TIMELINE
TIMELINE
George Van Santvoord ’08, the longest-serving head of school, begins his 29-year tenure. After graduating from Hotchkiss, Van Santvoord went on to Yale University. Following Yale, he was a Rhodes Scholar at Oriel College at Oxford, where he received a B.A., a B. Litt, and an M.A. In 1916, he was an ambulance driver with the French Army and, after serving as assistant master at Winchester College in England from 1916‐17, he became a sergeant in the American infantry division, where he won the French Croix de Guerre and was promoted to second lieutenant. After the war, Van Santvoord was named assistant professor of English at Yale, serving until 1925. He then became professor of English literature at the University of Buffalo before joining Hotchkiss as headmaster.
By an act of the Connecticut General Assembly, The Maria H. Hotchkiss School Association becomes The Hotchkiss School.
• Dr. Harry Wieler becomes the resident doctor at Hotchkiss.
• The last building designed by Cass Gilbert, Wieler Hospital, then called the Infirmary, opens, offering separate rooms for students.
• Alumni Hall opens, the first of three buildings resulting from the 1925 fundraising campaign.
Robert Osborn is hired as School’s first art teacher. In 1932, Osborn is succeeded by Thomas P. Blagden ’29, who would strengthen the arts program at Hotchkiss and increase the presence of the visual arts on campus by using the Main Building as an exhibition space.
The School appoints its first assistant headmaster, Lawrence J. Murphy. Hotchkiss closes due to the polio epidemic; one student ends up recuperating at Warm Springs with FDR.
• The Hotchkiss Chapel, a gift from Paul Block Sr., is built, the first building designed by Henry S. Waterbury of the noted architectural firm Delano & Aldrich (D&A). The firm would go on to build six more buildings in addition to the Scoville Gate.
• Designed by D&A, Coy Hall is completed, named in honor of the first head of school.
• Soccer is added to School athletics.
• The first Alumni Award is presented to Henry Knox Sherrill ’07, bishop of the Episcopal Church.
1932Head of School George Van Santvoord creates the Woods Squad, continuing the robust outdoor tradition begun by Huber Buehler, who kept a log cabin in the woods for entertaining friends and faculty. Woods Squad members build cabins, clear trails, and cut firewood.
1936• Buehler Hall, designed by Waterbury for D&A, is completed, honoring the second head of school.
• HDA stages the School’s first full-length Shakespeare play, Romeo & Juliet.
1937The Scoville Gate, named for former trustee Robert Scoville and designed by Waterbury for D&A, is completed.
1938Monahan Gymnasium, designed by D&A, is completed.
• Hoyt Field, given in memory of James H. Hoyt ’35, opens.
By the numbers:
Total faculty: 40. Courses include: Latin, mathematics, English, science, music, Bible study, French, Greek, algebra, history, public speaking, Bible study, geometry, German, and chemistry.
The financial aid budget is $26,450 with 72 students receiving aid.
• December 8: The entire school gathers around the radio to hear President Roosevelt announce that the U.S. is at war.
• Hotchkiss Debate wins the coveted Scranton Cup, beating Taft and Choate.
The first Chinese student, David Chang ’47, arrives.
1946The first hockey rinks are built just west of the ’49 Fields and serve as the School’s major hockey facilities until 1957.
For the first time, expenses exceed revenue, and The Hotchkiss Annual Fund is born.
• “Little Baker Field” opens.
Alfred Whitney Griswold ’25 becomes President of Yale University and receives the Hotchkiss Alumni Award.
• Clinton Ely ’45 is hired as the first Russian instructor.
• The football teams of 1950 and 1951 establish their record as the only back-to-back undefeated football teams.
1951Hotchkiss admits its first African-American student, Marcellus “Gus” Winston.
1952The Edsel Ford Memorial Library is completed. A gift from Mrs. Edsel Ford and her sons, Henry ’36, Benson ’38, and William Clay ’43, it is the final building on campus designed by Henry S. Waterbury for D&A.
George Van Santvoord retires; Thomas Chappell becomes the fifth head of school.
Proctor system begins.
The first television sets are allowed in dorm common rooms.
