Choate Rosemary Hall - History - Timeline

Timeline

• 1889: Mary Atwater Choate advertises in New York for a headmistress.
• 1890: Foundation of Rosemary Hall; Caroline Ruutz-Rees begins 48 years as headmistress; 8 girls enroll. October 2, opening ceremonies held.
• 1891: First election of Optima, or best girl; the honor was bestowed until 1977.
• 1892: First publication of The Question Mark, a literary magazine, one of the earliest of its type in an American girls school.
• 1893: Spring term, first Shakespeare play performed. First interscholastic cricket match played against Pelham Manor.
• 1894: First interscholastic basketball game played against New Haven Normal School.
• 1895: In May, first Sixth Form Walk, about 45 miles (72 km) in three days, the route being Wallingford, Durham, Middletown, Southington, Wallingford.
• 1896: Foundation of the Choate School by William Gardner Choate and Mary Atwater Choate; from 1896 to 1908 all annual deficits are paid by Judge Choate. Mark Pitman begins his nine-year tenure. 6 boys enroll.
• 1897: At the Choate School, construction of Choate House. Dramatic Club mounts its first play in Choate House library. Good Government Club begins, the precursor of student council.
• 1897: At Rosemary Hall, first election of The Committee, the student self-governance body; it lasted until 1971.
• 1898: At Rosemary, sixth formers are required to pass the Bryn Mawr College entrance exam in order to graduate; the requirement lasted 39 years.
• 1899: At Choate, enrollment is 20 boys. Dining room "French Table" begins. May 13, first interscholastic baseball game played against Wallingford High School. December 9, first interscholastic basketball game played against Wallingford High.
• 1900: At Choate in March, basketball game against Stearns School played at Company K Armory, with Rosemary Hall girls forming a cheering section. Debates held between two secret societies, the Owls (standing for wisdom) and Helvetians (fidelity and honor). Spring term, first publication of The Brief, the yearbook. Fall term, first interscholastic football season, record of 2-1.
• 1900: Rosemary Hall relocates to Greenwich with 57 girls.
• 1901: Gymnasium built for $15,000, the gift of Julius Meyerowitz. The Lodge (now Sally Hart Lodge) and Bungalow bought. "Ice polo," the precursor of hockey, plays four-game season.
• 1902: 40 boys. Atwater House, formerly occupied by Rosemary Hall, becomes the main building. The Cabin, a "science museum" and workshop, is donated by Judge Choate. Boys install wiring in Choate House for room-to-room telephoning. First "Big Dance," eventually to become Festivities.
• 1904: Library space is added to Atwater House. Charles Vezin Jr, future pole-vault world record-holder, is on the track team.

• 1905: December 3, headmaster Mark Pitman dies.
• 1907: Publication of The Choate Chronicle, a newspaper adjunct to The Brief; it was precursor to The Choate News.
• 1908: Fall term, George St. John begins 39 years as headmaster; he lives in Curtis House (now Sally Hart Lodge), which will remain the official headmaster's residence until 1997. 35 boys, 5 masters. The school occupies 10 acres (40,000 m2). Choate Orchestra begins. The Choate Chronicle is renamed The Choate News.
• 1909: First Seal Prize awarded to outstanding sixth former (senior); since 1982 also awarded to sixth form girl.
• 1911: May 12, St. John "buys" the school for $23,000 cash and $38,000 in stock. May 30, dedication of Hill House; it cost $40,000, mainly the gift of St. John's Harvard friend Arthur Hoe. John Dos Passos graduates. Fall term, 103 boys, 13 masters.
• 1912: 124 boys, 16 masters. The glee cub begins.
• 1913: St. Andrew's Society founded; it operates a camp for underprivileged boys from New York, staffed by Choate boys; it lasted until 1965. Boathouse on Community Lake and two shells are given by Nathaniel W. Bishop.
• 1914: February 4, first meal served in newly completed West Wing dining hall. Fall term, 131 boys, 17 masters.
• 1915: 142 boys enroll. First publication of The Choate Literary Magazine. Crew begins; tennis club begins.
• 1916: March 16, Meyerowitz Gymnasium destroyed by fire. Golf club begins. Fall term, 177 boys, 23 masters. The Gables is bought.
• 1917: Spring term, the new Gymnasium (now John Joseph Activities Center) is completed. Orchard House and Further Cottage are bought. Fall term, 200 boys, 25 masters.
• 1918: Battalion Companies A, B, C, D organized. Adlai Stevenson graduates.
• 1919: Chester Bowles graduates. Darling House bought. Fall term, 237 boys, 28 masters.
• 1920: The Parsonage, East Cottage, and Ayres, Church, and Long Houses are bought; East Cottage will be John F. Kennedy's fourth form residence. Fall term, 253 boys, 32 masters. The choir begins.
• 1921: 271 boys, 34 masters. Fall term, Memorial House is completed; there were 280 donors, including Andrew Mellon P'25, who gave $15,000. "Admiral" Austin Meeks '16 arrives to coach crew to regional dominance in the 1920s and 1930s; by 1933 Choate rows eight shells.
• 1922: 299 boys, 38 masters. First Deerfield Day; Choate football wins 28-6.
• 1923: 322 boys, 40 masters. Brown-Massie House bought.
• 1924: 339 boys, 43 masters. Creation of "The Choate School Chapel Foundation"; it attracts 624 donors. Completion of the Chapel; designed by Ralph Adams Cram and constructed by Choate staff; Andrew Mellon's donation was $25,000. Choate Farm is bought and the school dairy built.

• 1925: Paul Mellon graduates. Woodhouse is bought. 361 boys, 45 masters.
• 1926: Spring term, Andrew Mellon Library is completed; Mellon gave $150,000 of its $200,000 cost. Fall term, 401 boys, 50 masters.
• 1927: 426 boys, 57 masters. The Deaconage bought.
• 1928: 452 boys, 57 masters. John Ed Wilfong starts the nursery. Completion of John D. Archbold Infirmary.
• 1929: Robert Fitzgerald graduates. Fall term, 497 boys, 62 masters. The Hall is built. Foundation name changed to "The Choate School Chapel and Library Foundation"; it owns the Chapel, Library, Memorial House, Archbold, and the Hall.
• 1930: Alan Lomax graduates. Mahlon Thatcher Track and Fields built, the gift of Mr. and Mrs. Mahlon Thatcher in memory of their son Mahlon Jr, a fourth former who had died in a riding accident. Fall term, 509 boys, 64 masters. Soccer team begins. First appearance of the band at a football game.
• 1931: 505 boys, 64 masters. Munson House bought. Baseball begins a six-season record of 57-6.
• 1932: January, Joseph P. Kennedy P'35 arranges the first showing of a movie. Winter Exercise Building (now Johnson Athletic Center) is built entirely by Choate staff and cost $275,000, one-third of which was given by Mr. and Mrs. Mahlon Thatcher; the Winter Ex was the final project of building supervisor Henry Raymond Stone, who died in 1931. The Headmaster, an insatiable Savoyard, commands the first of yearly Gilbert and Sullivan productions (The Mikado) that continue to his retirement year 1947 (Patience).
• 1933: 475 boys, 59 masters. Homestead and Red Cottage bought, Homestead from Hunt Atwater '03, nephew of Mary Atwater Choate.
• 1934: 459 boys, 58 masters. Edsall House bought.
• 1935: John F. Kennedy graduates. 466 boys, 57 masters. 1690 House bought.
• 1936: Alan Jay Lerner and Avery Dulles graduate. Fall term, 490 boys, 62 masters. Chapel House and New Old South are bought, the gift of Clinton P. Knight, Jr. Dudley Fitts and his former student Robert Fitzgerald '29 publish translations of Alcestis of Euripides (1936) and Antigone of Sophocles (1939).
• 1937: 501 boys, 64 masters. Alumni Boathouse built; 400 donors. The Choate School, Incorporated, transfers its property to the Foundation. Combination House is created from the joining of the relocated Brown and Middle cottages.
• 1938: Paul Mellon Science Hall (now Mellon Humanities Center) is built, the gift of Paul Mellon '25. Red House (now Squire Stanley) bought from the Atwater family. "The Golden Blues" swing band begins and will last 30 years.

• 1939: April, first issue of The Choate Alumni Bulletin is published; Dan D. Coyle '34 is editor.
• 1940: Fathers Association begins.
• 1941: Mothers Association begins.
• 1943: Alumni Fund council begins. Boston Braves use the Winter Ex for spring training; manager Casey Stengel gave local reporters a Stengelism: "Excellent workouts in that there cage you just saw, which is a honey in all my years to the present time."
• 1944: Fiftieth Anniversary Campaign for endowment begins.
• 1945: The Maiyeros a cappella group begun by music master Duncan Phyfe '38.
• 1946: Edward Albee graduates; his first published play, Schism, appears in the Commencement issue of The Choate Literary Magazine. Dedication of Wilken Field in memory of Ray Theodore "Ted" Wilken '40. September 27–29, celebration of Choate's Fiftieth Anniversary, among the speakers were John F. Kennedy '35, the presidents of Yale (St. John's brother-in-law), Princeton, and Williams, and the heads of Andover, Deerfield, Groton, St. Paul's, Hotchkiss, Lawrenceville, Taft, Loomis, Westminster, and Milton.
• 1947: 533 boys. Trustees elect Seymour St. John '31 headmaster; he is installed June 11 and begins his 26-year tenure. Richard R. Higgins succeeds George St. John as president of the Foundation. Logan Munroe House is built, the gift of Charles A. Munroe P'33 in memory of his son.
• 1948: 550 boys. Nichols House is built, the gift of Charles Walter Nichols, Jr. '29, and named in memory of his father, trustee 1947–57.
• 1950: First Project Day, brought on by a storm that downed trees; now called Community Day.
• 1952: Adlai Stevenson '18 is the Democratic Presidential nominee, and again in 1956.
• 1953: December 5, dedication of the outdoor Courtenay Hemenway Rink.
• 1957: Wheeler House is bought; named for Frank Wheeler, teacher and director of studies 1916–52. Fall term, Johannes van Straalen begins teaching Russian a month before the launch of Sputnik 1. October, dedication of George and Clara St. John Hall; it cost $562,000.
• 1959: Forty Years at School by headmaster emeritus George St. John is published by Henry Holt and Company.
• 1960: April 17, the History Club is addressed by Nobel Peace Prize laureate Ralph Bunche, whose son Ralph Jr. '61 is the school's first African-American student. Pitman, Atwater, and Mead houses are built, the latter named for George Jackson Mead '11, trustee 1947–57. In November, John Kennedy '35 is elected President; in a straw poll only 18 percent of students vote for him.
• 1961: January 20, Kennedy takes office; his inaugural address "Ask not" phrase is sometimes said to derive from George St. John's "Ask not what your school can do for you; ask what you can do for your school."

• 1962: May 5, dedication of new wing of Library, with Robert Frost reading his Kennedy inaugural poem, "The Gift Outright." Spencer House (originally '62 House) is built; in 1982 it will be renamed in memory of James Spencer, chemistry and physics teacher 1962–82.
• 1963: Michael Douglas graduates. Quantrell House is built; named in memory of Ernest E. Quantrell P'42, trustee 1942–61.
• 1964: In the summer, Alberto "Tico" Carrero '66 wins the U.S. under-16 tennis championship; his varsity record in three years is 36-0.
• 1965: John Dos Passos '11 attends 50th anniversary celebration of The Lit. Fall term, sixth formers in the history class of Jack McCune (future headmaster of St. Alban's) are the guests of Secretary of State Dean Rusk in his office; they challenge him on the Vietnam War. McCook House is completed, named for Anson T. McCook, trustee 1911–62; the dormitory and its twin, Clinton Knight House, were designed by architect Frank Winder '39.
• 1966: January, headmaster emeritus George St. John dies, aged 88. Spring term, Ralph Metcalfe, Jr. '66, son of the Olympic gold-medalist and Illinois Congressman, is the top high school hammer thrower in the country. Clinton Knight House is completed, named for Clinton P. Knight Jr. '12, trustee 1938–56. Fall term, Paul Mellon '25 offers $1.5 million to build a facility for theater, music, and visual arts; his vision would be realized for $5 million in 1972.
• 1967: Winter term, dedication of Remsen Arena, the gift of the family of William C. S. Remsen '39. Varsity hockey is 17-0. Steele Hall is built, named for George Steele. The Chapel is enlarged by extension to the south. The Hall is enlarged by widening to the south. Baseball, coached by Tom Yankus '52, begins an eight-season league record of 54-2. Afro-American Union is formed. Fall term, in Greenwich, Connecticut, Rosemary Hall (RH) headmistress Alice McBee urges trustees of that school to consider "official affiliation" with a boys school, in light of declining enrollment and financial difficulty.
• 1968: In January, Duke Ellington Orchestra plays in the Chapel. January 8, headmaster St. John hosts a private meeting in Wallingford with RH Board chair Charles Stetson, and the feasibility of relocating RH is discussed. January 26, Choate trustees vote to allow continuing discussions with RH. June, the CS and RH boards make a formal agreement, with the understanding that RH would relocate. September 24, St. John and McBee hold a press conference in St. John Hall and issue a press release dated September 26 which states that "a brand new school would be built for Rosemary Hall on Choate Land, and the combined institutions would provide 'coordinate' secondary education starting in September 1971."

• 1969: Spring term, in response to student unrest St. John appoints English master Malcolm Manson '57 to run "Metanoia," a six-week lecture program that replaces Thursday classes; Margaret Mead and Alvin Toffler are the first two speakers. First African-American master, Charles O. Todman Jr., is appointed to teach history and start the Afro-American Studies Center. Dress code no longer requires jacket and tie in the classroom. In November St. John allows about 50 students to attend the peace march in Washington, D.C.
• 1969: January, architect James Polshek is selected to design the Wallingford RH campus; his budget will eventually be $6.4 million. On Prize Day, Seymour St. John is the graduation speaker in Greenwich.
• 1970: Spring term, 20 RH sixth formers have an advance guard residence on the CS campus; they live in Nichols House; Meg Colgate '70 is made interim editor of The Choate News. The book A World of Our Own by Peter Prescott '53, son of Orville Prescott of the New York Times, examines the political turmoil in the school year 1967–68. Fall term, chapel attendance is no longer compulsory. Zurn Organ is installed in the Chapel, given in memory of John Henry Zurn '43.
• 1971: 568 boys. Elizabeth Winslow Loomis begins two years as RH headmistress; she had been head of upper school at The Lenox School (now Birch Wathen Lenox School) in Manhattan and a former RH teacher and dean. June 3, the last Prize Day in Greenwich, Choate head Seymour St. John is the graduation speaker. The Greenwich campus is bought by Daycroft School, which moves from its own Greenwich campus on Rock Ridge Road. August, the last two Wallingford campus buildings, Bronfman Library and Macquire Gymnasium, are completed. The school and 223 girls relocate.
• 1972: May 12–14, dedication of Paul Mellon Arts Center ("PMAC"), the gift entire of Paul Mellon '25; it cost more than $5 million; three-day celebration includes May 12 dedication speech by Edward Albee '46, a production of his Zoo Story, performances by the Boston Pops and Victor Borge, and official May 13 dedication of the RH campus. Fall term, all-school sit-down meals end.
• 1973: Spring term, RH yearbook The Answer Book is merged into The Brief. July 1, Seymour St. John resigns as headmaster. Wallingford Symphony Orchestra is formed by Philip Ventre, with the PMAC as its home. Lewis House is bought, named for Robert E. Lewis, teacher 1917–47. Fall term, CS and RH adopt uniform grading system. October 4, Charles F. Dey is installed as first "president and principal of The Choate School and Rosemary Hall." Dey was formerly an associate dean at Dartmouth and had taught history at Andover. He appoints RH academic dean and classics teacher Joanne Sullivan as dean and head of RH, and former St. Paul's School teacher Richard Aiken as dean and head of CS.
• 1974: June, the two boards of trustees are merged, with Elizabeth Hyde Brownell '21 as chair. RH newspaper The Wild Boar is merged into The Choate News. The students Creative Arts Committee is formed; an arts credit is added to graduation requirements.
• 1976: Jamie Lee Curtis graduates. February 18, fire damages the north section of the Winter Ex. December 1, rebuilt Winter Ex opens and is named for Worthington Johnson '32, who led fundraising that would secure $4 million in two years. Winter term, squash and riflery become coed sports.

• 1977: May, first joint Prize Day. Fall term, first joint registration, orientation, and Convocation. CS Student Council and RH Committee unofficially merge. Football, coached by Doug James, begins a five-season record of 32-7-1. Bobette Reed is first African-American admissions officer. Adlai E. Stevenson '18 Lecture Series is inaugurated by Allard Lowenstein.
• 1978: Alumni Weekend, Larry Hart Pool opens as a coed facility, the gift of Larry Hart '32. May 28, the first joint graduation on Archbold Lawn, with single diploma of "Choate Rosemary Hall." Fall term, football beats Deerfield 9-3 on a 99-yard, two-play drive, and Bob Galvin's "Miracle Catch" with no time left on the clock.
• 1979: March, John Joseph Activities Center opens in the made-over Gymnasium, the gift of F. Morgan and Barbara Olin Taylor. Headmistress emeritus Eugenia Baker Jessup dies. November 1–4, The Crucible is performed and its author Arthur Miller lectures on McCarthyism.
• 1980: Spring term, the Last Hurrah begins with the merger of Festivities and The Mid. The cross is removed from the Chapel.
• 1981: Official merger of the student governments as CRH Student Council. Spring term, Joanne Sullivan heads an ad hoc committee that recommends increased emphasis on lab sciences and computer science, and curriculum mandates that might include economics, psychology, philosophy, religious studies, and the arts.
• 1982: 76 students of color, more than twice as many as the year before. Faculty approves new curriculum based on 1981 Sullivan committee recommendations. Richardson House is bought; given its present name in 1998 for Elfrida Richardson, RH organist and choirmistress 1916–59.
• 1984: April, U.S. Customs agents at Kennedy Airport in New York, alerted by the school, apprehend a student returning from Venezuela with 340 grams of cocaine bought with schoolmates' money; 14 students are expelled, and the TV program 60 Minutes runs a segment on the incident. Summer, the Connecticut Scholars program begins; its first session brings 52 public school students to campus for a five-week science and math course. Spears Endowment for Spiritual and Moral Education is founded, named for William G. Spears '56, Board chair 1985–90 and head of capital campaign Endowment Plus, which raised $26 million.
• 1985: Paul Giamatti graduates. Sylvester Boathouse built on Lake Quonnipaug, named for Benjamin F. Sylvester, Jr., longtime crew coach and history teacher. Office of Public-Private Collaboration is formed for community outreach. Centennial Committee is created, with chairs Elizabeth Hyde Brownell '21 and C. Walter Nichols '55.
• 1986: In the Chapel "The Creation" altar tapestry is hung, the gift of RH class of 1921, woven by Sylvia Heyden.
• 1987: Squire Stanley is moved 300 feet (91 m) back from Christian Street to help reveal the west facade of Mellon Science Hall (now Mellon Humanities Center).
• 1988: January, agreement signed with Russia's Moscow School #18 for an annual four-week exchange of five students and one leader; Russian group arrives in April, Choate group to Moscow in September. Summer, the Connecticut Scholars program, now with 105 students, adds humanities courses to its previously science and math curriculum. Pierce House is named for Charles Pierce, admissions director and teacher 1945–77. Walsh House is named for Donald D. Walsh, teacher 1928–59.

• 1989: September 10, Centennial Year kicks off with convocation in Johnson Athletic Center; Johannes van Straalen is marshal and carries the new Centennial Mace. October 18, dedication of Paul Mellon Science Center, the gift of Paul Mellon '25; its 150-seat Getz Auditorium is the gift of George Getz '27. The original Mellon Science Hall is renovated to house the Paul Mellon Humanities Center, also the gift of Mellon. First co-ed Deerfield Day, with girls' matches in soccer and field hockey.
• 1990: May, Centennial Year concludes with Reunion Weekend and Centennial Gala in the PMAC, emceed by Elliott Gould P'89. December 19, Edward Shanahan is introduced at an all-school assembly in the PMAC.
• 1991: September 8, Shanahan is ceremonially invested as president and headmaster. Endowment draw is reduced to 5.5 percent.
• 1992: September, inauguration of Matriculation Ceremony, in which "values of Choate" pledge cards are signed.
• 1993: October, trustees approve long range plan for curriculum change, residential life improvement, and other capital plant renewal.
• 1994: January, trustees vote to reduce enrollment from 1025 to 825 over a five-year period; faculty and staff reduction through attrition would be less severe.
• 1995: April 20, at Guggenheim Museum in New York is launched "A Shared Commitment," a capital campaign for $100 million, 85 percent of which would go to endowment; campaign chairs are Christopher Hutchins '56 and Edwin A. Goodman '58; Hutchins's gift of $20 million was, at the time, the largest unrestricted gift ever received by a secondary school; Paul Mellon '25 gave $10 million. October, dedication of Hunt Tennis Center, the gift of Tod Hunt '40. Albert Schweitzer Institute for the Humanities, founded 1973, begins four years residence at Choate; it would bring Nobel laureates Mikhail Gorbachev, Desmond Tutu, and Betty Williams to campus.
• 1997: Porter House becomes the headmaster's residence; it was named for George F. Porter, teacher and sometime baseball coach 1925–67. Endowment of the Icahn Scholars Program, the gift of Gail and Carl C. Icahn P'97, '00, supported by the Icahn Charitable Foundation and the Foundation for a Greater Opportunity. Choate Rosemary Hall: A History of the School by Tom Generous and Charles T. Wilson is published.
• 1998: Chapel is rededicated and named for headmaster emeritus Seymour St. John.

• 2001: Paul Mellon Science Center is renamed for Carl C. Icahn P'97, '00, following his $5 million gift. Endowment of the Charles Krause '51 Fellow in Rhetoric, the gift of Krause.
• 2002: North wing of Johnson Athletic Center is built. Library is renovated, the gift of Christopher Hutchins '56. Curtis House is renovated and becomes Sally Hart Lodge, the school guest house, gift of Larry Hart '32.
• 2005: Edward Albee '46 receives a Special Tony Award for Lifetime Achievement.
• 2006: February, at the Winter Olympics in Turin the U.S. women's hockey team has three alumnae, Angela Ruggiero '98, Kim Insalaco '99, and Julie Chu '01. April, representatives of the heretofore informal Eight Schools Association meet at Lawrenceville to discuss a more formal arrangement, including a literary magazine, sports league, and student and faculty conferences; Shanahan of Choate is elected president of the Association (he is succeeded in 2009 by Elizabeth Duffy of Lawrenceville). Walton Family Foundation gives $11.7 million to endow the Gakio-Walton Scholars Program, a memorial to Wilson Gakio, classmate of Benjamin S. Walton '92; the program provides scholarships to students from specific regions of Africa, India, the Middle East and the United States. Remsen Arena is renovated. November, Headmaster emeritus Seymour St. John dies, aged 94. November, a capital campaign called "An Opportunity to Lead" is launched to raise $200 million, with $100 million in gifts and pledges secured during the silent phase from July 2004.
• 2007: Alumni Association begins CRH Regional Clubs effort, with Henry McNulty '65 as chair; inaugural clubs established in Boston and Washington. May 19, dedication of the Bruce '45 and Lueza Gelb Track, named for its donors. Reunion Weekend, 100th birthday of The News celebrated with events featuring alumni journalists. August, the northeast campus is turned into a Disney film set for College Road Trip, starring Martin Lawrence and Raven-Symoné. October, a Royal Bank of Scotland commercial is filmed in the Chapel, with 70 students used as extras. Five houses are renamed following gifts from the Mosbacher and Sophonpanich families: New Old South becomes Mosbacher, Fox becomes Chatri, Backes becomes Jessup, Wheeler becomes Lowndes, and 411 North Main becomes McBee – the last three named for RH headmistresses who were also the namesakes of the three temporary RH dorms built in 1973. Fall term, Arabic courses are again offered after a 30-year hiatus.
• 2008: February 11, Republican strategist Karl Rove spends a day on campus; originally invited as commencement speaker, the venue was changed following objections from students, faculty, parents, and alumni. Fall term, South House and Tenney House open; on November 5 the latter is dedicated to Rebecca Tenney Agnew '27, who bequeathed $6 million of the $23-million project. Dedication of Senior Spot bench and patio, the $157,000-gift of the class of 2008, designed by architects Anil Khachane '96 and Mai Wu '87.

• 2009: May 19, Choate wins Fed Challenge national high school championship. Board chair Herbert V. Kohler, Jr. '57 offers to donate an Environmental Center to be built on 262 acres (1.06 km2) of the northeast campus; it would include, in Kohler's description to the Wallingford Town Council, "a LEED certified structure housing a laboratory/teaching space and residential facilities which together we believe will constitute the finest secondary school environmental education facility in the world." Fall term, the Town Council rejects the school's offer of either $260,000 or the deed to the site of its old boathouse in exchange for clos­ing a half-mile section of Old Durham Road in the Environmental Center acreage; planning for the center moves forward regardless. A Muslim chaplain is added to the campus ministry. Renovation of St. John Hall. October 17, at St. Bede's Chapel in Greenwich the centennial of the Chapel was celebrated by Rosemarians past and present, with the Whimawehs singing traditional RH songs; Rosemary Hall Alumnae Club is established. CRH clubs are launched in New York and London, joining existing clubs in Beijing, Hong Kong, Seoul, Bangkok, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Boston, and Washington, D.C.
• 2010: January 29, trustees approve plans for the Environmental Center, to be built with a $20 million gift from Herbert V. Kohler, Jr. '57. February 2, Edward Shanahan tells an all-school assembly that he will resign as headmaster after the 2010–11 school year; on November 5, the trustees appointed Dr. Alex Curtis as his replacement. February, at the Winter Olympics in Vancouver the silver-medal U.S. women's hockey team has three alumnae, Angela Ruggiero '98, Julie Chu '01, and Hilary Knight '07. The Headmaster reports that, during the international financial crisis, "Choate's endowment declined only 15 percent at a time when some of our peer schools were impacted almost twice as much." March, Geoffrey S. Fletcher '88 wins the Oscar for best adapted screenplay. Spring and summer, a multi-sport artificial-turf field is constructed behind the Johnson Athletic Center; it is dedicated at the October 9 football game against Andover.
• 2011: April 1, groundbreaking ceremony for the Kohler Environmental Center, designed by Robert A.M. Stern, dean of the Yale School of Architecture; the Center, to be completed in summer 2012, will include a residential facility for 3 faculty and up to 20 students. April 13–15, Choate hosts the annual meeting of the Eight Schools Association (ESA), with 8 school heads, 16 trustees, and ESA executive director Robert "Skip" Mattoon attending. April 29, the school announces that it exceeded its $200 million capital campaign goal, collecting $215 million in gifts and pledges. July 1, Dr. Alex Curtis succeeded Edward Shanahan as headmaster.