Resilience through Adversity

Sometimes situations arise that are simply out of one’s control. However, it’s how one person, or an organization, responds that makes all the difference.

Throughout its 226-year history, Cheshire Academy has grappled with its fair share of challenges to overcome. From wars and disease to economic depressions, natural disasters, and political strife, CA has faced these issues head on, with a continuous focus on providing a world-class education for its students despite, and sometimes in response to, changing conditions and the needs of the CA and greater communities.

Today, during the time of a worldwide pandemic, national unrest, immeasurable stress, and uncertainty, we are looking back at a few—large and small—milestones of significance in Cheshire Academy history to remember that this institution has navigated, and will continue to do so, with determination and resiliency.

A LASTING IMPACT

Cheshire Academy faculty and staff, and their families, oftentimes have a long-term influence not only on the students who walk these footpaths, but also the residents in surrounding communities. Whether it’s through volunteering, serving on public or private organizations, or just offering a lending hand at a moment’s notice, the CA community is comprised of good stewards. The same could be said for employees here from 100 years ago.

In the 1920s, the United States was in full swing in the Roaring Twenties, which succeeded World War I and established the country as a worldwide leader. Economic and industrial growth was apparent across the country, as was new music, appliances and household products, and the opportunity for women to vote, among other significant milestones.

In the book “I Remember: Cheshire in the Twentieth Century,” townspeople submitted personal memoirs in 1994 reflecting on their time in town. Some residents, like Madeline Faeth Erskine, recalled ways that she and her friends tried to keep busy in Cheshire back in the 1920s, when the town was still quite rural. One such way was to the credit of Cheshire Academy staff.

In her memoir, Erskine wrote, “Emma Allen, the wife of Barney Allen who taught Latin at the Roxbury School (now Cheshire Academy), tried to provide some cultural stimulation. She got together a group of about 10 girls, freshmen and sophomores in high school, to foster an interest in music. She called it the ’B Natural Music Club.’ We talked about opera, symphonies, Wagner, Beethoven, and gained an appreciation for music.”

Erskine continued, “Those dear Allens, when I went to the University of Munich for my junior year abroad from Mt. Holyoke, they came and visited me.”

In the 1950s, Cheshire youngster Cae Bengtson was a fifth-grade student at the Park Street School behind Cheshire Academy. As part of her growing up, she attended Mrs. Chubb’s Dancing School, led by Faye Farmer Chubb, former faculty member and “hostess” of the school.

“We had two lessons a week in what is now the building on the north end of the Watch Factory. In addition to teaching us the waltz and the foxtrot, Mrs. Chubb taught us etiquette. I still remember her lessons on the proper way to make introductions, when to wear gloves, and how it is proper for a woman to stand when an older woman enters the room.”

PUTTING OUT FLAMES

The Cheshire Fire Department was founded just over 100 years ago in 1912 and is now a mainstay and beacon of pride for Cheshire residents. In “Our Town,” a book written by Marion Moore Coleman that covers significant happenings of Cheshire from 1780 to 1980, Coleman reflected on a fire at the Watch Factory Shoppes back in 1919. George Thorpe, the fire chief at the time, wrote to CA staff member Joseph Harriman seeking reimbursement for the Department’s quick response, adding “if it had not been for them (the firefighters) the building would have been burned down besides endangering surrounding property from sparks.”

Harriman provided Thorpe’s letter to then-Headmaster Walter Ferris, who had a different recollection of how the fire was extinguished. In his response, Ferris wrote that Academy boys were the ones who tackled the flames.“The actual work of putting out the fire was done by our boys and not by the department. Mr. Thorpe and his cohorts had been spending the evening at a Grange meeting, and were dressed in Sunday blacks and naturally did not wish to handle chemicals. A brigade of our boys from the White House, in pajamas and bathing suits, acted under the direction of Mr. Thorpe, and did a very good job indeed.”

Horton Hall fire of 1941.

The students were not the only ones who responded to calls for help. During the night of Feb. 10, 1952, faculty members Edwin Chubb and Mr. Greene responded to the fire at The Waverly Inn, less than a mile away from campus. “Mr. Chubb stayed with the disaster all night long and part of the morning. At one point he was up on the roof, playing the hose on the lower part of the building, when the crowd began yelling, ’Get off the roof! Come down, quick!’ He barely made it when the entire roof caved in.”

THE FIRE AT HORTON HALL

On the evening of Wednesday, Jan. 8, 1941—shortly before students were set to return from Christmas break—a fire broke out in the original Horton Hall that ultimately destroyed the facility. It was reported that the fire started shortly after 7 p.m. that evening but was not discovered until two hours later by a passing motorist. Total damages were estimated at $200,000—a significant amount at that time. (Adjusted for inflation, $200,000 in 1941 is equal to $3,645,021.28 in 2020.)

The original Horton Hall housed a dining room and kitchen, housekeeper’s quarters, rooms for a married master and single masters, 12 medium-sized classrooms including laboratory facilities, accommodations for 42 students, administration offices, and other spaces. It was a wellused building by most, if not all, people at CA.

In a report dated Jan. 24, 1941, from former Headmaster Arthur Sheriff to Dr. John Skilton, Sheriff reported that, while the building itself was a total loss, CA staff were able to save records within the building and other invaluable assets, including the portraits of former headmasters and a painting presented to the school by Steve Etnier.

The Cheshire community rallied in support of CA following the fire. Students and faculty who resided in Horton Hall were housed in private homes near campus, and the classrooms that were lost were replaced at the local Episcopal and Methodist churches, and the Town Hall. Despite the major setback, Sheriff wrote that classes were able to resume “with only a slight delay.”

“In all the turmoil we have found much comfort in the friendship and sympathy of our neighbor schools, our alumni, and our friends generally, and we have been particularly impressed with the loyalty of the town, for it indicates that those who have had the best opportunity to observe it closely. Impressive also has been the excellent spirit of the students and all staff members. What has happened has given us convincing evidence, if we ever needed convincing, that a school, like any other vital institution, is spiritual in its essence … In such reassurances as these we find once again that misfortune has its compensations.”

Support for the Cheshire Academy community came from all around town. In “I given us convincing evidence, Remember: Cheshire in the Twentieth Century,” CA alumnus Melville Bennett recalled providing support for students who resided in Horton. In his story, Bennett wrote, “When they came back to school, the boys were boarded out in various homes around town. They had four students and a master at my wife Dorothy’s home in the Methodist parsonage and we had four boys and a master in our house. We boarded students for five years.”

JUST IN

Before publishing this issue of 1794 Magazine, a wonderful and tremendous discovery was made by College Counseling Associate Cindi Ruggeri in the basement of Bowden Hall. Ruggeri located countless documents that highlight the transition CA went through from the late 1800s through the 1950s—decades thought to have been lost due to the historic Horton Hall fire of 1941. More to come as we dust off these findings!

EDUCATING RETURNING SOLDIERS

It wasn’t until Dec. 7, 1941, when the United States entered World War II. As a result, men and women from across the country were called to serve, including then-Cheshire Academy students and recent alumni. Servicemen and women from the states continued to fight for another four years, and some longer, following Germany’s and Japan’s surrender in May 1945.

When men returned from overseas, some did not have a high school diploma and, despite being of the right age, could not continue at their chosen colleges and universities. With its long history of brave men and women who have served our countries in times of need (including Medal of Honor recipient and former Headmaster Eri Woodbury, Colonel Joseph Della-Corte, and Lieutenant James Elliman), former Headmaster Arthur Sheriff recognized the need and took action by opening Cheshire Academy to returning veterans, welcoming them to finish their high school education using the G.I. Bill.

In 1947, Cheshire Academy drew much attention when a real B-25 bomber was parked on its front lawn. Some of the school’s students, veteran pilots, had flown the aircraft into New Haven, loaded it onto a truck, and brought it onto campus.

A B-25 bomber was parked on CA's front lawn in 1947, after some school students—veteran World War II pilots—flew the aircraft in to New Haven and had it brought to campus.

The new Horton Hall, referred to as “The Barracks,” was built from funds provided by the government to be used specifically as housing for the returning soldiers. The veterans were in classes for almost half the day, and almost every day. Some completed their academic requirements within a few weeks, while others were enrolled at CA for a couple of years.

Sheriff’s accelerated program for veterans lasted until the early 1950s and was quite successful in helping many young men return to academia on the right foot. The program was again celebrated in 1991, when the school’s first G.I. Reunion was held. It was reported in the fall 1991 issue of the alumni magazine that one dozen alumni attended the May 10 event. There, many shared stories of the war, but the focus of most conversations returned to Cheshire Academy, its faculty, and Sheriff.

Colin Poitras, staff writer for The Hartford Courant, was one of the reporters who covered the event. In his article, he wrote, “While many public schools were reluctant to let the war-hardened young men back into classes, Arthur Sheriff, then the academy’s headmaster, set up a special accelerated program to help them … The G.I.s attended classes six days a week, 10 hours a day under Sheriff’s program. Because the needs of the men were all different, some stayed for just a few weeks while others stayed for several years.”

AN ATTACK ON THE NATION

Ask anyone where they were on Sept. 11, 2001, and you’ll receive a vivid story recounting the mid-morning hours. Whether they were at work, home, school, or somewhere else, almost everyone can recount in descriptive detail the moment they heard—or saw—the terrorist attack on the United States.

When the two planes flew into the World Trade Center buildings, Americans across the country were left in disbelief. It’s been recognized as one of the most lethal terrorist attacks in U.S. history, ultimately taking the lives of approximately 3,000 people.

The entire country joined together for years to come, with everyone having a sense of pride and camaraderie with their neighbors, friends, and other community members. Cheshire Academy was no different, with one such recounted event being an 11-page dedication in the winter 2002 issue of Horizons, the school’s literary magazine. In there, students and faculty at the time reflected on Sept. 11, with many writing poems and stories on how the event impacted them, and others submitting photographs, linoleum prints, and drawings of the U.S. flag (including being draped over /the entrance of the J.J. White Science and Technology Center), of New York City, the Statue of Liberty, first responders, and other images. The issue brought the entire CA community together to share in something that will forever remain an impact in their lives.

In his poem, former faculty member Jay Dorion wrote in part, “i want to rewind to the peace of daybreak on the morning of September 11/i want to forget/i want to go back to the way things were/i want to listen to the radio without hearing the words bin Laden, Taliban, and Afghanistan/i want innocent Muslims to feel safe in this country again/i want all Americans to feel safe in this country again/i want to see the proud New York skyline again/i want the vanished souls from New York and Washington to sit at dinner tables with their families again.”

Similarly, Lauren Lombardi ’03 asked in her poem if another attack would take place, but reflected on the strength of the U.S. “We stand united against our foe/To the limits the soldiers will go/To kill the virus that plagues/Our land./We must lend our neighbor a helping/Hand.”

LUMINARIA

Since 2007, Cheshire Academy has participated in the annual Cheshire’s Lights of Hope event, a program that started in 2005 as a neighborhood fundraiser for the Multiple Sclerosis Society, but took on a much larger meaning just two years later. In July 2007, Jennifer Hawke-Petit, former nurse and co-director of the Richmond Health Center, was murdered along with her two daughters, Hayley and Michaela, in a home invasion. In response, the Lights of Hope event became a townwide program, bringing the community together to illuminate the darkness.

Luminaries, white sandwich bags filled with sand and a single candle, lined Cheshire Academy’s footpaths and buildings in November of that year. Half a year later in June 2008, the Republican-American newspaper covered Cheshire Academy’s Commencement Exercises. It was there when Noah Leonowich ’08 reflected on his initiative to bring the fundraiser to the CA campus. The article read, “With Leonowich as student captain, the academy was able to spell out the word ‘hope’ in one of its fields using 2,000 luminarias.”

The article continued, “‘Mrs. Petit was the school nurse here,’ Leonowich said. ‘I just thought it would be nice if our school did something really big for that.’” That nice gesture continues to this day, with CA students spelling out words of support and hope along Slaughter and Sevigny fields, and lining the campus with luminaries, including in front of residence halls, Bowden Hall, and other facilities. In addition to illuminating campus, the entire CA community volunteers its time aiding the Lights of Hope nonprofit organization by raising money, and assembling thousands of luminaries, preparing them for Cheshire families to light in their own neighborhoods.