TIMELINE
TIMELINE
• Radios allowed in dormitory rooms.
By the numbers:
Faculty = 44. Courses required for graduation: English (4 years); Mathematics (3); Modern Language — French, Spanish, Russian or German (3); Latin (2), but only for those entering in 9th grade; History (1); Science (1).
The spring edition of the Hotchkiss Alumni News reports that “a Hotchkiss student consumes each week approximately 8.5 quarts of milk, 3.5 pounds of meat and fish, 10.5 eggs, 4.3 pounds of potatoes, 4.4 pounds of other vegetables, and 16 oz. of sugar. Extras have not been estimated.”
1963• The School’s first modern building, the A. Whitney Griswold Science Building, is dedicated and named for Alfred Whitney Griswold ’25, former trustee and president of Yale. It is the only building devoted to a single academic subject and is separate from Main Building.
• Katherine A. Davies joins the faculty to teach Russian, becoming the first female instructor at Hotchkiss.
• The Greater Opportunity (GO) program, which brings urban youth to campus for summer courses to help prepare them for college, begins and lasts until 1973.
• Dana Hall is completed, replacing the remaining student housing in the old Main Building.
1966An IBM time-sharing computer system is installed in Griswold Science Building to pilot the use of computers in secondary education.
1967• The original stucco and yellow-brick Main Building is replaced by a Y-shaped, red-brick building comprised of staggered rectangles, with the Chapel at one end and the Edsel Ford Memorial Library at the other. Walker Auditorium, a gift from Shaw Walker ’33 and his family, opens as part of the renovation.
• The School celebrates its 75th anniversary, setting and exceeding the most ambitious fundraising goal ($12 million) for a secondary school to date.
1968First limnology course offered by science instructor Ted Davis, who uses Lake Wononscopomuc as an outdoor lab.
• Hotchkiss initiates a fully accredited photography program. Robert Haiko is hired as a full-time photography instructor.
• Hotchkiss becomes the first high school in the country to stage a production of Waiting for Godot.
• A trustee-faculty committee is formed to investigate coeducation.
• Walter Crain, previously an instructor in the GO program, is hired to teach math, becoming the first African-American faculty member.
• The first formal vote of the trustees on admitting women to Hotchkiss is taken; they vote no.
• Last ice hockey games played on Bierwirth Rink; Schmidt Rink opens.
• Environmental Rescue Alliance, the School’s first green organization, is formed.
• Hotchkiss joins School Year Abroad, allowing students to go on exchanges around the world.
Hotchkiss adds sailing to its athletic program.
• Jennifer Barrows, Joanne Carlisle, Marilyn “Sam” Coughlin, and Carolyn Demaray join the faculty in anticipation of coeducation.
• WKIS, Hotchkiss’s radio station, is founded.
• Ellen Torrey starts the dance program.
• December 7, The trustees vote to admit girls in the fall of 1974.
1973Dagny Soderberg becomes the first woman to join the Hotchkiss administration as a dean of students.
1974The Hotchkiss School opens its doors to 88 girls.
By the numbers:
Faculty; 63, Female faculty; 9
Diploma requirements: English (4 years); Math (3); Language (3); American History (1); Biology, Chemistry or Physics (1)
• Hotchkiss hires 14 new teachers: 10 men, 4 women.
• Class of 1949 Fields dedicated.
• Goss Gym added to Monahan.
Richard D. Hughes Jr. ’52 is appointed coordinator of the new Hotchkiss Environmental Program.
1979• Watson Dormitory is dedicated. The first dorm built specifically for girls, it is designed by Evans Woollen ’45.
• Hotchkiss becomes the first prep school to exceed $1 million in annual giving.
• The former student center is renovated into the Edgar and Louise Cullman Arts Center, a gift from Edgar Cullman ’36 and his wife, Louise.
• Timothy Callard becomes the seventh head of school.
Marilyn “Sam” Coughlin becomes the first female dean of faculty.
Robert A. Oden, Jr. becomes the ninth head of school.
By the numbers:
85 faculty members: 61 men, 24 women.
