St Michael's Country Day School History

St. Michael’s Country Day School for Boys and Girls A History from 1938 through 1986

The Founder Mr. Arthur Leslie Green

The Headmasters Chauncey Beasley

1939 -­‐ 1947

The Rev. John DeB. Cummings 1947 -­‐ 1949 The Rev. W. Eugene Snoxell

1949 -­‐ 1951

Mr. John Snow

1951 -­‐ 1955

Mr. William Glynn

1955 -­‐ 1962

Mr. Paul Rogers

1962 -­‐ 1963

The Rev. John Cranston

1963 -­‐ 1971

Mr. Mansfield A. Lyon

1971 -­‐ 1980

Mr. Dan Richardson

1980 -­‐ 1981

Mr. Stephen DiCicco

1981 -­‐ 1987

Mr. C. Dary Dunham

1987 -­‐ 1992

Mr. Alan F. Flynn, Jr.

1992 -­‐ 1998

Mr. Whitney Slade

1998 – 2014

Mr. John Zurn

2014 -­‐ Present

Presidents of the Board of Trustees In the years 1938-­‐1963 the Bishops of the Episcopal Diocese of Rhode Island served as the President of the corporation and Chair of the Board of Trustees ex officio. It appears that the Vice Chair served as the chief operating officer during this period.

From 1963 to 1976 the school was owned and operated by Trinity Church. The vestry of the church served as the board of the school with the rector serving as the chief executive. An Advisory Board of was formed during this period.

Since 1976 the corporation has been managed by a self-­‐perpetuating independent Board of Trustees.

The Board elects officers annually.

The Bishops Bishop James DeWolf Perry

1938 -­‐ 1946

Bishop Granville Gaylord Bennett

1946 -­‐ 1955

Bishop Seville Higgins

1955 -­‐ 1972

The Vice Presidents Need more here Rear Admiral Henry Eccles (Executive Vice President) 1955-­‐1961

Rectors of Trinity Church

The Reverend Locket Ford Ballard The Reverend Charles J. Minifie

The Reverend Canon D. Lorne Coyle

Board Presidents Mr. F. James Hodges

1976-­‐1982

Mr. Tom Cullen

1982-­‐

Mr. Jeff Gordon

? – ?

Mr. David Bazarsky

? -­‐ 2003?

Mr. David Howe

2003 -­‐ 2011?

Ms. Bethany Di Napoli

2011 -­‐ Present

St. Michael’s Country Day School serves the greater Newport area on Aquidneck Island, a community which has served an important role in the colonizing of the Americas, the establishment of the United States, the business of slavery and its abolishment, the industrialization of the nation’s economy, and the prosecution of two world wars. Newport is home to numerous monuments to that rich history – the United Baptist Church established by the first settlers on Aquidneck Island; a court house built by slaves; America’s first synagogue; Redwood, America’s oldest lending library; the cottages of the Gilded Age; the Naval War College and a nineteenth century Fort Adams; to name just a few. That history provides a context for the foundation of the school.

The story of our school can divided into three distinct periods. For the first 24 years it was a Diocesan school under the Episcopal Church of Rhode Island. It was not a religious school, per se, however the values of the Episcopal Church were ingrained into the curriculum and there was religious instruction offered, albeit limited. The Church had a strong relationship with the school but Episcopalian laypeople and people from outside the Church were involved in managing the school.

In 1963, with the school in difficult financial condition, Trinity Church, an historic Episcopal Church in Newport, took control of St. Michael’s. The church vestry managed the school as an Episcopalian rectory school for the next 13 years. Events, including Prize Day, were held on the grounds of Trinity Church and daily lessons of spirituality and religion were incorporated into the curriculum.

The latest era in St. Michael’s Country Day School’s history began in 1976 when an independent non-­‐ profit corporation was established to take control of the institution. A self-­‐perpetuating Board of Trustees now manages the school as an independent, non-­‐denominational day institution.

The earliest reference to the name, St. Michael’s School, is a November 1938 article in a local newspaper announcing the appointment of the Rev. Feringa and the Rev. Green as Heads of School. There is no record of how the name was chosen. In the Catholic tradition Saint Michael, the archangel, is the head of God’s army, the defeater of the fallen angels and the protector of the church. According to the teachings of the church he is present as a person dies; he accompanies their soul to purgatory and

determines the soul’s fate. Depictions of Saint Michael often include a scale in reference to his responsibility for weighing our deeds and accomplishments, hence the appearance of a balance in many of the schools logos and the title of the school’s newspaper, “Sword and Scales”.

The Founders

In the fall of 1938, in the wake of a devastating hurricane, the Rt. Rev. James DeWolf Perry (1871-­‐1947), Episcopal Bishop of Rhode Island, announced a plan to form a new school to serve the families of Aquidneck Island.i Having spent many years as the head of the Diocese and the corporation President at St. George’s School, The Rt. Rev. Perry recognized the need for a school to serve the younger children and less affluent families on the island.ii Mr. Arthur Leslie Green (1864-­‐1949), shared The Rt. Rev. Perry’s vision and transferred ownership of land and buildings he owned on Training Station Road in Newport to the Episcopal Church and into the custody of the Rt. Reverend Perry, the Reverend James Green (no relation to Mr. Arthur Green) of Newport and the Reverend Nicholas Feringa of New York for the purposes of establishing the school. It was intended that the Revs. Green and Feringa would serve as the first heads of school. In consideration for this donation Mr. Green received payment of one dollar and was granted the right to enjoy his afternoon meal on the premises of the school so that he could be acquainted with the students. Mr. Green attached other requirements regarding the governance of the school and the ownership of the property.iii Quite suddenly in early 1939, before the first classes were held, the Rev. Green resigned his duties as a head of the newly formed school to take a position in New York. St. Michael’s Country Day School found itself in jeopardy before it had opened its doors and as a result the Rt. Rev. Perry was forced to announce to the community that the school would not open.iv In August of that year, only a few weeks before the academic year would begin, Mr. Chauncey Beasley, who summered in Newport, accepted the opportunity to lead St. Michael’s School. Mr. Beasley had a long career in education and prior to accepting the position in Newport, he served as Headmaster of the Beasley School in Cooperstown, NY. With Mr. Beasley agreeing to serve as the first Head of School, the vision of the Rt. Rev. Perry and Mr. Arthur Leslie Green was finally realized on September 27, 1939.v Mr. Gurnee Dyer and Mr. William P. Sheffield would replace the Revs. Green and Feringa and join Rt. Rev. Perry as Trustees of the property donated by Mr. Green.

The School’s First Home St. Michael’s School, alternately called St. Michael’s Country Day School, and St. Michael’s Country Day School for Boys and Girls throughout the years, found its first home at the former Cloyne House School on Training Station Road in Newport. The Cloyne School site was a gift from Mr. Arthur Leslie Green.

Mr. Green was a local antiques collector and former educator who acquired most of the site in 1920 at auction after the closing of Cloyne.

While St. Michael’s was founded almost 20 years after the closing of Cloyne and the institutions are not officially related, there is a strong connection between the schools. Mr. Green had a hand in the establishment of both schools, the schools both occupied the site on Training Station Road and both schools enjoyed a close relationship with the Episcopal Church.

In 1896 Dr. Oliver Whipple Huntington, a distinguished Harvard professor in Minerology and Chemistry, founded the Cloyne House School a boarding school for boys.vi Established in part due to the encouragement of the founder of Groton School, Dr. Endicott Peabody, Cloyne considered itself a feeder to Groton. Despite the apparent connection with Groton, the Cloyne House School found itself second to St. Georges as the other “other school” on the Aquidneck Island. Apparently Cloyne never enjoyed St. George’s prestige locally.vii The Cloyne House School was founded in the former Hunter Dunn estate near the Navy training school. The school was named after George Berkeley (1685–1753), the Lord Bishop of Cloyne, a philosopher and an ordained minister in the Church of Ireland.viii He spent time in Newport from 1729 to 1732 and built a home named Whitehall on a farm off of Green End Road in Middletown. The school’s curriculum and pedagogy were patterned in the style of German education which Dr. Huntington and Mr. Green studied on a tour of Europe. While discipline at the school was strict, the teaching was apparently innovative. Among the innovations were outdoor winter dormitories where the boys slept in tents because it was considered healthier.ix Located on a wooded area on the edge of Narragansett Bay, outdoor activities and water sports were an important part of life at Cloyne.

Mr. Arthur Leslie Green Mr. Green (1864-­‐1949) was among the first teachers at the Cloyne House School, served as the Assistant Headmaster, and was a collaborator with Dr. Huntington in forming the school. It appears that the men become acquainted while Mr. Green was teaching at Holderness School in Plymouth, New Hampshire near to where Mr. Huntington summered.

Mr. Green acquired the Cloyne property over many years. In 1904 Dr. Huntington transferred a one acre parcel of the school site to Mr. Green. The Weaver-­‐Franklin House, formerly located at the intersection of Walnut and Second streets, was moved to the site and it became a museum of sorts to house Mr. Green’s extensive collection of Colonial Revival and Arts and Crafts furniture. As the home had no heat, Mr. Green boarded at the Cloyne School through his tenure.x The building remains at the location today.

Mr. Roger Sessions, considered one the great composers of the 20th century, had a brief unhappy time at Cloyne. In a biography Mr. Sessions described Headmaster Huntington as a “weak man” and Mr. Green as crazy and “something of a sadist.” The memories of a nine year old boy enrolled in a boarding school recalled many, many years later should be carefully weighed, but accounts of the school make it clear that discipline was a hallmark. According to an account of another student, a punishment for crying known as the “Cup to Catch Tears” lead to a parent protest and Mr. Green was forced to tender his resignation in 1909.xi Mr. Green acquired the Cloyne property over many years. In 1904 Dr. Huntington transferred a one acre parcel of the school site to Mr. Green. The Weaver-­‐Franklin House, formerly located at the intersection of Walnut and Second streets, was moved to the parcel and it became a museum of sorts to house Mr. Green’s extensive collection of Colonial Revival and Arts and Crafts furniture. As the home had no heat, Mr. Green boarded at the Cloyne School through his tenure.xii For the years following his departure from Cloyne, Mr. Green kept a close eye on the school and the Huntingtons.

The Cloyne House School continued to operate normally until April of 1917 when President Wilson announced that the United States would enter World War I. After the war ended the Newport training station lost favor with the federal government and its funding was cut. It had been expected that The Cloyne School property would be purchased by the Navy – but due the changing priorities and a lack of funds the purchase was never completed. In 1920, with the business in weak financial condition, the Dr. Huntington closed Cloyne School and the contents of the buildings were sold at auction.xiii Mr. Arthur Leslie Green was among the biggest purchasers of the items and soon thereafter acquired the balance of the school’s property in a private transaction with the Huntingtons. Four years later Dr. Huntington died suddenly while summering in New Hampshire.

Mr. Green continued to collect architectural elements and antiques to decorate and furnish his home.

Following the acquisition of the parcel from the Huntingtons he built a second home, Cranford Cottage, which became his permanent residence while the Weaver-­‐Franklin House continued to house his antiques collection. Both houses remain on Training Station Rd near the entrance of the Navy base.

In the latter part of his life Mr. Green worked to preserve his museum and collection. Many groups, including the Newport Historical Society, declined to purchase the property. Fearing that his collection would be moved to Dearborn, Michigan, Mr. Green refused an offer from Mr. Henry Ford to acquire the property for $125,000. Soon thereafter the property was sold to a Mr. Hoffman of Litchfield, CT for $25,000 with the understanding that Mr. Green would continue to occupy the home until his death.xiv He died in December of 1949 and his funeral was held on the Navy base. In 1950 his collection was sold at auction.

During the period when Mr. Green was attempting secure his legacy he decided to turn the Cloyne facilities back into a school. In 1938 the property was donated to the Episcopal Diocese. With that donation St. Michael’s School was founded as an independent corporation under the Episcopal Diocese of Rhode Island with The Rt. Rev. Perry leading the school’s governing committee.xv The Most Reverend James DeWolf Perry

Bishop Perry (1871-­‐1947) was born in Germantown, PA into a prominent Philadelphia family. His father, the Reverend James DeWolf Perry, was the Rector of the Calvary Church in Germantown.xvi He was a descendent of U.S. Senator William Bradford and of Commodores Oliver Hazard Perry and Mathew Calbraith Perry. Commodore Oliver Hazard Perry, the “Hero of the Battle of Lake Erie”, famously wrote “We have met the enemy and they are ours” after defeating the British fleet on the lake during the War of 1812. A monument in his honor stands in Eisenhower Park in Newport across from his home on Touro St. After rising to the rank of Commodore, his younger brother Mathew negotiated a treaty with a Japanese Shogun which led to the opening of Japan. Commodore Mathew Perry was also known as the “Father of the Steamship Navy” for his advocacy of modernizing the U.S. fleet.

Mr. James DeWolf, a U.S. Senator, was Bishop Perry’s great, great grandfather. Mr. DeWolf, of Bristol, RI, was a privateer and slave trader who was once charged, tried and acquitted of throwing a slave bound to a chair from the deck of one of his ships. The woman was ill and Mr. DeWolf defended his actions by claiming it was necessary to protect the health of the other passengers. Mr. DeWolf operated cane plantations in Cuba, rum distilleries in Newport and a fleet of ships that virtually defined the “Triangle Trade.”

After graduating from Germantown Academy, the oldest non-­‐ sectarian independent school in the country, the Bishop Perry, attended the University of Pennsylvania, earning a Bachelor’s of the Arts. He received second B.A. from Harvard University a year later and then attended the Episcopal Theological School in Cambridge, MA where he earned a Bachelor’s of Divinity degree in 1895. For 16 years he served as a parochial minister The Rt. Rev. James DeWolf Perry, 18th Presiding Bishop of the Episcopal Church in Massachusetts and Connecticut until we was elected Bishop (1930-­‐1937) of Rhode Island in 1911.

From 1930 to 1937 he served as the Presiding Bishop of the Episcopal Church in the United States. He became interested in foreign mission work of the church and spent several months with his wife touring Pacific nations. Although he was not generally involved in politics, in 1937 the Republican Party recruited to serve on a committee draft the party’s “statement of principles.”

During his tenure as Presiding Bishop of the Episcopal Church in the United States he continued in his role at the head of the Rhode Island Diocese. In that capacity he received the gift of the land and buildings from Mr. Arthur Leslie Green to establish St. Michael’s School.

Bishop Perry died suddenly in 1947 while vacationing in South Carolina and was buried in Bristol.

Headmaster Chauncey Beasley

Mr. Beasley was born into a prominent family of Trenton, New Jersey in 1896. His grandfather was a Chief Justice of the NJ State Supreme Court. His father was an attorney and district judge.xvii An uncle, William S. Gummere, who purportedly invented baseball’s “hook slide,” served as Chief Justice of the state for 31 years.xviii Chauncey’s brother, (Charles Fenton) Mercer Beasley, was an accomplished – albeit controversial – tennis instructor and author of a ground breaking guide to tennis instruction in the early part of the 20th century.xix After studying at Phillips Academy (Andover) and then Brown University, Chauncey Beasley enlisted in the military during World War I. Upon returning home from the war he dedicated his life’s career to independent school education. Mr. Beasley served as Head of School of the Pomfret School (CT), the Bedford School (Bedford, NY) and the Greenvale School (Roslyn, NY) before opening the Beasley School in Cooperstown, NY.xx In 1922 he married Eleanor Potter Stewart Conover in Newport. Reverend W. S. Olmsted, Headmaster of Pomfret, presided over the ceremony and Reverend James H. S. Fair of St. George’s School assisted.xxi Mr. Beasley’s talents included tennis and golf as well as woodworking and machining. During World War II he submitted bids and won contracts for military equipment which he constructed in a machine shop at his home on Mr. Chauncey Beasley (from the archives of St. Indian Avenue.xxii George's School) Mrs. Beasley’s father, The Reverend James (Jay) Potter Conover, spent many years teaching at St. Paul’s, an Episcopal boarding school in New Hampshire. An accomplished athlete, The Rev. Conover was the first man to high jump higher than his own height. When he worked at St. Paul’s he brought hockey equipment from Canada to introduce the sport the United States. He went on to build squash courts at school -­‐ the first courts in the country.xxiii Later in his career he moved to Aquidneck Island where he served as the Rector of St. Mary’s Episcopal Church in Portsmouth. He and his wife occupied a home across Indian Avenue from the home of Mr. and Mrs. Beasley.

Headmaster Beasley supervises the preparation of a student for a balloon ride (ca 1935). From the Cooperstown History website.

Spending summers in their cottage on Indian Avenue in Middletown, the Beasleys enjoyed their family connection to Aquidneck Island. While visiting the island in the summer of 1939 Mr. Beasley accepted the position of Head of School of the newly formed St. Michael’s School and would not return to Cooperstown.xxiv

Mr. Gurnee Dyer and Mr. William P. Sheffield In accepting the roles of trustees of Mr. Green’s gift to the school, Mr. Dyer and Mr. Sheffield could not have realized the magnitude of their commitments. Records show that both men remained actively involved at the school for nearly 25 years.

Mr. Dyer, who remained a trustee until at least 1954, was a descendent of William and Mary Dyer.

William Dyer, with Roger Williams, led a successful anti-­‐Coddington party commission to England to appeal the appointment of Mr. William Coddington as Governor of the Colony “for life.” Mary Dyer, a friend of Anne Hutchinson, became known as the “Quaker Martyr” after she was hanged in the Massachussets Bay Colony for repeatedly violating the Puritan’s ban of Quakers in the colony.

Mr. Sheffield was a lawyer with the firm Sheffield and Harvey in Newport and represented the school for many years in that capacity. His son Mr. Richard Sheffield of Middletown also represented the school, his daughter-­‐in-­‐law, Ms. Gaye Sheffield has served as a trustee and several children in the Sheffield family have attended the school. The elder Mr. Sheffield’s father and grandfather were U.S. Congressmen; his grandfather was also a Senator. A prominent Rhode Island Republican, Mr. Sheffield made an unsuccessful bid for Senate in 1937 then declined later nominations. He died in March of 1966.

St. Michael’s Country Day School The Rt. Rev. Perry understood the community well; the rapid growth of St. Michael’s School attests to the demand in the local community. The school immediately enrolled 4 boys, a mix of day students and boarders, and continued to grow during its first year to an enrollment of 10. It is reported that some of his Cooperstown students followed Mr. Beasley to Newport and enrolled at his new school.xxv At the beginning of the 1940 school year St. Michael’s School moved to a larger building on the property, hired a third teacher and enrolled 17 students.xxvi The school’s success also speaks to the passion for teaching and innovative style of Mr. Beasley. A former student from the Beasley School wrotexxvii, “...the Beasley School, a small school for boys in Cooperstown, New York, where the Clarks had an immense country estate on both sides of the Susquehanna River.

Ostensibly, Mrs. Clark was underwriting Headmaster Beasley’s innovative theories of education. One of these was that concentration could be taught, like algebra.

Every day before classes, the assembled students would be give a text to read, and while they were reading, he would do everything possible to distract them – blow on a bugle, take both sides of a loud argument, stand on his head. Then the students would be

tested for their comprehension of the text. Beasley’s theories may have been right: the fact that arachnids have eight legs may still be with me because I learned it to the sound of the bugle.”

By the summer of 1942, the United States was in the throes of a world war in which the Navy would take an important role. Once again, the area around Training Station Road was chaotic with Navy traffic and it became increasingly difficult to operate the school. As a result of what seemed to be cordial discussions, the Navy requested a judgment for “condemnation of the land” and an “order of taking.”

The order was granted and the school was compensated in the amount of $75,001.

Since then the grounds have been utilized for a variety of purposes by the U.S. Navy. It appears that Cloyne House, the largest building on the property, was subsequently destroyed. Several buildings – multi-­‐tenant homes and offices – remain on the site. The history of these buildings has not been determined.

Having been displaced from its original home St. Michael’s moved to the Green End House often referred to as the Barker property, on the Boulevard in Newport at the end of Bliss Mine Road.xxviii The school remained at the new site for only one school year, 1942-­‐43.

Lover’s Lane Records of the 180 Rhode Island Avenue site date back to the earliest days of the English settlement of Aquidneck Island. In 1639, Nicholas Easton, one of the eight signers of the agreement that established the town of Newport, acquired a large parcel for farming, which included the land where St. Michael’s is currently located. Mr. Easton was active in state and local politics rising through the political ranks and eventually serving as Governor of the state for 2 years.xxix The property remained in the Easton family for many years; a 1776 map identifies a Mr. Peter Easton as the owner. The beach at the foot of Bath Road (now Memorial Blvd.) in view of St. Michael’s School memorializes the family’s contributions to the community and long connection to Aquidneck Island and Newport.

(George Gibbs ca 1820? Which GG? Background? Street named for him?

Worth detailing since we have frontage on the street and the Gibbs family is important) In 1850 Robert Means Mason (1810-­‐ 1879) of Boston acquired the property from the estate of Mary Gibbs also of Boston. Mr. Mason was a partner in a mercantile firm and a leading member of the Episcopal Diocese of xxx Massachusetts. After purchasing the property on Lover’s Lane, aka Love’s Lane, he constructed a

large wood framed home, designed by Seth C. Bradford, on what was described as a “well-­‐wooded lot.”xxxi Mr. Bradford is known for his design of Chateau Sur Mer on Bellevue Avenue and is also responsible for a small gatehouse cottage close to St. Michael’s near the north west corner of the intersection of Old Beach Road and Rhode Island Avenue. When Mr. Mason died in 1879 his daughter Miss Ellen F. Mason inherited the estate and furnishings. Miss Ida Mason, and her sister Ellen were apparently inseparable. They pursued many of the same philanthropic interests and they are often referred to as the co-­‐owners of the home on Lover’s Lane.

The sisters were active in the Boston and Newport communities. They supported the Newport Hospital, the Newport Historical Society, and the Redwood Library among many charities. The sisters both served on the board of the Home for the Aged; they once donated $100 to the Rogers High School Teachers Fund. Miss Ida Mason served on the Board of the Newport Community Center. Miss Ellen Mason served as President of the Civic League for many years. Notably, she actively campaigned against the private lease of Easton’s Beach believing that public access was preferred. In 1919 (or 1913) she sold a 70 foot wide, 66,000 ft2 piece of her estate to the town of Newport for the widening of Bath Road. Her asking price for the parcel was equivalent to a donation -­‐ the cost of moving her trees and leveling the ground. The wall that bounds the southern edge of the property today was built to accommodate the new road.

The sisters were also active in charitable work in Boston. Ellen and Ida were among the co-­‐founders of the first corresponsdance school in America, the Society to Encourage Study at Home. Miss Ellen Mason established the Society’s French department and taught the language via mail to the school’s first students. Several years later she participated in the founding of Radcliffe College, one of the Seven Sisters, now fully annexed with Harvard University.

With an interest in gardening, the sisters Mason hired “America’s first landscape architect” Mr. Frederick Law Olmsted to renovate the gardens of their estate. Mr. Olmsted is best known for his landscape designs of Central Park in New York, the U.S. Capitol and the White House. His firm was also responsible for the layout and design of many schools including Phillips Andover, Yale University, the Pomfret School, and Stanford University. Locally Doris Duke’s Rough Point and the improvements of Easton’s Beach were among the major landscaping projects designed by Olmsted in that era.xxxii Olmsted introduced the Masons to H. H. Richardson, a well know architect who specialized in a style dubbed “Richardson Romanesque.” In Newport, Richardson is known for his design of the William Watts Sherman House, now on the campus of Salve University, and is credited for the design of the light house at Castle Hill – although the design he provided included an attached house.xxxiii The team of Olmsted and Richardson continued to renovate and update the grounds and buildings on Rhode Island Ave. until a frigid night in February of 1899 when the Mason sisters’ summer cottage burned to the ground.

The Mason House

In 1900 (or 1901) while wintering at the Hotel del Coronado across the bay from San Diego, the Mason sisters met an architect of growing prominence in southern California, a Mr. Irving Gill (1870-­‐1936). Mr. Gill was an avid dancer and frequented the “Hotel Del” to pursue his passion. Later in the same season the Olmsted family – Frederick Olmsted, Jr., his sister Miss Marion Olmsted and their uncle Albert H. Olmsted, -­‐ visited San Diego and stayed at the hotel. The Mason sisters introduced the Olmsteds to Mr. Gill.

Irving Gill was born on April 26, 1870 in upstate New York. His father, a Quaker, was a farmer and building contractor. Mr. Gill attended public schools, never entered college, and received no formal education in architecture. After working as an apprentice at a firm in Syracuse, NY he moved to Chicago where he found employment as a draftsman with the firm of Mr. Joseph Lyman Silsbee. Mr. Silsbee, whose work was heavily influenced by H. H. Richardson, mentored several of the Prairie School movement architects including Frank Lloyd Wright. Under oath, Mr. Wright once declared himself the “world’s greatest living architect.” His contemporaries might have disagreed, but history has been kind to Mr. Wright and his works.

Irving Gill followed Mr. Wright to the firm of Mr. Louis Sullivan, often referred to as the “father of the skyscraper” and the “father of modernism.” He worked at Sullivan-­‐Adler from 1890-­‐1893. While his training may have been informal, his instructors were among the finest architects America has known. Gill’s health forced him to leave Chicago for the milder weather of San Diego where he opened his own architectural firm.

Mr. Irving Gill

“We should build our house simple, plain and substantial as a boulder, then leave the ornamentation of it to Nature, who will tone it with lichens, chisel it with storms, make it gracious and friendly with vines and flower shadows as she does the stone in the meadow.”

Irving Gill, The Craftsman, May 1916

Generally described as Arts and Crafts, Mr. Gill’s early works in California reflected the styles of his mentors. Employing a mix of Prairie, Queen Anne, Beaux Arts with some shingle and some concrete, he had not found his distinctive take on the Spanish Mission Style for which he would eventually become famous. The three homes that he

designed on Aquidneck Island during that period, each one distinct from the others, exhibit signs of his emerging style.

Wildacre, a private home on Ocean Avenue in Newport built for Mr. Albert H. Olmsted who met Mr. Gill at the Hotel Del Coronado, emerges from the ocean on a foundation covered in what appears to be local stone. The home is a confluence of a California bungalow and a Queen Anne shingle house. Mr. Gill’s naturalistic approach for this project -­‐ the home feels one with the land on which it sits – rivals Frank Lloyd Wright’s Fallingwater outside Pittsburgh for its masterful integration into the site. Its many chimneys carry the ocean’s boulders stone foundations foundations skyward. Featuring a mix of local and exotic evergreens, the Olmsted firm gave the landscaping a distinct feeling of a Japanese garden which is reflected in the lines and architecture of the home.

The Sarah King Birckhead House (now Eastover) in Portsmouth, RI is a more simply executed take on the shingle style which had become popular in Newport. The Figure 1Wildacre, view of the entrance from east. (from the architectural firm of McKim, Mead and White is credited as pioneers Library of Congress) in this style with several important works in Newport, including the Isaac Bell House on Bellevue Avenue. The Birckhead House, like Wildacre, features large open rooms that flow from one to the next. The gardens have also been attributed to Olmsted, although that cannot be confirmed.

For the Mason Sisters, Irving Gill took an entirely different approach. The exterior of the home with its stucco over concrete, Spanish tile roof, arched windows and ornamental ironwork wrapped porches is heavily influenced by the original Mission style. A large portico at the front of the building greets visitors. One can imagine the gardener, Miss Ellen Mason, sitting in the east side porticos admiring her Olmsted designed grounds. The interior of the home, with its dark woodwork and distinctively Arts and Crafts fixtures, is consistent with the style of several of Gill’s early works. However, 180 Rhode Island Avenue, the Mason House, may also be one of the earliest and finest examples of Irving Gill’s voice beginning to emerge.

Misses Ellen and Ida Mason continued to enjoy their summer cottage in Newport until their deaths.

Upon her passing in October of 1928, Miss Ida Mason distributed her estate, estimated at more than $1,000,000, to her sister and various charities – primarily hospitals, schools, charities, and children’s causes. Recognizing her lifelong commitment to the arts Miss Mason’s friends organized a campaign to acquire a portrait (shown below) painted by William Morris Hunt ca.

1879. It is not known if they were successful in their bid and the portrait is now in the collection of the Boston Museum of Fine Arts.

Miss Ellen Mason passed away less than two years after her sister’s death. Her estate of more than $5,000,000 was left to many of the same charities that her sister supported. Notably Miss Mason left $3,000 to the Indian Rights Association, a group she supported for many years. She also directed that two beds be endowed at the Newport Hospital in the name of her father, Robert Means Mason, and the name of Mrs. Eliza Hunter Birckhead, mother of her longtime friend Miss Katherine (Kate) Birckhead (sister-­‐in-­‐law of the owner of Eastover, Mrs. Sarah King Birckhead).

Figure 2 Miss Ida Mason by William Morris Hunt, ca 1879

Loves Lane Lodge In the decade following Miss Mason’s death the home had several occupants and was given the name Lover’s Lane Lodge (alternately Loveslane Lodge and Loves Lane Lodge). On December 26, 1930 Mrs. Oliver (Katherine) Cromwell purchased the home from Miss Mason’s estate then later transferred title into her husband’s name. Mrs. Cromwell’s brother-­‐in-­‐law, Mr. James Cromwell, was the husband of Doris Duke and served as Minister to Canada under President F.D Roosevelt.

The Cromwell’s leased the house to Mr. and Mrs. W. Henry Williams for the summer season of 1936.

Later that year a holding company owned by Mr. J. Harlin O’Connell, an attorney from New York, purchased the property at a mortgagee’s sale. Mr. O’Connell, who summered in a Bellevue Avenue home called Maplehurst, immediately announced that the house was for sale or lease, and it does not appear the he ever occupied the home. For the summer of 1937 the home was leased by the Wadsworths of New York. The Savings Bank of Newport acquired the property from Lover’s Lane, Inc. in 1940 after the property taxes for the three previous years went unpaid. Lover’s Lane Lodge was occupied by Mr. and Mrs. Edward J. Eyre through the season and into November of 1941.

In February of 1943, with World War II raging, Bishop Perry announced to an assembly of students that friends of St. Michael’s Country Day School for Boys and Girls had acquired the Mason House and would donate the facility as a permanent location. The school was warmly received into the neighborhood. In April, Mrs. Maud Howe Elliott held a reception at Lilliput, her home on Rhode Island Ave., for the school’s Trustees, Headmaster and Beasley, and Bishop DeWolf Perryxxxiv.

The friends of the school who acquired the property included Mrs. Ernest B. Dane ($3,000), Mrs. Townsend Phillips ($1,000), Mrs. Charles G. Thompson ($112) and Mr. Hugo Key ($250).xxxv Mrs. Alice Wilcox (Anthony) Webb, wife of the founder of a regionally well-­‐known retail chain Cherry & Webb, contributed the balance of the purchase price and remained involved at the school for another decade.

In addition to her contributions as a donor and board member, Mrs. Webb worked in the offices of the school. An alumnus of the school remembers Mrs. Webb fondly, but does recall her as a “stern woman.”xxxvi Alice Wilcox Webb Through its history St. Michael’s Country Day School has enjoyed the generous patronage donors who were otherwise unconnected to the school. Mr. Arthur Green, the original donor, had no children and asked for nothing in return for his generous gift of property on Training Station Road. Several years later Mrs. Alice Webb, from a wealthy family in Portsmouth, took an interest in the school and facilitated the purchase of the “Lovelane Lodge”, the Mason House.

Alice Wilcox Webb was born to Henry Clay Anthony and Eldora Jane Wilcox on December 27, 1876 in Portsmouth, Ri. She had 4 brothers and a sister. Her father farmed nearly 800 acres and served as a state representative.xxxvii Mrs. Webb was educated in the public schools of Portsmouth, RI and attended the Shoemaker and Clark Business College in Fall Riverxxxviii.

She descended from John Anthony who first settled in Portsmouth in 1641 where he began farming.

Her ancestors included Coggeshalls and Clarkes, familiar names in Newport, as well as Mr. William Freeborn, a signer of the Portsmouth Compact. The Anthony family continued to farm the land for many generations and today their tract off of East Main Road at the foot of Quaker Hill has been incorporated into the Aquidneck Island Land Trust. The facilities are used to board polo ponies. THIS OULD BE DIFFERENT PROPERTIES –FACT CHECK. Mr. and Mrs. Frederick Webb lived in a Victorian mansion in Portsmouth, RI on property that Mrs. Webb received from her father. The couple had no children. Mrs. Webb’s brother Joseph Anthony, his wife Mrs. Emma Louise Sherman Anthony and their daughter Evelyn died in a boating accident on Narragansett Bay. It is reported that their infant son Warren W. Anthony survived the accident, floating ashore in his carriage which was buoyed by the oars his father had quickly fastened. Mr. and Mrs. Webb raised their nephew who would eventually become a math and Spanish teacher and Secretary of the Board of Trustees at St. Michael’s.

Thanks to Mrs. Webb and the other donors, by 1944 the school reached enrollment of 190 students and the Mason House was severely burdened. Plans to build a gymnasium were developed but rapidly abandoned. The basement was converted for use as an indoor recreation area and the open north and south porticos were enclosed to be used as classrooms. For the 1946 school year the 10th grade was eliminated and the school served children in the kindergarten through the 9th grades. As World War II drew to a close, St. Michael’s Country Day school was a well-­‐ established institution in its new home.

WWI was difficult for local independent schools. It was reported that St. George’s experienced a drop in enrollment due to concerns about attacks to the east coast. And after the war ended it took several years for the schools to recover. On many occasions in these early years Mrs. Webb Figure 3 Mrs. Alice WIlcox Anthony Webb helped the school meet its financial obligations. Despite a steadily growing enrollment, by 1949 St. Michael’s Country Day School for Boys and Girls was insolvent and if not for Mrs. Webb’s generosity the school would not have endured.

NOTE: Recommend that something on campus be named in her honor. She loaned the school the capital $10K to buy Mason house and was the HVB of the 1940s and early 50s. Then she went on to infuse capital as required. At one point mid-­‐year the school would not make payroll without her help.

Must work on this area.

Headmasters and the Early Years

Prize Day, June 6, 1947 was the last for Headmaster Beasley. The Stanley Carnaghan Hughes award, known as the School Medal, was awarded to a student by Mrs. Hughes. Mr. Hughes served as Rector of Trinity Church from 1907 until his passing in 1941. The students then surprised Mr. Beasley with a second School Medal to honor his service to the school. Mrs. Maud Howe Elliot, daughter of Julia Ward Howe, attended the ceremony and two verses of the “Battle Hymn of the Republic” were sung in honor of Pulitzer Prize winning author. xxxix Mr. Chauncey H. Beasley moved on to start another school at his home on Indian Avenue. That school was apparently short lived as Mr. Beasley joined the staff of St. George’s School where he taught Latin and coached tennis from 19XX to 19XX. His tennis teams were remarkably successful. Mrs. Eleanor Beasley, who worked aside her husband at the various schools, passed suddenly in November of 1960.

One year after her death, Mr. Beasley married Mrs. Fannie Magnin (born Fannie Robb Carvin), a former member of the St. Michael’s corporation. In February of 1996 Mr. Chauncey Beasley died in Palm Beach County, FL at the age of 99.

The Reverend Dr. Granville Gaylord Bennett assumed the role of Bishop of the Rhode Island Episcopal Diocese from The Rt. Rev. Perry in 1946. In that role he also served as the head of the corporations of St. Michael’s School and St. George’s School. The Right Reverend Bennett expressed a preference for clergymen, as opposed to laypeople, to head the diocesan schools.

Headmaster Beasley, recognizing the wishes of the Bishop, resigned his position and the next several Headmasters of St. Michael’s held very close ties with the Church. The school’s articles of incorporation were amended following Mr. Beasley’s departure disallowing the current Headmaster from being a member of the Board of Trustees. It seems likely that Mr. Beasley’s The Rev. Cummings (far right) pictured on the campus of the Lenox School, ca 1927 (from www.lenoxschool.org) departure was not amicable although he would eventually return to campus on friendly terms.

1947-­‐1949 The Reverend John DeBoer Cummings The Rev. Cummings (1898-­‐1989) replaced the founding headmaster, Mr. Chauncey Beasley, in 1947.

The Rev. Cummings was born in Muskegon, Michigan; received a degree in history from Kenyon College; earned master degrees from the University of Michigan (1923) and Columbia University (1938). He acted as senior master of the Lenox School, a boarding school for boys in central Massachusetts with

relations to the Episcopal Church. Lenox was founded in 1926, closed in 1971 and as of this writing the alumni remain actively organized. After Lenox, the Rev. Cummings headed the lower school of Cranbrook in Michigan and went on to teach history at Hotchkiss. He left Hotchkiss to serve as a member of the history department at St. Paul’s in 1945-­‐47 where he was ordained as a deacon and priest. The Rev. Cummings resigned the position to “free myself for some fuller expression of my vocation in the Church.”xl Subsequent to his tenure at St. Michael’s, The Rev. Cummings served churches and schools in Texas and California.

1949-­‐1951 The Reverend W. Eugene Snoxell Born in South Dakota, The Rev. Snoxell (1912-­‐1999) graduated from Yankton College, attended Berkeley Divinity School at Yale and was ordained in 1940 in New York City.

The Rev. Snoxell served an assistant at Trinity church in 1941-­‐42 under the Rev. Dr. Stanley C. Hughes. Upon the retirement of the Rev. Hughes, the Rev. Snoxell served as Minister in Charge until the appointment of the Rev. Dr. Lauriston L. Scalfe (who went on to serve as Bishop of Western, NY). The Rev. Snoxell returned to Newport in 1949 to head St. Michael’s School after serving at St. Mark’s in Warwick Neck and then teaching at both St. Paul’s School and St. Mark’s School. He spent several summers working at St. George’s summer camps during that period.

After leaving Newport, the Rev. Snoxell moved to Michigan where he served as Associate Rector at different churches until his retirement in 1984. He was first married 1966 at the age of 54.

Figure 4 The Rev. Eugene Snoxell (Newport Daily News, 2/9/1951, p. 2)

Concurrent with The Rev. Snoxell’s tenure the Newport Superintendent of Schools, Mr. Carl H. Porter-­‐Shirley, entered into informal discussions with the school’s Secretary, The Rev. Francis Bayard Rhein, regarding the acquisition of 180 Rhode Island Avenue as a location for a new high school. Reports vary on the nature of the talks, and initially the Board expressed its willingness to entertain an offer for the property. The discussions heated up and by late 1952 the St. Michael’s Country Day School Board voted against the sale of the property. It was reported that moving the school would cost more than $100,000. Despite the Board’s refusal to sell the town continued to consider an adjoining 10.5 acre site.

The community was apparently angry about the selection of the property and a petition with more than 1,000 names was submitted to the town in protest. Owners of properties in the neighborhood including, Mr. and Mrs. Sheldon Whitehouse, Mr. and Mrs. Albert B. Dewey, Mr. and Mrs. Crawford Hill, Mr. and Mrs. Kenneth Shaw Safe, Mr. Reginald D. Storey and Mr. and Mrs. Edwin F. Byrnes engaged an attorney who requested a meeting with the town. The high school was eventually sited at a larger location in another part of the town.

1951-­‐1955 The Reverend John Snow (ordained after his tenure at St. Michael’s School) The Rt. Rev. Granville formed a search committee of Mrs. Frederick (Alice) Webb, William A. Sherman, and The Reverend James R. MacColl to find The Rev. Snoxell’s replacement. They appointed a layperson, John Snow (1924-­‐2008), who had served as a Vestryman at Trinity Church and taught at the school. It is reported that he became a Christian during his tenure at St. Michael’s and that he announced in 1955 he would resign his position to study for the priesthood.

Prior to his tenure at St. Michael’s School The Rev. Snow served as a civilian for the Navy during World War II. Born in Washington, DC he attended Sidwell Friends School, earned a bachelor’s degree from Harvard University (1948) and then a master’s degree in literature from Columbia. He went on to attend the Episcopal Theological School in Cambridge and was ordained in 1959. His found employment at the Christ Church of Hamilton and Wenham (MA) and then served as Director of Gould Farm (MA). While employed in Cambridge, MA he became actively involved in the Civil Right Movement and eventually invited Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and Benjamin Spock into his church to hold a press conference to oppose to the war in Vietnam. He went on to serve as Chaplain at Princeton, worked at New York University and then returned to the Episcopal Theological School. He retired in 1990.xli In 1959 he would return to St. Michael’s on Prize Day to deliver a speech to the students, graduates and their families.

1955-­‐1962 Mr. William Glynn On June 24, 1955 the Right Reverend John S. Higgins announced the appointment of Mr. William Glynn (1922-­‐2005) as the new Headmaster of St. Michael’s. Headmaster Glynn was the first layperson to head the school since Mr. Chauncey Beasley. (Headmaster Snow was ordained several years after his tenure at the school.) However, Headmaster Glynn would become a member of Trinity Church and a delegate to the Newport Convocation. Following his tenure he maintained long ties to the community in part due to his continuing status as a Lieutenant in the Coast Guard Reserve and in no small part due to the respect he earned as Headmaster.

Mr. Glynn graduated from Harvard University (1943) cum laude with a B.A. in languages and literature. He was in active service in the Navy from 1942 to 1946 attaining the rank of Lieutenant and was the commanding officer of a fast transport. He received a master’s degree in elementary and secondary education from Tufts Newport Daily News, June 2, 1960 College and went on to teach at schools in New York and Massachusetts before accepting the position at St Michael’s School.

Headmaster Glynn’s tenure saw the retirement of Mr. William A. Sherman, the school’s first treasurer, who remained in that role for 20 years until 1959. Board of Trustee members Rear Admiral Henry Eccles, a major figure at the Naval War College and the brother of a Headmaster of St. George’s School,

and Dr. Donald B. Fletcher presented a silver cigarette box to Mr. Sherman in recognition of his service.

Mr. Sherman would remain as a Trustee in the capacity of Assistant Vice President until at least 1962.

On Prize Day 1959 the Reverend John Hall Snow, Mr. Glynn’s predecessor, who left the school to study religion, returned to campus as an ordained minister to deliver a speech entitled “How have you grown, besides growing up?”

Headmaster Glynn resigned from the school abruptly in August of 1962 to accept an appointment as Superintendent of a school district in Massachusetts. His tenure was apparently well regarded by the school's Board and the Rector of Trinity Church. They would ask him to return to St. Michael's School in just a few years.

1962-­‐1963 Paul Rogers Following the abrupt resignation of William Glynn, Paul Rogers a long time teacher and Assistant Headmaster of the school, was appointed interim Headmaster. Headmaster Rogers, a native of Middletown, taught at Fessenden School for 20 years before returning to Aquidneck Island. He taught at St. George’s School for one year and then accepted a position as a teacher at St. Michael’s School.

Mr. Rogers attended the University of Chicago and served in the 42nd Division during World War I. During at least a portion of his tenure at St. Michael’s School, Headmaster Rogers, whose wife was the executive secretary of the Newport Art Association, resided at Swanhurst on Bellevue Avenue.

At the close of school ceremony in June of 1963, with Headmaster Rogers overseeing the proceedings, founding Headmaster Chauncey Beasley returned to address the school. Mr. Beasley retired from St. Georges the same year and the first era of St. Michael’s School drew to a close.

St. Michael’s, the Trinity Parish School For the first 25 years St. Michael’s operated as a diocesan school – a non-­‐sectarian institution overseen by the Episcopal Church under an independent board. During that period the Bishop of the Rhode Island Diocese of the Church served as the President of the Board. While Mr. Beasley and Mrs. Beasley were members of the Board during his tenure as Headmaster, an amendment to the by-­‐ laws after their departure prevented future Headmasters from serving. It appears that local

volunteers, usually associated with Trinity Church, were the operating officers.

Notable among those volunteers were Mr. William A. Sherman and Rear Admiral Henry Eccles. For more than 20 years Mr. Sherman, a local banker, served as Treasurer. Mr. Sherman was a descendant of the Honorable Philip Sherman who arrived in Massachusetts with the early Puritans. When Anne Hutchinson had a falling out with the Governor of the Massachusetts Bay Colony, Hon. Philip Sherman followed her to Rhode Island. He was one of the signers of “The Portsmouth Compact” and eventually served as the first Secretary of Rhode Island under Governor Coddington. The Sherman family has resided on the island since the founding of Portsmouth and Newport. In addition to Mr. William Sherman’s service to St. Michael’s, his family has enjoyed a long relationship with the school.

Rear Admiral Henry Eccles of the U.S. Navy served as the Executive Vice President of the school’s Board for from 1955 until 1963. Prior to retiring to Newport in 1953, Admiral Eccles had a long, distinguished career as a Navy officer. He served and was wounded in World War II; he commanded two submarines and two battleships; and he received numerous commendations including the Navy Cross, the Silver Star and the Legion of Merit. From 1947-­‐1951 he served as the head of the Logistics department at the Naval War College where he wrote a seminal guide, “Operational Naval Logistics.” After “allegedly” retiringxlii, Rear Admiral Eccles became an advisor and confident of the Commandants of the Naval War College and continued to publish papers on logistics and strategy. In 1985 the library at the Naval War College was named in his honor.

During his time in Newport he was active as a vestryman in Trinity Church. His designation Executive Vice President of St. Michael’s and his communications in that capacity suggest that his was a managing role for the school while the Bishops may have been less active. While it appears that Rear Admiral Eccles had no children, a niece Miss Lydia Eccles attended St. Michael’s. Miss Eccles was the daughter of Mr. Willet Eccles who served as Headmaster of St. Georges. A dormitory on the St. George’s School campus is named in his honor.

From its reorganization and relocation in 1943 into the 1960s, St. Michael’s was under constant financial pressure and distress. The school’s budgets would have been in the red each year except for the support of generous patrons. In the early years, Mrs. Webb ensured that the school could meet its obligations. Through the late 1950s and into 1960 Trinity Church made large annual donations to keep the business solvent. But by 1963 the Church was no longer willing to support the school on the same terms.

In 1961 the Board of Trustees, the members of the corporation and the vestry of Trinity Church began to develop a plan for the Church to acquire St. Michael’s. The talks proceeded slowly. While Trinity Church was ready to commit to a takeover, the Trustees of the school were less enthused and there was little progress for many months Growing ever more weary of its annual financial commitment to the school, the Church ceased its support and St. Michael’s financial condition worsened. Debt increased to more than $15,000 and by 1963 it became clear that the business would not survive.

In January of 1963 the parishioners of Trinity Church voted in favor of a plan to acquire St. Michael’s School. On March 15, 1963, with Rear Admiral Eccles coordinating the effort, the school’s Board of Trustees voted to in favor of supporting the plan. Their resolution read, “FURTHER RESOLVED that the President and Treasurer of this Corporation be authorized and directed to convey to the Corporation of Trinity Church in Newport all of the property and assets of this Corporation for the sum of One Dollar but on the agreement by the Church that it will assume and pay all of the liabilities of this Corporation.”

It would be up to the members of the corporation – 128 of them – to decide the fate of the school.

In the early years of St. Michael’s history members of the corporation were elected and would remain members until such a time as they submitted a formal resignation. With its close relationship to the Navy many of the school’s members were officers who had been reassigned to duties around the country and the world after serving short posts in Newport. Many of those members were unaware of their obligation to resign from the corporation and accordingly each one of them would have to be contacted to make a decision on the urgent matter. To ensure a proper vote on the proposal that would allow Trinity Church to acquire the school, those 128 members were sent notice of the proposal and they were each provided a ballots.xliii The members voted in favor of the acquisition. Of the 128 members, 88 submitted proxy ballots and 16 voted in person. The decision was unanimous that St. Michael’s should become a Trinity Church parish school that would continue “the Policy of a broad Christian school accepting any qualified boy or girl.”

Through the spring and summer a newly formed St. Michael’s School Committee would consider and debate the management of the school, the incorporation of religion into the curriculum and the appointment of a new headmaster.

At a meeting of the “School Committee” in March of 1963 the characteristics of a good Headmaster were listed by a Mr. Jeffries – 1.

2.

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12.

Top notch Christian Like youngsters Know the techniques of teaching –actively teaching in one field now or in the past Good sense of humor Able to make decisions after listening to opinions of parents, teachers and school committee Willing to make own decisions – no “yes” man The younger the better, but with experience (30-­‐40 yrs. minimum with 4-­‐6 yrs. experience) For prestige – a college degree – master’s degree not necessary though it would cut the amount of experience needed Prefer married man with the right kind of wife One completely sold on the independent school idea Adm. Eccles added that the must be receptive to the new developments in the field of education.

Must have respect for the English language and have good use of it.

1963 – 1971 The Reverend John Cranston One July 10, 1963 the wardens and Vestry of Trinity Church announced the appointment of The Reverend John Andrew Cranston as the new Headmaster of St. Michael’s. The school’s new leader came to Newport from St. Mark’s Parish in Mystic, CT. The Rev. Cranston, well known as Father Cranston in the community, had significant ties to Aquidneck Island and Rhode Island. He was an 8th generation descendent of John Cranston a colonial drummer for the Portsmouth settlement. Ancestors including two governors of the colony, one of whom was a chaplain to King Charles I and a militia leader in the King Philip War. Cranston Avenue in Newport, RI is reportedly named for the family.

The Rev. Cranston attended Moses Brown School and graduated from Brown University in 1941. During World War II Mr. Cranston served in the Coast Guard rising to the rank of Lieutenant and serving as Commander of the USS Boutwell. He received a degree in education from Columbia University and studied religion at the General Theological Seminary of the Episcopal Church. He was an instructor, Chaplain and Headmaster at the Lakefield College Junior School (Canada) and served as chaplain at Choate School (Connecticut).

Mr. Wesley Rooker was appointed Director of the Music Department in 1964. In addition to working a t St. Michael’s School, Mr. Rooker was employed at the Newport Folk Festival. The festival which was co-­‐ founded by Pete Seeger in 1959, featured prominent folk musicians of the era including Bob Dylan, Joan Baez, Phil Ochs, Malvina Reynolds, Doc Watson, and Johnny Cash. Peter, Paul and Mary performed separately and as a group. Blues artists Mississippi John Hurt, Skip James, Yank Rachel, Elizabeth Cotten, Doc Reese and Sleepy John Estes performed in 1964. The festival was held in Freebody Park, across Memorial Blvd. from St. Michael’s and in the Newport Casino. In the summers of 1963 and 1964 all day folk music workshops were held on the St. Michael’s campus in conjunction with the festival.

A 2005 film, “Festival” features a scene with Joan Baez being crowded by fans and autograph seekers as she walks on the school’s grounds. A five volume record set of the 1964 festival features a photograph of the Mason House on its cover and several songs that were recorded at the workshops are featured. A 1964 video shows Pete Seeger introducing Bob Dylan singing Tambourine Man on the school’s campus.

The Reverend Cranston was very active in church activities – officiating weddings, delivering sermons, and burying the deceased. The school’s public face changed dramatically during this time, fewer articles about the school were published each year and the advertisements in the local newspaper rarely changed. Enrollment began to decline and in the school year 1964-­‐65 a ninth grade was added to offset the loss in the lower grades.

In 1967, for the first time in the school’s history the commencement ceremonies – Prize Day – were held off the school’s property at Trinity Church. Elizabeth (Betsy) Sherman, a niece of Mr. William Sherman, received the Stanley C. Hughes memorial medal on that day.

In January of 1971 a governance crisis arose between the the Reverend Locket F. Ballard, the Rector of Trinity Church, and the Headmaster of St. Michael’s, The Rev. John Cranston. The matter involved the employment of the organist of the church who served as Music Director at the school. The Rev. Ballard determined that the organist would be dismissed from his duties at both the church and the school. The Rev. Cranston disagreed and he refused to act in accordance with the Rev. Ballard’s demands. The Rev. Ballard would have his way and it was publically announced that the Rev. Cranston would be dismissed at the end of the school year.

(I NEED TO FIND THE NEWSPAPER ARTICLE THAT DETAILS THE SITUATION. THIS WAS WRITTEN FROM MEMORY FROM THAT ARTICLE. IS IT POSSIBLE THAT THE ARCHIVE AT THE SCHOOL HAS MORE INFORMATION?) The Parent Faculty Association, led by Mrs. Alfred Tillinghast, supported Father Cranston and launched into action in his defense. The Association demanded that Father Cranston be reinstated and that the Association have a greater voice in the oversight of the school going forward. The Trinity Church directors refused their demands. In response to the Church’s decision, the group of angry parents claiming to represent half of the student body formed a legal corporation, the St. Michael’s Association, and discussions ensued for the Association to acquire the school from the church.

On March 22, 1971 the Trinity Church Vestry met to decide whether to close St. Michael’s at the end of the school year. That proposal was defeated. The vestry then considered an option to sell the school to the St. Michael’s Association for a nominal fee, one dollar. That proposal was also defeated. On April 22 Mrs. Tillinghast convened a meeting of the St. Michael’s Association. Parents representing 33 families voted to withdraw their children from St. Michael’s at the end of the school year and to establish a separate school with Father Cranston as Headmaster. The New School was born.

In the spring of 1971 St. Michael’s Country Day found itself in the midst of a crisis. Many of its students would be leaving, a new competitor would be entering the market and the school’s disenfranchised Headmaster was on his way out. In the face of schism that might drastically reduce enrollment the vestry boldly chose to continue to operate St. Michael’s as a parish school.

Recognizing the need for a respected leader to take the school forward the vestry of Trinity Church announced the appointment of former Headmaster William Glynn as the school’s Executive Director. xliv Having spent the 10 years since he left St. Michael’s as the Superintendent of the Foxboro, MA school

system, Mr. Glynn agreed to provide oversight and management for the school while he retaining his responsibilities in Foxboro. Mr. Glynn’s impact was immediate and long lasting.

1971 – 1980 Mansfield A. Lyon Two months after his appointment as Executive Direction, Mr. Glynn completed a search for a new headmaster to replace the departing Father Cranston. On June 29, 1971 an announcement was made that Mr. Mansfield “Pro” Lyon was appointed as the new Headmaster of St. Michael’s Country Day School.xlv Headmaster Lyon was educated at the Westminster School in Simsbury, CT and went on to graduate from Yale in 1954. From 1956 to 1958 Mr. Lyon served on the faculty of St. Michael’s Country Day School. In 1958, when his children were “arriving more quickly than rises,”xlvi he began working at an independent school consulting firm, Bunting and Lyon, Inc., in Wallingford, CT. Several years later the Headmaster position at St. Michael’s was enough to convince Mr. Lyon to return to Newport.

St. Michael’s opened its doors in September 1971 with 130 Students and ushered in the era of “A Good School, A Happy School.” Soon after opening school in September of 1972 Headmaster Lyon announced the appointment of Mrs. John Chapman as Assistant Headmaster. Mrs. Chapman had extensive experience independent and public school education. She taught in the public school system in Cooperstown, NY before moving to Miss Collings’ School in Newport where she taught and served as the Head of the Upper School. In the two years before she was appointed to St. Michael’s administration Mrs. Chapmen was the Headmistress of the Newport Country Day School At the St. Michael’s Day Spring Games it was reported that the tug-­‐of-­‐war rope snapped during the competition. Mr. Glynn was among the organizers of the games.xlvii Mr. Glynn’s term as Executive Director ended in April of 1974 when the Vestry of Trinity determined that an Executive Director/Headmaster structure was no longer required. St. Michael’s enrollment increased by 20% under his stewardship and it would be left to Headmaster Lyon to continue the work of rebuilding the school.

In the 1975 Newport Police Parade, St. Michael’s float, decorated by the school’s students, was awarded first prize. Headmaster Lyon was featured on the float as a golden winged St. Michael. During his tenure at St. Michael’s Headmaster Lyon participated in several theatrical productions in Newport.

Over the 12 years that Trinity Church owned the school approximately $266,000 were invested into the facilities and operations. It was a tremendous burden and the Church was experiencing significant, unsustainable financial deficits. A “Goals Commission” was formed to make explore options for operating the school moving forward. In November of 1975 Headmaster Lyon and the Rev. Charles J. Minifie announced to the school community that the Corporation of Trinity Church had voted in favor of the Commissions recommendation to re-­‐establish “St. Michael’s School as a separate, non-­‐profit, educational corporation.”

In 1976 an Independent Board of Trustees, led by Mr. James Hodges, President of Hodges Badge in Portsmouth, RI acquired St. Michael’s from Trinity Church. Joining Mr. Hodges on the Executive Committee of the new Corporation were Mr. Tom Cullen, Vice President; XXXXXXXXX. Under the arrangement the school, now an independent corporation, paid $1/year for rent of the facilities and received an annual grant of $3,000 from Trinity Church to be applied to scholarships of its parishioners. The parties developed a five year plan to repair the school’s financial condition and set a fixed price for the purchase of the school’s assets from Trinity Church at $160,000.

The profile of students attending St. Michael’s was slowly changing. For many years graduating students would leave St. Michael’s to attend local parochial and public schools. By the late 1970s, more students were headed to academically rigorous independent secondary schools, St. George’s, Pomfret School and others.

To ensure that the school’s alum were competitive in admissions and well prepared for the secondary school careers Mr. Hodges and the Vice Chair, Mr. Tom Cullen, commissioned a study by the Independent School Association of Massachusetts. The study would consider St. Michael’s “academic program, the professional staff, the administration of the school, and the variety of services and programs that constitute the total offerings of St. Michael’s.” The study would use the well-­‐established schools of New England as a benchmark of performance. In May of 1979 the report was presented to the Board of Trustees.

The observations of the report were acknowledged many fine qualities of the school – the campus, charm of the Mason House as a school building, the dedication of a vibrant faculty, and the athletic program. But the report exposed many areas of weakness and stated that St. Michael’s did not compare favorably to its New England peers. The report concluded, “Our conclusion is that the framework for a first-­‐class school is in place, the need for such a school has been demonstrated, the time to move is now. It will take courage, commitment, money, and teamwork.”

The report was a wake-­‐up call to the Board of Trustees. The school had survived a rift that split the school and successfully transitioned from rectory school to independent institution. Under Mr. Hodges leadership over the next several years the school’s academic program would be improved, the facilities would be upgraded and the financial condition would be strengthened and St. Michael’s would be accredited by the National Association of Independent Schools.

Headmaster Lyon took over St. Michael’s at a difficult and challenging time. That the school survived and thrived the years following the administration crisis and split is a credit to Headmaster Lyon. His Administration ushered St. Michael’s into its modern era as an independent, non-­‐denominational school. His tenure saw the school’s enrollment surge along with its distinction and reputation in the community; the foundation that was laid remained strong for many years to come.

Each leader has his time and In 1980, recognizing that change was in the air, Headmaster Lyon resigned from St. Michael’s Country Day School. Retired from teaching Mr. Lyon remained in Newport and pursued a second career in real-­‐estate.

1980-­‐1981 Daniel P. Richardson Headmaster Richardson was born in Boston, MA in 1942(?) and was raised in Essex. He graduated from the Berkshire School in Sheffield, MA in 1959 and went on to attend Neuchatel Junior College, Neuchatel, Switzerland. He attended the University of Denver in Colorado where he earned degrees in economics and history. In a year at Boston University Law School he was in the upper 20% of his class.

Prior to accepting the position at St. Michael’s, Mr. Richardson held roles at several independent schools. He coached athletics at the Randall School in Denver, acted as Business Manager and Director of Development at Woodstock Country School in Vermont, and spent 1 year as the Assistant Headmaster at the Barlow School in Armenia, NY. After a term as Headmaster of Wykeham Rise School in Washington, CT, Mr. Richardson accepted the position of interim Headmaster at St. Michael’s. His time at the school would be brief but transformative.

Showing the courage, commitment, money and teamwork called for by the analysis of the school a Development case was prepared to launch a $750,000 capital campaign. Over it four decade long history, the school’s facilities had not been significantly renovated. The classrooms were cramped and due to the lack of a gym athletics were held off campus at the Boy’s Club or in the basement of the Mason House. The priorities of the capital campaign were listed: FIRST we need $160,000 to purchase the present facility.

SECOND we need $90,000 to start our endowment program. The income from this endowment will be used not only for faculty salaries, but also for scholarships, program enrichment, and to serve as a secure financial base for a quality educational institution. We plan to expand our endowment in the years to come.

THIRD we need $100,000 to expand and renovate our existing building. As mentioned previously, the building is old and the existing space in not utilized efficiently. Specific learning spaces that need attention include Science, Art and Music.

FOURTH we need $400,000 to build additional facilities as our enrollment grows to 250 students. Included in these new facilities are a gym/auditorium, lunchroom, and additional classrooms.

On September 24, 1980, at a special meeting of the Board of Trustees, the plan was approved and a capital campaign was launched. By the November 12th meeting of the Board more than $250,000 had been raised.

In 1981, with Mr. Hodges remaining as the Chair of the Board of Trustees, the assets were transferred and the nearly 42 year relationship with the Episcopal Church ended. Trinity Church and the school

continue to enjoy and amicable relationship and the church continues to make annual grants to St. Michael’s.

Headmaster Richardson’s tenure of one year was brief, however a plan to expand the school’s enrollment from 160 to 270 students and a capital campaign to improve the facilities were announced.

Mr. Richardson left St. Michael’s to attend the Harvard Graduate School of Education.

1981 – 1987 Stephen DiCicco On March 11, 1981 it was announced by Mr. Hodges that Mr. Stephen DiCicco would be appointed as the new Headmaster to replace Mr. Richardson. Mr. DiCicco graduated from the Fay School and then graduated from St. Mark’s. He attended Boston University where he received an undergraduate Bachelors of Arts and a Master’s in Education. He served in the administrations of the Rivers School and Walnut Hill School, both in MA, and the Trinity Pauling School in NY before accepting the position at St. Michael’s.

The first major decision of Mr. Dicicco’s tenure was the location of the school. In light of the significant expense to renovate and expand the campus on 180 Rhode Island Avenue a trustee, Mrs. Hope H. van Beuren offered to donate a 60 acre tract on Wapping Road in Portsmouth where the school might be relocated. The trustees with their recently appointed Headmaster weighed the matter carefully at a special meeting on July 27, 1981 and it was decided to remain in Newport.

Mrs. van Beuren joined the St. Michael’s Board of Trustees in 1978 and remained actively involved with the school for more than 30 years. While none of her children graduated from the school, her tenure was dedicated to ensuring that the greater Newport community would have an excellent independent school alternative.

Mrs. van Beuren’s mother, Miss Elinor Dorrance, was the daughter of Dr. John T. Dorrance (1873-­‐1930).

Dr. Dorrance earned a earning a Bachelor’s of Science from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and a Ph.D. in Chemistry from the University of Göttingen in Germany. He was hired by an uncle, President of the Joseph Campbell Soup Company, to work in the company’s experimental kitchen. It was there in 1897 that he discovered a method for creating condensed soup which retained the nutritional value and taste of soup while reducing its bulk. This innovation allowed soup to be shipped to grocery stores across America and within five years the company was selling more than 15 million cans per year.xlviii Mr. Dorrance would eventually become President and sole owner of the company. In 1930 the name was changed to the Campbell Soup Company.

Miss Elinor Dorrance married banker Mr. Nathanial P. Hill, a grandson of Mr. Nathanial P. Hill of Denver.

The elder Mr. Hill was a professor of chemistry at Brown University in 1865 when he purchased four gold mines in Colorado. While it was easy to remove gold from the ore of the shallow mines of the region, the deeper mines often contained ore with difficult to remove contaminants. Mr. Hill resolved to find a solution to this problem and after some investigation he selected a smelting process that was commonly used in Wales. With the capacity to purify gold from the deep mines Mr. Hill’s business

became very successful. Eventually Mr. Nathanial P. Hill would become a United States Senator and is credited for championing public ownership of the U.S. telegraph system.

Mrs. Nathanial (Alice Hale) Hill, born in Providence, was a descendent of the family of American patriot, Nathan Hale who reportedly said, "I only regret that I have but one life to give for my country” before being hanged by the British. Mrs. Hill helped found Denver’s Kindergarten system and was central to the establishment of the Young Women’s Christian Association in that town.

During Mrs. van Beuren’s tenure on the Board of Trustees of St. Michael’s Country Day School she was the model trustee – generous of her wisdom, wealth and work. She held several leadership positions and served on many committees including Executive, Development, Buildings and Grounds, Curriculum and Nominating and chaired several of those committees. While she had a strong vision of excellence for St. Michael’s she was open to the opinions of her peers and the decisions of the Board of Trustees.

When her offer to donate a 60 acre parcel in Portsmouth was rejected by the Headmaster and Board of Trustees, Mrs. van Beuren committed herself to helping the school permanently improve the grounds at 180 Rhode Island Avenue.

Mr. F. James Hodges, who shepherded the school as Board Chairman in its infancy as a non-­‐sectarian school retired his position at the end of the school year in 1982. His vision of a competitive, rigorous, and respected day school for Newport was realized. In recognition of his leadership the Board of Trustees commissioned a painting of Mr. Hodges home to be painted by the artist Mr. Richard Grosvenor.

In the summer of 1982 the school constructed an addition to “The Cottage,” a small structure on the north boundary of the property. A building, usually referred to as a carriage house, has appeared at that location in dating to maps of the property when it was owned by Mr. Mason. It is unclear whether The Cottage is the same building and attempts to identify the date of the construction of the building have been unsuccessful. It is known that the building served many functions over the years. For a period of time employees of the school used the building as a home. The expansion of the Cottage would allow the school to add three academic sections in the pre-­‐kindergarten and reduce a two year waiting list for the program according to Headmaster DiCicco.xlix For the first four decades the school was carefully managed on a daily basis by its Board of Trustees, the Episcopal diocese and Trinity Church. Mr. DiCicco’s tenure saw the school maturing. The Board of Trustees would begin to assume its role as a policy making body while the Headmaster would manage the school’s daily businessl. The school pursued accreditation with the New England Association of Schools and Colleges and began to benchmark the performance of students through standardized testing. After accreditation was complete the school was qualified to join the National Association of Independent Schools. Enrollment soared from 140 students in 1981-­‐82 to more than 200 students in 1984 which allowed the school to decrease an operating deficit of $100,000 in 1980 to a balanced budget in 1984. Arriving in the information age, Mr. DiCicco began conducting his business and preparing his reports to the Board of Trustees on a TRS-­‐III (Radio Shack) computer. The school’s successes triggered an increase in financial support and gifts. In one year the Annual Fund increased by

300% and the trustees were encouraged to pursue another expansion of St. Michael’s, the cramped quarters made expansion necessary. Once again the trustees considered moving the school but this time they considered the acquisition of the Forest Avenue School in Middletown. Their goal was to create a school of 240 students with two section in each grade. An assessment by the Middletown tax assessor indicated that the fair market value of the property with its zoning restrictions was $187,000.

Mr. Paul Hogan, a local real estate expert, assessed the value of the St. Michael’s campus at $640,000.

On the basis of that assessment Mr. DICicco prepared many detailed reports comparing the benefits of remaining in Newport with the benefits of moving the school and a third option of splitting the school between two campuses. The discussions considered in earnest through the 1983-­‐84 school year. A long range plan reiterated the need to expand the academic and physical education facilities on the campus.

An option to further expand the Cottage was considered and ultimately rejected and by the end of the school year no decision had been made.

The 1984 school year would see the trustees permanently commit to remaining at 180 Rhode Island Avenue. At a “special” meeting on July 11, 1984 a capital campaign to raise $375,000 was launched and

by August an architect began drafting plans for the new building. Mrs. van Beuren, committed a $100,000 challenge gift against gifts from the Board of Trustees. At a meeting on October 10th, Mr. Jeff Gordon announced that $175,000 had been raised. He noted that Mrs. van Beuren had been “instrumental in purchasing the school” in 1981 and made a motion that the new building named in “whatever fashion she chooses.” The motion passed unanimously and the new building would be thereafter known as the “van Beuren Building.”

Mr. DiCicco’s impact on the business operation was important but perhaps his longest lasting decision was to appoint Mr. Robert Tavares as Assistant Headmaster in 1982. Mr. “Tee”, a native of Portsmouth, received a BA in Elementary and Middle School Education (1974) and a master’s degree in counseling (1979) from Rhode Island College. He taught in the Portsmouth public school system prior to accepting a position as a math instructor and Athletic Director at St. Michael’s. As the school’s enrollment increased he assumed the role of Head of the Upper School, a position that he holds as of this writing.

Mr. Tavares’s first passion is teaching and he remains in the math classrooms of the upper school.

i

School Announced, Daily News or Mercury, November XX, 1938 Newport Mercury, April 28, 1939 iii Deed Note in School Files iv Newspaper (daily news or Mercury February 1939 I think) v School Opens, Daily News or Mercury, August/September, 1938 vi Who’s Who in New England Volume 1, 1909(FROM GOOGLE) vii Robert Sessions: A biography. Andrea Olmsted, 2008 viii Robert Sessions: A biography. Andrea Olmsted, 2008 ix Newspaper accounts Daily news or mercury x Newport History, Journal of the Newport Historical Society, Vol. 69 Part 4, 1999 p. 97 xi Newport History, Journal of the Newport Historical Society, Vol. 69 Part 4, 1999 p. 108 xii Newport History, Journal of the Newport Historical Society, Vol. 69 Part 4, 1999 p. 97 xiii Newport History, Journal of the Newport Historical Society, Vol. 69 Part 4, 1999 p. 113 ii

xiv

Newport Mercury, December 1949 (obituary) First Governing committee Beasley, DeWolf and ???? xvi Bishop Perry’s Birth xvii Beasley family information?? xviii Gummere’s hook slide? xix Charles Fenton Mercer Beasley life xx Newport Daily News or Mercury, August/September 1939?? xxi The New York Times, 1922??? xxii Beasley Write Golf Book using Latin xxiii Rev. Conover Bio xxiv http://library.nysha.org/online/historyofcooperstown/index.html#/270/zoomed xxv Students follow Beasley xxvi Start of 1940 School year??? Mercury or Daily news? xxvii A life of Privilege, Mostly, Gardner Botsford xxviii Newport Mercury and Weekly News, March 5, 1943 xxix Nicholas Easton xxx H. H. Richardson: Complete Architectural Works

By Jeffrey Karl Ochsner xxxi R.M. Mason purchases the property xxxii Olmstead references xxxiii

xxxiv

xxxv Newport Mercury and Weekly News, April 23, 1943 xxxvi Ms. Elizabeth Wylie, personal conversations xxxvii http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~rigenweb/article12.html#Anthony xxxviii Obituary of Alice Wilcox Anthony Webb xxxix NDN Article Prize Day xl The Rev. Cummings resignation letter xli Snow’s obituary xlii Naval War College Review, Summer 1977, http://www.usnwc.edu/NavalWarCollegeReviewArchives/1970s/1977%20Summer.pdf xliii The minutes of the Board of Trustees and the returned ballots in the school’s files xliv Newport Daily News, April 22, 1971 Page 10 xlv Newport Daily News, June 29, 1971, Page 3 xlvi Online http://www.srumosaic.com/2007/05/09/newport-­‐local-­‐is-­‐pro-­‐at-­‐community-­‐service/ (by Brittany Lyon) xlvii Newport Daily News, June 4, 1973, Page 3 xlviii Obituary of Dr. John T. Dorrance, New York Times, September 22, 1930. xlix Daily News? 4/22/82 l There are several example from the board minutes that could be referenced xv