Choate Rosemary Hall
Encyclopedia
Choate Rosemary Hall is a private, college-preparatory
, coeducational boarding school
located in Wallingford, Connecticut
. It took its present name and coeducational form with the merger in 1971 of two single-sex establishments, The Choate School (founded in 1896 in Wallingford) and Rosemary Hall
(founded in 1890 in Wallingford, but resident from 1900 to 1971 in Greenwich, Connecticut
). At the merger, the Wallingford campus was enlarged with a complex of modernist buildings on its eastern edge to accommodate the girls from Greenwich.
Choate is a member of the Eight Schools Association
, begun informally in 1973–74 and formalized at a 2006 meeting at Lawrenceville School, when former Choate headmaster Edward Shanahan was appointed its first president. He was succeeded in 2009 by Lawrenceville head Elizabeth Duffy. The member schools are Choate, Phillips Academy
(known as Andover), Phillips Exeter Academy
(known as Exeter), Deerfield Academy
, St. Paul's School
, Hotchkiss School
, Lawrenceville School
, and Northfield Mount Hermon.
Choate is also a member of the Ten Schools Admissions Organization, established in 1966 and comprising Choate, Andover, Exeter, Deerfield, St. Paul's, Hotchkiss, Lawrenceville, Taft School, Loomis Chaffee
, and The Hill School
.
Among Choate's alumni are President John F. Kennedy
, two-time Presidential nominee Adlai Stevenson, playwright Edward Albee
, novelist John Dos Passos
, philanthropist Paul Mellon
, and actors Glenn Close
, Michael Douglas
, Jamie Lee Curtis
, and Paul Giamatti
.
The performing and visual arts programs are supported by the resources of the Paul Mellon Arts Center
. The senior year Capstone Project focuses on a single academic area, and the Senior Project Program provides on- or off-campus internships in academic research, visual art, and the performing arts. Other specialized programs include American Studies, creative writing, economics, FBLA, mathematics, philosophy, psychology, religion, debate, and the Fed Challenge. One-third of Choate students participate in study-abroad programs in China, France, Germany, Italy, and Spain.
There are about 240 courses in the curriculum, which has requirements in community service and in contemporary global studies. All disciplines have honors courses. There is Advanced Placement (AP) preparation in 25 areas, and 80 percent of the class of 2010 scored a 4 or 5 on the AP.
Choate regularly produces semifinalists and finalists in the Intel Science Talent Search
and in the Siemens Competition in science. In economics Choate's Fed Challenge team was the 2009 national champion and has won the New England District Championship in 12 of the past 13 years. Choate's Economic Challenge team has also won a national championship and has been state champion in 9 of the past 10 years.
The school's chamber orchestra performed at the White House in December 2009 and toured Spain in June 2010. The Maiyeros, an a cappella
group, performed at Westminster Abbey
in 2008. In the past two years Choate orchestras and choral groups have toured Europe and China, and performed at Lincoln Center
in New York. The school's student-operated radio station, WWEB
, is FCC-licensed and has been broadcasting since 1969.
Choate enrolls 625 boarding and 225 day students representing 40 states and 45 countries. 30 percent of students identify themselves as persons of color. For the 2010–2011 year there were about 1,800 applicants of which 22 percent were accepted; the yield from those accepted applicants was 65 percent. The 2010–2011 tuition and fees are $45,070 for boarders and $34,320 for day students. Financial aid totaling $8.5 million was awarded to 33 percent of the student body, the average award being $35,600 for boarders and $22,500 for day students.
The teaching faculty numbers 122 of whom 74 percent hold advanced degrees. Ninety percent of teaching faculty live on campus. There are in addition 46 administrative faculty. The student-faculty ratio is 6:1, and the average class size is 12.
On July 1, 2011, Dr. Alex Curtis succeeded Edward J. Shanahan as headmaster of Choate. Shanahan had served as head for twenty years from 1991, when he arrived from Dartmouth College
. Curtis was selected by unanimous vote of the Choate board on November 4, 2010. Before Choate, Curtis was headmaster of Morristown-Beard School
for seven years. He grew up in England, was educated at St. Paul's School in London, at Swarthmore College
in Pennsylvania, and at Princeton
, where his doctorate was in art and archaeology. While at Princeton, Curtis was head coach of women's rugby
.
Protestant, Catholic, Jewish, and Muslim chaplains serve Choate's campus ministry. Services include Christian fellowship, Protestant evening services, Roman Catholic mass, Buddhist meditation, Hillel, Spiritual Alternatives, Reflections Program, and other student worship groups.
In June 2010 Choate's endowment was $240 million. In November 2006 the school inaugurated a capital campaign with a target of $200 million and by April 2011 gifts and pledges of $215 million had been secured.
The school fields 81 interscholastic athletic teams in 32 sports. Choate's historical archrival in athletic competition is Deerfield Academy
. The final weekend of the fall season is Deerfield Day (at Deerfield it's called called Choate Day), when the two schools compete in every sport at varsity and sub-varsity levels.
and by Polhemus & Coffin
), but there are also eighteenth- and nineteenth-century houses and dramatic modernist structures (examples by I.M. Pei and by James Polshek
). All dormitory rooms have Internet2 high-speed access, and there is wireless access in all academic buildings, the Student Activities Center, and Johnson Athletic Center. Choate Information Place (CHIP) is the electronic information resource for the campus.
Principal buildings are in Georgian red brick, often with classical porticoes that were, by design, the unifying architectural feature of the early building phase. Of this type are, in chronological order:
The I.M. Pei-designed buildings on campus are:
Other large-scale buildings and athletic facilities include:
From 2007 to 2011 Choate has been New England champion in boys and girls ice hockey, boys golf, boys crew, and in girls swimming, volleyball, and water polo. In that same period, Choate has been Founders League champion in boys and girls squash, in boys cross country, golf, softball, and tennis, and in girls volleyball.
The athletic directors of Choate and the other members of the Eight Schools Association
compose the Eight Schools Athletic Council, which organizes sports events and tournaments among ESA schools. Choate is also a member of the New England Preparatory School Athletic Council
(NEPSAC) and the Founders League, which comprises private schools located mainly in Connecticut.
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Choate Rosemary Hall is rich in traditional events:
The schools that would eventually become Choate Rosemary Hall were begun by members of two prominent New England families, the Choates and Atwaters.
Rosemary Hall was founded in 1890 by Mary Atwater Choate at Rosemary Farm in Wallingford, her girlhood home and the summer residence of Mary and her husband, William Gardner Choate
. Mary, an alumna of Miss Porter's School
, was the great-granddaughter of Caleb Atwater (1741–1832), a Connecticut merchant magnate who supplied the American forces during the Revolutionary War. In 1775 General George Washington
visited the Atwater store in Wallingford en route to assuming command of the Continental Army
. On that occasion, Washington took tea with judge Oliver Stanley at the "Red House," now Squire Stanley House on the Choate campus.
In 1878 Mary Atwater Choate had co-founded a vocational organization for Civil War widows, the New York Exchange for Women's Work, prototype of many such exchanges across the country (it survived until 2003). In 1889 Mary planned a new institution on the same principle of female self-sufficiency and she advertised in The New York Times for a headmistress to run a school that would train girls in the "domestic arts." The advertisement was answered by Caroline Ruutz-Rees , a 25-year-old Briton teaching in New Jersey.
On October 3, 1890, the New Haven Morning News reported: "The opening of Rosemary Hall took place at Wallingford yesterday ... at the beautiful Rosemary Farms, which have been the property of Mrs. Choate's family for five generations. The school occupied a house belonging to Mrs. Choate, standing near the old Atwater homestead, which the members of the school will have the privilege of visiting as often as they like. ... Rev. Edward Everett Hale
addressed the school girls in his inimitable way, at once attractive and helpful. 'Never forget,' said he, 'that it is a great art to do what you do well. If you limp, limp well, and if you dance, dance well'."
This original school building, "old" Atwater House (built 1758), was at the northwest corner of Christian and Elm streets, where "new" Atwater House now stands. The eight arriving girls lived on the second floor, the headmistress's residence and classrooms occupied the ground floor, and the dining room was in the basement. More space was soon required and neighboring houses were rented from the Choates. The "old Atwater homestead" (built 1774, now known as Homestead), stands at the center of the present day campus, on the northeast corner of Christian and Elm streets.
Caroline Ruutz-Rees (1865–1954), headmistress of Rosemary Hall until 1938, was a figure of extraordinary personality and influence, a militant feminist and suffragist of national prominence. On the Wallingford golf course she wore bloomers, which shocked the locals, and on buggy rides to Wallingford station she carried a pistol. Her motto was "No rot." She quickly changed Rosemary Hall's mission from "domestic arts" to that of a contemporary boys school.
The Choate School was founded by William and Mary Choate in 1896. William Gardner Choate (1830–1921), Harvard
class of 1852, was U.S. District Judge for the Southern Circuit of New York
from 1878 to 1881, and afterward a partner of Shipman, Barlow, Laroque, and Choate. He was a national authority on admiralty, railroad, bankruptcy, and corporation law. Like his younger, more famous brother, he was a prominent clubman (Harvard and The Century). That brother was Joseph Hodges Choate
, lawyer, prosecutor of the Tweed Ring, and Ambassador to the Court of St. James's
.
William and Mary Choate invited Mark Pitman (1830–1905), their tenant in the aforementioned Red House, to start a boys school under their sponsorship. Pitman, Bowdoin
class of 1859, was sixty-six years old, a widower, and had been principal of Woolsey School in New Haven, Connecticut, since 1872. He accepted the Choates' offer, not least perhaps because it would provide employment for his unmarried adult daughters, Leila, Elizabeth, and Helen. Six boys entered the new school in fall term 1896, their average age about ten. Four of the six lived in Red House with the Pitmans, and Red House (Squire Stanley House) has remained a first-year dormitory to the present day.
Pitman taught Latin, English, history, and science; Elizabeth taught art, Helen piano, and Leila was writing teacher and school nurse. Mary Choate's physician brother, Dr. Huntington Atwater, taught crafts and was school doctor. There was no formal relationship with the Choates' other foundation, Rosemary Hall, a hundred yards to the east on Christian Street, but there were coeducational audiences for plays and recitals and Mary Choate hosted dances at the Homestead, an Atwater family residence since 1774.
In 1897 the boys school erected Choate House across the street from Red House, the first purpose-built institutional building (and John Kennedy's dormitory in 1931-2). It contained recitation rooms, an infirmary, a dining room, and housing for fifteen boys. In 1899 Choate House was venue for the first "Junior Dance," but a year later the Rosemary girls would depart for a seventy-one year absence.
The official history of Choate Rosemary Hall, written by Tom Generous, says that the rift between Caroline Ruutz-Rees and Mary Choate, proponents of two very different sorts of feminism, was public knowledge as early as 1896. In that year the two women did not share the lectern at Prize Day, and local newspapers published "denials" of a rumor that Ruutz-Rees would leave the school. But by 1900 the headmistress and her educational style had acquired influential champions among the students' parents and two of them, residents of Greenwich, Connecticut, joined forces to effect the removal of the school to their town.
Shipping magnate Nathaniel Witherell donated 5 acres (20,234.3 m²) of land in the Rock Ridge section of Greenwich. Julian Curtiss gathered a group of investors and established a joint stock corporation funded through the sale of six-percent bonds. Ruutz-Rees was the chief shareholder. The Greenwich residence of Rosemary Hall began in fall term 1900, when 57 girl students moved into the Main Building, known as "The School," a U-shaped shingled house on Zaccheus Mead Lane.
In Wallingford, Mark Pitman had died on December 3, 1905. Until 1908 Sumner Blakemore was titular headmaster, but the school was effectively the domain of the three Pitman sisters. At the 1908 graduation ceremony the Japanese Consul General watched his countryman Noyobu Masuda give the valedictory address. Then Judge Choate introduced the man who would assume the headmastership in the fall, George St. John, and his wife, Clara Seymour St. John. She was a Bryn Mawr
alumna, member of a well-connected Connecticut family, sister of future (1937–1951) Yale president Charles Seymour
, and descendant of Yale president (1740–1766) Thomas Clap
.
George Clair St. John (1877–1966), Harvard class of 1902, aged 31 in the fall of 1908, had grown up on a farm in Hoskins Station, Connecticut. He was an ordained Episcopal priest. He had taught at Hill School in Pennsylvania and Adirondack-Florida School, and was teaching at Hackley School
in Tarrytown, N.Y., when Samuel Dutton of Columbia Teachers College
recruited him for the headmastership. St. John "knew, long before I read Mr. Dutton's letter, that I wanted some day to have a school of my own. In my thought about it, Dean Briggs was my first text." This was LeBaron Russell Briggs
, dean of men at Harvard when St. John was there and afterward dean of the faculty until 1925. Briggs, St. John wrote, "fathered the whole college ... had perceptions like a father, a mother, an older brother," and the St. Johns too would serve in loco parentis.
Their first move to secure parental powers was decisive. In September 1909, as the official history tells it, the St. Johns "signed with the Choates an 'Agreement to Lease and Purchase.' Under its terms, the younger couple rented the school, its property and reputation, for five years at a sum equal to 11 percent of The Choate School's net income per year. ... Less than twenty months later, on May 12, 1911, St. John reported to the trustees that he had purchased the title to the school by acquiring mortgages of roughly $41,000. He resold the title in turn to The Choate School, Incorporated, for $23,000 cash and $38,000 in stock ... For all intents and purposes, The Choate School belonged to George St. John."
In his first quarter-century as headmaster, St. John created much of Choate as it is regarded today. Of the Georgian brick and stone campus, he had built by 1932 Hill House, West Wing, the Gymnasium, Memorial House, the Chapel, the Library, the Winter Exercise Building, and Archbold Infirmary, which was the largest school infirmary in the country. He grew the enrollment from 35 to 505 boys and the faculty from 5 to 64 masters. In the decade following the First World War (classes of 1918 to 1928) Choate sent 412 of its 618 graduates to Yale, Princeton, and Harvard, according to a table published in The Choate News in fall term 1928.
George St. John belonged to the generation of legendary, long-serving headmasters who shaped the New England prep school, chief among whom were Endicott Peabody
of Groton, Frank Boyden
of Deerfield, Horace Dutton Taft
of Taft, Frederick Sill of Kent, Samuel Drury of St. Paul's, Alfred Stearns of Andover, Lewis Perry of Exeter, and George Van Santvoord of Hotchkiss.
The Rev. George St. John of Choate was succeeded in 1947 by his son, the Rev. Seymour St. John '31 (1912–2006), and the "St. John dynasty" was continued to 1973. Seymour was Yale class of 1935 and was ordained at Episcopal Theological Seminary
(now Virginia Theological Seminary) in 1942. During his time as head he built as many buildings as his father had built, greatly broadened the curriculum, raised the national profile of the school, and made it more progressive (Eleanor Roosevelt
, Norman Thomas
, and William Sloane Coffin
were regular speakers) and cosmopolitan (Russian, Near Eastern, and Afro-American studies centers were founded, and Russian, Chinese, and Arabic courses were begun). St. John was a longtime advocate of coeducation and initiated the Choate-Rosemary contacts. At his death, headmaster Edward Shanahan told the New York Times, "The merger demanded an enormous expenditure of resources by Choate because the building of a new campus was to occur within the footprints of its property. Seymour was central to the decision to expand those resources."
University-preparatory school
A university-preparatory school or college-preparatory school is a secondary school, usually private, designed to prepare students for a college or university education...
, coeducational boarding school
Boarding school
A boarding school is a school where some or all pupils study and live during the school year with their fellow students and possibly teachers and/or administrators. The word 'boarding' is used in the sense of "bed and board," i.e., lodging and meals...
located in Wallingford, Connecticut
Wallingford, Connecticut
Wallingford is a town in New Haven County, Connecticut, United States. The population was 43,026 at the 2000 census.- History :Wallingford was established on October 10, 1667, when the Connecticut General Assembly authorized the "making of a village on the east river" to 38 planters and freemen...
. It took its present name and coeducational form with the merger in 1971 of two single-sex establishments, The Choate School (founded in 1896 in Wallingford) and Rosemary Hall
Rosemary Hall (Greenwich, Connecticut)
Rosemary Hall was an independent girls school in Greenwich, Connecticut, in Fairfield County, Connecticut. It was later merged into Choate Rosemary Hall and moved to the Choate boys' school campus in Wallingford, in New Haven County, Connecticut....
(founded in 1890 in Wallingford, but resident from 1900 to 1971 in Greenwich, Connecticut
Greenwich, Connecticut
Greenwich is a town in Fairfield County, Connecticut, United States. As of the 2010 census, the town had a total population of 61,171. It is home to many hedge funds and other financial service companies. Greenwich is the southernmost and westernmost municipality in Connecticut and is 38+ minutes ...
). At the merger, the Wallingford campus was enlarged with a complex of modernist buildings on its eastern edge to accommodate the girls from Greenwich.
Choate is a member of the Eight Schools Association
Eight Schools Association
The Eight Schools Association is a group of leading private college-preparatory schools in the United States, begun informally during the 1973-74 school year and formalized in 2006 with the appointment of a president and an executive director...
, begun informally in 1973–74 and formalized at a 2006 meeting at Lawrenceville School, when former Choate headmaster Edward Shanahan was appointed its first president. He was succeeded in 2009 by Lawrenceville head Elizabeth Duffy. The member schools are Choate, Phillips Academy
Phillips Academy
Phillips Academy is a selective, co-educational independent boarding high school for boarding and day students in grades 9–12, along with a post-graduate year...
(known as Andover), Phillips Exeter Academy
Phillips Exeter Academy
Phillips Exeter Academy is a private secondary school located in Exeter, New Hampshire, in the United States.Exeter is noted for its application of Harkness education, a system based on a conference format of teacher and student interaction, similar to the Socratic method of learning through asking...
(known as Exeter), Deerfield Academy
Deerfield Academy
Deerfield Academy is an independent, coeducational boarding school in Deerfield, Massachusetts, United States. It is a four-year college-preparatory school with approximately 600 students and about 100 faculty, all of whom live on or near campus....
, St. Paul's School
St. Paul's School (Concord, New Hampshire)
St. Paul's School is a highly selective college-preparatory, coeducational boarding school in Concord, New Hampshire affiliated with the Episcopal Church. The school is one of only six remaining 100% residential boarding schools in the U.S. The New Hampshire campus currently serves 533 students,...
, Hotchkiss School
Hotchkiss School
The Hotchkiss School is an independent, coeducational American college preparatory boarding school located in Lakeville, Connecticut. Founded in 1891, the school enrolls students in grades 9 through 12 and a small number of postgraduates...
, Lawrenceville School
Lawrenceville School
The Lawrenceville School is a coeducational, independent preparatory boarding school for grades 9–12 located on in the historic community of Lawrenceville, in Lawrence Township, New Jersey, U.S., five miles southwest of Princeton....
, and Northfield Mount Hermon.
Choate is also a member of the Ten Schools Admissions Organization, established in 1966 and comprising Choate, Andover, Exeter, Deerfield, St. Paul's, Hotchkiss, Lawrenceville, Taft School, Loomis Chaffee
Loomis Chaffee
The Loomis Chaffee School is a premier coeducational boarding school for grades 9–12 and postgraduates located on a 300-plus acre campus in the Connecticut River Valley in Windsor, Connecticut, six miles north of Hartford...
, and The Hill School
The Hill School
The Hill School is a preparatory boarding school for boys and girls located in Pottstown, Pennsylvania, about 35 miles northwest of Philadelphia....
.
Among Choate's alumni are President John F. Kennedy
John F. Kennedy
John Fitzgerald "Jack" Kennedy , often referred to by his initials JFK, was the 35th President of the United States, serving from 1961 until his assassination in 1963....
, two-time Presidential nominee Adlai Stevenson, playwright Edward Albee
Edward Albee
Edward Franklin Albee III is an American playwright who is best known for The Zoo Story , The Sandbox , Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? , and a rewrite of the screenplay for the unsuccessful musical version of Capote's Breakfast at Tiffany's . His works are considered well-crafted, often...
, novelist John Dos Passos
John Dos Passos
John Roderigo Dos Passos was an American novelist and artist.-Early life:Born in Chicago, Illinois, Dos Passos was the illegitimate son of John Randolph Dos Passos , a distinguished lawyer of Madeiran Portuguese descent, and Lucy Addison Sprigg Madison of Petersburg, Virginia. The elder Dos Passos...
, philanthropist Paul Mellon
Paul Mellon
Paul Mellon KBE was an American philanthropist, thoroughbred racehorse owner/breeder. He is one of only five people ever designated an "Exemplar of Racing" by the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame...
, and actors Glenn Close
Glenn Close
Glenn Close is an American actress and singer of theatre and film, known for her roles as a femme fatale Glenn Close (born March 19, 1947) is an American actress and singer of theatre and film, known for her roles as a femme fatale Glenn Close (born March 19, 1947) is an American actress and...
, Michael Douglas
Michael Douglas
Michael Kirk Douglas is an American actor and producer, primarily in movies and television. He has won three Golden Globes and two Academy Awards; first as producer of 1975's Best Picture, One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, and as Best Actor in 1987 for his role in Wall Street. Douglas received the...
, Jamie Lee Curtis
Jamie Lee Curtis
Jamie Lee Curtis is an American actress and author. Although she was initially known as a "scream queen" because of her starring roles in several horror films early in her career, such as Halloween, The Fog, Prom Night and Terror Train, Curtis has since compiled a body of work that spans many...
, and Paul Giamatti
Paul Giamatti
Paul Edward Valentine Giamatti is an American actor. Giamatti began his career as a supporting actor in several films produced during the 1990s including Private Parts, The Truman Show, Saving Private Ryan, The Negotiator, and Man on the Moon, before earning lead roles in several projects in the...
.
Curriculum
Choate's curriculum includes an array of elective and interdisciplinary courses, from astronomy and architecture to printmaking and post-modernism to a dozen foreign and ancient languages. Area specializations include the Arts Concentration Program and a two-year intensive Science Research Program with summer laboratory work at universities in the United States and abroad.The performing and visual arts programs are supported by the resources of the Paul Mellon Arts Center
Paul Mellon Arts Center
The Paul Mellon Arts Center is an arts building on the campus of Choate Rosemary Hall school, Wallingford, Connecticut. It is known locally as the "PMAC". It was designed by architect I. M. Pei....
. The senior year Capstone Project focuses on a single academic area, and the Senior Project Program provides on- or off-campus internships in academic research, visual art, and the performing arts. Other specialized programs include American Studies, creative writing, economics, FBLA, mathematics, philosophy, psychology, religion, debate, and the Fed Challenge. One-third of Choate students participate in study-abroad programs in China, France, Germany, Italy, and Spain.
There are about 240 courses in the curriculum, which has requirements in community service and in contemporary global studies. All disciplines have honors courses. There is Advanced Placement (AP) preparation in 25 areas, and 80 percent of the class of 2010 scored a 4 or 5 on the AP.
Choate regularly produces semifinalists and finalists in the Intel Science Talent Search
Intel Science Talent Search
The Intel Science Talent Search , known for its first 57 years as the Westinghouse Science Talent Search is a research-based science competition in the United States for high school seniors. It has been referred to as "the nation's oldest and most prestigious" science competition. In his speech...
and in the Siemens Competition in science. In economics Choate's Fed Challenge team was the 2009 national champion and has won the New England District Championship in 12 of the past 13 years. Choate's Economic Challenge team has also won a national championship and has been state champion in 9 of the past 10 years.
The school's chamber orchestra performed at the White House in December 2009 and toured Spain in June 2010. The Maiyeros, an a cappella
A cappella
A cappella music is specifically solo or group singing without instrumental sound, or a piece intended to be performed in this way. It is the opposite of cantata, which is accompanied singing. A cappella was originally intended to differentiate between Renaissance polyphony and Baroque concertato...
group, performed at Westminster Abbey
Westminster Abbey
The Collegiate Church of St Peter at Westminster, popularly known as Westminster Abbey, is a large, mainly Gothic church, in the City of Westminster, London, United Kingdom, located just to the west of the Palace of Westminster. It is the traditional place of coronation and burial site for English,...
in 2008. In the past two years Choate orchestras and choral groups have toured Europe and China, and performed at Lincoln Center
Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts
Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts is a complex of buildings in the Lincoln Square neighborhood of New York City's Upper West Side. Reynold Levy has been its president since 2002.-History and facilities:...
in New York. The school's student-operated radio station, WWEB
WWEB
WWEB is a high school radio station broadcasting a Variety music format. Licensed to Wallingford, Connecticut, USA, the station serves the New Haven area. The station is currently owned by Choate Rosemary Hall Foundation...
, is FCC-licensed and has been broadcasting since 1969.
Statistical profile
The teaching faculty numbers 122 of whom 74 percent hold advanced degrees. Ninety percent of teaching faculty live on campus. There are in addition 46 administrative faculty. The student-faculty ratio is 6:1, and the average class size is 12.
On July 1, 2011, Dr. Alex Curtis succeeded Edward J. Shanahan as headmaster of Choate. Shanahan had served as head for twenty years from 1991, when he arrived from Dartmouth College
Dartmouth College
Dartmouth College is a private, Ivy League university in Hanover, New Hampshire, United States. The institution comprises a liberal arts college, Dartmouth Medical School, Thayer School of Engineering, and the Tuck School of Business, as well as 19 graduate programs in the arts and sciences...
. Curtis was selected by unanimous vote of the Choate board on November 4, 2010. Before Choate, Curtis was headmaster of Morristown-Beard School
Morristown-Beard School
Morristown-Beard School is a coeducational college-preparatory day school, serving students in sixth through twelfth grade, located in Morristown, in Morris County, New Jersey. Morristown-Beard School is the product of the 1971 merger of two institutions, Miss Beard's School for girls, founded in...
for seven years. He grew up in England, was educated at St. Paul's School in London, at Swarthmore College
Swarthmore College
Swarthmore College is a private, independent, liberal arts college in the United States with an enrollment of about 1,500 students. The college is located in the borough of Swarthmore, Pennsylvania, 11 miles southwest of Philadelphia....
in Pennsylvania, and at Princeton
Princeton University
Princeton University is a private research university located in Princeton, New Jersey, United States. The school is one of the eight universities of the Ivy League, and is one of the nine Colonial Colleges founded before the American Revolution....
, where his doctorate was in art and archaeology. While at Princeton, Curtis was head coach of women's rugby
Women's rugby union
Women's rugby union is a sport identical to the men's game with the same rules, same sized pitch, and same equipment. However, it has a history which is significantly different, due to various social pressures, and the self-image of rugby union in general...
.
Protestant, Catholic, Jewish, and Muslim chaplains serve Choate's campus ministry. Services include Christian fellowship, Protestant evening services, Roman Catholic mass, Buddhist meditation, Hillel, Spiritual Alternatives, Reflections Program, and other student worship groups.
In June 2010 Choate's endowment was $240 million. In November 2006 the school inaugurated a capital campaign with a target of $200 million and by April 2011 gifts and pledges of $215 million had been secured.
The school fields 81 interscholastic athletic teams in 32 sports. Choate's historical archrival in athletic competition is Deerfield Academy
Deerfield Academy
Deerfield Academy is an independent, coeducational boarding school in Deerfield, Massachusetts, United States. It is a four-year college-preparatory school with approximately 600 students and about 100 faculty, all of whom live on or near campus....
. The final weekend of the fall season is Deerfield Day (at Deerfield it's called called Choate Day), when the two schools compete in every sport at varsity and sub-varsity levels.
Buildings and facilities
The 458 acres (1.9 km²) campus contains 121 buildings in a variety of architectural styles. Georgian Revival predominates (examples by famed traditionalist architect Ralph Adams CramRalph Adams Cram
Ralph Adams Cram FAIA, , was a prolific and influential American architect of collegiate and ecclesiastical buildings, often in the Gothic style. Cram & Ferguson and Cram, Goodhue & Ferguson are partnerships in which he worked.-Early life:Cram was born on December 16, 1863 at Hampton Falls, New...
and by Polhemus & Coffin
Polhemus & Coffin
Henry M. Polhemus and Lewis Augustus Coffin, Jr formed the New York-based architectural firm of Polhemus & Coffin. Together they contributed to a joint publication, Small French Buildings: The Architecture of Town and Country, with 183 plates of sketches, illustrations and photos, published by...
), but there are also eighteenth- and nineteenth-century houses and dramatic modernist structures (examples by I.M. Pei and by James Polshek
James Polshek
James Stewart Polshek is an American architect based in New York City. He is the founder of Polshek Partnership, the firm at which he was Principal Design Partner for more than four decades...
). All dormitory rooms have Internet2 high-speed access, and there is wireless access in all academic buildings, the Student Activities Center, and Johnson Athletic Center. Choate Information Place (CHIP) is the electronic information resource for the campus.
Principal buildings are in Georgian red brick, often with classical porticoes that were, by design, the unifying architectural feature of the early building phase. Of this type are, in chronological order:
- Hill House: Built 1911, designed by Francis Waterman; administration offices, with dormitory above.
- West Wing: Built 1914; adjoining Hill House, a dining hall, with dormitory above.
- John Joseph Activities Center (formerly Gymnasium): Built 1917 as a gym, renovated 1979; now the student union, mail room, tuck shopTuck shopA tuck shop is a small, food-selling retailer. It is a term principally used in the UK, Grenada, South Africa, New Zealand, the Australian states of Queensland, Victoria and New South Wales, and occasionally in other parts of the former British Empire. In New South Wales, the term is...
, cyber cafe, games room, and school store, with a connector to the Larry Hart Pool. - Memorial House: Built 1921; dormitory on the northwest campus, designed to mirror Hill House on the southwest campus.
- Seymour St. John Chapel (formerly St. Andrew's Chapel): Built 1924, designed by Ralph Adams CramRalph Adams CramRalph Adams Cram FAIA, , was a prolific and influential American architect of collegiate and ecclesiastical buildings, often in the Gothic style. Cram & Ferguson and Cram, Goodhue & Ferguson are partnerships in which he worked.-Early life:Cram was born on December 16, 1863 at Hampton Falls, New...
; recently the filming location for commercials of the Royal Bank of Scotland. - Andrew Mellon Library: Built 1925, designed by Edward Mellon; given by U.S. Treasury Secretary Andrew Mellon P'25; Library special collections include correspondence and memorabilia of John F. Kennedy '35, Adlai Stevenson '18, Edward Albee '46, Caresse Crosby '11 and other alumni, the Haffenreffer Collection of early American documents and autographs, and collections related to Thomas HardyThomas HardyThomas Hardy, OM was an English novelist and poet. While his works typically belong to the Naturalism movement, several poems display elements of the previous Romantic and Enlightenment periods of literature, such as his fascination with the supernatural.While he regarded himself primarily as a...
and other writers. - Archbold: Built 1928, designed by Ralph Adams Cram; its scale on the northeast campus mirrors those of Hill House and Memorial House on the west campus; formerly the largest school infirmary in the country, it now houses the visitor center and admissions office, with dormitory above.
- The Hall: Built 1929; adjoining West Wing, a cavernous dining hall, with dormitory above.
- Paul Mellon Humanities Center (formerly Paul Mellon Science Hall): Built 1938, designed by Charles Fuller 1938; houses the digital video lab and the departments of English, History, Philosophy, Religion, and Social Sciences.
- Logan Munroe House: Built 1947; dormitory forming an ensemble with Memorial House, Nichols House, and Pitman House, linked by "Mem Circle" on the northwest campus.
- Nichols House: Built 1948, designed by Polhemus & CoffinPolhemus & CoffinHenry M. Polhemus and Lewis Augustus Coffin, Jr formed the New York-based architectural firm of Polhemus & Coffin. Together they contributed to a joint publication, Small French Buildings: The Architecture of Town and Country, with 183 plates of sketches, illustrations and photos, published by...
; dormitory. - George and Clara St. John Hall: Built 1957; departments of Mathematics and Computer Science.
- Pitman House: Built 1960; dormitory.
- Library new wing: Built 1963; dedication poem read by Robert FrostRobert FrostRobert Lee Frost was an American poet. He is highly regarded for his realistic depictions of rural life and his command of American colloquial speech. His work frequently employed settings from rural life in New England in the early twentieth century, using them to examine complex social and...
. - Steele Hall: Built 1967; departments of foreign languages.
- Tenney House and South House: Built 2008, designed by Centerbrook Architects; it follows the residential collegeResidential collegeA residential college is an organisational pattern for a division of a university that places academic activity in a community setting of students and faculty, usually at a residence and with shared meals, the college having a degree of autonomy and a federated relationship with the overall...
model, the houses flank a courtyard and have a connector archway.
- Paul Mellon Arts Center ("PMAC"): Built 1972, the gift of Paul Mellon; it was prototype for the Pei-designed East Building of the National Gallery of ArtNational Gallery of ArtThe National Gallery of Art and its Sculpture Garden is a national art museum, located on the National Mall between 3rd and 9th Streets at Constitution Avenue NW, in Washington, DC...
in Washington, which was also a Paul Mellon benefaction; with an 775-seat prosceniumProsceniumA proscenium theatre is a theatre space whose primary feature is a large frame or arch , which is located at or near the front of the stage...
theater designed by George Izenour, a black box theaterBlack box theaterThe black box theater is a relatively recent innovation, consisting of a simple, somewhat unadorned performance space, usually a large square room with black walls and a flat floor.-History:...
, a recital hall, film studio, exhibition galleries, fine arts studios, music practice rooms, associated dressing rooms, and classrooms; the PMAC is also the home of the Wallingford Symphony Orchestra and a frequent venue for touring companies. - Icahn Center for Science (formerly Paul Mellon Science Center): Built 1989, the gift of Paul Mellon, renamed in 2001 following a gift from Carl C. Icahn; with 22 classrooms, laboratories, conservatory, and auditorium; departments of Physics, Chemistry, and Biology.
Other large-scale buildings and athletic facilities include:
- The Rosemary Hall campus: Built 1971, designed by James PolshekJames PolshekJames Stewart Polshek is an American architect based in New York City. He is the founder of Polshek Partnership, the firm at which he was Principal Design Partner for more than four decades...
; a complex on the heights of the northeast campus comprising, among other buildings, Bronfman, originally a library, now the Learning Community Day Care Center; Macquire Gymnasium; and Brownell, which houses the offices of Alumni Relations, Development, and Information Technology. - Sally Hart Lodge: Built 1850; the alumni center, guest house, and "hotel" of the school.
- Pratt Health Center: The infirmary, staffed by 24-hour duty nurses and a pediatrician resident on campus; with the offices of Counseling and Community Service.
- Clinton Knight House and McCook House: Built 1966, designed by Frank Winder '39; twin white-brick dormitories, each forming a quadrangle with central skylight atrium.
- Worthington Johnson Athletic Center: Built 1932, designed by Lewis Augustus Coffin; north wing added in 2002, designed by Herbert Newman and Partners; originally called the Winter Exercise Building ("Winter Ex") and renamed in 1976; an enormous building whose central room was used by the Boston BravesAtlanta BravesThe Atlanta Braves are a professional baseball club based in Atlanta, Georgia. The Braves are a member of the Eastern Division of Major League Baseball's National League. The Braves have played in Turner Field since 1997....
in 1943 as their spring training infield; the WJAC contains two basketball courts, international squash courts, wrestling room, volleyball courts, suspended indoor track, ergometric room for crew, fitness and training rooms, and dance and aerobics studios. - Remsen Arena: Built 1967, renovated 2006; ice hockey facility among whose recent alumnae are four women's Team USA Olympians.
- Larry Hart Pool: Built 1978, designed by Jeter, Cook & Jepson; a 25-meter, 8-lane, solar-heated pool, with electronic timing system and underwater windows.
- Hunt Tennis Center: Built 1995; in a terraced garden setting, with clubhouse, coaches' offices, and 22 tennis courts, six of which are all-weather USTA regulation.
- Turf Fields: Built 2010; a complex of side-by-side artificial surface fields, in landscaping and with permanent seating and lights for night events.
- Bruce and Lueza Gelb Track: Built 2008; an 8-lane synthetic track with adjacent facilities for jumping and throwing events.
- Sylvester Boathouse: Built 1985; on Lake Quonnipaug, the crew race course.
Athletics
Choate competes in sports against schools from all over New England and adjacent states. Teams are fielded at the levels of varsity, junior varsity, and thirds sections. There are 32 different sports in interscholastic competition. Intramural programs include aerobics, dance, senior weight training, yoga, winter running, rock climbing, fitness and conditioning, and senior volleyball.From 2007 to 2011 Choate has been New England champion in boys and girls ice hockey, boys golf, boys crew, and in girls swimming, volleyball, and water polo. In that same period, Choate has been Founders League champion in boys and girls squash, in boys cross country, golf, softball, and tennis, and in girls volleyball.
The athletic directors of Choate and the other members of the Eight Schools Association
Eight Schools Association
The Eight Schools Association is a group of leading private college-preparatory schools in the United States, begun informally during the 1973-74 school year and formalized in 2006 with the appointment of a president and an executive director...
compose the Eight Schools Athletic Council, which organizes sports events and tournaments among ESA schools. Choate is also a member of the New England Preparatory School Athletic Council
New England Preparatory School Athletic Council
The New England Preparatory School Athletic Council was founded in 1942 as an organization of athletic directors from preparatory schools in New England.-Member schools:* The Albany Academy* American School for the Deaf* Applewild School...
(NEPSAC) and the Founders League, which comprises private schools located mainly in Connecticut.
Interscholastic sports
Fall
| Winter
| Spring
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Traditions
- Matriculation Ceremony at the start of school, in which each student signs a pledge card of commitment "to personal growth, to integrity, to self-discipline, and to caring for others."
- Cake Race is held on the last day of fall classes. Students and staff throng the cross country course for a 5K race, with winners in each form awarded a cake.
- Festival of Lessons and Carols is based on a service held in King's College Chapel, CambridgeKing's College Chapel, CambridgeKing's College Chapel is the chapel to King's College of the University of Cambridge, and is one of the finest examples of late Gothic English architecture, while its early Renaissance rood screen separating the nave and chancel, erected in 1532-36 in a striking contrast of style, has been called...
. The yuletide candlelight event in Seymour St. John Chapel includes Bible readings, music by Choate choruses, and instrumental groups, and carol-singing by the congregation. - Physics Phlotilla takes place in spring term. Students gather on the banks of the Science Center Pond to watch a competition among makeshift cardboard boats. The principles of buoyancy are tested, and many craft are sunk. Students must sail their boats the length of the pond and there are prizes for speed and creative design. There is also a sub-category for best suit of armour constructed from cardboard.
- First Hurrah is the final social event for the juniors hosted by the seniors. It marks 100 more days till the end of school.
- Last Hurrah is the final social event for seniors, known (in British-influenced terminology) as sixth formers. Traditionally sixth formers enjoy a reception, dinner, ballroom dance, and swing dance competition.
- Incendium is held in early April after sixth formers have received their college application decisions. Rejection letters are tossed into fire pits on the Class of 2008 Patio, and pinatas blazoned with the names of colleges are cathartically destroyed.)
- Garden Party, a Rosemary Hall tradition, takes place in spring term. Sixth form girls invite a fifth form (junior class) girl and a faculty member. They exchange flowers, take pictures, and pass on Rosemarian traditions to the rising senior girls. A slideshow is then presented. In response to Garden Party, Choate boys have created a "Parden Garty" and are now included in the slideshow portion of the event.
Publications
- The Brief, founded 1900, yearbook
- The News, founded 1907, weekly newspaper; one of the oldest high school student-produced weeklies in the country
- The Lit, founded 1915, literary magazine; it published Edward Albee's first play
- Choate Rosemary Hall Bulletin, founded 1939, alumni magazine
- Up on the Hillside, twice-weekly sports publication
- Horizons, academic review with student essays
- Beyond Choate, world and national news weekly
- High Society: A Trivial Periodical for the Serious Sort, founded 2010, social commentary periodical publishing thematic literature, art, and opinion-editorial articles
- Noise, founded 2009, music magazine
- The Press, weekly sports publication
- The Report, A biweekly current events publication
Early years
-
- See also: Rosemary HallRosemary Hall (Greenwich, Connecticut)Rosemary Hall was an independent girls school in Greenwich, Connecticut, in Fairfield County, Connecticut. It was later merged into Choate Rosemary Hall and moved to the Choate boys' school campus in Wallingford, in New Haven County, Connecticut....
for its history before the 1971 merger with Choate.
- See also: Rosemary Hall
The schools that would eventually become Choate Rosemary Hall were begun by members of two prominent New England families, the Choates and Atwaters.
Rosemary Hall was founded in 1890 by Mary Atwater Choate at Rosemary Farm in Wallingford, her girlhood home and the summer residence of Mary and her husband, William Gardner Choate
William Gardner Choate
William Gardner Choate was a United States federal judge.Born in Salem, Massachusetts, Choate received an A.B. from Harvard University in 1852 and an LL.B. from Harvard Law School in 1854...
. Mary, an alumna of Miss Porter's School
Miss Porter's School
Miss Porter's School, sometimes simply referred to as Porter's or Farmington, is a private college preparatory school for girls located in Farmington, Connecticut.- History :...
, was the great-granddaughter of Caleb Atwater (1741–1832), a Connecticut merchant magnate who supplied the American forces during the Revolutionary War. In 1775 General George Washington
George Washington
George Washington was the dominant military and political leader of the new United States of America from 1775 to 1799. He led the American victory over Great Britain in the American Revolutionary War as commander-in-chief of the Continental Army from 1775 to 1783, and presided over the writing of...
visited the Atwater store in Wallingford en route to assuming command of the Continental Army
Continental Army
The Continental Army was formed after the outbreak of the American Revolutionary War by the colonies that became the United States of America. Established by a resolution of the Continental Congress on June 14, 1775, it was created to coordinate the military efforts of the Thirteen Colonies in...
. On that occasion, Washington took tea with judge Oliver Stanley at the "Red House," now Squire Stanley House on the Choate campus.
In 1878 Mary Atwater Choate had co-founded a vocational organization for Civil War widows, the New York Exchange for Women's Work, prototype of many such exchanges across the country (it survived until 2003). In 1889 Mary planned a new institution on the same principle of female self-sufficiency and she advertised in The New York Times for a headmistress to run a school that would train girls in the "domestic arts." The advertisement was answered by Caroline Ruutz-Rees , a 25-year-old Briton teaching in New Jersey.
On October 3, 1890, the New Haven Morning News reported: "The opening of Rosemary Hall took place at Wallingford yesterday ... at the beautiful Rosemary Farms, which have been the property of Mrs. Choate's family for five generations. The school occupied a house belonging to Mrs. Choate, standing near the old Atwater homestead, which the members of the school will have the privilege of visiting as often as they like. ... Rev. Edward Everett Hale
Edward Everett Hale
Edward Everett Hale was an American author, historian and Unitarian clergyman. He was a child prodigy who exhibited extraordinary literary skills and at age thirteen was enrolled at Harvard University where he graduated second in his class...
addressed the school girls in his inimitable way, at once attractive and helpful. 'Never forget,' said he, 'that it is a great art to do what you do well. If you limp, limp well, and if you dance, dance well'."
This original school building, "old" Atwater House (built 1758), was at the northwest corner of Christian and Elm streets, where "new" Atwater House now stands. The eight arriving girls lived on the second floor, the headmistress's residence and classrooms occupied the ground floor, and the dining room was in the basement. More space was soon required and neighboring houses were rented from the Choates. The "old Atwater homestead" (built 1774, now known as Homestead), stands at the center of the present day campus, on the northeast corner of Christian and Elm streets.
Caroline Ruutz-Rees (1865–1954), headmistress of Rosemary Hall until 1938, was a figure of extraordinary personality and influence, a militant feminist and suffragist of national prominence. On the Wallingford golf course she wore bloomers, which shocked the locals, and on buggy rides to Wallingford station she carried a pistol. Her motto was "No rot." She quickly changed Rosemary Hall's mission from "domestic arts" to that of a contemporary boys school.
The Choate School was founded by William and Mary Choate in 1896. William Gardner Choate (1830–1921), Harvard
Harvard University
Harvard University is a private Ivy League university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States, established in 1636 by the Massachusetts legislature. Harvard is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States and the first corporation chartered in the country...
class of 1852, was U.S. District Judge for the Southern Circuit of New York
United States District Court for the Southern District of New York
The United States District Court for the Southern District of New York is a federal district court. Appeals from the Southern District of New York are taken to the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit The United States District Court for the Southern District of New York (in case...
from 1878 to 1881, and afterward a partner of Shipman, Barlow, Laroque, and Choate. He was a national authority on admiralty, railroad, bankruptcy, and corporation law. Like his younger, more famous brother, he was a prominent clubman (Harvard and The Century). That brother was Joseph Hodges Choate
Joseph Hodges Choate
Joseph Hodges Choate , was an American lawyer and diplomat.-Biography:He was born in Salem, Massachusetts on January 24, 1832. He was the son of physician George Choate and the brother of George C. S. Choate. His father's first cousin was Rufus Choate...
, lawyer, prosecutor of the Tweed Ring, and Ambassador to the Court of St. James's
United States Ambassador to the United Kingdom
The office of United States Ambassador to the United Kingdom was traditionally, and still is very much so today due to the Special Relationship, the most prestigious position in the United States Foreign Service...
.
William and Mary Choate invited Mark Pitman (1830–1905), their tenant in the aforementioned Red House, to start a boys school under their sponsorship. Pitman, Bowdoin
Bowdoin College
Bowdoin College , founded in 1794, is an elite private liberal arts college located in the coastal Maine town of Brunswick, Maine. As of 2011, U.S. News and World Report ranks Bowdoin 6th among liberal arts colleges in the United States. At times, it was ranked as high as 4th in the country. It is...
class of 1859, was sixty-six years old, a widower, and had been principal of Woolsey School in New Haven, Connecticut, since 1872. He accepted the Choates' offer, not least perhaps because it would provide employment for his unmarried adult daughters, Leila, Elizabeth, and Helen. Six boys entered the new school in fall term 1896, their average age about ten. Four of the six lived in Red House with the Pitmans, and Red House (Squire Stanley House) has remained a first-year dormitory to the present day.
Pitman taught Latin, English, history, and science; Elizabeth taught art, Helen piano, and Leila was writing teacher and school nurse. Mary Choate's physician brother, Dr. Huntington Atwater, taught crafts and was school doctor. There was no formal relationship with the Choates' other foundation, Rosemary Hall, a hundred yards to the east on Christian Street, but there were coeducational audiences for plays and recitals and Mary Choate hosted dances at the Homestead, an Atwater family residence since 1774.
In 1897 the boys school erected Choate House across the street from Red House, the first purpose-built institutional building (and John Kennedy's dormitory in 1931-2). It contained recitation rooms, an infirmary, a dining room, and housing for fifteen boys. In 1899 Choate House was venue for the first "Junior Dance," but a year later the Rosemary girls would depart for a seventy-one year absence.
The official history of Choate Rosemary Hall, written by Tom Generous, says that the rift between Caroline Ruutz-Rees and Mary Choate, proponents of two very different sorts of feminism, was public knowledge as early as 1896. In that year the two women did not share the lectern at Prize Day, and local newspapers published "denials" of a rumor that Ruutz-Rees would leave the school. But by 1900 the headmistress and her educational style had acquired influential champions among the students' parents and two of them, residents of Greenwich, Connecticut, joined forces to effect the removal of the school to their town.
Shipping magnate Nathaniel Witherell donated 5 acres (20,234.3 m²) of land in the Rock Ridge section of Greenwich. Julian Curtiss gathered a group of investors and established a joint stock corporation funded through the sale of six-percent bonds. Ruutz-Rees was the chief shareholder. The Greenwich residence of Rosemary Hall began in fall term 1900, when 57 girl students moved into the Main Building, known as "The School," a U-shaped shingled house on Zaccheus Mead Lane.
In Wallingford, Mark Pitman had died on December 3, 1905. Until 1908 Sumner Blakemore was titular headmaster, but the school was effectively the domain of the three Pitman sisters. At the 1908 graduation ceremony the Japanese Consul General watched his countryman Noyobu Masuda give the valedictory address. Then Judge Choate introduced the man who would assume the headmastership in the fall, George St. John, and his wife, Clara Seymour St. John. She was a Bryn Mawr
Bryn Mawr College
Bryn Mawr College is a women's liberal arts college located in Bryn Mawr, a community in Lower Merion Township, Pennsylvania, ten miles west of Philadelphia. The name "Bryn Mawr" means "big hill" in Welsh....
alumna, member of a well-connected Connecticut family, sister of future (1937–1951) Yale president Charles Seymour
Charles Seymour
Charles Seymour was an American academic, historian and President of Yale University from 1937 to 1951.-Early life:...
, and descendant of Yale president (1740–1766) Thomas Clap
Thomas Clap
Thomas Clap, also spelled Thomas Clapp , was an American academic and educator, a Congregational Minister, and college administrator. He was both the fifth rector and the earliest to be called "president" of Yale College .He was born in Scituate, Massachusetts, and studied with Rev...
.
George Clair St. John (1877–1966), Harvard class of 1902, aged 31 in the fall of 1908, had grown up on a farm in Hoskins Station, Connecticut. He was an ordained Episcopal priest. He had taught at Hill School in Pennsylvania and Adirondack-Florida School, and was teaching at Hackley School
Hackley School
Hackley School is a private college preparatory school located in Tarrytown, New York and is a member of the Ivy Preparatory School League. Founded in 1899 by wealthy philanthropist Mrs. Caleb Brewster Hackley, Hackley was intended to be a Unitarian alternative to the mostly Episcopal boarding...
in Tarrytown, N.Y., when Samuel Dutton of Columbia Teachers College
Teachers College, Columbia University
Teachers College, Columbia University is a graduate school of education located in New York City, New York...
recruited him for the headmastership. St. John "knew, long before I read Mr. Dutton's letter, that I wanted some day to have a school of my own. In my thought about it, Dean Briggs was my first text." This was LeBaron Russell Briggs
LeBaron Russell Briggs
LeBaron Russell Briggs was an American educator. He was appointed the first Dean of Men at Harvard University, where he also served as dean of the Faculty...
, dean of men at Harvard when St. John was there and afterward dean of the faculty until 1925. Briggs, St. John wrote, "fathered the whole college ... had perceptions like a father, a mother, an older brother," and the St. Johns too would serve in loco parentis.
Their first move to secure parental powers was decisive. In September 1909, as the official history tells it, the St. Johns "signed with the Choates an 'Agreement to Lease and Purchase.' Under its terms, the younger couple rented the school, its property and reputation, for five years at a sum equal to 11 percent of The Choate School's net income per year. ... Less than twenty months later, on May 12, 1911, St. John reported to the trustees that he had purchased the title to the school by acquiring mortgages of roughly $41,000. He resold the title in turn to The Choate School, Incorporated, for $23,000 cash and $38,000 in stock ... For all intents and purposes, The Choate School belonged to George St. John."
In his first quarter-century as headmaster, St. John created much of Choate as it is regarded today. Of the Georgian brick and stone campus, he had built by 1932 Hill House, West Wing, the Gymnasium, Memorial House, the Chapel, the Library, the Winter Exercise Building, and Archbold Infirmary, which was the largest school infirmary in the country. He grew the enrollment from 35 to 505 boys and the faculty from 5 to 64 masters. In the decade following the First World War (classes of 1918 to 1928) Choate sent 412 of its 618 graduates to Yale, Princeton, and Harvard, according to a table published in The Choate News in fall term 1928.
George St. John belonged to the generation of legendary, long-serving headmasters who shaped the New England prep school, chief among whom were Endicott Peabody
Endicott Peabody
Endicott "Chub" Peabody was the 62nd Governor of Massachusetts from January 3, 1963 to January 7, 1965.-Early life:...
of Groton, Frank Boyden
Frank Boyden
-Personal life:He attended Amherst College, class of 1902.He married Helen Sears Childs on June 29, 1907. She was a 1904 graduate of Smith College, which awarded her a Doctorate of Humane Letters in 1934....
of Deerfield, Horace Dutton Taft
Horace Dutton Taft
Horace Dutton Taft was an American educator, and the founder of The Taft School in Watertown, Connecticut, United States.He was born at Cincinnati, Ohio, the younger brother of William Howard Taft of the powerful Taft family...
of Taft, Frederick Sill of Kent, Samuel Drury of St. Paul's, Alfred Stearns of Andover, Lewis Perry of Exeter, and George Van Santvoord of Hotchkiss.
The Rev. George St. John of Choate was succeeded in 1947 by his son, the Rev. Seymour St. John '31 (1912–2006), and the "St. John dynasty" was continued to 1973. Seymour was Yale class of 1935 and was ordained at Episcopal Theological Seminary
Virginia Theological Seminary
Virginia Theological Seminary , formally called the Protestant Episcopal Theological Seminary in Virginia, is the largest accredited Episcopal seminary in the United States. Founded in 1818, VTS is situated on an campus in Alexandria, Virginia, just a few miles from downtown Washington, DC. VTS...
(now Virginia Theological Seminary) in 1942. During his time as head he built as many buildings as his father had built, greatly broadened the curriculum, raised the national profile of the school, and made it more progressive (Eleanor Roosevelt
Eleanor Roosevelt
Anna Eleanor Roosevelt was the First Lady of the United States from 1933 to 1945. She supported the New Deal policies of her husband, distant cousin Franklin Delano Roosevelt, and became an advocate for civil rights. After her husband's death in 1945, Roosevelt continued to be an international...
, Norman Thomas
Norman Thomas
Norman Mattoon Thomas was a leading American socialist, pacifist, and six-time presidential candidate for the Socialist Party of America.-Early years:...
, and William Sloane Coffin
William Sloane Coffin
William Sloane Coffin, Jr. was an American liberal Christian clergyman and long-time peace activist. He was ordained in the Presbyterian church and later received ministerial standing in the United Church of Christ....
were regular speakers) and cosmopolitan (Russian, Near Eastern, and Afro-American studies centers were founded, and Russian, Chinese, and Arabic courses were begun). St. John was a longtime advocate of coeducation and initiated the Choate-Rosemary contacts. At his death, headmaster Edward Shanahan told the New York Times, "The merger demanded an enormous expenditure of resources by Choate because the building of a new campus was to occur within the footprints of its property. Seymour was central to the decision to expand those resources."
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 (72.4 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 (40,468.6 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 PassosJohn Dos PassosJohn Roderigo Dos Passos was an American novelist and artist.-Early life:Born in Chicago, Illinois, Dos Passos was the illegitimate son of John Randolph Dos Passos , a distinguished lawyer of Madeiran Portuguese descent, and Lucy Addison Sprigg Madison of Petersburg, Virginia. The elder 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 BowlesChester BowlesChester Bliss Bowles was a liberal Democratic American diplomat and politician from Connecticut.-Biography:...
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 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, 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 CramRalph Adams CramRalph Adams Cram FAIA, , was a prolific and influential American architect of collegiate and ecclesiastical buildings, often in the Gothic style. Cram & Ferguson and Cram, Goodhue & Ferguson are partnerships in which he worked.-Early life:Cram was born on December 16, 1863 at Hampton Falls, New...
and constructed by Choate staff; Andrew Mellon's donation was $25,000. Choate Farm is bought and the school dairy built. - 1925: Paul MellonPaul MellonPaul Mellon KBE was an American philanthropist, thoroughbred racehorse owner/breeder. He is one of only five people ever designated an "Exemplar of Racing" by the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame...
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. Dudley FittsDudley FittsDudley Fitts was an American teacher, critic, poet, andtranslator. He was born in Boston, Massachusetts and attended Harvard University where he edited the Harvard Advocate. He taught at The Choate School 1926-1941 and at Phillips Academy at Andover 1941-1968...
and his former student Robert FitzgeraldRobert FitzgeraldRobert Stuart Fitzgerald was a poet, critic and translator whose renderings of the Greek classics "became standard works for a generation of scholars and students." He was best known as a translator of ancient Greek and Latin...
'29 publish translations of Alcestis of Euripides (1936) and Antigone of Sophocles (1939). - 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 FitzgeraldRobert FitzgeraldRobert Stuart Fitzgerald was a poet, critic and translator whose renderings of the Greek classics "became standard works for a generation of scholars and students." He was best known as a translator of ancient Greek and Latin...
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 LomaxAlan LomaxAlan Lomax was an American folklorist and ethnomusicologist. He was one of the great field collectors of folk music of the 20th century, recording thousands of songs in the United States, Great Britain, Ireland, the Caribbean, Italy, and Spain.In his later career, Lomax advanced his theories of...
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 SullivanGilbert and SullivanGilbert and Sullivan refers to the Victorian-era theatrical partnership of the librettist W. S. Gilbert and the composer Arthur Sullivan . The two men collaborated on fourteen comic operas between 1871 and 1896, of which H.M.S...
productions (The MikadoThe MikadoThe Mikado; or, The Town of Titipu is a comic opera in two acts, with music by Arthur Sullivan and libretto by W. S. Gilbert, their ninth of fourteen operatic collaborations...
) that continue to his retirement year 1947 (PatiencePatience (opera)Patience; or, Bunthorne's Bride, is a comic opera in two acts with music by Arthur Sullivan and libretto by W. S. Gilbert. First performed at the Opera Comique, London, on 23 April 1881, it moved to the 1,292-seat Savoy Theatre on 10 October 1881, where it was the first theatrical production in the...
). - 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. KennedyJohn F. KennedyJohn Fitzgerald "Jack" Kennedy , often referred to by his initials JFK, was the 35th President of the United States, serving from 1961 until his assassination in 1963....
graduates. 466 boys, 57 masters. 1690 House bought. - 1936: Alan Jay LernerAlan Jay LernerAlan Jay Lerner was an American lyricist and librettist. In collaboration with Frederick Loewe, he created some of the world's most popular and enduring works of musical theatre for both the stage and on film...
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. - 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 MellonPaul MellonPaul Mellon KBE was an American philanthropist, thoroughbred racehorse owner/breeder. He is one of only five people ever designated an "Exemplar of Racing" by the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame...
'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 BravesAtlanta BravesThe Atlanta Braves are a professional baseball club based in Atlanta, Georgia. The Braves are a member of the Eastern Division of Major League Baseball's National League. The Braves have played in Turner Field since 1997....
use the Winter Ex for spring training; manager Casey StengelCasey StengelCharles Dillon "Casey" Stengel , nicknamed "The Old Perfessor", was an American Major League Baseball outfielder and manager. He was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in ....
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 AlbeeEdward AlbeeEdward Franklin Albee III is an American playwright who is best known for The Zoo Story , The Sandbox , Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? , and a rewrite of the screenplay for the unsuccessful musical version of Capote's Breakfast at Tiffany's . His works are considered well-crafted, often...
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. KennedyJohn F. KennedyJohn Fitzgerald "Jack" Kennedy , often referred to by his initials JFK, was the 35th President of the United States, serving from 1961 until his assassination in 1963....
'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 1Sputnik 1Sputnik 1 ) was the first artificial satellite to be put into Earth's orbit. It was launched into an elliptical low Earth orbit by the Soviet Union on 4 October 1957. The unanticipated announcement of Sputnik 1s success precipitated the Sputnik crisis in the United States and ignited the Space...
. October, dedication of George and Clara St. John Hall; it cost $562,000. - 1960: April 17, the History Club is addressed by Nobel Peace PrizeNobel Peace PrizeThe Nobel Peace Prize is one of the five Nobel Prizes bequeathed by the Swedish industrialist and inventor Alfred Nobel.-Background:According to Nobel's will, the Peace Prize shall be awarded to the person who...
laureate Ralph BuncheRalph BuncheRalph Johnson Bunche or 1904December 9, 1971) was an American political scientist and diplomat who received the 1950 Nobel Peace Prize for his late 1940s mediation in Palestine. He was the first person of color to be so honored in the history of the Prize...
, 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 KennedyJohn F. KennedyJohn Fitzgerald "Jack" Kennedy , often referred to by his initials JFK, was the 35th President of the United States, serving from 1961 until his assassination in 1963....
'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 FrostRobert FrostRobert Lee Frost was an American poet. He is highly regarded for his realistic depictions of rural life and his command of American colloquial speech. His work frequently employed settings from rural life in New England in the early twentieth century, using them to examine complex social and...
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 DouglasMichael DouglasMichael Kirk Douglas is an American actor and producer, primarily in movies and television. He has won three Golden Globes and two Academy Awards; first as producer of 1975's Best Picture, One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, and as Best Actor in 1987 for his role in Wall Street. Douglas received the...
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 PassosJohn Dos PassosJohn Roderigo Dos Passos was an American novelist and artist.-Early life:Born in Chicago, Illinois, Dos Passos was the illegitimate son of John Randolph Dos Passos , a distinguished lawyer of Madeiran Portuguese descent, and Lucy Addison Sprigg Madison of Petersburg, Virginia. The elder 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., 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 MellonPaul MellonPaul Mellon KBE was an American philanthropist, thoroughbred racehorse owner/breeder. He is one of only five people ever designated an "Exemplar of Racing" by the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame...
'25 offers $1.5 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 EllingtonDuke EllingtonEdward Kennedy "Duke" Ellington was an American composer, pianist, and big band leader. Ellington wrote over 1,000 compositions...
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 MeadMargaret MeadMargaret Mead was an American cultural anthropologist, who was frequently a featured writer and speaker in the mass media throughout the 1960s and 1970s....
and Alvin TofflerAlvin TofflerAlvin Toffler is an American writer and futurist, known for his works discussing the digital revolution, communication revolution, corporate revolution and technological singularity....
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 PolshekJames PolshekJames Stewart Polshek is an American architect based in New York City. He is the founder of Polshek Partnership, the firm at which he was Principal Design Partner for more than four decades...
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.
- 1971: 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 SchoolDaycroft SchoolThe Daycroft School was a coeducational private boarding school founded by Sarah Pyle Smart in 1928 in Stamford, Connecticut and later relocated to Greenwich, Connecticut. There, it eventually occupied the Rosemary Hall campus from 1971 until Daycroft's closing in 1991...
, 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 DartmouthDartmouth CollegeDartmouth College is a private, Ivy League university in Hanover, New Hampshire, United States. The institution comprises a liberal arts college, Dartmouth Medical School, Thayer School of Engineering, and the Tuck School of Business, as well as 19 graduate programs in the arts and sciences...
and had taught history at AndoverPhillips AcademyPhillips Academy is a selective, co-educational independent boarding high school for boarding and day students in grades 9–12, along with a post-graduate year...
. He appoints RH academic dean and classics teacher Joanne Sullivan as dean and head of RH, and former St. Paul's SchoolSt. Paul's School (Concord, New Hampshire)St. Paul's School is a highly selective college-preparatory, coeducational boarding school in Concord, New Hampshire affiliated with the Episcopal Church. The school is one of only six remaining 100% residential boarding schools in the U.S. The New Hampshire campus currently serves 533 students,...
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 CurtisJamie Lee CurtisJamie Lee Curtis is an American actress and author. Although she was initially known as a "scream queen" because of her starring roles in several horror films early in her career, such as Halloween, The Fog, Prom Night and Terror Train, Curtis has since compiled a body of work that spans many...
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 LowensteinAllard K. LowensteinAllard Kenneth Lowenstein, , was a liberal Democratic politician, a one-term congressman representing the 5th District in Nassau County, New York from 1969 until 1971. His work on civil rights and the antiwar movement has been cited as an inspiration by public figures including Congressmen, John...
. - 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 CrucibleThe CrucibleThe Crucible is a 1952 play by the American playwright Arthur Miller. It is a dramatization of the Salem witch trials that took place in the Province of Massachusetts Bay during 1692 and 1693. Miller wrote the play as an allegory of McCarthyism, when the US government blacklisted accused communists...
is performed and its author Arthur MillerArthur MillerArthur Asher Miller was an American playwright and essayist. He was a prominent figure in American theatre, writing dramas that include plays such as All My Sons , Death of a Salesman , The Crucible , and A View from the Bridge .Miller was often in the public eye,...
lectures on McCarthyismMcCarthyismMcCarthyism is the practice of making accusations of disloyalty, subversion, or treason without proper regard for evidence. The term has its origins in the period in the United States known as the Second Red Scare, lasting roughly from the late 1940s to the late 1950s and characterized by...
. - 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 Minutes60 Minutes60 Minutes is an American television news magazine, which has run on CBS since 1968. The program was created by producer Don Hewitt who set it apart by using a unique style of reporter-centered investigation....
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 GiamattiPaul GiamattiPaul Edward Valentine Giamatti is an American actor. Giamatti began his career as a supporting actor in several films produced during the 1990s including Private Parts, The Truman Show, Saving Private Ryan, The Negotiator, and Man on the Moon, before earning lead roles in several projects in the...
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 (91.4 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 NobelNobel PrizeThe Nobel Prizes are annual international awards bestowed by Scandinavian committees in recognition of cultural and scientific advances. The will of the Swedish chemist Alfred Nobel, the inventor of dynamite, established the prizes in 1895...
laureates Mikhail GorbachevMikhail GorbachevMikhail Sergeyevich Gorbachev is a former Soviet statesman, having served as General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union from 1985 until 1991, and as the last head of state of the USSR, having served from 1988 until its dissolution in 1991...
, Desmond TutuDesmond TutuDesmond Mpilo Tutu is a South African activist and retired Anglican bishop who rose to worldwide fame during the 1980s as an opponent of apartheid...
, 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.
- 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 AwardSpecial Tony AwardThe Special Tony Award category includes the Lifetime Achievement Award and Special Tony Award. These are non-competitive awards, and the titles have changed over the years...
for Lifetime Achievement. - 2006: February, at the Winter Olympics in Turin the U.S. women's hockey team has three alumnae, Angela RuggieroAngela RuggieroAngela Marie Ruggiero is an American ice hockey defenseman. She is a member of the United States women's national ice hockey team. She is also the author of a memoir about her hockey experiences and a former contestant on the NBC reality show The Apprentice...
'98, Kim InsalacoKim InsalacoKim Insalaco is an American ice hockey player. She won a bronze medal at the 2006 Winter Olympics. She graduated from Brown University in 2003. Kim married Chris Legg, also a former Brown Men's Icer on June 13, 2009 in Ithaca, NY where Kim was living at the time...
'99, and Julie ChuJulie ChuJulie Chu is an American Olympic ice hockey player who plays the position of forward on the United States women's ice hockey team and the Montreal Stars. Chu's hometown is Fairfield, Connecticut, although she resided in Cambridge, Massachusetts during her college years while playing hockey for...
'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 TripCollege Road TripCollege Road Trip is a 2008 American family/comedy directed by Roger Kumble and starring Martin Lawrence, Raven-Symoné, Brenda Song, Margo Harshman, and Donny Osmond. The film centers on college-bound teen Melanie Porter , who goes on a road trip to different colleges with her father...
, starring Martin LawrenceMartin LawrenceMartin Fitzgerald Lawrence is an American actor, film director, film producer, screenwriter, and stand up comedian. He came to fame during the 1990s, establishing a Hollywood career as a leading actor, most notably the films Bad Boys, Blue Streak, and Big Momma's House...
and Raven-SymonéRaven-SymonéRaven-Symoné Christina Pearman , known professionally as Raven-Symoné , or simply Raven, is an American actress, singer, songwriter, comedian, dancer, television producer and model. Symoné launched her successful career in 1989 after appearing in The Cosby Show as Olivia...
. 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 RoveKarl RoveKarl Christian Rove was Senior Advisor and Deputy Chief of Staff to former President George W. Bush until Rove's resignation on August 31, 2007. He has headed the Office of Political Affairs, the Office of Public Liaison, and the White House Office of Strategic Initiatives...
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.Herbert Kohler, Jr.Herbert Vollrath Kohler, Jr. is the president and chairman of the Kohler Company, a manufacturing company in Kohler, Wisconsin, best known for its plumbing products....
'57 offers to donate an Environmental Center to be built on 262 acres (1.1 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 RuggieroAngela RuggieroAngela Marie Ruggiero is an American ice hockey defenseman. She is a member of the United States women's national ice hockey team. She is also the author of a memoir about her hockey experiences and a former contestant on the NBC reality show The Apprentice...
'98, Julie ChuJulie ChuJulie Chu is an American Olympic ice hockey player who plays the position of forward on the United States women's ice hockey team and the Montreal Stars. Chu's hometown is Fairfield, Connecticut, although she resided in Cambridge, Massachusetts during her college years while playing hockey for...
'01, and Hilary KnightHilary Knight (ice hockey)Hilary Knight is an American ice hockey forward. She is a member of the United States women's national ice hockey team....
'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. FletcherGeoffrey S. FletcherGeoffrey Shawn Fletcher is an American screenwriter, film director, and adjunct film professor at Columbia University and New York University's Tisch School of the Arts in New York City, New York...
'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 AssociationEight Schools AssociationThe Eight Schools Association is a group of leading private college-preparatory schools in the United States, begun informally during the 1973-74 school year and formalized in 2006 with the appointment of a president and an executive director...
(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.
Heads of School and Foundation
- Headmistresses of Rosemary Hall: Caroline Ruutz-Rees 1890–1938; Eugenia Baker Jessup '10, 1938–53, 1957–58; Helen MacKissick Williamson 1953–57; Alice McBee 1958–71; Elizabeth Winslow Loomis 1971–73.
- Headmasters of The Choate School: Mark Pitman 1896–1905; Sumner Blakemore 1906–08; George C. St. John 1908–47; Seymour St. John '31, 1947–73.
- Headmasters of Choate Rosemary Hall: Charles F. Dey 1973–91 (initially president and principal of The Choate School and Rosemary Hall); Edward J. Shanahan 1991 to 2011; Dr. Alex Curtis 2011 -.
- Presidents of The Choate School Foundation: George C. St. John 1911–47 (The Choate School, Incorporated 1911–37; The Choate School Chapel Foundation 1924–29; The Choate School Chapel and Library Foundation 1929–37; The Choate School Foundation 1937–47); Richard R. Higgins 1947–58; Donald McK. Blodget '13, 1958–61; Craig D. Munson '16, 1961–66; Daniel G. Tenney, Jr. '31, 1967–74.
- Presidents of Rosemary Hall Foundation: Caroline Ruutz-Rees 1890–1938 (headmistress and owner); Catherine B. Blanke '25, 1950–55; Franklin E. Parker, Jr. 1950–54 (chair); Elizabeth B. MacDonald '21, 1956–60; H. Chandler Turner, Jr. 1960–62; Julian M. Avery 1962–65; Gerrish H. Milliken 1965–74.
- Chairs of Choate Rosemary Hall Foundation: Elizabeth Hyde Brownell '21, 1974–77; Peter C. Goldmark, Jr. '58, 1977–79; Larry A. Hart '32, 1979–82; Bruce S. GelbBruce GelbBruce Gelb is an American businessman and diplomat. He is the retired president of Clairol and former vice chairman of Bristol Myers Squibb.-Early Life and Education:...
'45, 1982–85; William G. Spears '56, 1985–90; Stephen J. Schulte '56, 1990–95; Edwin A. Goodman '58, 1995–2000; Cary L. Neiman '64, 2000–05; Herbert V. Kohler, Jr.Herbert Kohler, Jr.Herbert Vollrath Kohler, Jr. is the president and chairman of the Kohler Company, a manufacturing company in Kohler, Wisconsin, best known for its plumbing products....
'57, 2005–10; Michael J. Carr '76, 2010–present.
Notable alumni
- Edward AlbeeEdward AlbeeEdward Franklin Albee III is an American playwright who is best known for The Zoo Story , The Sandbox , Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? , and a rewrite of the screenplay for the unsuccessful musical version of Capote's Breakfast at Tiffany's . His works are considered well-crafted, often...
, playwright - Lauren Ambrose, film and TV actress
- Florieda BatsonFlorieda BatsonFlorieda Batson was an American hurdler and captain of the United States team at the Women's Olympics in Paris in 1922....
, hurdler, 1922 Olympian - Stephen BogardusStephen Bogardus-Biography:Born in Norfolk, Virginia, Bogardus graduated from Choate Rosemary Hall in 1972 and Princeton University in 1976, where he was a member of the Princeton Nassoons and the Princeton Triangle Club.-Career:...
, ObieObie AwardThe Obie Awards or Off-Broadway Theater Awards are annual awards given by The Village Voice newspaper to theatre artists and groups in New York City...
-winning stage actor - Lorenzo di BonaventuraLorenzo di Bonaventura-Life and career:He spent the 1990s as an executive at Warner Bros. Pictures, eventually rising to President of Worldwide Production. His production company di Bonaventura Pictures is based at Paramount Pictures. His tenure at Warner Bros. included discovering and shepherding The Matrix into...
, film producer, former president of Warner Brothers, developer of Transformers - Chester BowlesChester BowlesChester Bliss Bowles was a liberal Democratic American diplomat and politician from Connecticut.-Biography:...
, Governor of Connecticut and undersecretary in the Kennedy Administration - Arne H. Carlson, former Governor of Minnesota
- Dov CharneyDov CharneyDov Charney is the founder and CEO of American Apparel, a clothing manufacturer, wholesaler, and retailer. Charney is known for his success as an entrepreneur, passion for simple clothing and love for Strictly Rhythm. His "contrarian" leadership style, which he feels promotes creativity, has drawn...
, founder of American Apparel - Noah CharneyNoah CharneyNoah Charney is an American art historian and novelist. He is the author of The Art Thief, a mystery novel about a series of thefts from European museums and churches, and is the founder of the Association for Research into Crimes against Art.-Early life and education:Charney was born in New...
, novelist and art historian - Julie ChuJulie ChuJulie Chu is an American Olympic ice hockey player who plays the position of forward on the United States women's ice hockey team and the Montreal Stars. Chu's hometown is Fairfield, Connecticut, although she resided in Cambridge, Massachusetts during her college years while playing hockey for...
, Olympic hockey player - Glenn CloseGlenn CloseGlenn Close is an American actress and singer of theatre and film, known for her roles as a femme fatale Glenn Close (born March 19, 1947) is an American actress and singer of theatre and film, known for her roles as a femme fatale Glenn Close (born March 19, 1947) is an American actress and...
, five-time Oscar-nominated actress - Lewis Augustus Coffin, architect
- Caresse Crosby (Mary Phelps Jacob, Mrs. Harry CrosbyHarry CrosbyHarry Crosby was an American heir, a bon vivant, poet, publisher, and for some, epitomized the Lost Generation in American literature. He was the son of one of the richest banking families in New England, a member of the Boston Brahmin, and the nephew of Jane Norton Grew, the wife of financier J....
), socialite, poet, founder of Black Sun PressBlack Sun PressThe Black Sun Press was an English language book publisher founded in 1927 as Éditions Narcisse by poet Harry Crosby and his wife Caresse Crosby , American expatriates living in Paris... - Jamie Lee CurtisJamie Lee CurtisJamie Lee Curtis is an American actress and author. Although she was initially known as a "scream queen" because of her starring roles in several horror films early in her career, such as Halloween, The Fog, Prom Night and Terror Train, Curtis has since compiled a body of work that spans many...
, actress - Mathieu DarcheMathieu DarcheMathieu Darche is a Canadian professional ice hockey player who currently plays left wing with the Montreal Canadiens of the National Hockey League. Mathieu is the younger brother of long snapper J. P. Darche.-Playing career:...
, forward for the Montreal CanadiensMontreal CanadiensThe Montreal Canadiens are a professional ice hockey team based in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. They are members of the Northeast Division of the Eastern Conference of the National Hockey League . The club is officially known as ... - Chris DenorfiaChris DenorfiaChristopher Anthony Denorfia is a Major League Baseball outfielder for the San Diego Padres.-Early life:...
, outfielder for the San Diego PadresSan Diego PadresThe San Diego Padres are a Major League Baseball team based in San Diego, California. They play in the National League Western Division. Founded in 1969, the Padres have won the National League Pennant twice, in 1984 and 1998, losing in the World Series both times... - Bruce DernBruce DernBruce MacLeish Dern is an American film actor. He also appeared as a guest star in numerous television shows. He frequently takes roles as a character actor, often playing unstable and villainous characters...
, actor - Tom DeyTom DeyThomas Ridgeway "Tom" Dey is an American film director. His credits include Shanghai Noon, Showtime, Failure to Launch and Marmaduke....
, director
- John Dos PassosJohn Dos PassosJohn Roderigo Dos Passos was an American novelist and artist.-Early life:Born in Chicago, Illinois, Dos Passos was the illegitimate son of John Randolph Dos Passos , a distinguished lawyer of Madeiran Portuguese descent, and Lucy Addison Sprigg Madison of Petersburg, Virginia. The elder Dos Passos...
, novelist - Michael DouglasMichael DouglasMichael Kirk Douglas is an American actor and producer, primarily in movies and television. He has won three Golden Globes and two Academy Awards; first as producer of 1975's Best Picture, One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, and as Best Actor in 1987 for his role in Wall Street. Douglas received the...
, two-time Oscar-winning actor - John T. DowneyJohn T. DowneyJohn T. 'Jack' Downey was a CIA operative who was held captive in China for twenty years.-Early life:Originally from New Britain, Connecticut, Downey graduated from The Choate School and in 1951 Yale University....
, spy, prisoner of war, and judge - Paul Draper, winemaker of Ridge VineyardsRidge VineyardsRidge Vineyards is a California winery specializing in premium Cabernet Sauvignon, Zinfandel, and Chardonnay wines. Ridge produces wine at two winery locations in northern California...
- Andres DuanyAndrés DuanyAndrés Duany is an American architect and urban planner.Duany was born in New York City but grew up in Cuba until 1960. He attended The Choate School and received his undergraduate degree in architecture and urban planning from Princeton University...
, architect, urban planner, founder of the New UrbanismNew urbanismNew Urbanism is an urban design movement, which promotes walkable neighborhoods that contain a range of housing and job types. It arose in the United States in the early 1980s, and has gradually continued to reform many aspects of real estate development, urban planning, and municipal land-use...
movement - Avery Dulles, educator, philosopher, Cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church
- Matt DunneMatt DunneMatt Dunne is an American politician and businessman from the U.S. state of Vermont. He served four terms in the Vermont House of Representatives, two terms in the Vermont State Senate, was the Democratic candidate in the 2006 Vermont Lt...
, Vermont State Senator and State Representative - Walter D. EdmondsWalter D. EdmondsWalter "Walt" Dumaux Edmonds was an American author noted for his historical novels, including the popular Drums Along the Mohawk , which was successfully made into a Technicolor feature film in 1939 directed by John Ford and starring Henry Fonda and Claudette Colbert.-Life:In 1919 he entered The...
, historical novelist - Caterina FakeCaterina FakeCaterina Fake is an American businesswoman and internet entrepreneur.Fake was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, graduated from Choate Rosemary Hall, attended Smith College, and graduated from Vassar College in 1991....
, founder of FlickrFlickrFlickr is an image hosting and video hosting website, web services suite, and online community that was created by Ludicorp in 2004 and acquired by Yahoo! in 2005. In addition to being a popular website for users to share and embed personal photographs, the service is widely used by bloggers to... - Robert FitzgeraldRobert FitzgeraldRobert Stuart Fitzgerald was a poet, critic and translator whose renderings of the Greek classics "became standard works for a generation of scholars and students." He was best known as a translator of ancient Greek and Latin...
, poet, critic, and translator - Geoffrey S. FletcherGeoffrey S. FletcherGeoffrey Shawn Fletcher is an American screenwriter, film director, and adjunct film professor at Columbia University and New York University's Tisch School of the Arts in New York City, New York...
, Oscar-winning screenwriter of Precious, film director - Oliver M. GaleOliver M. GaleOliver M. Gale was a pioneer in the field of advertising and public relations. He was born in Ventura, California, graduated from The Choate School in 1927, and earned a bachelor’s degree from Harvard University in 1931....
, advertising and public relations pioneer - Bruce GelbBruce GelbBruce Gelb is an American businessman and diplomat. He is the retired president of Clairol and former vice chairman of Bristol Myers Squibb.-Early Life and Education:...
, former president of ClairolClairolClairol is a personal care products division of Procter & Gamble. The Clairol company was started in 1931 by Lawrence M. Gelb and wife, Joan, who named their enterprise after a hair-coloring preparation they found while traveling in France....
, former ambassador to BelgiumBelgiumBelgium , officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a federal state in Western Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts the EU's headquarters, and those of several other major international organisations such as NATO.Belgium is also a member of, or affiliated to, many... - Paul GiamattiPaul GiamattiPaul Edward Valentine Giamatti is an American actor. Giamatti began his career as a supporting actor in several films produced during the 1990s including Private Parts, The Truman Show, Saving Private Ryan, The Negotiator, and Man on the Moon, before earning lead roles in several projects in the...
, Oscar-nominated actor - Philip GourevitchPhilip GourevitchPhilip Gourevitch , an American author and journalist, is a longtime staff writer for The New Yorker and the former editor of The Paris Review. His most recent book is The Ballad of Abu Ghraib , an account of Iraq's Abu Ghraib prison under the American occupation...
, journalist, editor of The Paris Review - Roy Richard GrinkerRoy Richard GrinkerRoy Richard Grinker is an author and Professor of Anthropology, International Affairs, and Human Sciences at The George Washington University.Grinker is an authority on North and South Korean relations...
, anthropologist and author of Unstrange MindsUnstrange MindsUnstrange Minds is a nonfiction book by anthropologist Roy Richard Grinker about the rise in autism diagnoses throughout the world over the last twenty years. It provides a cultural history of autism and describes the experiences of parents of children with autism in the United States, South... - Amanda HearstAmanda HearstAmanda Randolph Hearst is an American socialite, fashion model, and heiress to the Hearst Corporation, the company containing William Randolph Hearst's media empire, which reports US$5 billion a year in annual revenue...
, heiress - Buck HenryBuck HenryHenry Zuckerman, better known as Buck Henry , is an American actor, writer, film director, and television director.-Early life:...
, comedian, screenwriter - Jung-Wook Hong, Korean Congressman
- Kim InsalacoKim InsalacoKim Insalaco is an American ice hockey player. She won a bronze medal at the 2006 Winter Olympics. She graduated from Brown University in 2003. Kim married Chris Legg, also a former Brown Men's Icer on June 13, 2009 in Ithaca, NY where Kim was living at the time...
, Olympic hockey player - Bob KastenBob KastenRobert Walter "Bob" Kasten, Jr. , is a Republican politician from the state of Wisconsin who served as a U.S. Representative from 1975 to 1979 and as a U.S. Senator from 1981 to 1993.- Background :Kasten was born in Milwaukee...
, U.S. Senator
- John F. KennedyJohn F. KennedyJohn Fitzgerald "Jack" Kennedy , often referred to by his initials JFK, was the 35th President of the United States, serving from 1961 until his assassination in 1963....
, 35th President of the United States - Joseph Kennedy Jr., war hero
- Sarah KernochanSarah KernochanSarah Kernochan is a documentarian, film director, screenwriter and producer from the United States.After graduating in 1965 from Rosemary Hall , where she was a classmate of Glenn Close, and in 1968 from Sarah Lawrence College, she worked as a ghostwriter for The Village Voice for about a year...
, novelist, screenwriter, songwriter, and two-time Oscar-winning director - Whitman KnappWhitman KnappPercy Whitman Knapp was a federal judge who led a far-reaching investigation into corruption in the New York City Police Department from 1970 to 1972.-Childhood and education:...
, federal judge - Hilary KnightHilary Knight (ice hockey)Hilary Knight is an American ice hockey forward. She is a member of the United States women's national ice hockey team....
, Olympic hockey player - Herbert Kohler, president of the Kohler CompanyKohler Company'The Kohler Company is a manufacturing company in Kohler, Wisconsin best known for its plumbing products. Kohler also manufactures furniture, cabinetry, tile, engines, and generators.-History:...
- James LaughlinJames LaughlinJames Laughlin was an American poet and literary book publisher who founded New Directions Publishers.- Biography :He was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, the son of Henry Hughart and Marjory Rea Laughlin...
, poet and founder of New Directions Publishing - Alan Jay LernerAlan Jay LernerAlan Jay Lerner was an American lyricist and librettist. In collaboration with Frederick Loewe, he created some of the world's most popular and enduring works of musical theatre for both the stage and on film...
, librettist of My Fair LadyMy Fair LadyMy Fair Lady is a musical based upon George Bernard Shaw's Pygmalion and with book and lyrics by Alan Jay Lerner and music by Frederick Loewe...
and CamelotCamelot (musical)Camelot is a musical by Alan Jay Lerner and Frederick Loewe . It is based on the King Arthur legend as adapted from the T. H. White tetralogy novel The Once and Future King.... - Sir Michael Lindsay-HoggMichael Lindsay-HoggSir Michael Edward Lindsay-Hogg, 5th Baronet is a British television and stage director and an occasional writer and actor.-Background and early work:...
, stage and television director, actor, writer - Alan LomaxAlan LomaxAlan Lomax was an American folklorist and ethnomusicologist. He was one of the great field collectors of folk music of the 20th century, recording thousands of songs in the United States, Great Britain, Ireland, the Caribbean, Italy, and Spain.In his later career, Lomax advanced his theories of...
, pioneering ethnomusicologist, folklorist, oral historian - Ali MacGrawAli MacGrawElizabeth Alice "Ali" MacGraw is an American actress. She is known for her role in Love Story, for which she won a Golden Globe and received an Academy Award nomination.-Early life:...
, actress and haute couture model - Robert McCallum, Jr.Robert McCallum, Jr.Robert D. McCallum. Jr. was the United States Ambassador to Australia. He was sworn into this position on 21 July 2006, after his appointment by President George W. Bush was confirmed by the United States Senate. He arrived in Australia on 18 August and presented his credentials to the...
, U.S. Ambassador to Australia - Paul MellonPaul MellonPaul Mellon KBE was an American philanthropist, thoroughbred racehorse owner/breeder. He is one of only five people ever designated an "Exemplar of Racing" by the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame...
, philanthropist, art collector - Tift MerrittTift MerrittCatherine Tift Merritt is an American singer-songwriter, musician and North Carolina native. With her longtime band, she has built what has been called a "unique" and critically acclaimed body of work of "sonic short stories and poignant performances." She has been compared to songwriters like...
, singer, songwriter - Rebecca MillerRebecca MillerRebecca Augusta Miller is an American film director, screenwriter and actress, most known for her films Personal Velocity: Three Portraits , The Ballad of Jack and Rose, and Angela,and The Private Lives of Pippa Lee all of which she wrote and directed.-Life and career:Born in Roxbury,...
, actress, screenwriter, director, novelist - Emil "Bus" MosbacherEmil MosbacherEmil "Bus" Mosbacher, Jr. was a two-time America's Cup-winning yachtsman, the founding chairman of Operation Sail, and Chief of Protocol of the United States during the administration of President Richard Nixon.He was the brother of Robert Mosbacher Sr., also a champion yachstman, and U.S...
, yachtsman, twice winner of the America's CupAmerica's CupThe America’s Cup is a trophy awarded to the winner of the America's Cup match races between two yachts. One yacht, known as the defender, represents the yacht club that currently holds the America's Cup and the second yacht, known as the challenger, represents the yacht club that is challenging...
, Chief of Protocol of the United StatesChief of Protocol of the United StatesThe Chief of Protocol is an officer of the United States Department of State responsible for advising the President of the United States, the vice president, and the secretary of state on matters of national and international diplomatic protocol... - Robert MosbacherRobert MosbacherRobert Adam Mosbacher, Sr. , was an American businessman, accomplished yacht racer, and a Republican politician. In sailing, Sports Illustrated called him "the unquestioned master of fleet racing." In business in 1954, he found a million-dollar field of natural gas in South Texas...
, former Secretary of Commerce - Nicholas NegroponteNicholas NegroponteNicholas Negroponte is an American architect best known as the founder and Chairman Emeritus of Massachusetts Institute of Technology's Media Lab, and also known as the founder of the One Laptop per Child Association ....
, founder of MIT Media Lab - Bruce NelsonBruce Nelson (historian)Joseph Bruce Nelson is a professor of history at Dartmouth College. He is a noted labor historian and scholar of the history of the concepts of race and class in the United States and among Western European immigrants to the U.S....
, DartmouthDartmouth CollegeDartmouth College is a private, Ivy League university in Hanover, New Hampshire, United States. The institution comprises a liberal arts college, Dartmouth Medical School, Thayer School of Engineering, and the Tuck School of Business, as well as 19 graduate programs in the arts and sciences...
history professor, winner of the Frederick Jackson Turner AwardFrederick Jackson Turner AwardThe Frederick Jackson Turner Award, is given each year by the Organization of American Historians for an author's first book on American history.It was started in 1959, by Mississippi Valley Historical Association, as the Prize Studies Award.... - Douglass NorthDouglass NorthDouglass Cecil North is an American economist known for his work in economic history. He is the co-recipient of the 1993 Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences...
, NobelNobel PrizeThe Nobel Prizes are annual international awards bestowed by Scandinavian committees in recognition of cultural and scientific advances. The will of the Swedish chemist Alfred Nobel, the inventor of dynamite, established the prizes in 1895...
Laureate in Economics - Victoria NulandVictoria NulandVictoria Nuland is the spokesperson for the United States Department of State.-Career:In Summer 2011, Nuland became the State Department Spokesperson...
, permanent U.S. Representative to NATO - Terry O'NeillTerry O'Neill (feminist)Terry O'Neill is an American feminist attorney, professor and activist for social justice. She is president of the National Organization for Women since July 2009, and president of the NOW Foundation and chair of the NOW Political Action Committees.-Education and family:O'Neill graduated from...
, feminist, president of the National Organization for WomenNational Organization for WomenThe National Organization for Women is the largest feminist organization in the United States. It was founded in 1966 and has a membership of 500,000 contributing members. The organization consists of 550 chapters in all 50 U.S...
(NOW) - Josephine PucciJosephine PucciJosephine Pucci is a women's ice hockey player for the Harvard Crimson women's ice hockey program who made her debut for the United States women's national ice hockey team at the 2011 IIHF Women's World Championship....
, USA Women's National Hockey Team
- Bruce ReplogleBruce ReplogleBruce Replogle is an American music manager and publicist. A graduate of The College of William and Mary, he worked briefly in television before serving as publicist for John Lennon and Yoko Ono on their 1980 Double Fantasy album...
, music manager, & publicist - Rick RosenthalRick RosenthalRichard L. "Rick" Rosenthal, Jr. is an American film and television director. He is also a producer, actor, and writer.-Biography:...
, award-winning film and TV director - Angela RuggieroAngela RuggieroAngela Marie Ruggiero is an American ice hockey defenseman. She is a member of the United States women's national ice hockey team. She is also the author of a memoir about her hockey experiences and a former contestant on the NBC reality show The Apprentice...
, Olympic hockey player - John Burnham SchwartzJohn Burnham Schwartz-Career:John Burnham Schwartz was born in 1965 and grew up in New York City. He is best known for his novels Reservation Road and The Commoner . His fifth novel, Northwest Corner, a sequel to Reservation Road, will be published in August 2011...
, novelist - Martha Schwendener, lead singer and songwriter of Bowery ElectricBowery ElectricBowery Electric was an American indie band formed in New York's East Village in 1992 by Lawrence Chandler and Martha Schwendener.-Music:Bowery Electric's music defies easy classification...
- Bill SimmonsBill SimmonsWilliam J. "Bill" Simmons III is a sports columnist, author, and podcaster. He currently writes columns and hosts podcasts for Grantland.com, which is affiliated with ESPN.com. He is a former writer for ESPN The Magazine and Jimmy Kimmel Live!...
, sportswriter, ESPNESPNEntertainment and Sports Programming Network, commonly known as ESPN, is an American global cable television network focusing on sports-related programming including live and pre-taped event telecasts, sports talk shows, and other original programming....
's "The Sports Guy" - Hedrick SmithHedrick SmithHedrick Smith is a Pulitzer Prize-winning former reporter and editor for The New York Times, an Emmy Award-winning producer/correspondent for the PBS show Frontline, and author of several books....
, New York Times editor, Pulitzer PrizePulitzer PrizeThe Pulitzer Prize is a U.S. award for achievements in newspaper and online journalism, literature and musical composition. It was established by American publisher Joseph Pulitzer and is administered by Columbia University in New York City...
-winner, EmmyEmmy AwardAn Emmy Award, often referred to simply as the Emmy, is a television production award, similar in nature to the Peabody Awards but more focused on entertainment, and is considered the television equivalent to the Academy Awards and the Grammy Awards .A majority of Emmys are presented in various...
-winning PBS producer - Lee SmithLee Smith (journalist)Lee Smith is an American journalist, and senior editor for The Weekly Standard. He is the author of The Strong Horse: Power, Politics, and the Clash of Arab Civilizations . Smith has written for Slate, the New York Times, the Boston Globe, and a variety of Arab media outlets...
, journalist - Roger L. StevensRoger L. StevensRoger Lacey Stevens was an American theatrical producer, arts administrator, and a real estate executive. He is the founding Chairman of both the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts , and National Endowment for the Arts .Born in Detroit, Michigan, Stevens was educated at The Choate School in...
, theatrical producer, founding chairman of the Kennedy Center and of the National Endowment for the ArtsNational Endowment for the ArtsThe National Endowment for the Arts is an independent agency of the United States federal government that offers support and funding for projects exhibiting artistic excellence. It was created by an act of the U.S. Congress in 1965 as an independent agency of the federal government. Its current... - Adlai Stevenson, Governor of Illinois, UNUnited NationsThe United Nations is an international organization whose stated aims are facilitating cooperation in international law, international security, economic development, social progress, human rights, and achievement of world peace...
Ambassador, two-time DemocraticDemocratic Party (United States)The Democratic Party is one of two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party. The party's socially liberal and progressive platform is largely considered center-left in the U.S. political spectrum. The party has the lengthiest record of continuous...
presidential candidate - James SurowieckiJames SurowieckiJames Michael Surowiecki is an American journalist. He is a staff writer at The New Yorker, where he writes a regular column on business and finance called "The Financial Page".-Background:...
, author, New YorkerThe New YorkerThe New Yorker is an American magazine of reportage, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons and poetry published by Condé Nast...
staff writer - Ivanka TrumpIvanka TrumpIvanka Marie Trump is an American businesswoman, socialite, heiress, and fashion model. The daughter of Ivana and Donald Trump, she is Executive Vice President of Development & Acquisitions at The Trump Organization...
, fashion model and businesswoman - Jigyel Ugyen WangchukJigyel Ugyen WangchukPrince Dasho Jigyel Ugyen Wangchuck is the heir presumptive to the throne of Bhutan, following the abdication of his father on 14 December 2006 and the accession of his brother King Jigme Khesar Namgyal Wangchuck....
, Prince of BhutanBhutanBhutan , officially the Kingdom of Bhutan, is a landlocked state in South Asia, located at the eastern end of the Himalayas and bordered to the south, east and west by the Republic of India and to the north by the People's Republic of China... - Frank "Muddy" WatersMuddy Waters (football coach)-External links:...
, American college football coach - H. Bradford WesterfieldH. Bradford WesterfieldHolt Bradford Westerfield was a Damon Wells Professor of International Studies and professor of political science at Yale University....
, chair of YaleYale UniversityYale University is a private, Ivy League university located in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701 in the Colony of Connecticut, the university is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States...
political science department, teacher of Presidents - James WhitmoreJames WhitmoreJames Allen Whitmore, Jr. was an American film and stage actor.-Early life:Born in White Plains, New York, to Florence Belle and James Allen Whitmore, Sr., a park commission official, Whitmore attended Amherst Central High School in Snyder, New York, before graduating from The Choate School in...
, film and TonyTony AwardThe Antoinette Perry Award for Excellence in Theatre, more commonly known as a Tony Award, recognizes achievement in live Broadway theatre. The awards are presented by the American Theatre Wing and The Broadway League at an annual ceremony in New York City. The awards are given for Broadway...
-winning stage actor - Geoffrey WolffGeoffrey WolffGeoffrey Wolff is an American novelist, essayist, biographer, and travel writer. Among his honors and recognition are the Award in Literature of the American Academy of Arts and Letters and fellowships of the National Endowment for the Arts, the American Academy in Berlin , and the Guggenheim...
, novelist and belle-lettrist - Alexander Morgan YoungAlex Young (studio executive)Alexander Morgan "Alex" Young is an American studio executive. He is co- president of production at 20th Century Fox.- Early life :Young was born in London and grew up in Cooperstown NY and New York City...
, president of production at 20th Century Fox20th Century FoxTwentieth Century Fox Film Corporation — also known as 20th Century Fox, or simply 20th or Fox — is one of the six major American film studios... - Paul ZaloomPaul ZaloomPaul Finley Zaloom is a U.S. actor and puppeteer best known for his role as the character Beakman on the television show Beakman's World.-Career:...
, puppeteer, actor, and educator
In popular culture
Choate occurs frequently in novels, only the best known instance being listed here, as the first item:- In Catcher in the Rye the character Al Pike (who shows off at the swimming pool) went to Choate.
- In the TV show 30 Rock30 Rock30 Rock is an American television comedy series created by Tina Fey that airs on NBC. The series is loosely based on Fey's experiences as head writer for Saturday Night Live...
the character Avery Jessup, Jack Donaghey's girlfriend and host of CNBC's 'The Hot Box with Avery Jessup', went to Choate (and YaleYale UniversityYale University is a private, Ivy League university located in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701 in the Colony of Connecticut, the university is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States...
). Eugenia Jessup was RH headmaster from 1938–58, and Jessup was a girls' dorm on the Wallingford campus from 1973 until the early 2000s. - In the TV show M*A*S*H the character Charles Emerson Winchester went to Choate (and HarvardHarvard UniversityHarvard University is a private Ivy League university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States, established in 1636 by the Massachusetts legislature. Harvard is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States and the first corporation chartered in the country...
and Harvard Medical SchoolHarvard Medical SchoolHarvard Medical School is the graduate medical school of Harvard University. It is located in the Longwood Medical Area of the Mission Hill neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts....
). - In the TV show The West Wing the character Clifford CalleyClifford CalleyClifford "Cliff" Calley is a fictional character played by Mark Feuerstein on the television serial drama The West Wing. Appointed Director of Legislative affairs to fill the political planning void after Josh Lyman left the White House to serve as campaign manager for presidential candidate Matt...
went to Choate (and BrownBrown UniversityBrown University is a private, Ivy League university located in Providence, Rhode Island, United States. Founded in 1764 prior to American independence from the British Empire as the College in the English Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations early in the reign of King George III ,...
and Harvard Law SchoolHarvard Law SchoolHarvard Law School is one of the professional graduate schools of Harvard University. Located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, it is the oldest continually-operating law school in the United States and is home to the largest academic law library in the world. The school is routinely ranked by the U.S...
). - In the TV show Dawson's CreekDawson's CreekDawson's Creek is an American teen drama television series which debuted on January 20, 1998, on The WB Television Network and was produced by Sony Pictures Television. The show is set in the fictional seaside town of Capeside, Massachusetts, and in Boston, Massachusetts, during the later seasons...
(episode 3), Joey pretends to attend Choate to seduce a rich guy. - In the TV show Family GuyFamily GuyFamily Guy is an American animated television series created by Seth MacFarlane for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The series centers on the Griffins, a dysfunctional family consisting of parents Peter and Lois; their children Meg, Chris, and Stewie; and their anthropomorphic pet dog Brian...
(the episode "Road to Rupert") a man is told that, if he wins a bet, the dog Brian will lick peanut butter from "anywhere on your body." The man accepts the bet, saying, "Well, I did go to Choate." (The show's creator, Seth MacFarlaneSeth MacFarlaneSeth Woodbury MacFarlane is an American animator, writer, comedian, producer, actor, singer, voice actor, and director best known for creating the animated sitcoms Family Guy, American Dad! and The Cleveland Show, for which he also voices many of the shows' various characters.A native of Kent,...
, is an alumnus of rival Connecticut prep school KentKent SchoolKent School is a private, co-educational college preparatory school in Kent, Connecticut, USA. The Reverend Frederick Herbert Sill, Order of the Holy Cross, established the school in 1906 and it retains its affiliation with the Episcopal Church of the United States.Students at Kent come from more...
). In the episode "April in Quahog" Mayor West says in his diatribe against the Black Hole, "I don't care if you did go to Choate." - In the TV show PassionsPassionsPassions is an American television soap opera which aired on NBC from July 5, 1999 to September 7, 2007 and on The 101 Network from September 17, 2007 to August 7, 2008....
the characters of Ethan WinthropEthan WinthropEthan Winthrop is a fictional character on the NBC/DirecTV daytime drama Passions. Ethan is played by both Travis Schuldt and Eric Martsolf...
(Travis SchuldtTravis SchuldtTravis Schuldt is an American actor. He originated the role of Ethan Winthrop on the NBC soap opera Passions from 1999 to 2002, and played a recurring role of Keith Dudemeister in the sitcom Scrubs from 2006-2008.-Career:...
; Eric MartsolfEric MartsolfEric Martsolf is an American television actor and singer best known for his role as Ethan Winthrop in the NBC soap opera Passions from 2002 to 2008. He is currently playing the role of Brady Black on NBC's Days of our Lives....
) and Gwen WinthropGwen WinthropGwendolyn' "Gwen" Winthrop is a fictional character on the NBC/DirecTV soap opera Passions. Introduced in the soap's debut episode, Gwen is portrayed by both Liza Huber and Natalie Zea...
(Liza HuberLiza HuberLiza Victoria Huber is an American actress best known for her role as Gwen Hotchkiss on the daytime soap Passions.-Personal life:...
; Natalie ZeaNatalie ZeaNatalie Zea is an American actress known for her roles as Gwen Hotchkiss on the NBC daytime soap Passions, socialite Karen Darling on Dirty Sexy Money on ABC and Winona Hawkins on Justified on FX.-Career:...
) were said to have attended Choate. - In the TV show Harvey Birdman, Attorney at LawHarvey Birdman, Attorney at LawHarvey Birdman, Attorney at Law is an American animated television series comedy created by Williams Street and produced by Cartoon Network Studios that aired on Cartoon Network during its Adult Swim late night programming block. The series' pilot first aired in 2000, and later became a series in...
one of Harvey's rival lawyers, Evelyn Spyro Throckmorton, went to Choate and Yale Law SchoolYale Law SchoolYale Law School, or YLS, is the law school of Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Established in 1824, it offers the J.D., LL.M., J.S.D. and M.S.L. degrees in law. It also hosts visiting scholars, visiting researchers and a number of legal research centers...
. - In the TV show Gilmore GirlsGilmore GirlsGilmore Girls is an American family comedy-drama series created by Amy Sherman-Palladino, starring Lauren Graham and Alexis Bledel. On October 5, 2000, the series debuted on The WB and was cancelled in its seventh season, ending on May 15, 2007 on The CW...
the prep school "Chilton" is based on Choate. - In the 2002 movie "Igby Goes DownIgby Goes DownIgby Goes Down is a 2002 comedy-drama film that follows the life of Igby Slocumb, a rebellious and sardonic New York City teenager who attempts to break free of his familial ties and wealthy, overbearing mother...
," after failing all of his classes at an elite private school, title character Igby is told by his parents "You know where your sterling performance is going to take you now, little man?" to which Igby, after pausing to think for a moment, responds, "Choate?"