John\u2019s passing.\u00a0 But it was not until 1925, nine years after the building that bears his name was opened, that the administration would learn that John Ford had died in 1914.<\/p>\n

\"Groundbreaking\"
Groundbreaking, October 14, 1915. From left to right, Headmaster Joseph H. Sawyer and faculty George Hero, Sidney N. Morse \u201886, George E. Denman, Melvin Cook, Lincoln D. Granniss, George Parsons Tibbets, Charles Buffum, and Bayard Snowden. In the background is Martha Dickinson, who worked for the Sawyers and who, many years later, would marry Sawyer\u2019s successor as Headmaster, Archibald Galbraith. The photo was taken by science teacher Samuel Hicks, class of 1896, who also procured the shovel. The name of the horse is unknown.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Ground was broken in October of 1915.\u00a0 Sawyer wrote to the alumni, \u201cThis building will establish a high standard for others that will follow.\u00a0 It will have reinforced concrete foundation, walls of red brick with granite corners and cornice and slate roof.\u00a0 The interior construction will use as little combustible material as is possible, thus making the building fireproof.\u201d\u00a0 (Such foresight would prevent a disaster shortly before school opened in 1975, when an intruder left a lighted cigarette in a couch in the lobby of the dining commons.)\u00a0 Iron girders, concrete floors, the most modern electrical wiring and plumbing \u2014 truly, it was a model structure.<\/p>\n

\"Not
Not the event mentioned above, but another fire scare from the 1950s.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

When it opened a year later, Ford would house three faculty members and fifty students in a combination of single rooms and two-person suites.\u00a0 Provision had not yet been made for married faculty, nor would there be for another 35 years.\u00a0 In 1952 the author of this article was, in fact, the first faculty child to take residence in the building.\u00a0 Ford Hall had its own dining hall and infirmary.\u00a0 Such luxuries came with a price; prior to 1950, room and board in Ford cost a student more than the more Spartan accommodations downtown.<\/p>\n

\"A
A triple suite, ca. 1945 (William Rittase)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

When the downtown campus was closed in 1950, the Ford dining facilities were expanded to serve the whole school.\u00a0 There were several renovations and additions over the years.\u00a0 1997 saw the total reconstruction of the kitchen and award-winning redesign of the dining commons, including the remounting of the Parthenon Frieze reproduction that graced the original dining room.<\/p>\n

The Dining Hall in 1958. In 2016, the mural of the Old Campus remains.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The consolidation brought another change.\u00a0 Ford was no longer \u201cThe Gold Coast.\u201d\u00a0 She was reinvented as the senior dorm, with all that implied.\u00a0 New, shiny, but utterly unromantic Memorial Hall was designated for Upper Middlers and some Middlers (i.e., grades 11 and 10), thus creating a rivalry largely expressed via Ford-Mem water-fights that resembled Napoleonic battles.\u00a0 Inevitably, Ford became a seat of self-bestowed senior privilege, accompanied by certain traditions better left to the rumor mills of pseudo-history.\u00a0 That all ended precipitously in 1999, when Headmaster Dennis Grubbs, having observed that having all the girls\u2019 dorms on the periphery of the campus sent the wrong message, moved girls into Mem and opened Ford to boys grades 10-12.\u00a0 Despite a level of fratboy anguish, lightning did not strike, nor did the earth open up.\u00a0 Whether such integration served to diminish the senior crime wave, or merely spread it to the lower orders, remains an open question.<\/p>\n

\"Rappelling
Rappelling practice, 1973.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

In the summer of 1999, Ford Hall underwent a complete renovation, completing a cycle of improvements to every campus dormitory during that decade.\u00a0 There were new interior walls, windows and electrical wiring throughout the building.\u00a0 Faculty apartments were relocated and expanded, the common rooms refurbished, and a new common room created on the third floor.\u00a0 The entire building was repainted and carpeted.\u00a0 Yes, the windowless corridors remain sunless, and the front entrance is disproportionately small, but at 100 years, Ford wears her age well.<\/p>\n

\"The
The new dining hall expansion, 1963.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

And now, because you\u2019ve read this far, here\u2019s a link to The Second-Best Ford Hall Prank Ever!<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

\"The
The east side of Ford in winter, ca. 1960. The fence surrounds tennis courts supplanted by the Clapp Library in 1978.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Williston Northampton is 175 years old this year.\u00a0 But almost forgotten amidst the dodransbicentennial [yes, it’s a real word!] hoopla is another milestone: Ford Hall opened a century ago this fall. After the Homestead, it is the first structure to have been built on the so-called \u201cnew\u201d campus.\u00a0 The Senior Dorm.\u00a0 (Not any more.)\u00a0 The … Continue reading Ford Hall Turns 100<\/span> →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"_s2mail":"yes","footnotes":""},"categories":[53,12,43,25],"tags":[42,178,312,422,423],"class_list":["post-3411","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-campus-and-building-history","category-williston-academy","category-williston-northampton-school","category-williston-seminary","tag-ford-hall","tag-john-howard-ford","tag-joseph-henry-sawyer","tag-new-campus","tag-tradition"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/willistonblogs.com\/archives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3411"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/willistonblogs.com\/archives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/willistonblogs.com\/archives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/willistonblogs.com\/archives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/willistonblogs.com\/archives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3411"}],"version-history":[{"count":24,"href":"https:\/\/willistonblogs.com\/archives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3411\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4901,"href":"https:\/\/willistonblogs.com\/archives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3411\/revisions\/4901"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/willistonblogs.com\/archives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3411"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/willistonblogs.com\/archives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3411"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/willistonblogs.com\/archives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3411"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}