Twelve years ago, Proctor became the first school anywhere to replace magazines, tabloids, alumni newsletters and the annual report with electronic "push pages" that are customized to the recipient constituency; (the exception was a Parent & Grandparent Newsletter that Brenda Godwin published for several years, and the admission brochure.) So, for example, we send alumni a customized page every month during the school year. No one else sees it, until now. The most recent alumni page has received more plaudits than any we've sent, perhaps because it traces today's reality (Ben Rulli as head football coach) to school history (Spence Wright as head football coach.)

Back in the '50s, Proctor football enjoyed a curious rivalry with Westmount School, Canada. This archival image from the mid-fifties shows the witty Spence Wright and some players puzzling over Canadian football rules!

 

Independent schools are known for traditions, yet--due to innovative programming, an informal ethos and relatively egalitarian community--Proctor is thought to be less traditional. It would be a mistake, however, to assume that we do not treasure our history and the vestiges of the past that thrive today. Below, Clarence Carr (right) poses with his family next to Carr house, with John Proctor's widow (seated, left.)



With the help of our friends at Whipplehill, Proctor's visual archives are being transferred to high resolution digital imagery on Flickr. The laced boots, phonograph and Saturday Evening Post date this Gannett House image to the late '30s.



When Proctor Pond was created (by damming the east-flowing stream) in the mid-50s, it was lined with stately elm trees. The Carr House barn stood until the late '60s.



Below, students skate on Proctor Pond, with Cary House (destroyed in 1977) in the background.



The existence of our visual archives in Flickr enables alumni and friends of the school to "tag" images, naming characters and identifying circumstances lost to most of us on campus today. Kneeling in the lower left of this image is Paul Rogers '59, father of math teacher Chris Rogers '95.



Archival photographs offer us a connection to our past. So, too, do the eighteen faculty and staff members who are alumni! Their perspectives on Proctor, drawn from past windows of time, provide valuable context for relationships today. Here's Everett Jones '57 helping Mackin prepare the metal bandsaw in machine shop.




It is easy to trace the existence of today's machine shop, woodshop, boat building and other "skills courses" to the decades when Proctor offered a "general track" along with the college preparatory curriculum. This lathe is still used by students today.



The Proctor Forge in use decades ago.



George Emeny teaching in Proctor Forge this afternoon.