A DIJrFJERJPUL OF HUMANITY {The Chadwick Adventure in Education} Margaret Lee Chadwick Anchor Press San Pedro, California Copyright «:> 1978 by Margaret Lee Chadwick All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the proir per­ mission of the copyright owner. Printed in the U.S.A. Anchor Press San Pedro, Califo rnia " A DllrrERfUL OF HUMANITY {The Chadwick Adventure in Education} Dedicated to the Chadwick School Family Past, Present, and Future by Margaret Lee Chadwick 1978 '" ,. PROLOGUE A Dipperful of Humanity attempts to tell the distant past of my life. story of Chadwick School's beginning and growth It also had its distant past in the life of my from 1935-1977. husband. I cannot speak for his particular inner The task is not easy. As I leaf through memos, voices, but I do know in his early training in a catalogs, yearbooks, calendars, Mainsheets, Dol­ remarkable New England family, his education in phins, hundreds of letters, Alumni notes, news­ the U.S. Naval Academy, his experiences in World paper clippings, student writings, I am carried off War I and later in the Far East equipped him for on emotional journeys into the Past and in all di­ the remarkable role he played as Co-Founder and rections. I must therefore select those incidents, Co-Director of Chadwick School. personalities, achievements, triumphs and trage­ And how did it happen that a highly efficient dies that seem to me most significant. officer in the U.S. Navy became a civilian heading A few years ago I was asked by Mr. Wistar up a co-educational day and boarding school, the Wood (now Head of Science Department at Chad­ first of its kind on the pacific Coast? wick) to tell the Chadwick Student Body how our The answer is to be found in the fact that after School began. Now I quote from the speech I the Washington Conference of 1922 the United gave that day: States was forced to cut down its Naval power "Well how did each of you begin and come to according to a treaty signed by five major nations. be the person you are? The miracle of your begin­ Many ships were sunk and many fine officers passed ning, biologically speaking, some of you discussed over. Disarmament was popular with both Re­ long ago with Quinny in her laboratory, but publicans and Democrats. neither you nor she found answers to the complex In June 1936 my husband took leave of the questions of why you are you and I am I." Navy with a heavy heart. His family felt the blow In studying the Old Testament Prophets with keenly as he had made us feel that we too be­ my minister, the Reverend Dana Prom Smith, I longed to the beautiful ships and the handsome came to the conclusion that each one of us has a men of the sea. No more delightful trips in the gift of prophecy. I do not mean the gift a sooth­ Captain's gig to have dinner and a movie aboard a sayer claims when predicting that an earthquake battleship or cruiser! No more walks up and down will tople California into the Pacific Ocean on a the gangway with the youn~ sailors standing at certain date. No! I refer to the deep inner feeling attention! Gone! Gone forever!! or knowledge or confidence that each one of us But now the moment of decision for Joseph H. possesses that tells us we can and should do what Chadwick had come: should he become a schoo/­ our inner voices direct. man or a businessman? To the great benefit of his Several times in my life I thought I heard inner own career and the success of the budding school, voices directing me to build a school. Now, as you he became both: Co-Director and Business Manager perceive Chadwick School had its roots in the of Chadwick Seaside School. v INTRODUCTION. "Dearest Margaret, other people who had considerable property. Out of this came a gift of a large tract of land where she With your customary insight and perspicacity could build a school. This was built with the help and your school teacher background, you have the of the parents of some of her children and a good wit to have other people write your book for you. deal of effort by Margaret herself. I watched it I think it is a good idea, though I am sure you from the beginning. There really was not the slight­ would do it far better than any of them. However, est chance for the success of this sort of institution. 1 will enclose my slight contribution to this effort In the first place, while she had a large and very of yours which I am sure will be a noteworthy beautiful piece of property and a lovely location, one. there was no real basis for support in the way of Many years ago, in fact just 75 years ago, Mar­ an endowment or any assurance that there would garet and Paul and 1 went to Hungerford Academy be money coming in to keep the thing going after in Springville, Utah. This was a remarkable Presby­ it was started. This did not deter her in the terian boarding and day school, manned and slightest degree. One way or another each problem womaned by extraordinarily capable and dedi­ was met: one building built, then another and cated people with an education far above the level another. Through it all, she kept pushing toward that was possible for teachers in the public schools the ideal that she had. in our area to achieve. Hungerford, looking back Many, many graduates of the Chadwick School on it and comparing it with other institutions of will attest to how successful she was. It was really learning, was exceedingly good. But 1 remember the projection of a very idealistic, a very dedicated that even in those early days, Margaret found and very determined woman to do what she wanted many things to criticize about it. She said one day to do. While there was very little that 1 could do at that she could do very much better, and I said to a distance to help her, I did watch the growth of her, "Well, do it." She shut her lips tightly and this school with the keenest interest. She was able said, '1 will'. That is one thing that you could al­ to infuse into both the day students and the ways count on about Margaret. Once she said she boarders particularly a sense of the meaning of a would do a thing, she did it, and no amount of dedicated life which she herself had. As a result of persuasion, argument or reason would deter her. that, the product of this school was exceedingly The years went by. We went to Stanford, Mar­ high quality in terms of fitness for the business of garet had a spot of teaching in Nevada, marriage, living. Two of my children went there, and one for children and other things. One day when we were a short time, and 1 must say benefitted tremen­ riding together in an automobile, she said, 'You dously by the experience. Each year she expanded know, 1 am going to have a school as 1 have always and increased the scope of her activities until her said 1 would. It is going to be my own school, with retirement a few years ago. my own ideas of pedagogy. It will be somewhat The Chadwick School, to me, represents a pro­ like Hungerford with some of the same ideals and jection of Hungerford Academy back in Spring­ the same devotion to high intellectual principles, ville, Utah, subjected to the alchemy of Margaret but will be very modern.' Sure enough, she started Lee Chadwick's genius and personality, and it is a school in the back room of her house in San truly a very fine and beautiful monument to an Pedro. Previously she had gotten her hand in by extraordinary person. running a nursery school in a house she owned in San Francisco. Once she got started, she enlisted (Russ) in her school the children of some very well-to-do people in Los Angeles and also the friendship of Russel V. Lee, M.D. vi TABLE OF CONTENTS Prologue Introduction Acknowledgements Part I: The Thirties Chapter 1: Chadwick Open-Air School. ... _ . .. 3 Chapter 2: Interlude In A Trailer. .. 5 Chapter 3: We Become Boarding And Day . .. 8 Chapter 4: A Letter Does It!. 9 Chapter 5: Chadwick Seaside School Becomes a Non-Profit Corporation . .. ............. .. ..... 11 Chapter 6: A Leap Forward .. ............. ... .. .... 13 Chapter 7: We Move To The Hill ... .... .. .. .. ...... ... 14 Responses From Former Faculty and Students. 15' Part II: The Forties Chapter 1: A Dipperful of Humanity .. .. .... .... ... ... .. 29 Chapter 2: Abalone Cove and " Quinny" . .... .. ... .... 30 Chapter 3: The Animal Kingdom . ............ .. ... ... 31 Chapter 4: Pioneer Faculty. .. 33 Chapter 5: Our First Commencement. .. 36 Chapter 6: Chadwick Seaside School Becomes Accreditated .... 37 Chapter 7: The War Years ...... ... ........... .. ... 39 Chapter 8: Toddy Remembers .. ...... ....... .. .. ...... 41 Chapter 9: The Reconstruction Period . ... _ . .. 43 Chapter 10: The Castle on Via Horquilla ..... ..... .. .. .. 44 vii Chapter 11: Our Indispensable Chizuko Kubota ................ 46 Responses. .. 47 Photographs . • . • . • . .. 55 Part III: The Fifties Chapter 1: Everything Was Growing ........................ 79 Chapter 2: Co-Piloting Chadwick School . .. 80 Chapter 3: "Boys to the Boy's Donn; Girls to the Girl's!" .