Asheville School - Blue and White Yearbook (Asheville, NC)

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ASHEVILLE SCHOOL Historical Sketch ASHEVILLE SCHOOL was founded in 1900 by Newton Mitchell Anderson and Charles Andrews Mitchell, who had been founders and co-principals of the University School of Cleveland, Ohio. Their aim was to establish, in the most favorable location they could find, a school that should combine the vigorous educational standards of the North with the mountain climate and social atmosphere of the South. The building formerly known as “The House” (now Anderson Hall) was the first to be erected. It was followed in 1903 by “The School” (now Mitchell Hall), and in 1907 by the Senior House (Percy Lawrence Hall). The School prospered from the first, and soon reached an enrollment which taxed the capacity of the dormitories. Upon the death of Mr. Mitchell, in 1921, the sole ownership was acquired by Mr. Anderson. In 1924 he assumed the title of Director, and turned over the active management to George Jackson, B.S., as Headmaster. Mr. Jackson had been with the School from the first, and was, by both temperament and training, fitted for his task. In 1926 the burden of the management of the School was felt by Mr. Anderson to be too great. He therefore sold the School, with two hundred and ninety adjoining acres, to Walter P. Fraser, of Pittsburgh, Pa., who was seeking a promising real estate investment. Mr. Fraser detached the school buildings and campus, one hundred twenty acres in all, from his recently purchased holdings, and turned this property over to a Board of Trustees. Mr. Jackson was named Headmaster. Mr. Jackson’s death, a few months later, brought to a sudden halt the immediate hopes of the Trustees. The

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 Rev. George Bradley Hammond, B.Arch., Th.B. . . Chaplain (University of Michigan; Princeton Theological Seminary) Frank S. Morris, A.B...........................Physics and Spanish (Princeton University) Clifford B. St. C. Culver, A.B.............................History (Hamilton College) Norman B. Johnson, A.B., A.M......................Latin and Greek (University of Michigan) Mark F. Emerson, A.B......................Science and Mathematics (Dartmouth College) Lea S. Luquer, A.B., A.M.........................Latin and English (Columbia University) Charles M. Rice, A.B...........................French and English (Yale University) Peter Van Rensselaer Steele, B.S., Science and Mechanical Drawing (Ursinus College; Johns Hopkins University) Richard L. Phelps, A.B.......................................Music (Harvard University) James M. Coleman, LL.B...........................Physical Training (University of North Carolina) John L. Rumsey, B.S....................Science and Mathematics (Case School of Applied Science) OTHER SCHOOL OFFICERS E. C. Barnard, A.B., B.S., LL.B.........................Bursar Albert C. Thorn, Jr..................................Secretary Arthur Chase Ambler, M.D................................School Physician Mrs. George Jackson..............................House Mother Mrs. A. A. Coffey, R.N.........................Resident Nurse Mrs. I. C. Hanna, R.N..............................Housekeeper John H. Fox............................................Steward Miss Sara Addison..........................Assistant Secretary Mrs. J. T. Shoaf..................................Postmistress

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10 ASHEVILLE SCHOOL Reverend W. H. Jones, the School Chaplain, was named Acting Headmaster, and search was begun for a man who should undertake the administration of Asheville School in consonance with the hopes of its Founders, Trustees, and Alumni. In February, 1927, Howard Bement was elected Headmaster. Dr. Bement, who was for twenty-two years a member of the English Department of The Hill School, and for fifteen years its Head, assumed his duties July 1, 1927. The new administration carried on without a break the traditions of the old Asheville, and incorporated therewith the best that modern progressive education has to offer. The enrollment increased to one hundred and seventy, a number that is now being resolutely adhered to as a maximum. On July 1, 1930, an important step forward was taken. The school property was purchased by a group of incor- porators representing the Alumni; and a new Board of Trustees, a majority of whom are graduates of Asheville, was put in control. The Board, made up of twenty-one members, is self-perpetuating, and under the new charter will conduct the School as a non-profit corporation.