Sharing, Caring, and Connecting - Some Gunnery Female Role Models

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Sharing, Caring, and connecting Some Gunnery Female Role Models

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The Gunnery has produced as many stellar women in its history as men and their lives and career paths have been as iconoclastic and impressive as those of the opposite gender.

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As Soo Jin So found out during her Gunn Scholar research in 2012, Abigail Irene Brinsmade Gunn and her sister Mary Maria Brinsmade Brown influenced the first Gunnery students and Mr. Gunn himself from the opposite sides of the gender argument during the quest for women’s rights in the 19th century. Mary Maria was Abigail’s younger sister and she was sent by her father to Mt. Holyoke to graduate in the first class of the first college for women in the United States.

When she returned in 1848, she established the Judea Seminary for Women which, at the height of its success, taught 80 young women from all over the country.

The school was forced to close when the Congregational Church minister objected to the program of calisthenics which the students practiced on the Mary Maria Brinsmade Washington Green.

In sharp contrast, Mary’s older sister Abigail did not pursue university education (there were no schools for women) and was part of the 19th century “Cult of Domesticity,” looking after her father’s household and the needs of the family until her marriage to Frederick Gunn when she assumed the role in loco parentis for the many students away from home. Correspondence during their courtship indicates a chafing under the Abigal Irene Brinsmade Gunn burdens of Daniel Brinsmade’s very active household and a nervousness about the prospect of teaching the younger students in her fiancé’s school. She attended classes and taught in her younger sister’s seminary in order to prepare herself for her husband-to-be’s school in Towanda, PA. Thus, the women associated with The Gunnery, both when it was coed (between 1850 and 1922 and then again between 1976 and the present) and when it was single sex (from 1922-1976), have been instrumental in creating a culture that continued the values of

the founder and his wife and adapted to the exigencies of the era without losing sight of the original mission which stressed personal responsibility, character, and “defense of the right.”

In 1903, Elizabeth Kempton came to The Gunnery to begin a 50-year career as a teacher and mentor in art. Although her best known student was John F. Folinsbee (Class of 1911), the American impressionist, she taught and mentored numerous artists of all media during her career as their correspondence at her passing in1953 attests. Women such as Elizabeth Kempton Barbara Burr, Nancy Snow La France, Rosemary Barnes Atkins, and Betty Barnes Bird, who came from Wykeham Rise, benefitted from her guidance and indomitable spirit.

While “Kempie” was here when The Gunnery was both a co-ed and single sex school, Judy Turner, the school nurse for 37 years, practiced her calling when The Gunnery was single sex. During her career from 1927-1964, her legendary kindness and detailed attention to the students as individuals resulted in her receiving an honorary degree from headmaster Ogden Miller in 1952 and a yearbook dedication in 1964.

Judy Turner

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Marcie Roth, WR 1974, came to The Gunnery in 2009 to share her life’s journey with The Gunnery students. Educated at a time when The Gunnery and Wykeham Rise shared classes, athletics, and extracurricular activities, Marcie called upon her Gunnery community service experience at the Southbury Training School in the 1970s when she served Marcie Roth on the Obama transition team in 2008 to advise the new administration on people with disabilities. She expressed gratitude for the Gunnery’s preparation which led to her career specializing in civil rights and consideration for people with disabilities worldwide. At the time she said, “I am especially pleased to discover that there is a strong commitment to meeting the educational needs of the Gunnery’s female students and proud to have been able to offer my own experience to these young women.”Marcie is currently Director of the Office of Disability Integration and Coordination for FEMA, an office which she established in 2009. In this role, she leads the Agency’s commitment to meet the access and functional needs of children and adults with disabilities in emergency and disaster preparedness, response, recovery and mitigation.

Whether it be financially or with her time and energy, Julia Alling ’81 believes in giving back to those things that mean or have meant a lot to her. Building community and connections have been the core of her career as both a teacher and a development professional, of her family life and of her personal aspirations.

As both a student and later as a faculty member, she immediately Julia Alling credits Pam Taylor as both a “huge” mentor and a role model. “She taught me how to write, but it was so much more than that… she made me see that there were no boundaries to what I could achieve. It was OK to become a star athlete in both field hockey and lacrosse.” And Julia went on to play Division III field hockey and lacrosse at Hollins where she also remembers Jeanne Larsen, her English professor who wrote a note at the bottom of one of her papers. “She said, ‘You would be a good writer if you took yourself seriously’ and that has stayed with me to this day.”

During her teaching career at The Gunnery, she was also strongly influenced by head of school Susan Graham. “The fact that she was a young mother as well as head of this good-sized institution and carried it off with grace … the model has stayed with me as I have brought up my own children.”

Indeed, her husband returned from bringing their oldest son, William to interview at The Gunnery with news that her legacy was a long one.

The steps she requested are still in Pam Taylor the bathrooms in the dining hall for younger children who are learning to wash their hands. The Gunn Scholar program was one that she helped initiate and champion.

As Director of Development who also oversees communications and directs alumni relations at the Fountain Valley School in Colorado, Julia still sees her life as having no boundaries, but being filled with community and connections. “Your life is a path you cut for yourself,” she says. “Every time I step outside I am modelling family, professional, or personal life … I can seize opportunities to share life lessons everywhere.”

[Editor’s Note: Read what a couple of alums say about Julia herself as a mentor below] Michelle R. Young ’99 recalls running into her mentor/teacher Julia Alling who was in Washington DC with her Presidential Politics Class. A graduate of American University, she had been interested in political affairs since her freshman year, but it was at Julia’s suggestion that she ventured into the political arena. “At the time, I was not involved with politics. She really Michelle Young encouraged me to take advantage of my surroundings. So I called Ray LaHood, my Congressman, and worked as an intern in the summer of 2001.”

Since then she has worked tirelessly with congressmen, senators, and other government officials on numerous campaigns throughout Illinois, Washington, DC and Washington state.

Currently she is Campaign Manager for the well-known Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan. “I had learned a lot about

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Your life is a path you cut for yourself …

I seize opportunities to share life lessons everywhere.

– Julia Alling – leadership as a tri-captain at The Gunnery, and we have put together a team of strong women as communications director, finance director, and field director. There’s a winning combination you can build from a collaboration of skills, experiences and personalities.”

Michelle recalls being mentored by her Big Sister when she came to The Gunnery, and having a chance to return the favor as a dorm monitor later in her high school career. “To this day I enjoy promoting the aspirations of the women working on the campaign and I’m still learning from the example of our candidate.”

As a nuclear engineer, Kat Danziger ’05, recalls lessons Kat Danzinger ’05 learned from her Gunnery role model, Julia Alling: “I remember having to run 3 miles during practice twice a week, and, at the time, I hated it. She said that running is something you can do anywhere with nothing but a pair of sneakers, so it’s something worth getting used to. I now run several times a week to clear my head and stay in shape. She also had a great way of communicating where even if she was providing criticism it didn’t make you feel bad about yourself.”

Kat, who graduated from Duke with degree in mechanical engineering and subsequently got an MA from there in Engineering Management in 2010 and another MA from Penn State in Nuclear Engineering in 2011, is currently working for the Naval Reactors Headquarters in Washington, DC having started as an Ensign in the Navy right out of Duke. She’s in the submarine inactivation field as a fulltime civilian although she’s transitioning to a role in personnel for Navy Total Force.

Although she wasn’t prepared for her specific aspirations at The Gunnery, Kat says, “What I did find at The Gunnery was an environment that encouraged the use of each person’s individual talents.” She went on to benefit from career mentoring by LT Phil Emery, her NROTC advisor, particularly as regards the ramifications of the word “duty” in a Navy context. She was not formally mentored by CDR Nicole Treeman at Naval Reactors, but identified her as the person she “would like to be like in 15 years.”

Kat hasn’t had as much opportunity to mentor other young women as she would like; her field is primarily populated by males. “I did get the chance to sponsor (sort of a mentorship program for new hires) one of these newly hired women last year, which was a really fun opportunity.”

Olivia Judd ’14 graduated last summer and started at Washington College this fall. As the Gunn Scholar for her year, she studied Harriet Beecher Stowe, Henry Ward Beecher, and Frederick W. Gunn, three friends (two of them siblings) and three reformers brought together in the 1850s and 1860s by their presence and that of the Beecher and Stowe children at The Gunnery. The Gunn Scholar program, partially endowed by the Class of 1957, allows one Gunnery student per year to do original research in various regional archives, publish the results, and present to the public some aspect of the early life of The Gunnery. In effect, after 13 years, the Gunn Scholars are writing The Gunnery’s story.

As a student, Olivia recognized the debts she owed to the various mentors and role models in her life. Her grandfather was the one who introduced her to history and nourished her passion for the study of abolition through his passion for the story of local luminary, John Brown. She dedicated her research to him. In her topic proposal, she said, “I have always enjoyed learning about history, whether that be in the classroom or by attending historical speakers with my grandfather. However, I do not believe this information is valuable unless it can be applied. … If I were to become Gunn Scholar, I would feel like I made a positive impact on our school.”

In one of her self-evaluation paragraphs requested each grading period, Olivia wrote, “I have learned a lot about myself through my Gunn Scholar work. I have done things that I never, as a freshman, imagined myself doing.” In her final self-evaluation, she said, “Not only has Gunn Scholar prepared me for college, but it has prepared me for life, because, as I said before, I have gained a greater sense of confidence in my abilities and in myself. Along with that, I have learned valuable time-management skills, communication, and organization skills. I have learned that it is not a fault to reach out to others for help.”

As our female graduates return to campus (virtually or physically) with their stories of success and failure, friendship, mentoring and modeling, we are inspired to continue the difficult work of shepherding young women through “the perils of becoming” as teenagers in the new worlds of this 21st century.

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Upcoming Events 2015 March 9–13

Regional Events

Florida

May 3

Founders Day Regatta

Lake Waramaug

May 9

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June 5–7

Alumni Weekend

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Call for Nominations We are seeking nominations from alumni for honorees into the Athletic Hall of Fame Nominees should have been outstanding athletes in one or more sports at The Gunnery; subsequent collegiate or professional achievement is key to the nomination and subsequent induction.

We are seeking nominations from alumni for honorees into the Arts and Letters Hall of Fame Nominees should have achieved recognition in one or more of the following disciplines: Visual Arts (all media), Performing Arts, Graphic Arts, Music, Literature, Science, Humanitarian Work, or Education.

Please send nominations via email to the Alumni Office at: alumni@gunnery.org or by mail to: The Alumni Office • The Gunnery 99 Green Hill Road Washington, CT 06793