contacted Peabody when his four sons were born to enroll them in Groton. Theodore Roosevelt Jr., Kermit, Archie, and Quentin all attended Groton. Even after he was in the White House, Teddy remained close to the school. “After he became president in 1901, as he found himself in the middle of labor disputes and racial conflicts and struggles with big businesses, TR would not turn down Reverend Peabody’s invitation to speak at Groton’s twentieth Prize Day in 1904,” Dalton said. When Eleanor, Theodore’s niece, ended up caring for her brother, Hall, she sent Hall to Groton as well. “As a young woman working as a teacher and Junior League volunteer with poor children in the tenements of New York, Eleanor would take the train to Groton and visit Rector and Mrs. Peabody with her brother, Hall, and she would look in on her cousins TR Jr. and Kermit, too,” Dalton said. As the world knows, Eleanor married
Franklin, who had been greatly influenced by his Groton education. “Franklin listened with care when the Rector insisted that it was a Christian’s obligation to battle for just causes, which reinforced Franklin’s father’s reminders that Christianity required the rich to help the poor,” Dalton said. “Franklin became a member of the Groton Missionary Society, volunteering to care for the 84-year-old widow of a black Civil War drummer who lived near the school, and he worked with poor boys in the Boys’ Club of Boston and became the director of the Groton summer camp in New Hampshire. During his Groton years, Franklin excelled at few subjects except punctuality and Latin, but he showed his parents he was ready to act upon his social concerns.” FDR and Eleanor sent their own four sons to Groton. Peabody put politics aside in his support for his former student. “Even though Rector Peabody did not vote for FDR, he welcomed him home to Groton in
1932 to speak to the students,” Dalton said. “Peabody reported that, ‘I reminded the boys that it was our constant effort to persuade our graduates to take an interest in politics with a view to service to the nation . . . Now that Franklin has been elected, we shall of course back him up.’” Peabody presided over the service marking FDR’s first term in office. During Dalton’s midday lecture, she delved into the Roosevelts’ impact on America and paid particular attention to Eleanor and the unsung women who influenced public policy. She discussed topics including Prohibition, the Progressive Party’s legacy, FDR’s approach to bank failures in 1932, and how the ailing FDR made “fateful decisions” shortly before his death. Dalton ended her lecture with a photograph of Winston Churchill, FDR, and Joseph Stalin at the Yalta Conference, concluding, “There’s Groton, in the middle of world events.”
Carole Gates P’15
is quickly approaching. Having an event on campus where all of the students, faculty, and families could attend was my goal.” The evening ended with Talladega Nights, a movie chosen by the students, projected on an outdoor inflatable screen. It capped an inaugural event that sets the bar high for the future. Says Tim: “I’m already thinking about Circlefest 2016 and what we can add to next year’s event.”
O
n May 30, the school christened its newest rowing shell, the Samuel B. Webb Jr. ‘57. Above, rowing program head Andy Anderson instructs Sam Webb in the proper way to drizzle the bow of his namesake with water collected from the finish lines of the most significant race courses such that the boat “will develop a taste for those waters ... I collect it in bottles from the finish lines of important race courses where we race,” said Andy. “So there is typically some Lake Quinsigamond, some Thames River in Henley, England, and some Nashua River water. Those are our big three. I pour a bit of each into the silver cup and that’s what we use.” An anonymous donor underwrote the new shell and specified that it be named for Sam, who although he never rowed, has long been a fan of the sport. The new boat, made by Resolute, is a state-of-the-art racing shell made to fit boys with exceptionally long legs, of whom Groton has several.
www.groton.org
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