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2022 American Architecture Award

Centerbrook Architects and Planners won a 2022 American Architecture Award for its reimagining of 60 Main Street, the iconic campus hub originally built in 1831 as a hotel.

Professional Achievement Award

Human Resources Director Jeannette Kopinja received the 2022 Professional Achievement Award from the National Business Officers Association.

Miss Porter’s School Day of Service

Ancients across the country participated in the 2022 Miss Porter’s School Day of Service in early December, donating 144 units of blood and making 1,000 “Holidays for Heroes” cards for active service members and veterans.

Make your voice count

The Alumnae & Development Office is conducting a census of Ancients to learn how we can serve them better.

More than 1,700 have responded have you? If not, email alumnaerelations@ missporters.org to receive your unique ID and link to the survey. We’re partnering with The Inclusion Firm to analyze the data and we look forward to reporting back to you in the fall.

Ancient Book Club

Watch @mpsancients on Instagram for details about upcoming Ancient Book Club Zooms. Email alumnaerelations@ missporters.org with questions or recommend a book by contacting Nicole LaMotte ’88 at nlamotte@mac.com.

SEPTEMBER 21

“Horse” by Geraldine Brooks

The Guardian calls it a “confident novel of racing and race.”

NOVEMBER 3

“The Art of Gathering: How We Meet and Why it Matters” by Priya Parker

“Parker offers a decoder ring for the secret forces at work when we gather for business, crises or celebration,” says author Joshua Cooper Ramo.

Gatherings

Miss Porter’s has been on the road this spring, and we’ve loved seeing our Farmington supporters! Look for us this summer and fall here:

Boston

Dallas

Fisher’s Island, New York

Hanover, New Hampshire

Houston

Jackson Hole, Wyoming

Martha’s Vineyard, Massachusetts New York City

Philadelphia

Prouts Neck, Maine

Vinalhaven, Maine

Washington, D.C.

Visit porters.org/calendar for the most up-to-date event details or email alumnaerelations@missporters.org with questions.

OCTOBER 13-15, 2023

Reunion 2023

Calling all classes ending in 3 and 8! Watch your email, @mpsancients on Instagram and Miss Porter’s School Ancients on Facebook for details and join your classmates in Farmington for an action-packed weekend.

Visit: porters.org/reunion-weekend

Growing up in a working-class Black neighborhood in Irvington, New Jersey, boarding school was not on Gaylynn Burroughs’s radar. So, when her middle school teacher invited her and a few other students to have lunch with someone from her town who was then at Miss Porter’s School, Ms. Burroughs was amazed to learn that such a place existed.

“Knowing there was a person who was there, who grew up in our neighborhood, made it seem like it was something achievable and tangible and real,” she said, noting that she decided to apply to Porter’s after that lunch with Crystal Dickinson ’93. Admitted on a full scholarship, she embarked on a journey that led her to Yale University, to law school at New York University and into a career advocating for women and families.

Past Daisy Pin honorees

1963

Mrs. Robert Porter Keep*

Margaret Porter Ijams ’12

Ellenor Cook Lane ’15

Katharine Bunker Parsons ’18

Eleanor Ames Powell ’24

Mary DuBois Schwarz ’29

Annie Burr Auchincloss Lewis ’20

1965

Mrs. Hollis French*

Harriet McClure Stuart ’07

1967

Anna Matheson Wood ’01

1969

Katharine Derr Barney ’18

1970

Dorothy Dennis Marsh ’10

1973

Nancy Fenton Perkins ’35

Gloria Barnes Van Norden ’41

1979

Elizabeth Buffinton Briggs ’44

Porter’s Head of School Katherine Windsor presented Ms. Burroughs with the Daisy Pin the Alumnae Association’s highest honor during Reunion last fall in recognition of her many contributions to the school. She is the youngest person and the first African American to receive this high honor.

A trustee from 2012 to 2021, Ms. Burroughs was a class representative for more than a decade and served on or led committees for her class’s 5th, 10th, 20th and 25th reunions. She also served on the school’s reaccreditation committee and is a member of the Sarah Porter Society, whose members have served as a trustee or on the alumnae board. Now the director of workplace equality and senior counsel at the National Women’s Law Center in Washington, D.C., Ms. Burroughs works to shape federal policy on workplace issues such as unequal pay, discrimination against pregnant women, sexual harassment and more.

“Gaylynn is our modern-day Sarah Porter in the sense of thinking [about] and advocating for women’s rightful place at the table,” Dr. Windsor said in an interview, noting that Ms. Burroughs

1994

Emily Ridgway Crisp ’59

Eleanor Ashforth Harvey ’43

1995

Marie Powell Hincks ’45

1996

Jean Marckwald Chapin ’56

1997

Alice Babst Bent ’27

Sally du Pont Cahill ’47

1999

Judy Olin Higgins ’54

2002

Virginia Wells Truesdale ’52

2003

Isabel Morrell Beadleston ’28

2004

Milbrey Rennie Taylor ’64

2005

Edith McBride Bass ’50

Beverley Waud Sutherland ’55 has been a trusted advisor over the years.

“Sarah Porter founded the school because she saw that lack of education was a barrier to women being able to actualize themselves, and Gaylynn has linked arms with me to ask, ‘What do girls need today?’ She is able to provide me with clarity on what the barriers are today and, also, what some of the solutions are.”

“Knowing there was a person who was there, who grew up in our neighborhood, made it seem like it was something achievable and tangible and real.”

Ms. Burroughs said it was “a huge honor” and a “shock” to be awarded the Daisy Pin. “I really had no idea! My mother was there, and she said she took me up to Porter’s in 1991 and that I just never left. It’s not only the school but the community it has fostered … the school has given me so much and I feel privileged that I’m able to give back.

1980

Polly Fenton Dickerson ’37

Alice Rutgers Dodge ’37

1981

Emily Parsons Ridgway ’29

1982

Louisa Copeland Duemling ’54

1984

Margaret Porter Davis ’52

Elizabeth Hanavan Hube

Lynn Weyerhaeuser Day ’49

1986

Caroline Morgan Macomber ’50

1988

Margaret Taube Harper ’53

1989

Edwina Shea Millington ’49

1990

Lucy Pulling Cutting ’54

1993

Rachel Hammond Breck ’25

2006

Marianna Mead O’Brien*

2007

M. Burch Tracy Ford*

2008

Elizabeth Mead Merck ’38

2009

Barbara Higgins Epifanio ’79

2012

Mimi Colgate Kirk ’57

2013

Judith Milliken Holden ’68

2014

Margaret Nash Gifford ’48

2015

Anne Stillman Nordeman ’65

2018

Nancy Klingenstein Simpkins ’73

2022

Gaylynn A. Burroughs ’95

*Former head of school

“I was very lucky growing up, and very aware that my personal situation could have turned out really differently,” she said. “It always seemed unfair that the opportunities I had weren’t given to everybody. I didn’t set out to be a lawyer as much as I set out to have an impact on people’s lives.”

Reflecting on her time in Farmington, Ms. Burroughs said she was grateful for the confidence she gained and for the realization that “nothing is impossible to learn. There’s something about accepting challenges not being afraid to try, to persist, to believe that you can do something and knowing that I have everything that I need to figure out how to do this.”

This has served her well, she said, because “unfortunately, we don’t live in an ideal world. There are people who are going to tell you you can’t do something because they don’t like the way you look, or the way you talk, or where you came from, or where you work any number of things you have no control over.”

Married to Matthew Howard and the mother of 13-year-old Zora, Ms. Burroughs said she would be thrilled if her daughter ended up at Miss Porter’s. “But I’ve told Zora that this has to be her own decision and that she has to make her own way,” she said.

Leslie-Hart Fenn Tapscott ’36 11/18/2022

Harriette Allen Mellen 1942 Sister

† Nancy Allen Maxwell 1930 Sister

† Patricia Allen Wall 1941 Sister

Sylvia Paine Constable ’47 | 11/20/2022

Linell Nash Smith ’50 | 7/28/2022

Linell Smith 1970 Daughter

Frances R. Smith 1973 Daughter

† Isabel Nash Eberstadt 1950 Sister

Joan Wyeth Greer ’51 | 7/4/22

Nancy Livingston Hopkins ’51 12/29/22

Mary Stackpole Trost ’51 | 3/17/22

Mary Boyer Hambro ’53 6/14/2022

† Mary Holmes Jones 1926 Mother

Samantha Strawbridge Eddy 1987 Niece

Laura Armour Cook ’57 10/28/2022

† Elsa Parker Armour 1905 Grandmother

† Elsa Armour Osborne 1929 Aunt

† Adrienne Osborne Ives 1950 Cousin

† Gwendolyn Osborne Lincoln 1951 Cousin

Karen Osborne McGovern 1958 Cousin

Alison A. Ives 1974 Cousin

Sandra Ives Powel 1976 Cousin

Courtney O. McGovern 1990 Second Cousin

Dana Hyde Scrymgeour ’58 | 8/28/2022

† Florence Hyde Russell 1933 Mother

Ashley Jones Tagatac 1982 Daughter

Madeline H. Tagatac 2016 Grandaughter

† Georgia Hyde Slacke 1925 Aunt

Gale Winslow Minot 1971 Step Cousin

Jean Hamilton Pearman ’59 | 7/17/22

Jean Newhard Mortimer 1979 Daughter

Marie Gordon Whitbeck ’59 9/14/22

† Marie Antoinette Townson Gordon 1936 Mother

Marie Whitbeck McNabb 1984 Daughter

Elizabeth M. McNabb 2015 Grandaughter

Lucia Gordon Gumaer 1961 Sister

† Barbara Townson Weller 1941 Aunt

† Andrea Townson Lashar 1953 Aunt

† Leslie Weller 1971 Cousin

Harriet Warner Jones 1977 Cousin

Lisa Colfax Townson 1977 Cousin

Mary C. Sheeline ’75 | 12/12/22

† Harriett Moffat Sheeline 1940 Mother

Leonora M. Sheeline 1976 Sister

† Evelyn Lanman White 1924 Great Aunt

† Edith Moffat Harding 1939 Aunt

Leonora Moffat Ellison 1949 Aunt

† Josephine Ross Turner 1942 Second Cousin once removed

† Sheila White English 1950 Cousin once removed

† Elinor White Montgomery 1955 Cousin once removed

Sarah L. Blake 1978 Second Cousin

Mary H. Smith ’81 | 8/26/22

Elisabeth H. Sloan 1977 Sister

Palmer Sloan Harckham 1978 Sister

Tara Thomas ’83 8/11/22

Regina Travers Stettinius ’87 12/30/22

Diana Buchanan Reynolds 1988 Sister-in-law

Katherine L. McSpadden ’00 7/26/22

Former Employees

Abigail O’Brien 12/11/2022

Director of Annual Giving, 2010–2013

Nancy Davis 2/16/2021

Director of Communications, 1976–1988

In Memoriam

Joanna Gerber P’97 passed away on Oct. 17, 2022, at her home in West Hartford, Connecticut. She served as a trustee of Miss Porter’s School from 1996 to 1997, chairing the Current Parent Committee, and was the mother of Ancient Christina L. Gerber ’97.

Born in Berlin in 1938 to Helmut and Anna-Luise Seydel, Dr. Gerber earned her medical degree from the Heidelberg University Faculty of Medicine. Trained in anesthesiology, she practiced at Hartford Hospital in Connecticut for 32 years with a subspecialty in obstetric anesthesia. Her family described her as a dedicated physician who was “trusted by countless patients and treasured by her colleagues.”

Dr. Gerber was active in Immanuel Congregational Church in Hartford, where she planted a garden that grew vegetables for the community and for the Loaves and Fishes Ministries’ soup kitchen. She was also a master gardener who volunteered with the Elizabeth Park Conservancy and a tutor with the Literacy Volunteers of Hartford.

Dr. Gerber is survived by her daughter, Christina, of New York City; her sister, Marlies Haas, of Germany; brothers Helmut and Christian Seydel of Germany; sister-in-law Margaret Gerber Benedini and husband Ernesto Benedini of Lugano, Switzerland; and many nieces and nephews. She was predeceased by her former husband, William H. Gerber, and her sister, Lotti Köhnlein.

In Memoriam

Margot Hawley Spelman ’53 a trustee of Miss Porter’s School from 2002 to 2005, died in New York City on Dec. 1, 2022. She was president of the Alumnae Board from 2001 to 2003.

Mrs. Spelman was born in New York on Sept. 4, 1935, to Leopold and Helen Holt Hawley, a renowned portrait painter. After graduating from Porter’s, she went on to earn a bachelor’s degree from Smith College and a master’s degree in elementary education from New York University. She taught third grade before marrying Hoyt Spelman III in 1961, when she began offering private tutoring to students in first through 10th grades. Once her two children were school age, she became a learning specialist at the private Manhattan school they attended, which is now called the Trevor Day School. She retired in 2016.

Mrs. Spelman is survived by her daughter, Laura Hawley Spelman; her son, Alexander Macdonald Spelman; and four grandchildren. Her husband died on Dec. 2, 2022, one day after her passing.

In Memoriam

Lucius Milan “Buzz” Whitaker Jr. passed away on Oct. 23, 2022, at age 90. He was a trustee of Miss Porter’s School from 1980 to 2008.

A longtime Farmington resident, Mr. Whitaker owned the Edward H. Deming Insurance Agency for many years. In Farmington, he was involved in many local organizations and served as a volunteer firefighter, a Mason and a member of the Riverside Cemetery Association. He was also a member of the Exchange Club of Farmington and a recipient of the Book of Golden Deeds. Mr. Whitaker moved with his wife, Arline Belicka Whitaker, to Mystic, Connecticut, after his retirement.

† Deceased

Mr. Whitaker was predeceased by his wife, who died three days before him. His son, Lucius Milan Whitaker III, died in 2019. He is survived by his daughter, Lindsey Brennwald, and her husband, Dan; his granddaughter, McKenna Brennwald of Farmington; his sister, Judy Murphy; and his brother-in-law, John Belicka Jr., and wife, Sue.

Submitting your note!

1947

DEADLINE

Aug. 1, 2023

DELIVERING PHOTOS

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BY EMAIL

Share your note via email: classnotes@missporters.org.

THINGS TO NOTE

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1962

Marian Stone ’47 submitted a video note in which she said she was eager to be represented in Class Notes “because otherwise, people will think I’ve gone bye bye.” Marian fondly remembers sitting next to Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy Onassis ’47 and Iris Jennings ’46 in their history of art class, which she loved. English class was also a pleasure, she says, but she avoided math “like the plague.” Still, she managed to graduate “on the second honor roll.”

1955

Hope Connors ’55 writes that her husband, Edward Phillips Connors, passed away on July 26, 2022.

1957

Digital photos are preferred. Prints may be mailed, but we cannot return them.

Please provide the full names of every Ancient in the photo (from left to right) and the date and location of the occasion. Include your name, your year and a caption for every image.

Head of School Katherine Windsor poses with a silver teapot and creamer given by Dorry Swope ’62. The tea set had been presented to Sarah Porter, Dorry’s great, great aunt, on the occasion of the school’s 25th anniversary.

1982

Singer-songwriter Susan Kean Cattaneo ’82 launched her newest album, “All is Quiet,” in her first concert since Covid. (It was packed!) In the audience were Susan’s mother, Joan Jessup Eddy ’47 and classmates Mary Nevius Lansing ’81 P’22 and Ellie Roane Large ’81 Other guests included Shaver Carey, former head of the theater department and house parent, and Michèle Gorman, former head of admissions, French teacher and director of alternate learning experiences. Susan is a professor of songwriting at the Berklee College of Music in Boston.

1990

Natalie Harvey ’90 has been named director of cultural affairs for the Town of Hilton Head Island, South Carolina.

1991

Karena Elwell Rasser ’91 shared that her company, Top It Off Accessories, had an item selected for the holiday 2022 “Oprah’s Favorite Things” list.

1997

Kate Hemphill Gwin ’97 and her husband Geoffrey Gwin welcomed a son, George Huntley, on April 10, 2022. He joins his three half-siblings, Isabella, Maya and Cecil.

Kate Hem

Anne Blodgett ’57 spent her earlier years painting her New York studio and raising three children. She also had some success in her life with tennis, winning the New York State 40 and Up Ladies Doubles trophy with the help of an excellent partner. She also participated in a biathlon. More recently, her life has been filled with painting and writing, and she credits Miss Porter’s School for her talents. She notes that daughter Laura Comfort ’84 has become an outstanding scholar and athlete.

1966

Peggy Cadbury ’66 spent four months last summer and fall traveling around the United States with her husband in their Ram Promaster camper. They visited classmates Lorie Harris Amass ’66 in Flathead Lake, Montana, and Cecie Clement ’66, at her home in New Haven, Connecticut.

1989

Laura Shoaf ’89 was awarded the Commander of the British Empire (CBE) award in 2022 for services to Economic Regeneration in the West Midlands.

King Charles present

2000

Annie Lennon Carroll ’00, a member of the Producers Guild of America, met Steven Spielberg at a special screening of “West Side Story” in New York City in February 2022. She writes that she has had an exciting career in television and video since graduating from New York University’s film school, where Lynne McVeigh ‘59 was her advisor and remains a mentor. Annie says she loves telling visual stories and draws daily inspiration from life in New York with her husband and 3-year-old daughter.

Pamela Chadwick ’00 and her husband Michael Chadwick welcomed a daughter, Claudia Helena Chadwick, on Sept. 7, 2022. Pamela reports that the baby 8 pounds, 14 ounces and 21 inches long was just one pound and one inch smaller than Michael was when he was born.

2005

Eleanor Bradley Healy ’05 welcomed Caroline Bradley Bancroft Healy on Feb. 10, 2022. The baby joins her big brother, Wells.

2010

Carolyne Ouya ’10 completed her second marathon in Chicago on Oct. 9, 2022.

2014

Susannah Davies ’14 ran the New York City Marathon on Nov. 6, 2022, with a time of 3:29. Callie Brzezinski ’16 was there cheering her on!

2020

Anna Foster ’20 auditioned for and competed in the “Ninja Warrior UK: Race for Glory” television show in August. She is in the third year of the veterinary medicine program at the University of Edinburgh in Scotland.

2009

Taylor King ’09 recently accepted a new position at Connecticut Wealth Management as a senior financial advisor. Taylor has helped hundreds of people through life transitions and continues to develop plans for the firm.

2011

2018

“Ninja Warrior” Anna Foster ’20

Audrey McMillan ’20 is a marketing major at Bentley University with a double minor in management and sports business. She’s also the president of the women’s club hockey team, where she plays center and defense. Other activities she’s involved in include the women’s leadership program and serving as a tour guide and orientation leader. She says she loves being able to do what she loves at a school that allows her to learn what she is passionate about.