Castle School - Drawbridge Yearbook (Tarrytown, NY)

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.fl ' lar zsforzmf Sfhafdz gf 7726 Crzsffe Chosen carefully from many attractrve srtes of fered rn many states as the most desrrable place to establrsh the school of her dreams lVIrss lVlasorr rn the summer of 1895 a quarter of a century ago moved her Lares and Penates from Nledra lenn sylvanra to the Castle at Tarrytown and lard the foundatron of thrs the School of our love and dero tron whrch rs a monument already to her rndefmirg able work and her wondrous vrsron Ideally srtuated on the brow of thrs beautrful hrll our romantrc Castle wrth rts prcturesque rsy cox ered walls rts stately lawns and broad porch command rng an unsurpassed vrew of the Hudson Rrver from the broad Tappan Lee up through Haverstr 1 r B y to the blue drmness of the l-Irghlands has uecrr rn numberless cases the lure that has brought the ffrrl from her drstant home to be a member of our house hold So rt held Mrss Mason rn that summer or Q5 and settled the questron of where the School should be located that was destrned to mtl c her name famous not only throughout the length and breadth of our own land but rn many countrres across the seas A school had been establrshed here a few years be fore by Mrs Theodore lrvrng whose husband was a cousrn of 'Washrngton lrvrng Her xery thrrv ng school known as St ohn s was mox ed from New York to thrs vrllage and a career of unprecedented success was cut short by the untrmely death of Mrs lrrrng after three years at the Castle She eretted durrng those years a burldrng Sunshrne Cottage now rn her memory known as lrvrng Cottwe In the autumn of Q5 a small handful of grrls thrrty hxe to be exact gathered about our heartlr stone and altar and the enterprrse of Mrss C I' Mason s School the Castle was launched The growth of the school has been gradual healthy and encouragrng Each year a few nrore names hare been enrolled, each year an rncreasrrrg percentage of old grrls hare been found rn therr Q l

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THE DRAVVBRIDGE- Nineteen-Twenty So deep was the substructure, so carefully planned and laid were the foundation walls, so earnestly and prayerfully erected was this educational edificetwhich grew from lVIiss Mason's childish dreams, that to- day at this institution are admitted girls from many parts of the World whose lives are bigger, broader, sweeter and more useful to their home and nation from their intimate association with this broad- minded, liberal citizen of the great world. Cora .ffrfefe Pzzffuer The V CAQ.SllE ' T796 Future VVhen one' is passing the quarter-century mile- stone it is easy to let her thoughts wander back over the pleasant, sunny, albeit, cloud-llecked, road by which the eventful journey has been made-but, also, one must look forward. Though the end of the road that leads into the sunset may not be in sight, it is bound to be just be- yond that Wooded hill, or the stern cliff, or around the next pleasant bend, and that is why the alumnae, realizing that in the nature of events, Miss Mason's hands must some time drop from the reins, have set on foot a movement that shall preserve as nearly as possible to her girls and to the nation and the world the work which she so splendidly has done. In January a campaign was inaugurated to raise an endowment fund of live hundred 'thousand dol- lars to enlarge and perpetuate the school. Xvith loyalty and enthusiasm the girls have put heart and soul into the work. A spirit has pervaded the un- dertaking that has filled with pride and gratitude the hearts of Miss Nlason and her assistants. Vllith so much good-will shown the results are bound to be successful. Each girl who contributes of her time or her means realizes, so thoroughly, that she is helping to erect a memorial to her own youth, her aspirations and her idealsg that she is helping to carry on the work Miss Mason has begung that she has a part, small though it may be, in a great enterprise that is bound to add incalculable riches to the future life of the Nation.

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:il- THEDRAWBRIDGE Nineteen-Twenty places greeting the newcomers. With the growing needs of the school the buildings have been expand- ed. First the small gymnasium with music-rooms and infirmary above was erected, then East Court with its assembly-room, class-rooms, studio, offices and larger infirmaryf Soon we had outgrown our gymnasium and West Court rose to supply the need. Dormitories were placed above the ample gymnas- ium andthe fully equipped science laboratories were safely placed on top of all where chemical fumes from the tyro's experiments went harmlessly off amongithe clouds and tree tops instead of mingling with the French classes as in the olden days when the science rooms were in the basement of South Court. Our next achievement was the Gothic dining hall. Watch the family of one hundred and eighty or ninety dining in that spacious room and compare it with the days when seventy girls dined just as mer- rily but less comfortable in what is now Miss Mas- on's study. Qur last addition was Sunnyview. When the little boys deserted 'Lower I-lackley and took their snow-shoeing, coasting, tennis, baseball, laughter and fun beyond our sight and hearing and left that fine building empty and forlorn, Nliss Mason yielded to the incessant clamor of the many girls knocking at our doors-and to the lure of that empty build- ing-and in September Nineteen Nineteen added it to the Castle holdings, rechristened it appropriately afhd in three weeks had it filled with girls and run- ning in order as though it had been one of our cot- tages for years. ' iSunnyview is so obviously intended to be ours! Just a narrow street separates the campuses. The stately group of beaches and elms in the lower corner of the Sunnyview lawn throw their morning shadows over our East Court windows, while the dogwood trees waving their white branches in May and flaunting red banners in October are just our nearest and dearest neighbors. Will your mind go along with mine for a few moments while we study the evolution of the school- room? Back in those winter days of eighteen nine- ty-five two rooms on the ground Hoor of the Cottage, No. 28 and No. 29, having broad double doors be- tween, served excellently as an assembly room. Though no current topics were given'l in those days still much good work was done and that handful of girls are looking back, we doubt not, to the same pranks, the same jokes, the same grind, that the girls of today will remember in the years to come. We outgrew that school-room and moved our desks and equipment the next year into the Annex', and occupied what is now the Classification Roomfl That building had not been ours the year previous, but had stood empty and envious as the merry life surged around its neighbor, lrving Cottage. We soon outgrew thesequarters, as you can easily guess, and our next move took us into what is now the Library. Here we were happy and studious for -sev- eral years until the stately assembly room of today helduout its welcome to us and we treked in, just to repeat our usual -process-fill it to overflowing and yearn for larger quarters. 1 During the first three years of our occupancy of the Castle, Miss Mason rented the place but it was soon evident' that if she wished to control it and shape it to her needs she must own it, and so on one memorable lNlarch day the bargain was complet- ed and our principal, single-handed and alone, brave- ly undertook the stupendous task of shouldering the great financial responsibility. The success of the undertaking is attested by the growth of the plant, as l have enumerated above. Other improvements were a hall for the domestic helpers, a central heat- ing plant, a garden, our picturesque and loved 'fOpen Air Chapel, our hockey field, many new tennis courts, running track, many beautiful new trees and shrubs and a greatly enlarged lawn. ln the twenty-five years of the Castle's life, more than twelve hundred girls have passed through its portals and are scattered throughout the world. Many girls, perhaps, may have nearly forgotten the