Wheaton College - Nike Yearbook (Norton, MA)

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ree oe Tex lal HOR WSLS Ps THE SEM 3 HOWARD ST. (1834): Originally built on the site where the north wing of Mary Lyon Hall now stands, “The Sem” served as the original classroom building for Wheaton Female Seminary. Between 1849 and 1933, it has been moved three times across Howard St., and has stood in three different locations. Original- ly called Seminary Hall, the building has also been used as a straw hat factory (on Howard St., beginning in 1850), tenement, rented meeting hall, laundry (begin- ning in 1868 when it was attached to the rear of Old Metcalf Hall), gymnasium (prior to 1903), post office, infirmary, bookstore (between 1904-1933), student ac- tivities building (beginning in 1933 when it was moved to its present location on Howard St. and named by Pres. Park), dormitory (1956-1957), and home for faculty and staff (on the second floor, beginning in 1933, on both floors since 1958). PRESIDENT’S HOUSE (1829): Built by Laban Morey Wheaton for his bride Eliza Baylies Chapin, the house became the College President's residence upon the death of Eliza Wheaton in 1905. Laban M. Wheaton and his wife were the moving forces behind the founding of the Seminary; he was a trustee from 1834 until his death in 1865. The original three-story structure consisted of nine rooms, with an east wing containing a dining room, kitchen, pantries, and servants’ living quarters. The house now contains fifteen rooms, five bathrooms, and five hallways. There are three stairways in the house and one in the carriage house, more than eighty win- dows, twenty-three closets, and six entrances to the house. OLD METCALF HALL (1838): The first building used for student housing, the dormitory received several additions, which created a long, rambling wood frame structure parallel to Main St. The original section housed forty students and staff and contained the common dining room until Emerson Hall was built in 1908. The first addition, similar in size to the original building, was built in 1857 and ells off the back included The Sem from 1868 to 1933. At one time, the library and many administrative offices were housed in Old Met- calf. In 1922, Metcalf housed 90 people. Its first floor was nearly entirely devoted to administrative offices and public rooms. The original eastern portion of the building was called the “Boarding House,” and the western section the “New House” until in 1900 the name “Metcalf Hall” was given to the whole. Lucy Larcom occupied room number 48 on the second floor in the northwest corner of the “New House,” overlooking

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the school President Cole had worked so hard to develop. Faculty increased under President Park, as did enrollment and funds, even during the Depression. World War Il, however, did slow the building of additional facilities and created a drain on employees. Students organized themselves and filled in the gaps left open around the campus. In 1944 President Park retired and was suc- ceeded by A. Howard Meneely. Under this President, salaries for faculty were increased and the administration expanded. President Meneely was sharply aware that the Baby Boom of the 1950s would put great strains on the present facilities as the number of stu- dents rose. Several additions to existing buildings were made and new dorms were built. Dr. William C. H. Prentice became Whea- ton’s next leader after President Meneely died in 196]. The expansion of the campus continued and included the building of the Watson Fine Arts Center, a building desired by the community for many years. In the early 1970s students became politically active and vocal regarding the conflict in Vietnam and in 197! the decision to remain an all wom- en’s school was made by the trustees. The first female President of Wheaton was inaugurated in 1975, and Alice F. Emerson has continued to lead the College in a progressive manner. As under her predecessors, Presi- dent Emerson has increased the campus fa- cilities and enrollment of students. Mary Lyon was renovated and the Balfour-Hood Center was opened recently, as well as many other inprovements being made. The most recent and controversial change to occur since 1912 was the decision in 1987 by the trustees to begin to admit men as candidates for the Bachelor of Arts degree beginning with the class of 199. Wheaton, thus, has not remained a strictly traditional school, but has changed according to the needs of its students and society. The continuous changes Wheaton has experi- enced over the last 153 years have been to insure the survival of the school and consis- tantly provide an excellent education to the students. We should look at this latest change as part of this “Tradition of Change” which was begun with the founders of the school.

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Mrs. Wheaton’s gardens. Each hall had its own name, including Seventh Heaven, Trag- edy, Comedy, Seminary, Eliza, 1933, Purga- tory, Paradise, and Broadway. The infirmary was in one of the ells, and when student rooms replaced the infirmary, that hall was named Tragedy Alley. Old Metcalf was de- molished in phases, beginning in 1932, to make room for the building complex of Met- calf Kilham Hebe and Park Hall. GYMNASIUM ADMISSIONS CENTER (1903): A tem- porary top floor placed on the gym provided music practice rooms. The first swimming tank was in the basement and opened in 1913 (possibly the first swimming pool at any women’s college in the U.S.). In the mid 1930s, all apparatus was removed from the gymnasium and new dressing rooms were arranged. The new swimming pool wing opened in 1936. The pool is 26’x 60’ with a maximum depth of 9’, and has 144 spectator seats. The roof was tiled and used as an outdoor promenade (sundeck) in fall and spring. A locker system and separate dressing room and shower for men were installed in 1937. The building was converted to the Admission Center in 1966, when Clark Recreation Center opened. The Psychol- ogy Department laboratories were located on the second floor until recently. om EES H ye HRP oA Alen es) The Alumnae Association was begun by the class of 1870, during their senior year, and the first meet- ing was held on Graduation Day, July 13, 1870.