SPRING 2016 CUSHING ACADEMY MAGAZINE 39 School Street Ashburnham, MA 01430 CushingYesterday &Today The ski team tries to fit its gear in the trunk, 1945. DONORS CushingYesterday & Today Cushing exists for the students, their academic growth and personal development. In educating the mind, shaping the character, and nurturing the creativity of an academically and culturally diverse student body, we challenge each individual, support excellence in the learning process, and promote active participation and service in all areas of life and learning. We offer a demanding college preparatory curriculum, teach skills that build confidence, and instill values that endure. Cushing Today is a publication of Cushing Academy’s Office of Development and Alumni Programs. Headmaster Christopher Torino Associate Head of School Catherine Pollock Managing Director, Development Bill O’Hearn Cushing Today Editor Amy Ostroth Director of Marketing and Communications Heather Hill ’90 Design and Production Andrea Hopkins and Beth Lyons, Cheney & Company Printing Allied Printing Services, Inc. Cushing Today welcomes class notes, photographs, story ideas, and comments by alumni/ae, parents, and friends. Please send them to [email protected] or call 978-827-7400. All product names and trademarks are the property of their respective owners. Product names or images included in the timeline are used solely for their histori- cal impact. Use of these names does not imply any cooperation or endorsement. All images in this publication belong to the Academy, were purchased legally, are in the public domain, or have been fairly used with credit. Main Building prior to 1952 when a lightning strike hit the peak of its tower, setting it ablaze (see pg. 37). In 1881, the Academy purchased a building to house girls and constituted the first true boarding experience at Cushing. Prior to that, students from places other than Ash- burnham lived with families in town. The building—then called Ladies Hall and eventually named Parkman Hall—was located near the corner of Academy Hill and Pleasant Street. In This Issue The building itself was constructed in 1830—but was twice as big and originally stood where the piano museum is now located in downtown Ashburnham (the piano museum TIMELINE originally served as the town library). It was purchased by a family of town businessmen, who divided the building 2 Introduction and moved the two pieces. Many early pictures of Cushing The 1860s–80s classes are pictured in front of Parkman Hall. It housed girls 4 until Lowe Hall was built and boys afterward. It was closed The 1890s–1900s 10 in 1932 and demolished in 1940. The Academy’s first tennis courts were also constructed nearby in 1922. 14 Cushing at the Turn of the Century 16 The 1910s–20s 22 Athletics at Cushing 31 The 1930s–40s 37 The 1950s–60s 38 Cushing at Mid-Century 46 Dance at Cushing 52 Civil Rights at Cushing 56 The 1970s–80s 64 Iranian Students at Cushing 68 Nostalgia: A Dusty Portrait 78 Boys vs. Girls 81 The 1990s–2000s 88 Art at Cushing 97 The 2010s 98 Music at Cushing 105 Herbert Chen: Nobel-Winning Research 108 Drama at Cushing 112 Religion at Cushing REPORT OF GIVING 115 Annual Report 2014–2015 116 Top 10 Moments in Giving IN CLOSING 127 Cushing Lingo 128 Editor’s Note 128 People and Publications ON THE COVER: Main Building in 1965. SPRING 2016 1 Celebrating 150 years You may already know the basic narrative outline of Cushing’s beginning: Thomas Parkman Cushing left capital to found the school; in 1865 the legislature of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts granted a charter; and 10 years later our Academy’s first students walked across the threshold. That is, of course, just the beginning and really only part of the story. This special issue of Cushing Today illustrates more fully the man for whom the Academy is named, the efforts of those whose hard work brought our school to life, the faculty who made their lives here, and the students who would be forever transformed by what they learned and experienced. 2 CUSHING YESTERDAY & TODAY ‹ Celebrating 150 years › A In 1965, Frank Prentice Rand, a member of the before running water and electricity. How, after Class of 1908, wrote a book memorializing the all, do you entertain 100-plus teenagers without CushingAcademy’s first 100 years. Our work in this smart phones andcademy streaming Netflix? magazine is interwoven with Rand’s work Please enjoy reading, and as you reflect upon and we have filled in the stories between his your own Cushing experience, know that, as publishing in 1965 and today. We look at how the always, we welcome your stories. Lastly, I’d like events at and surrounding the Academy affected to thank every one of you for being a part of the the school and its people—including wars, the Happy Cushing Family. After all, the story of Great Depression, the Civil Rights Movement, Cushing is really your story. Cushing Academy is and more. And about times well before 1965: really our story together. you’ll learn about what Cushing life was like CHRISTOPHER TORINO SPRING 2016 3 ‹ Cushing Academy › 1865 the executors of Mr. Cushing’s will traveled to Boston to ask the state legislature for a The Founder charter, which it granted. Thomas Parkman Cushing never went to college—or even high school—although both Cushing Academy’s his father and grandfather graduated from Board of Trustees Harvard. Thomas was born in 1787 in Ash- The first volume of the minutes for the burnham at his family’s home on Meeting- Board of Trustees begins on Sept. 6, 1865. The house Hill. Both his father and grandfather volume shows the diligence and generosity of had been clergymen and their ancestors had the men whose dedication guided the school’s arrived in Massachusetts in 1638. John Cush- founding and early years. Indeed, in a letter ing, Thomas’ father, came to Ashburnham in sent to Rev. J.D. Crosby, the clerk for the 1768, just three years after the town’s incorpo- board in 1875, Trustee George C. Winchester ration, and served as the pastor of the village eschewed any payment for the hard work he church until his death 55 years later. had done on the school’s behalf. Thomas was the youngest of eight Mr. Winchester and his brother, Charles, children. The family opened a store at their were both members of the board and were homestead when he was eight years old and successful local businessmen—they owned a he likely worked there as a young boy. By the chair factory. George was successful enough time he’d reached the age of 13, his sister to provide the land on which the Academy was running the store, so Thomas moved to sits. Originally, he had planned to give his Boston to live with his brother, who owned a own land, located on Water Street near the store there. His brother died young—not too corner of Chapel Street. When the trustees long after Thomas arrived in the city—but beneficiaries had died in 1923, the Academy determined they preferred a different loca- Thomas went on to have a successful career as received $175,000 from the Cushing estate. tion, he purchased the land for them. a merchant in Boston before retiring in 1847. Although we are quite proud that the He was married three times and had three school has been coeducational from its begin- daughters by his second wife. ning, Mr. Cushing originally directed that Did you know? He composed his will in 1850, making two schools should be built: one for boys and Thomas Parkman Cushing’s second ample provision for his wife and daughters, one for girls, and that they should be distinct daughter, Martha, married Prof. William and for his brother and sister, who lived in a and separated by at least a quarter of a mile. C. Esty of Amherst College. Through her house he owned in Ashburnham. Of course, The will further directed that after his death, husband’s connections with the college, that brings us to the most important item in the money should be allowed to accumulate Martha developed a friendship with a his will: the bequest for the Academy. for 10 years before a board of trustees would poet by the name of Emily Dickinson. All told, after the rest of the requirements apply for an act of incorporation. Mr. Cush- Many of Thomas Parkman Cushing’s of his will were met, and the last of his ing died in 1854, and thus it was that in 1865, papers are located in the archives of Amherst College, donated to the school by Martha. 1865 Massachusetts legislature granted Cushing Academy’s charter. 1865 Civil War ended 1867 1869 and reconstruction E. Remington and The transcontinental began. Sons manufactured railroad was completed. the first typewriter. 4 CUSHING YESTERDAY & TODAY ‹ Celebrating 150 years › 1875 governor of Massachusetts; and Amasa not “in full sympathy in regard to discipline,” Norcross, who would soon be elected to the and Pierce would resign after just four years The Beginning United States Congress. It was an auspicious at the helm, in 1879. Although the Academy’s charter was granted beginning for the 66 gentlemen and 56 ladies In accepting Principal Pierce’s resignation, in 1865—and it is that anniversary which who matriculated, the vast majority of whom the trustees noted their regret at the causes we have been celebrated in 2015—the school were from New England—including 84 from which led to it—the specific causes were didn’t have students until the fall of 1875.