24
|
bulletin
THE
ONcampus Gunn Scholar to Research Beecher Family Relationship with The Gunnery
O
livia Judd, daughter of Frederick and Lisa Judd of Litchfield, has been appointed The Gunnery’s Gunn Scholar for 2013–2014. She has chosen as her topic, Harriet Beecher Stowe and the Beecher family’s relationship with The Gunnery. The children of Harriet Beecher Stowe and her brother Henry Ward Beecher were students of Frederick Gunn in the 1850s and 1860s. And the Gunns maintained a relationship with the Beecher family well into the 1880s.
“My interest in American history was piqued as a middle schooler when I attended a National Young Leadership Conference in DC,” said Olivia. “We went to Harper’s Ferry and visited every monument in the area, I think. After that, my grandfather, John Drescher used to take me to history lectures around Litchfield. I particularly remember one at the town hall in Bantam and at the John Brown Memorial site in Torrington.”
Olivia Judd ’14
Olivia is looking forward to using the original correspondence and documents available in The Gunnery’s archives, the archives of the Gunn Memorial Museum, and the extensive collection at the Litchfield Historical Society to fill out the story of this remarkable family. Additionally, Olivia will be working with Brian Cofrancesco, Program Coordinator at the Harriet Beecher Stowe Center in Hartford. Mr. Cofrancesco is assembling a Connecticut tour guide for sites of interest in the life of Harriet Beecher Stowe and her family.
When it came time to choose a topic for her Gunn Scholar proposal, Olivia was already fascinated by her hometown heroes, the Beecher family. “I knew about the historical sites in Litchfield which were important to the Beechers.” The Gunn Scholar program is in its 12th year. Each year a rising senior is chosen to pursue some subject relating to the history of The Gunnery as a piece of original research. Other subjects students have pursued include: camping, the Gunn curriculum, architecture, and baseball. Students have also chosen to highlight Gunnery alumni such as Ehrick Rossiter, Class of 1870, and Benjamin Foulois, Class of 1893, who founded the army air corps at the beginning of the 20th century.
Public Recognition for Gunnery Arts Program In addition to the much anticipated Arts and Letters exhibit at The Gunnery in the spring, Andy Richards seeks out other more public venues such as The Silo and The Kent Art Association. The Gunnery’s Boya Zhao ’13 won a Kent Art Association award for her pencil drawing of Homer’s head. Several students accompanied Visual Arts chair, Brian Lillie, and art faculty Andy Richards to the opening reception on February 23rd. In addition to Boya, the following students exhibited in the show: Diego DuranBallen ’13, Falon Moran ’13, Ria Han ’13, Fatema Al Meshqab ’14, Brianna Goldstein ’13, Micaela Grogan ’13, Jennifer Hylwa ’16, Rose Michalik ’15, Matt Minicucci ’14, and Taylor Pottbecker ’14.