100 Years, 100 Objects

100YearsObjects

Gallery Guide and Graphic Elements Designed by

Walker Downey and Sophie Kilcoyne,

Class of 2013

100 Years, 100 Objects was curated by students enrolled in ARTH 335: Exhibition Design during the Fall 2012 semester.

-Maddie Bailis, Class of 2013-Morgan Bakerman, Class of 2013-Christina Cannon, Class of 2013-Gwyneth Cook, Class of 2013-Walker Downey, Class of 2013-Sarah Estrela, Class of 2015-Libby Fifer, Class of 2013-Raquel Inwentash, Class of 2013-Sophie Kilcoyne, Class of 2013-David LaFleche, Class of 2014-Rose Liu, Class of 2013-Susan Rodriguez, Class of 2013-Hillary Shusterman, Class of 2014-Rachel Vergara, Class of 2013

The course was taught by Leah Niederstadt, Assistant Professor of Museum Studies & Curator of the Permanent Collection, and Zephorene L. Stickney, College Archivist & Special Collections Curator.

The exhibition opened on 3 December 2012 and closed 15 February 2013.

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IntroductionFollowing the death of Eliza Wheaton Strong, the Wheaton family established a female seminary in her memory. On April 22, 1835, Wheaton opened as one of the first institutions in the United States to offer higher education for women. Toward the end of her life, Eliza Baylies Chapin Wheaton recognized that seminaries were becoming obsolete and agreed to support the transformation of Wheaton Female Seminary into a college. After much planning, the seminary was granted a college charter in 1912.

Curated by students, this exhibition features one hundred objects, each chosen to represent one of the hundred years since Wheaton became a college. The objects’ origins are as diverse as the paths they took to campus. Yet the items are united by the ways in which they embody the Wheaton spirit and the unique stories they tell.

Every object tells a story. Most illustrate multiple narratives tales of adversity and triumph, of the sublime and mundane, of use, abandonment, and rediscovery, of friendships and family. Their many meanings have altered as they have changed hands, travelled across continents, and shifted context and purpose. Several are on public display for the first time while others will be familiar to many visitors, having been studied for class assignments or previously exhibited in these galleries.

Ranging from donations to purchases and objects “found in collections”, all of the exhibited items are now housed in the Permanent Collection or the Marion B. Gebbie Archives & Special Collections. These objects represent the many collaborations that develop as students explore the liberal arts through Wheaton’s innovative curriculum. Above all, they reflect the enduring commitment of the Wheaton community to preserve the past and to live abundantly. As you view the exhibition, we invite you to consider your own Wheaton stories. An opportunity to share them can be found at the end of 100 Years, 100 Objects.

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Wheaton TraditionsBeginning with Eliza Baylies Wheaton’s vision of an institution that would provide higher education to women, Wheaton has grown to serve a diverse population, attracting students from across the United States and around the globe, and since 1988, educating both women and men. From its founding as a female seminary to the present day, the campus community has established many traditions. While some of these are no longer practiced, many remain strong, providing a lasting sense of community and connections among students, faculty, and staff. For example, the Chapel finial recalls the tradition that prohibits all but Seniors from entering the building’s front doors. The stories told by the objects in Wheaton Traditions highlight both important events in the history of Wheaton and many of the traditions that have shaped the campus community and its heritage.

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Commitment to the ArtsDedication to the arts has been a major aspect of Wheaton’s mission and curriculum since Wheaton Female Seminary was founded in 1834. The arts have regularly been used as an interdisciplinary tool allowing students to learn from viewing and researching objects in the Gebbie Archives & Special Collections and in the Permanent Collection, exploring exhibitions in the Beard and Weil Galleries, viewing and participating in dramatic and musical performances, and engaging with visiting artists from a variety of disciplines. Commitment to the Arts offers a glimpse specifically into the holdings of the Permanent Collection, which was compiled in the 1970s from various campus collections. The collection now contains over 4,500 objects, the majority of which were donated by alumnae/i or by their families. The displayed works provide insight into the relationships that students, faculty, staff, and alumnae/i have formed with the college through a shared love of the visual arts. They also reveal the inspirations and lives of the artists who created these drawings, paintings, prints, and sculptures, among whom are Alexander Calder, Rembrandt van Rijn, and several alumnae artists.

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Hidden TreasuresThis section presents unexpected anecdotes about objects, their creators, or their donors, many of whom have ties to the college. Hidden Treasures serves as a metaphor for Wheaton: a small community engaged within larger networks. The “treasures” on display here include a tea set and diary once owned by Eliza Baylies Chapin Wheaton, a drawing by Ludwig Bemelmans, who wrote and illustrated the children’s book Madeline, and a cartoon, published in the Boston Herald, revealing how a student’s love for Clark Gable led to her being “campused”. These objects remind us of the personal connections we make to the college and of the many stories objects can tell.

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Academic Excellence

Wheaton is notable for its dedication to intellectual curiosity and scholastic rigor. Through the Honor Code students pledge to uphold a level of academic excellence that is fundamental to our past, present, and future. Since it was founded in 1834, Wheaton has been widely recognized for its curriculum, which challenges students to master their chosen disciplines while engaging with other areas of study, and proves that academic endeavors and personal development are not separate, but intertwined. The objects in Academic Excellence represent the college’s devotion to cultivating knowledge and creativity. Elizabeth Wright Shippee’s poetry, for example, demonstrates one student’s pursuit of personal expression through creative writing.

The objects exhibited here serve as a testament to Wheaton’s commitment to multi-disciplinary excellence. Some are unique resources not normally found at a liberal arts college, such as the Diderot Encyclopedie purchased in 1950. Other objects reveal the connections students have to the wider world, exemplified by the 1946 letter of recommendation written by Albert Einstein. These objects effectively portray the achievements of Wheaton students, both past and present, and highlight the resources that helped make these accomplishments possible.

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Social Responsibility

“…And it is our highest incentive to difficult undertakings for the good of others, that the impulse toward such undertakings, having its source in something deeper and higher than that which is deepest and highest in ourselves, can never fail.”- Lucy Larcom, Wheaton Seminary: A Semi-Centennial Sketch, 1885 Service and civic engagement have always been important to members of the Wheaton community. Students have become leaders and global citizens because they are taught that the contributions of today make a difference in the future. Equipped with the knowledge and passion necessary for progress, many “Wheaties” dedicate their talents to important causes and bring positive change to the world. Several of the objects displayed in this section, such as the WAAC uniform and Kilham letter, represent the many “undertakings for the good of others” that faculty, staff, students, and friends of Wheaton have performed throughout the college’s history. Other items, such as Dan Wood’s print Inauguration, were created by artists engaged in expressing their personal perspectives on current events and social issues. Ultimately, Wheaton’s commitment to create and promote a socially responsible society can be seen through the undertakings of its community.

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Thinking GloballyThese objects illustrate the strong connections Wheaton students, faculty, staff, and alumnae/i have established with the global community. Since the institution’s inception in the early nineteenth century, objects from around the world have made their way to Wheaton, either as donations or as purchases acquired to enhance the campus environment or to serve as teaching tools. Although originally created for religious worship, utilitarian purposes, or to signify social status, several of the objects exhibited here were initially acquired as souvenirs when faculty, students, and friends of Wheaton travelled abroad. For example, the pair of Buddhist scrolls donated by Professor Holcombe Austin and his wife Ethelind was inherited by one of the professor’s “seafaring ancestors” — where and when they were originally acquired remains a mystery. Today, all of these objects serve as reminders of artistic, commercial, and intellectual networks and relationships that extend far beyond the town of Norton.

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Unidentified artistPorcelaneous Stoneware Vaseca. 1847Glaze, gold, polychrome enamel, porcelaneous stoneware

Bequest of Miss Sarah Warner ClarkPermanent Collection

1914: Vase donated.

In the mid nineteenth century, apothecary and businessman Augustus M. Clark of Beverly, MA asked his former clerk Pyam Lovett for a favor. In 1847, Clark asked Lovett, now a ship’s captain, to purchase a pair of Chinese vases during a trip to China, specifically to Whampoa (Huangpu District in Guangzhou, Guangdong province). Although the vases arrived in Beverly, Lovett never returned home, as he, his ship, and the entire crew was lost at sea. Correspondence now held at the Beverly Historical Society (BHS) reveals how the vases survived: fortuitously, Lovett sent them back to Beverly on a different ship, after he received a commission, now known to be ill-fated, that would delay his return.

Marion Batchellor Phelps, Class of 1913 “Little Colonel’s Good Time Book”1910-1913 Mixed media

Gift of Marion Batchellor Phelps, Class of 1913Marion B. Gebbie Archives & Special Collections

1912-13: Wheaton Female Seminary received college charter.

“Last fall I came to try to make the junior class at Wheaton Seminary. This year I am a member of the senior class at Wheaton College. Many things are changed but dear old Senior corridor, Senior parlor and stairs are ours as they were the property of 1912.” -Marion Batchellor Phelps, Class of 1913

This volume, handwritten by Marion Batchellor during her undergraduate years, is both diary and scrapbook. From 1910 to 1913, Batchellor used it to record her personal reminiscences to which she added holiday cards, notes, and small miscellaneous souvenirs as well as photographs, such as the image of the basketball team on the left page. In the entry visible here, Marion wrote of Wheaton becoming a college. Her reference to this event demonstrates its importance to her, as a returning Senior, and to the Wheaton population. It also serves as a record of Wheaton’s progressive spirit and celebrates the college’s centennial from a very personal perspective.

-Written by Rose Liu, Class of 2013

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Clark kept the vases in the window of his Beverly shop until it closed, then in the parlor of his home. Clark’s daughter, who attended Wheaton Female Seminary from 1855 to 1857, owned the vases until her death. In her will, she left one vase to the Wheaton Female Seminary and the other to the BHS. The Clark family home, in which the vases were displayed for many years still stands; today, it is a dentist’s office.

Covered in a celadon glaze, the vase is decorated with a raised design of flowers, fruits and the Eight Precious Things of Buddhism. These were “offerings the gods made to the Buddha after his enlightenment. The vase’s blue dragon handles, which are inlaid with gold, are signs of good fortune and compliment the vase’s flower motif by symbolizing the spirit of springtime.” The vases are a matching pair, but their decorations are not identical and the BHS vase has a broken handle. (A price tag can also be found in the BHS vase. It reads 17,699 and the currency is unidentified.) Wheaton’s vase was stolen in 1962 by Brown University students as a prank but was later returned. Although the theft led to a rumor that a fake was returned in place of the original, that story proved to be untrue.

-Written by Gwyneth Cook, Class of 2013

Dr. Eleanor Bridge Kilham, Class of 1876Letter from France 1915Ink on paper

Gift of Kilham Estate Marion B. Gebbie Archives & Special Collections

1915: Dr. Kilham sails for France.

Dr. Eleanor Bridge Kilham, a graduate of Wheaton Female Seminary in 1876, embodied the institution’s ethos of using knowledge for the benefit of mankind. Immediately after the sinking of the Lusitania in 1915, Dr. Kilham left her private medical practice and sailed for France on the first ship out of New York City. Throughout the Great War, she delivered medical supplies to French hospitals and administered medical aid to wounded soldiers. Working with the American Committee for French Wounded in Paris at Noyon, Dr. Kilham also opened and managed a medical clinic at Gerbéviller in north-eastern France, where she engaged in relief work among refugees until after the armistice.

When sending these letters to her sisters, Dr. Kilham included photographs, cartoons, and newspaper clippings, documenting her turbulent experience in World War I. Both the letters and enclosures reveal her national pride and the admiration she felt for the French medical staff and soldiers with whom she worked. For her efforts, the French government awarded Kilham a Medal of Honor. Her legacy to Wheaton rests in the collection of her letters, gifts of books to the library, and in the Kilham Basket Collection, an example of which is displayed in the Thinking Globally section of the exhibition.

-Written by Sarah Estrela, Class of 2015

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Lucien JonasSociété Française de Secours aux Blessés Militaires1914-1918Ink on paper

Gift of Ms. Alice C. GeorgePermanent Collection

1916: Jonas worked extensively at the front throughout the war.

Given to Wheaton College in 1971 as part of a collection of World War I posters, this work depicts a French family’s return to a village destroyed in the Great War. Devastated by the effects of this terrible conflict, the family is comforted by a Red Cross nurse. The text emblazoned across the top of this image may be translated as: “The French Society for the Assistance of Wounded Servicemen”. The S.S.B.M (Société de Secours aux Blessés Militaires), the first Red Cross society in France, was established in 1866. Continuing its efforts to help survivors of conflict, the S.S.B.M provided aid to those whose lives were disrupted by World War I. Officially a ‘military painter secunded to the Musée de l’Armée,’ Jonas created an image in which the nurse’s armband shows the shortened logo, S.B.M. She attempts to comfort a distressed elderly man and a weeping kneeling woman as a young girl looks on. Set in the rubble of a razed village, the scene depicts three generations, all affected by war. In the upper left-hand corner of the poster, above the chaos and desolation, the artist reveals a prosperous village that has been rebuilt, perhaps suggesting what can be achieved with the help of the S.B.M. This hope for the future, as well the affirming presence of the nurse, demonstrates the importance of the Red Cross during World War I.

-Written by Libby Fifer, Class of 2013

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Christian RohlfsTod Mit Dem Sarg (Death with Coffin)1918Ink on paper (woodcut)

Purchased with the Wheaton College Art Acquisition Fund in memory of Selma H. Sobin, a member of the Art Visiting Committee from 1966-1971Permanent Collection

1918: Print created.

-Podcast written and recorded by Christina Cannon, Class of 2013

Cram and Ferguson, ArchitectsChapel Finial1917Wood, paint

Marion B. Gebbie Archives & Special Collections

1917: Cole Memorial Chapel constructed.

Do you recognize this object? Can you place it on Wheaton’s campus? This carved wooden finial is one of four that originally ornamented the corners of the balustrade atop the steeple of Cole Memorial Chapel. Constructed in 1917, five years after Wheaton’s transformation from a seminary to a college, the Chapel became a central feature of the campus. Designed by the architectural firm of Cram and Ferguson, the Chapel replaced Norton’s Trinitarian Congregational Church for religious worship within the campus community. Cole Chapel was used for daily services, which all students and faculty were required to attend, as well as for formal lectures, concerts, convocations, the annual Candlelight Ceremony, and, occasionally, for Commencement. The Chapel was dedicated in 1926 to the memory of the Rev. Dr. Samuel Valentine Cole, Wheaton’s President from 1897 until his death in 1925. The ornately decorated originals were replaced in the mid-20th century with much simplified finials. While difficult to picture out of context, this architectural element was a small, but important, detail of the Chapel. While its role may have shifted somewhat, the Chapel remains integral to Wheaton’s community life. Next time you stroll past, try to spot where this finial once stood.


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Nike Yearbook StaffNike1919Ink on paper, board

Wheaton College Publications CollectionMarion B. Gebbie Archives & Special Collections

1919: Yearbook published.

This Wheaton yearbook was issued in 1919, three years after the first Nike was published, and as many Wheaton traditions were being established. The yearbook is named after the Greek goddess of Victory—Nike of Samothrace. It opens with a sketch of the world-renowned sculpture of Nike to commemorate Wheaton’s triumphant female students: those who are graduating and those who are on their path to graduation. The Nike includes stories and photos featuring Wheaton students, faculty and staff. Yet, it also serves as a social window on the period, showcasing Wheaton’s unique culture during 1919 and highlighting activities such jokes exchanged by students and faculty.

Even with the advent of the digital age, owning a copy of Nike is a Wheaton rite of passage: Seniors still dress up for their class photos and receive a copy of the yearbook free of charge after graduation. The Nike continues to reference long-standing Wheaton traditions, such as designated colors for each graduating class. For instance, the Senior class of 1919’s color was yellow, whereas the Senior class of 2013’s color is blue. Although Wheaton has undergone many changes since becoming a college in 1912 - and even as other colleges and universities are giving up published yearbooks - the ongoing production of Nike represents one of the college’s oldest traditions and celebrates the campus community, most especially the Senior class.

-Written by Susan Rodriguez, Class of 2013

Wheaton College“Storm Girl” mailer for 2-6-0 Campaign1920Ink on paper

Office of College Advancement RecordsMarion B. Gebbie Archives & Special Collections

1920: 2-6-0 Campaign commissioned.

The 2-6-0 Campaign was the College’s first effort to build the endowment through alumnae support. Although an endowment existed before 1920, the Wheaton family funded all previous campus growth, either directly or by bequest. The 2-6-0 Campaign intended to foster alumnae support for the college by asking each alumna to donate five dollars per week for a year, equaling $260.

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The folding mailer includes a central illustration of a girl braving wind and snow to reach an address numbered 260, a reference to the campaign’s goal for each donor. The image on the mailer suggests the potential to reach 2-6-0, despite the bitter weather, and the narrative asks, “If ninety dollars was raised on a rainy day, how much would a sunny day bring?” The narrative encourages Wheaton students and alumnae to request contributions from friends, family, and local businesses. Graduating Seniors were targeted with the request for “100% to pledge and go over the top” with 2-6-0. Although students hoped to reach and surpass their goal in two weeks, the campaign ran much longer.

Despite the work of the professional fund raising agency Tamblyn and Brown, which had been hired to manage the fund drive, the campaign was a failure. After the agency’s contract was paid, only $85,500 of the $1,000,000 goal was added to the endowment. The 2-6-0 Campaign was abandoned in 1924.

Today’s Seniors are asked to collaborate as a class to support the Wheaton Fund. New technology allows Wheaton to reach students — and other donors — through means other than direct mail. For example, Seniors are encouraged to donate via the Wheaton website. Previous class gifts have been particularly successful: in 2009, President Ronald A. Crutcher jumped into Peacock Pond when that year’s Senior class exceeded its goal. This year’s class goal is 85% participation and, so far, 72% of Seniors have pledged their support. If the goal is surpassed, President Crutcher will need to don his special pond-jumping suit for another swim in the pond.

-Written by Raquel Inwentash, Class of 2013

Multiple authorsThe Wheaton News1921Ink on paper

Wheaton College Publications CollectionMarion B. Gebbie Archives & Special Collections

1921: Issue published.

-Podcast written and recorded by Raquel Inwentash, Class of 2013

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Anton RomakoItalian Girl Holding Basket19th centuryOil on board

Gift of Mrs. Thomas (Mary Rich) RichardsonPermanent Collection

1922: Richardson Collection donated.

-Podcast written and recorded by Libby Fifer, Class of 2013

Unknown artistPair of Blackamoor Torchieres18th century?Gold-leaf, metal, paint, wood, Venetian-style hand-blown glass

Gift of Mrs. Harriet A. Gibbs-RossPermanent Collection

1923: Blackamoors displayed in the Wheaton Library.

These Blackamoor Torchieres were placed in the Library Lobby, flanking the entrance to the Atrium when the building opened in 1923. They remained in place for many decades. As horrifying as it may seem to us today, students affectionately referred to the pair as “Amos and Andy”, after the popular radio and television comedy show of the 1920s-1950s. (The show featured white actors performing in blackface and reproduced many early twentieth-century stereotypes about people of African descent, much as the Blackamoor figures themselves reference similar, albeit earlier, stereotypes.) Sometime in the early 1960s, the figures were packed into crates and put into storage. Only when the Archives needed additional storage space were they resurrected. The Curator of the Permanent Collection, recognizing their significance, agreed to add them to the collection.

The Blackamoors were given to President Samuel Valentine Cole by his aunt, Mrs. Harriet A. Gibbs-Ross. She also gave him an ebony and ivory curio cabinet and the “Byron Desk” now in the Library Lobby, an ivory fragment of which is displayed in the Hidden Treasures section of the exhibition. Blackamoors, usually African male figures portrayed in pairs, usually depict servants carrying trays or holding candles. Carved of ebony or painted black with brightly colored embellishments, they are often associated with seventeenth-century Venice.

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Having been on display and in storage for decades, these sculptures desperately needed conservation. The Blackamoor figures have been the subject of a lengthy collaboration between students, faculty, staff, and outside experts who have worked to clean, conserve, document, and research them. For many hours, Josephine Johnson, Class of 2013, and Lindsay Koso, Class of 2015, cleaned and stabilized the sculptures with advice from Ingrid Neuman, Conservator, Berkshire Art Conservation. Students from the Exhibition Design course and from the Permanent Collection’s work-study team assisted in this effort, particularly the stabilization of the many pieces of glass. Their work has made possible the display of the Blackamoors and their chandeliers.

-Written by Zephorene L. Stickney, College Archivist & Special Collections Curator

Unidentified artist (Apache?)Burden Basket 1924Grass, hide, root, tin

Gift of Dr. Eleanor B. Kilham, Class of 1876Permanent Collection

1924: Basket collection donated.

-Podcast written and recorded by Hillary Shusterman, Class of 2014

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Unidentified artistCeremonial Crown19th centuryBraid, brass, Kingfisher feathers, fabric, silk pom-pons, tassels, wire

Emily Hartwell, Class of 1883, Collection Marion B. Gebbie Archives & Special Collections

1925: Crown donated.

Born in Fujian Province, China, to missionary parents, Emily Susan Hartwell and her sister both attended Wheaton Female Seminary, where their mother taught before sailing for China. After graduating in 1883, Emily Hartwell also taught at Wheaton. Following her mother’s death, the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions commissioned her to return to China to take her mother’s place. Hartwell was a pioneer in the development of industrial schools and orphanages in China, where donations from Wheaton students led her to name one of the dormitories she supervised “Wheaton Hall”. She also provided aid to the poor during the Boxer Rebellion and when famine and floods hit the region. In 1918, the President of the Republic of China bestowed the Order of the Precious Brilliant Golden Grain upon Miss Hartwell, honoring her many years of achievement in Foochow (Fuzhou), China. Whenever Miss Hartwell returned to the United States on sabbatical, she visited Wheaton and donated objects from her overseas travel, including ancestral tablets, shoes worn by women with bound feet, and materials printed on the mission printing press. She gave this Ceremonial Crown to Wheaton College in 1925. The fact that she could collect items with such precious and personal associations indicates the reverence in which the local populace held her. Miss Hartwell was forced to leave China when the Communists overtook the region, and she retired to a Missionary Home in the U.S.


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Unidentified designer and unidentified cobbler Fenstemacher wedding gown, veil, and shoesca. 1936Satin dress with lace and tulle veil, satin and leather shoes

Gift of Beryl Proctor Fenstemacher, Class of 1926Marion B. Gebbie Archives & Special Collections

1926: Beryl Proctor graduates.

-Podcast written and recorded by Rose Liu, Class of 2013

Marc Chagall (1887-1985)From Fables, by Jean de la Fontaine, purported to be plate nine from ‘The Fox and the Crane’1952Ink on paper (etching)

Gift of Carlton and Lorna RussellPermanent Collection

1927: Plate etched.

In 1927, Marc Chagall created 100 dry point and gouache etchings for La Fontaine’s Fables, a French series of twelve volumes consisting of 239 fables, originally issued between 1668 and 1694. Adapted from Aesop and other authors, La Fontaine’s stories appeal to a wide range of readers, and recount moral lessons through tales such as Le corbeau et le renard, and here, Le renard et la cigonge (The Fox and the Crane). This etching was owned by Carlton Russell, Wheaton Professor of Music Emeritus, and his wife Lorna Russell, Class of 1964, a teacher of French for 30 years. In this fable, a fox and crane dine together. At first, the fox provides the bird with a bowl of soup and enjoys his own, but the crane’s long beak makes him unable to drink. In the following meal, the crane provides the fox with a narrow-necked vessel of food, easy for the bird to access, but impossible for the fox to eat.In this monochromatic and expressive composition, Marc Chagall presents his interpretation of the story. While it appears that the fox is biting the crane, Mrs. Russell believes the bird is actually helping the fox by dislodging a bone from its throat. Whether one subscribes to La Fontaine and Mrs. Russell’s interpretation of the tale, its moral is one of respect: treat your neighbor as you would like to be treated.

-Written by Maddie Bailis, Class of 2013

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Designed by Amy Otis, Professor of Art,and drawn by Helen Lewis, Class of 1921Alumnae Association Seal Final Designca. 1928Ink on paper, board

Alumnae Association RecordsMarion B. Gebbie Archives & Special Collections

1928: Seal first published.

Upon its graduation, the Class of 1870 established Wheaton’s Alumnae Association. Originally, it included only grad-uates; but in 1922, when President Samuel Valentine Cole realized that there were three times as many non-graduates as graduates, the association was expanded to include all who had attended Wheaton.

In the early 1920s, an Alumnae Office opened on campus, the Alumnae Council was established, a quarterly Alumnae News (now The Quarterly) began publication, and the Association took over administration of the Vocational Office (the precursor of the Filene Center). Throughout the 1920s, the association became an increasingly useful resource for alumnae and students to network and find employment. During this period, alumnae began donating generously to the endowment, the establishment of which significantly helped the college to better serve its growing population of students. This seal, which features the iconic cupola of Mary Lyon Hall, was first used on the Quarterly cover in May 1928. A variation of this logo is still used as the official seal of the Wheaton Alumnae/i Association.


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Alva Scott Mitchell and Elizabeth Paige May,with Beatrice Colby, Class of 1930.Framed Wheaton Campus Map1929Ink on paper, wood and glass frame

Donated by Marion “Mimi” Rosnow in memory ofSheila McManus Kern, both Class of 1959Marion B. Gebbie Archives & Special Collections

1929: Wheaton Campus map published.

-Podcast written and recorded by Susan Rodriguez, Class of 2013

Unidentified cooperHoop and Stick ca. 1928Wooden barrel hoop, carved with initials and dates


1930: Hoop used during Senior Hoop Roll.

The Senior Hoop Roll is one of Wheaton’s longstanding traditions. A wooden hoop is rolled using a one-foot dowel or stick that is tapped along the top of the hoop. Children have been “rolling”, “bowling”, and “trundling” hoops for millennia; archaeological evidence indicates that hoop rolling was practiced in both ancient Egypt and Greece. In colonial America, boys and girls raced with hoops made of wood or metal, but Wheaton students have always used wooden hoops, participating in a tradition that dates back to before 1912.

Graduating students race in the Hoop Roll each year. In the past, Seniors wore their caps and gowns while chasing rolling hoops across campus during Senior Week; now the race happens on the same day as the White Glove Brunch. Traditionally, the race begins at the Library steps and finishes at the statue of Hebe. The winner is said to be the first to marry. In the early 20th century, “big sisters” (Seniors) carved their initials and class years on their hoops before passing them on to their “little sisters” (Sophomores) after the Hoop Roll. This blue wooden hoop has the years ‘28, ’30, ’32, ’34, ’38, ’40, ’42, ’44, ’46, ’47, ’48, ’49, ’50, ‘51, and ’84 scratched into its surface. A similar Wheaton tradition, the candle lighting ceremony, originated in 1929 when Peacock Pond was constructed from a marshy area beyond Chapel Field. Like the Senior Hoop Roll, the annual candle ceremony symbolizes the strong bonds that form between Wheaton students. Each year at orientation, first-year students are given a candle and stand side by side, encircling the pond. The lighting of the candles occurs as each student passes the flame to their neighbor, instilling a sense of unity and community within the class. Four years later, the candle lighting ceremony is repeated by the Seniors, who float their lit candles in Peacock Pond, a closing ritual of their journey as a class.

-Written by Rachel Vergara, Class of 2013

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J. Goldberg, Inc. [furriers]Leopard Coat1930sFabric, leopard fur, thread

Donated by Hope Keilland Cleary, Class of 1944, and Catherine Cleary, Class of 1982Marion B. Gebbie Archives & Special Collections

1931: Viola Bowker Quinn graduates.

This fur coat was worn by Viola Bowker Quinn while she was a Wheaton student. Quinn was admired for her love of fashion and her infectious smile. She excelled as a student, and was very active in co-curricular activities including the art club and club tennis. This leopard coat was her signature look, one she proudly wore around campus, as shown in archival photographs of the Class of 1931.

In the 1920s and 30s, fur was a popular fashion statement. This is evident through numerous period magazines and photographs, which reveal the popular taste for fur garments, including bags, capes, cuffs, gloves, muffs, stoles, tippets, trims, and especially coats. The heightened demand for fashionable furs resulted from increasing numbers of women working outside the home. Desiring to be both fashionable and feminine, these women had the money to afford luxuries such as fur clothing and accessories. Because the First World War was seen as defeminizing, women longed to express their femininity through fashion. Interest in clothing made of fur grew as it was considered chic and symbolized wealth and high social status. The increasing demand for fur items led to their mass-production, which, in turn, lowered their, enabling college students, like Viola Bowker Quinn, to afford fur accessories and clothing, such as the coat on display here.

-Written by Hillary Shusterman, Class of 2014

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Jack CoughlinGo Up to the Zoological Gardens, Artist’s Proofca. 1974Ink on paper (etching)

Wheaton College PurchasePermanent Collection

1932: Artist born.

-Podcast written and recorded by Rachel Vergara, Class of 2013

John Furnival with text by Thomas MeyerBlind Date1979Ink on paper, cardboard

Gift of Ben and Lesta Wunsch through theMartin S. Ackerman FoundationPermanent Collection

1933: John Furnival born.


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UnknownCostume of the Duchess of Choiseulca. 1780Cotton lace, linen, silk

Purchased from the Edgar L. Ashley Collection with funds from the Carnegie FoundationPermanent Collection

1934: Costume acquired by Wheaton.

-Podcast written and recorded by Morgan Bakerman, Class of 2013

Conserved by Museum Textile Services through the Ann H. Murray Art Conservation Fund thanks to donations from the Wheaton College Friends of Art and from Blake Funston, Class of 2012.

“Wheaton College Celebrates Centennial”The Taunton Daily GazetteJune 15, 1935Ink on newsprint

Donated by Bojan Jennings on June 24, 1981Marion B. Gebbie Archives & Special Collections

1935: Issue published.

The June 15, 1935 issue of The Taunton Daily Gazette reports two news stories significant to the campus and the wider world: the Wheaton College commemoration of its one hundredth anniversary with a day of festivities, and the march of Nazi soldiers into Oberammergau, Bavaria — a town that on that day had been performing its Passion Play, a decennial tradition since 1634.

In the light of history, the juxtaposition of these two stories – one of a celebration, the other of a celebration disrupted - is both ironic and melancholic. Within the Wheaton “bubble”, it is sometimes easy to forget the outside world. Students are preoccupied with their classes, professors with teaching those classes, administrators and other staff members with ensuring the smooth running of the college. Yet life outside the campus goes on, good or bad. This two-page spread reminds us of that. Although caught up in our own lives, we must strive to remember that, elsewhere in the world, entire populations have other priorities. This newspaper was donated to the Archives in 1981 by Chemistry professor Bojan Hamlin Jennings, who began teaching at Wheaton in 1943. During her forty years on campus, professor Jennings sought innovation and rigor for the Chemistry department. Indeed, she saw the Chemistry major approved by the American Chemistry Society in the 1950s and designed the Biochemistry major in the 1980s.

-Written by Sophie Kilcoyne, Class of 2013

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Unidentified creatorL.M.W. Fishing Stick19th CenturyWood, twine, metal

Wheaton Family Manuscript CollectionMarion B. Gebbie Archives & Special Collections

1936: Fishing stick donated to Wheaton.


Elizabeth Wright Shippee, Class of 1937Vincent Van Gogh1935Ink on paper

Donated by Harold R. Shippee and Barbara Gardner Shippee, Class of 1947Marion B. Gebbie Archives & Special Collections

1937: Elizabeth dies.

An English major and talented poet, Elizabeth Wright Shippee, Class of 1937, felt an affinity for art and began her Wheaton education in 1933. Shippee never completed her Wheaton degree: during her senior year, she died in a car accident on her way back from a Boston Symphony concert on October 18, 1936. Respected by her peers and professors, and having written a prolific amount of poetry, Shippee’s death and resulting legacy have left an indelible mark on the college. Elizabeth’s untimely passing inspired her family to memorialize her by establishing the Shippee Art Rental Collection and the Annual Shippee Memorial Lecture. Although neither of these is currently active, members of the Shippee family continue to donate gifts of art. In addition, a financial gift from the family currently funds the Elizabeth Wright Shippee ‘37 Fund for Work & Learning Fellows, which supports summer professional experiences in the arts for students.

A collection of Shippee’s poetry also continues her legacy. The late Professor of English Renaissance Literature, Katherine (Kay) Burton had fond memories of teaching Shippee: “Elizabeth was…somehow in a different gear from the others. There is no doubt of Elizabeth’s talent and spirited energy.” In this poem, titled Vincent Van Gogh, Shippee fused her adoration for art and literature; a love that was fostered at Wheaton and has not been forgotten due to the Shippee family’s unwavering dedication to the arts.


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Philip HagreenMadonna and Child with poem by Elizabeth Wright Shippee,Class of 1937Before 1937Ink on paper (woodcut)

Wheaton Family Manuscript CollectionPermanent Collection

1938: Print donated in memory of Elizabeth Wright Shippee, Class of 1937.


Francis DahlWheaton and Clark Gable CartoonBoston Herald1939Ink on paper

Acquired from the artistPermanent Collection

1939: Martha Scott Clayton (Mrs. Kenneth Westervelt), Class of 1941, “campused”.


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Dorothy Hepworth/Patricia PreeceSonya Redway Readingca. 1940Watercolor on paper

Gift of Marjorie Gelb Jones, Class of 1962Permanent Collection

1940: Drawing created.

Hepworth and Preece met while attending the Slade School of Art in London in 1917. Over time, they developed both a life and business partnership. Of the two, Hepworth is believed to have been the primary artist, but the majority of her work was signed by Preece. Therefore, Hepworth received far less attention and recognition.

Hepworth and Preece eventually moved to Cookham, England, where they met the painter Stanley Spencer in 1929. Spencer, although married with two children, became obsessed with Preece and showered her with gifts, including clothing, jewelry, and money. Shortly after Spencer’s wife divorced him in 1937, he married Preece, who refused to consummate their relationship, having only married him to gain financial support. Preece continued to live with Hepworth for the rest of her life, yet Spencer and Preece never divorced.

This drawing, donated by Marjorie Gelb Jones in 2011, is thought to be have been created by Dorothy Hepworth. The subject is Sonya Redway, who was raised in Cookham and who knew Hepworth, Preece, and Spencer throughout her childhood and as a young woman. Hepworth painted Redway at least twice: two images of Redway as a young woman were offered in a show held at the Bloomsbury Workshop in London, England in 2000. In an effort to learn more about this drawing and the relationship between Hepworth, Preece, and Redway, students working for the Permanent Collection managed to identify Redway’s home using GoogleMaps. Attempts to contact her were unsuccessful. A letter written to her by Professor Leah Niederstadt, Curator of the Permanent Collection, was returned with a handwritten note from the local postmaster indicating that Redway no longer lived at the address nor in the local retirement home and was believed to be deceased. The drawing’s calm image of Redway reading masks an intense, but obscure, history.

-Written by Morgan Bakerman, Class of 2013

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“Davis, Palmer & Co.”, Silversmiths Thomas Aspinwall Davisand Julius A. PalmerSilver Spoons in Leather Case1841-1845Silver, satin, gilt-embossed leather

A gift from the Wheaton family to Eunice Caldwell CowlesMarion B. Gebbie Archives & Special Collections

1941: Mrs. R.B. Porter donated the spoons to the College.

Laban Morey Wheaton gave these silver spoons to Eunice Caldwell Cowles, Wheaton’s first principal, who was responsible for hiring teachers and staff, and overseeing the curriculum. Eunice Caldwell left Wheaton in 1837 to become the first assistant principal at Mt. Holyoke Female Seminary, but she remained a lifelong friend and advisor of Eliza Baylies Wheaton. Two spoons are engraved with her initials, “ECC from LMW”, two spoons with the initials “MPC from LMW” for her daughter Mary, and two additional spoons are monogrammed, “RCC from LMW” for her daughter Roxanna, who was born in 1841. Apparently the gift was made before Mrs. Cowles’ third daughter, Susan was born in 1848. The spoons are marked “Davis, Palmer & Co.”, a Boston-based silversmith in business in 1838 and 1845. The leather box is imprinted with the following statement: “These spoons given by Laban M. Wheaton to Eunice Caldwell Cowles, First Principal of Wheaton Female Seminary, and her little girls; are now restored to Wheaton College by her daughters Mary, Roxana and Susan, October 16, 1920”. Records do not reveal, however, where the spoons were between 1920 and 1941, nor who Mrs. R.B. Porter was or how she acquired them. Spoons were a traditional christening gift, and large silver spoons like these represented the Wheaton family’s status and wealth and its high regard for Eunice Caldwell Cowles and her family. Because the spoons were made around 1845, they are probably coin silver, made from silver coins melted down when silver ingots were unavailable. During this era, coin silver was an unofficial standard used by manufacturers to assure customers of the quality of the silver used.


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Unidentified cobblerLotus Shoesca. 1900Embroidered silk, cardboard

Lucy A. Morse Shoe Collection (18th-20th c.) donated in memoryof her mother, Lydia Brownell Smith, Class of 1850.Marion B. Gebbie Archives & Special Collections

1942: Shoe collection donated.

-Podcast written and recorded by Maddie Bailis, Class of 2013

United States Army IssueWomen’s Army Auxiliary Corps Uniform1943Olive drab wool, various accoutrements

Issued to and donated by Patricia Keelan Chism, Class of 1941Marion B. Gebbie Archives & Special Collections

1943: Patricia Keelan joined the Women’s Army Auxiliary Corps.

-Podcast written and recorded by Sarah Estrela, Class of 2015

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Alexander Calder Little Blue Oval 1944Metal, paint, wire

Bequest of Monawee Allen Richards, Class of 1934Permanent Collection

1944: Commissioned by Monawee Allen Richards.

This small sculpture is perhaps the most well-known object in the Permanent Collection. Students regularly view Little Blue Oval, using it, for example, as inspiration for their studies in Sculpture II or Art of the Avant-Gardes 1900-1945. The piece has also been displayed several times in the college galleries.

Monawee Allen Richards, Class of 1934, commissioned Little Blue Oval, which she displayed for many years on her coffee table, shortly after viewing Calder’s 1944 exhibition at the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA). Calder did not, however, sign the piece, so Richards wrote to the artist on 19 January 1966 asking him to confirm the work’s authenticity. Calder signed a photograph of the sculpture, confirming his creation of it, and returned the image to Richards. Copies of their correspondence, and the signed photograph, are now held in the object’s file, which also contains several images of Little Blue Oval displayed on Richards’s coffee table. Mobility is a key motif in Calder’s work, especially in his large hanging mobiles, which are found in museums and private collections around the world. Calder achieves a natural equilibrium, yet expresses movement, in this smaller piece. The scale of Little Blue Oval renders it more suitable for Richards’ coffee table than the larger mobiles she saw at MoMA. The sculpture features contrasting bright colors in red, navy, orange, and yellow. A large red fin, acting as a cantilever, pushes the smaller fins into the air, causing them to appear as if they are floating. When Little Blue Oval oscillates, you may notice that the fins move in opposite directions. Calder’s work was intended to react with the air, wind, and space around it. Therefore, the piece is displayed without a cover so it can move freely as air circulates within the galleries.

Calder’s work was influenced by his close friend, Joan Miró, whose painting L’Envolee II (The Flight) is also displayed in the Commitment to the Arts section of this exhibition.


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Sears GallagherWheaton College ChapelEarly 20th centuryInk on paper (etching)

Gift of Claire Schmidt Leonard, Class of 1945Permanent Collection

1945: Claire Schmidt graduates in 1945.

Gallagher (1869-1955) began his career in Boston working as an artist for a local newspaper and illustrating textbooks for the publishing firm Ginn & Co. By the 1920s, he had established himself as a professional artist concentrating on etchings and watercolors. While the exact date of this work is unknown, during the early twentieth century Gallagher created 138 etchings of Boston’s historic streets and landmarks. He spent his later years in West Roxbury, MA, where he continued to work until retiring in the 1940s.

This Gallagher etching was donated to Wheaton by Claire Schmidt Leonard, Class of 1945. She acquired it from an acquaintance, Mary Butler. Both women reside in the same retirement community in Maine. Butler, who found the work in her aunt’s attic when an estate was settled, originally believed that it depicted Wellesley College’s chapel. She later discovered the building is Wheaton’s Cole Memorial Chapel, and gave the print to Leonard, knowing of her affiliation with the college. Peter Leonard then helped his mother donate the etching to Wheaton.

Three other works by Sears Gallagher are part of the Permanent Collection. Two etchings from his Boston series were donated by Eleanor Norcross, Class of 1872, sometime before her death in 1923. These were later found in the attic of the Library where artwork was often stored when not on display. The Wheaton College Class of 1925 gave the third print, an etching of Houghton Road, England. Isn’t it interesting that all four etchings were found in unusual ways and places, yet are now owned by the college?


Albert EinsteinRecommendation to the Board of AdmissionsFebruary 1, 1946Ink, paper, and pencil

Donated by Joseph Yelle on February 2, 1981Marion B. Gebbie Archives & Special Collections

1946: Letter written.

-Podcast written and recorded by Sophie Kilcoyne, Class of 2013

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Unidentified artistPair of Bodhisattva Fugen and Monju Scrolls18th centuryPaint on silk

Gift of Holcombe and Ethelind Austin in memory of Dr. J. Arthur Martin, Wheaton Professor of Religion from 1947-1983Permanent Collection

1947: Dr. J. Arthur Martin began teaching at Wheaton.

This pair of Bodhisattva scrolls served an important role in Buddhist worship. Second only to the Buddha, Bodhisattvas are Buddhists who have attained Enlightenment but have chosen to remain on earth to assist those who struggle with their earthly existence while seeking nirvana. Each scroll depicts two Bodhisattvas, dressed in luxurious costumes, surrounded by their attendant guardians known as arhats. To the left is the Bodhisattva of Compassion, Samantabhadra, sitting on a lotus throne while riding a white elephant. To the right is the Bodhisattva of Wisdom, Monju, sitting on a lion. The arhats are displayed either making gestures of devotion or holding religious treasures such as wands, whisks, or scrolls. The arhats are depicted as tense and troubled by the problems of the physical world. In contrast, the Bodhisattvas exude serenity and tranquility; they have attained Enlightenment and are ready to help their worshippers transcend from a world of suffering into nirvana. The Wheaton curriculum has always emphasized the study of other cultures, encouraging students to understand and engage with diversity on a global level. The Permanent Collection houses a number of Asian objects that serve as important teaching tools; they have also been regularly displayed on campus.


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Unidentified artist (Qes Teklu?)Apostle Hand CrossBefore 1967Wood

Gift of Ambassador Samuel R. Gammon in honor of his wife Mary Renwick Gammon, Class of 1948Permanent Collection

1948: Mary Renwick Gammon graduates.

This wooden cross is hand-carved in a pattern commonly used by Ethiopian Orthodox priests, who always carry a cross to bless the faithful. In Ethiopia, crosses can be carved in wood, cast in bronze, silver, gold, or brass, or, starting in at least the late twentieth century, molded in plastic. The looping design, made up of thin parallel lines that weave around the four diamond shapes that create a cruciform, representing the unity of God. This design is repeated in the middle of each diamond and at the base of the handle, emphasizing its importance.

The cross contains two inscriptions. The first, located on the side of the handle, reads Qes Teklu. Qes is the Amharic word for “priest”; the cross was presumably once owned by this individual. The second inscription, written in Ge’ez, the liturgical language of the Ethiopian Orthodox Church, is found at the base of the cross. It translates as, “The cross (of) Jesus (the) Nazarene”.

The Honorable Samuel R. Gammon, Ambassador to Mauritius (1978-1980), donated this cross, along with twelve other Ethiopian objects, in honor of his wife Mrs. Mary Renwick Gammon, Class of 1948, thus creating the Gammon Collection of Ethiopica. Ambassador Gammon attended Texas A&M University and received his Ph.D. in History from Princeton University. Mrs. Gammon accompanied her husband to many of his posts, traveling to Eritrea, Ethiopia, France, and Mauritius throughout the course of his career. They actively collected during their travels and were particularly attracted to the “medieval character” of Eritrea and Ethiopia during the Imperial regime of Emperor Haile Selassie I.


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Sandwich Glass Company (?)Peacock Blue Chancellor Livingston Ship Cup PlateLate 19th centuryPressed glass

Gift of Edwin O. RaabePermanent Collection

1949: Laila Raabe Collection of Early American Glass donated.

Cup plates are an oddly American phenomenon. Tea parties were popular from the 18th to the mid-19th century, before coffee became the favored drink. During that period, tea sets featured handle-less cups with deep saucers. Contrary to European conventions, Americans drank their tea not from the cups, but from the saucers. Tea drinkers needed somewhere to place their hot cups, and cup plates were developed for this purpose.

This peacock blue cup plate was created by blowing glass into a mold that incorporated a scalloped rim bordered with a scroll, shield, heart and star design. The central motif is a three-masted paddle wheeler with the inscription “Chancellor Livingston.”

Built in 1816 for the North River Steamboat Company by Henry Eckford, the Chancellor Livingston was “the most important steamboat that appeared on the Hudson River”, regularly traveling from New York to Albany. She once managed the trip in thirteen hours, which made her a favorite vessel for both passengers and cargo. In 1832, she was moved to the Boston-to-Portland run for two years, and then dismantled.

An early advocate of Stephen Fulton’s idea of applying steam to navigation, Chancellor Robert R. Livingston resigned his mission as U.S. Ambassador to the Court of France in order to return to America during the construction of Fulton’s first steamship in 1805. A decade later, his support was recognized when the Chancellor Livingston was named in his honor.


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Benard Direait, graveureTree of Knowledge from Diderot’s Encyclopedie1780WoodcutInk on rag paper (copperplate engraving)


1950: Encyclopedie purchased.

An iconic, yet controversial creation of the 18th century French Age of the Enlightenment, the Encyclopedie influenced both the American and French Revolutions. Denis Diderot, Jean-Baptiste le Rond d’Alembert and myriad other scholars, writers, and philosophers collaborated to create a work that would disseminate all knowledge that had been gained throughout history. Publication began in 1751, but this ambitious and liberal undertaking was met with resistance, primarily from religious, political and monarchical parties. They raised objections because theology appeared under philosophy, free will was often mentioned, and artisans were portrayed as equals of rulers. Attempting to make empirical knowledge accessible to the public, the Encyclopedistes, as they were known, were charged with plagiarism, heresy, and attacking religion and morality. Despite this opposition, the 35th and final volume was completed by 1780. In 1950, a Wheaton professor found this complete first folio edition Diderot Encyclopedie on sale for $350 in a used-book store in New York City. President A. Howard Meneely, an historian, approved the purchase, despite the fact that the price equaled one year’s tuition. The frontispiece of the first volume of Tables unfolds to display an engraved “tree of knowledge”. This tree graphically represents Diderot’s “System of Human Understanding”, which had been displayed in outline form in the set’s first volume. At the base of the tree, l’entendement, or “understanding,” provides the foundation from which knowledge grows. The next branches are “memory” (memoire), “reason” (raison), and “imagination” (imagination). Diderot believed that all knowledge could be tied to these foundational concepts, which he used to organize the articles in his influential 35-volume work.


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Wassily KandinskyMotif from Improvisation 251911Ink on paper (woodcut)

Gift of Mary L. HeuserPermanent Collection

1951: Print purchased.

In his 1911 treatise Concerning the Spiritual in Art, Kandinsky wrote, “A painter…in his longing to express his inner life, cannot but envy the ease with which music, the most non-material of the arts today, achieves this end. He naturally seeks to apply the methods of music to his own art”. A self-proclaimed synesthete for whom art was a multi-sensorial experience to be both seen and heard, Kandinsky stood at the forefront of Munich’s avant-garde movement, known as Der Blaue Reiter, with his fractured yet lyrical abstractions. Originally published in the artist’s 1913 poetry collection Klänge (“Sounds” or “Harmonies”), this later edition print of Motif from Improvisation 25 was purchased abroad in 1951 by Professor Mary L. Heuser, who taught for decades in the Art/Art History Department at Wheaton. Heuser’s German heritage and childhood trips to Germany gave her a unique appreciation for the Munich arts scene, which greatly influenced her career. It is not difficult to see why this particular piece spoke to Professor Heuser; even in stark black-and-white, the coalescing forms and sinuous contours of Motif appear to glow with the “spiritual harmony” Kandinsky so passionately sought, singing in a language just beyond our comprehension.

-Written by Walker Downey, Class of 2013

Elizabeth Colson Huppertz, Class of 1929“Now is the Hour for Eisenhower” ScrapbookFebruary 6, 1952 – March 20, 1952Ink, paper, pins, stickers, and tape

Elizabeth Colson Huppertz Manuscript CollectionMarion B. Gebbie Archives & Special Collections

1952: Eisenhower campaigns for President.

These two pages are from a series of scrapbooks compiled by Elizabeth Colson Huppertz in 1952. They testify to her tenacity and support for the 1952 Republican candidate for President, General Dwight D. Eisenhower. Mrs. Huppertz collected sketches, newspaper clippings, letters, photographs and bills from calligraphers and engravers. She and her husband, as well as their two daughters, spent several months producing campaign materials using a slogan she coined: “Now is The Hour for Eisenhower”.

The scrapbooks do not record any recognition from General Eisenhower for Huppertz’s support and hard work. Yet one can imagine her pride when she received letters of thanks from United States Senators, such as Mr. Henry Cabot Lodge Jr., or from members of the House of Representatives.

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This two-page spread includes a clipping from the Boston Daily Globe of March 20th 1952, featuring Mrs. Huppertz working at her printing press. The article emphasizes that she is a typical 1950s woman caring for her family and home. However, Mrs. Huppertz is also depicted as a determined supporter of Eisenhower, explaining her decision to back the Republican candidate and the importance of rallying as many voters as possible.

In this election year of 2012, we can relate to the consequences of supporting a particular candidate. Wheaton College students actively participated in the recent presidential and senatorial elections by watching debates, campaigning, and sponsoring lectures. This year, for example, the campus chapter of the Roosevelt Institute held fifteen events over the course of nine weeks, including a voter registration drive, to encourage the Wheaton community to feel empowered by ideas and political action.


Josiah Wedgwood & SonsCoronation of Queen Elizabeth II Commemorative Cigarette Box1953Earthenware, glaze

Gift of Dr. Victoria Maxwell Cass, Class of 1934Permanent Collection

1953: Coronation of Queen Elizabeth II.

Created for the June 1953 Coronation of Queen Elizabeth II, this cigarette box, decorated with a raised profile of the Queen and her crown, and a laurel and berry wreath with a scroll commemorating the event, is an example of royal coronation memorabilia and Wedgwood Queen’s Ware. At age 26, Elizabeth ascended the throne upon the 1952 death of her father, King George VI. On June 2, 1953, after sixteen months of meticulous preparation, she became Queen of England and constitutional monarch of the Commonwealth of Nations, in an internationally celebrated coronation ceremony. The Wedgwood factory, considered the most famous name in English ceramics, was commissioned to create this cigarette box for the event. In 1765, Josiah Wedgwood received a large commission for a tea set for Queen Charlotte. With the successful completion of the service, he fashioned himself as the “Potter to Her Majesty,” renaming the style of ceramics as “Queen’s Ware.” Developed to compete with porcelain and previously known as creamware, Queen’s Ware is made from glazed cream-colored earthenware. In 18th century Europe, porcelain was a highly desirable and difficult-to-reproduce material of Chinese origin so the development of an alternative was welcomed by a public eager to purchase an inexpensive substitute. Due to the durable and lightweight nature of Queen’s Ware, this type of ceramic has gratified a multitude of tastes and functions for decades. From large-scale tea service commissions to commercial products, such as this cigarette box, Wedgwood’s Queen’s Ware exemplifies the legacy of the brand and its associations with British royalty.


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After Bertel ThorvaldsenHebe Statuette1954-1955Plaster


1954: Presented to Virgina Campana, Class of 1955.

The Greek goddess of youth and cupbearer of the drink of immortality for the gods of Mount Olympus, Hebe was the daughter of Zeus and Hera and a popular subject for 19th and 20th century garden fountains. Eliza Baylies Wheaton gave the original lead fountain of Hebe, based on a sculpture by Norwegian Bertel Thorvaldsen, to Wheaton Seminary for its fiftieth anniversary in 1884. It served as a beautiful evocation of the Seminary motto, “Who drinks shall thirst for more”. Since she was first installed opposite Mrs. Wheaton’s home (now the President’s House), Hebe has become a center for student traditions and still serves as the finish line for the Senior Hoop Roll. (A hoop is on display nearby.) The original statue was damaged by constant thefts. In 1934, when Hebe was moved, her left arm was disfigured by the addition of an electric light to the cup, and an alarm was placed on the base to thwart further thefts. After a particularly egregious kidnapping in 1955, during which her body was wrenched from her feet, Hebe retired to the Potato Cellar behind Balfour-Hood. In 1982, sculptor Fritz Cleary, husband of Hope Kielland Cleary, Class of 1944, and father of Catherine Cleary, Class of 1982, used the pieces of the original lead statue to recast Hebe in bronze, making her too heavy to steal! Small plaster reproductions of Wheaton’s Hebe were first created in 1932 for sale by the Alumnae Office to raise money for a Student Alumnae Building (now Balfour-Hood). By 1942, these statuettes were awarded to retiring faculty of long standing, but by 1945, only six remained. This one was given to the 1954-55 College Government Association (CGA) President, Virginia Campana.

-Written by Christina Cannon, Class of 2013

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Unidentified artistWheaton Humpty Dumptiesca. 1951Felt, thread

Gift of Priscilla King Gray, Class of 1955Marion B. Gebbie Archives & Special Collections

1955: Priscilla King graduates.

Do these Humpty Dumpties evoke the romantic in you? While a Freshman at Wheaton, Priscilla King, Class of 1955, met M.I.T. Sophomore Paul E. Gray on a blind date. Gray became her boyfriend, and he bought her these Humpty Dumpties as a Valentine’s Day gift from Wheaton’s bookstore. Throughout her college days, the toys sat on her bed, and after she married Gray, they moved wherever the family did. Gray’s children even played with them as toys!

Paul Gray went on to earn a Master’s and a Ph.D. from MIT and served as the institution’s President from 1980-1990. Elected to Wheaton’s Board of Trustees, he served as its Chairman and signed the Sesquicentennial Proclamation on display to your left. Gray also signed the letter announcing coeducation at Wheaton, as he presided over the Board when it decided to transform Wheaton into a coeducational college. A Wheaton education became a family tradition: their daughter Amy Gray Sluyter is a member of the Class of 1980, and their granddaughter Hannah Wilson Army graduated in 2004.

Eventually, Priscilla and Paul Gray downsized, but she could not bear to throw the Humpties away and donated them to Wheaton. Today, the Humpties speak to us of romance and a life-long partnership!

-Podcast written and recorded by Christina Cannon, Class of 2013

Mildred Tommy AtkinTropical Retreat1956Oil on canvas

Gift of the artistPermanent Collection

1956: Mildred Tommy Atkin painted Tropical Retreat.

-Podcast written and recorded by Walker Downey, Class of 2013

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Unidentified artistPre-Columbian Seated Red Figureca. 2nd century BCETerracotta Earthenware

Gift of Professor Thomas J. and Margaret D. McCormick, Class of 1946. Permanent Collection

1957: Figured received by donors as a wedding gift from Thomas B. Wilber.

-Podcast written and recorded by Gwyneth Cook, Class of 2013

Dorothy Kerper Monnelly, Class of 1958Pahoehoe Lava and Sword Fern1997Archival silver gelatin print from a 4x5 black and white negative

Gift of the artistPermanent Collection

1958: Dorothy Kerper Monnelly graduates.


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Mary C. Kilton, Wheaton Class of 1882Berlin-work Samplerca. 1882Wool needlework on canvas, framed

Gift of Sally Mohrfeld Van Den Bossche, Class of 1959 Marion B. Gebbie Archives & Special Collections

1959: Sally Mohrfeld Van Den Bossche graduates.


Ruth Dryden Deshaies Something for St. Valentine, 6/501960Ink on paper (etching)

Gift of Mary Jane Goodloe in memory of Mary L. HeuserPermanent Collection

1960: Card created and presented to Professor Mary L.Heuser.


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Eliza Wheaton StrongHagar and Ishmael are Cast Out by Abraham (Genesis XXI)Before 1834Cotton, metallic thread, paint, silk, silk embroidery

Acquired from Oliver Brothers RestorationMarion B. Gebbie Archives & Special Collections

1961: Embroidery found at Oliver Brothers Restoration in Boston.


Conserved by Museum Textile Services through the Ann H. Murray Art Conservation Fund and the Newell Bequest Fund.

Paul Allard, Wheaton College PhotographerMrs. Eleanor Roosevelt with Students1962Black and white photograph

Otis Memorial Lecture SeriesMarion B. Gebbie Archives & Special Collections

1962: Eleanor Roosevelt participates in the Otis Lecture series.


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Unidentified artistChinese Tiger15th century (?)Marble

Gift of Dr. Harry and Ruth Massell Kozol, Class of 1925, and their daughter, Barbara Kozol Schwab, Class of 1954Permanent Collection

1963: Tiger donated.

This marble tiger was a gift from acclaimed playwright Eugene O’Neill to Dr. Harry Kozol, a Harvard Medical School graduate who practiced in Boston. Kozol was O’Neill’s most trusted physician in the final years of his life. During this period, Kozol visited O’Neill almost daily and responded to frequent house calls. O’Neill died of bronchial pneumonia on November 27, 1953. Dr. Kozol, who sat by O’Neill’s bedside, was the first to announce his untimely death to the public. The sculpture was once exhibited in the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. It was removed from display when the museum’s staff decided that the tiger was merely a century-old reproduction. Once Kozol received the tiger from O’Neill, he consulted an expert who suggested that the tiger is likely of Ming origin and older than similar statuary due to its small size and lack of intricate detail.

Carved from a slab of gray marble, the tiger rests on its belly in a bed of leaves. With its large snout and flaring nostrils, it shares characteristics of other animal statues found in Ming Dynasty tombs. The Ming Dynasty (1368-1644) is known for its funerary architecture, which featured intricate, often ornate, carvings. In China, tigers symbolize royalty, fearlessness, and wrath, and representations of tigers in funerary contexts are thought to link the deceased’s reputation with these qualities.


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Ellsworth KellyBlack and White1964Ink on paper (lithograph)

Purchased by Beard Gallery, Wheaton CollegePermanent Collection

1964: Lithograph created.

In December 1965, Wheaton’s Watson Gallery hosted a veritable “A-List” of contemporary artists in a print exhibition entitled Major Contemporary Graphics. On month-long loan from Boston’s since-renamed Harcus Krakow Gallery, which once drew an array of local and international talents to its Newbury Street location, the show boasted 21 pieces by well-established names such as Alberto Giacometti and Henry Moore and by younger talents like Paul Wunderlich and Allen Jones. While Kelly’s starkly reduced Black and White would have fit comfortably alongside the minimalist, abstract pieces featured in Contemporary Graphics, ironically it did not appear in the show. Instead, the print was purchased the following month as a gesture of gratitude towards the gallery, which graciously refused a rental fee for the exhibition. More than a bold visual statement in its own right, Black and White tells of a unique and extraordinary juncture in Wheaton’s historic relationship with the broader art world—a time when 18 of the twentieth century’s now most recognized figures, several just entering the glow of the limelight, all congregated on Wheaton’s walls.


Paul Allard, Wheaton College PhotographerCandy Yaghjian, Class of 1965: “Give up a Coke for Candy” Campaign1965Black and white photograph

Candy Yaghjian Manuscript CollectionMarion B. Gebbie Archives & Special Collections

1965: Campaign mounted.


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Stefan Martin print, after Ben Shahn Martin Luther King Jr., 188/3001966Ink on paper (woodblock)

Gift of Madeline Hunter Farnsworth, Class of 1937Permanent Collection

1966: Print created.


UnknownFish-Shaped Lamp with Chi Rhoca. 1st-2nd centuryTerracotta

Newell Bequest Permanent Collection

1967: Lamp donated.


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Smith Haines Lundberg & Waehler Science Center Interior Architectural Rendering1968Ink and watercolor on paper

Architectural RecordsMarion B. Gebbie Archives & Special Collections

1968: Science Center constructed.

During the 1960s, Wheaton’s Trustees voted to construct a new building for the Math and Science departments, replacing Science Hall built in 1911 (now Knapton Hall). Architects Smith Haines Lundberg & Waehler produced numerous architectural renderings of the proposed Science Center. This interior rendering shows what is now Hindle Auditorium as it appeared when built in 1968.

This new lecture hall became the largest on campus with a capacity of 200 people. The sketch of the auditorium reveals that Wheaton was still a women’s college. Only one male interacts with the numerous female students who are depicted socializing or studying. The design, based on Modern architectural concepts of function, rationality and adaptability, allowed for resourceful use of space.

In 1955, the Trustees chose to respond to the growing numbers of men and women seeking a college education following World War II by doubling Wheaton’s enrollment and building Lower Campus, which adheres to the Modern aesthetic. The Science Center, which shares this aesthetic, completed this expansion of the college. It was funded by Wheaton’s first successful capital campaign.

Hindle Auditorium continues to be used for classes, lectures, and meetings as well as co-curricular events. The student club Bacchus regularly hosts movie nights in the auditorium and the campus community came together to watch this year’s election on Hindle’s big screen.


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In the decades that followed, Murray curated two one-man shows of Townley’s work at Wheaton—one in 1981, and another 27 years later. The latter, a career-encompassing retrospective entitled The Wizard of Wood, was conceived when Murray reconnected with Townley after many years. Despite declining health, Townley drove to Wheaton from his home in Bethel, VT, to help organize the show with several friends and BigTown Gallery Director Anni Mackay, a patron of his work following his relocation north. Townley made but one demand before leaving Wheaton: “You’re going to have this show with or without me”. As he requested, Wizard opened in December 2008, after his death the previous February. Curated by Murray and MacKay, the show displayed 83 works from various periods of Townley’s career. Edge of the Desert was purchased after the show, as were two other works. A fourth work, In the Seventh House, was a bequest from the artist. These works are a poignant reminder of the friend and collaborator Murray lost in Townley. His passion and legacy resonate to this day, much like his marvelous wood creations.


Mary Duprey HoehlingLetter to President Prentice on Wheaton Vietnam StrikeMay 21, 1970Ink on paper

Mary Duprey Hoehling Manuscript CollectionMarion B. Gebbie Archives & Special Collections

1970: Wheaton College students and faculty vote to join nationwide strike.


Hugh TownleyEdge of the Desert1995Paint, wood

Purchased with the Louise McKeon Deemer, Class of 1933, Art FundPermanent Collection

1969: Townley’s one-man show opens at the deCordova Museum in Lincoln, MA.

Wheaton College’s history with sculptor and printmaker Hugh Townley (1923-2008) is as rich and intricate as the brightly colored forms that comprise Edge of the Desert. The relationship began with a chance encounter nearly 40 years ago, when soon-to-be Gallery Director Ann H. Murray met Townley during her graduate studies at Brown University, where Townley was then a faculty member.

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David ChamberlainA Une Passante1992Bronze

Gift of Thomas Walker and Laurel Walker Pike in memory of their sister Connie Walker, Class of 1972Permanent Collection

1972: Connie Walker graduates.

David Chamberlain’s fluid and curving sculpture is a symbol of friendship, familial memory, and artistic development. Thomas Walker and Laurel Walker Pike commissioned A Une Passante in memory of Connie Walker — sister of Thomas, childhood friend of David Chamberlain, and Wheaton alumna. The artist stated that he “wanted the curving, wing-like forms of this sculpture to suggest the variety of passages we make in our lives.” Finding inspiration in musical composition, Chamberlain’s sculpture is harmonious with its twisting, complex shape and rich layering of patinas. The sculpture’s array of light-catching tones was created using advanced painting techniques involving brushwork with oxidized chemicals and various acids, applied at specific temperatures, pressures, and rates. The lustrous palette of greens, blues, and grays emphasizes the smoothness and circular movement of the bronze, and its title, which translates to ‘as one passes by.’ The artist hoped passers-by would turn the sculpture, in order to enjoy the piece from different angles. Connie Walker was both a friend and an artistic admirer of David Chamberlain. In remembering her through A Une Passante, of which there are two castings, one at Wheaton and one at the home of Connie’s parents, this sculpture symbolizes the memory of a loved family member within a harmonious and meaningful form, and shares it with an environment significant to the Walker family — the Wheaton community.


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Shreve & Co.Eliza Baylies Chapin Wheaton’s Perpetual CalendarLate 19th centurySterling silver and celluloid

Donated by Lucy Howe Wild, Class of 1923Marion B. Gebbie Archives & Special Collections

1973: Calendar donated.

Lucy A. Wild, the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Alfred Wheaton Wild, cousins of Judge Laban Wheaton, donated this perpetual calendar on May 28th 1973. It belonged to Eliza Baylies Chapin Wheaton, Judge Laban Wheaton’s daughter-in-law, who is credited with convincing him of the importance of creating a female seminary in memory of his beloved daughter Eliza Wheaton Strong. Eliza Baylies Wheaton’s initials are engraved on the side of the silver frame.

Mrs. Wheaton spent many busy hours at her desk, tracking the passage of time with correspondence, keeping a diary, and maintaining meticulous financial records. The calendar’s interchangeable headings and date configurations are printed on celluloid, an early form of thermoplastic first created in 1862 and featured at the Great Exhibition in London, which visited Eliza Baylies and Laban Morey Wheaton visited during their tour of Europe.

The Californian jewelers and silversmiths Shreve & Co., related to the Boston firm Shreve, Crump & Low, created this Arts and Crafts-style calendar. We surmise that the calendar was given to Mrs. Wheaton either by her brother Samuel Austin Chapin, for whom Chapin Hall was named, or her niece Mary Chapin Smith, Class of 1872. Both lived in California for a number of years: Chapin went West pursuing the 1849 Gold Rush, while Smith and her husband ran a vineyard that had been purchased for them by Mrs. Wheaton.


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William Merritt ChaseMrs. Philip Hale (Lilian Westcott Hale)1900-1902Oil on canvas

Gift of Marion Lewis Lothrop, Class of 1907Permanent Collection

1975: Painting accessioned into Permanent Collection.

A celebrated American artist, William Merritt Chase began painting in the late nineteenth century. Best known for his impressionistic paintings, Chase also taught other distinguished American artists, including Charles Demuth, Edward Hopper, Georgia O’Keeffe, and Charles Sheeler. Chase encouraged his students to work directly from nature, skipping preliminary sketches and painting directly onto canvas with a loaded brush. Much like Wheaton’s studio art faculty members encourage their students to find their own artistic voices, it is clear that Chase never imposed his own style on his students. Lillian Clark Westcott Hale studied with Chase and later became a successful artist known for her portraits of children and women in domestic interiors. She was married to Philip Leslie Hale, a Boston figure painter, critic, and art instructor. Both Mr. and Mrs. Hale exhibited frequently at the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts Annual Exhibitions and Water Colour Exhibitions at the Copley Society in Boston.

Chase’s portrait of Hale depicts her holding a collection of brushes and seemingly deep in thought, perhaps contemplating one of her own paintings. The ties between the Hales and Chase demonstrate the extent of artistic community that surrounded the esteemed older artist. Today, similar interests in the arts create ties among members of the Wheaton community through such organizations as The Friends of Art and the student-run club ARTHive, and in the numerous musical and theatrical performances held on campus.


Lucy & Emeline LarcomLetter to Mother (Lois Larcom)August 18, 1841Paper, ink, wax

Lucy Larcom Manuscript CollectionMarion B. Gebbie Archives & Special Collections

1974: Letters donated by Lois Larcom Horn, Class of 1928.


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Rembrandt Harmenszoon van RijnLandscape with Hay Barn and a Flock of Sheep, second state 1652Ink on paper (drypoint and etching)

Gift of Helen Lewis (Mrs. Newton G.) Loud, Class of 1921Permanent Collection

1976: Print donated.

Several donors have given artwork by well-known artists to Wheaton. For example, in 1994, Monawee Allen Richards bequeathed the Calder sculpture on display elsewhere in this exhibition. Newton G. and Helen Lewis Loud, Class of 1921, donated twenty-three prints to the college, including works by Albrecht Durer, James McNeill Whistler, and Rembrandt van Rijn. (A Chinese print given by the Louds is included in the Thinking Globally section of the show.)

Rembrandt (1606-1669) composed this image on a plate cut with an arch at the top, which serves as a framing device for the setting. Etched lines, created from the application of acid to a printing plate, structure the landscape while drypoint was used to create the varied tones. Drypoint is a printmaking technique in which an artist uses a fine-point tool to carve into a printing plate.

Rembrandt often depicted rural scenes in and around Amsterdam, the city in which he lived for most of his life, having moved there at the age of twenty-five. In this print, the viewer’s eye is drawn to a flock of sheep grazing by a nearby brook. Cows stand in the distance as a horse merrily rolls on the ground. The scene illustrates a typical farming community, and the hay barn and animals give viewers a sense of the pre-industrial agricultural society that surrounded Rembrandt during his life. While known for his intimate depictions of interior settings, this outdoor setting reflects Rembrandt’s familiarity with and connection to the land.


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Bashka Paeff (1894-1979)Bust of Boyca. 1934Bronze

Found in Emerson BasementPermanent Collection

1977: Boy and Bird sculpture replaced after theft.

Several years ago, a small closet was discovered in an obscure corner of Emerson Basement. It was filled with objects rejected by customers at a College tag sale held in the mid-1960s. Many of the items had been used during Wheaton’s Seminary days, including pitchers, glassware, and bars of lye soap. This bronze bust of a young male with a “Dutch boy” haircut sat ignored for many lonely, dark years in that closet, his price tag disintegrating in temperatures that often reached the 100° mark. Accumulated grime obscured the piece, but it seemed important to the college archivist, who discovered and opened the closet in 2010. Fortunately, the bust is signed, and a brief search revealed it as the work of Bashka Paeff, a sculptor best known for her Boy and Bird fountain sculpture in Boston’s Public Garden. The bust found in Emerson Basement appears to have been a study for the public sculpture, as it bears a strong resemblance to the final work.

Born in Minsk, Russia, Paeff and her family immigrated to the US when she was an infant. In her early teens, she enrolled in the Massachusetts College of Art & Design, graduating at 17. She later studied at the School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, and in Paris. Among her numerous sculptures in the Boston area, Paeff ’s Boy and Bird was placed at the Arlington Street entrance of the Public Garden in 1934. It had to be replaced twice, once after being stolen in 1977, and again, more than twenty years later, after it was vandalized.

Who contributed the piece to the tag sale? Why were they willing to give up this lovely bronze sculpture?


Karel AppelResting Cat1978Color lithograph

Gift of Robert WolffPermanent Collection

1978: Karel Appel created his Cats series.


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Laban Morey Wheaton, SecretaryBoard of Trustees: first volume of Minutes1834Ink on paper

Board of Trustees RecordsMarion B. Gebbie Archives & Special Collections

1979: Sent to the Archives by Marjorie Ford, Assistant to President Alice F. Emerson.

The first meeting of Wheaton’s Board of Trustees was held at the home of Laban Morey Wheaton (now the President’s House) on November 17, 1834. Eight men, including L.M. Wheaton and his father Judge Laban Wheaton, several of their business associates, and three local ministers, had agreed to serve as Trustees of the female seminary.

The minutes of this first meeting indicate several decisions regarding the organization and officers of the Board, including that Lemuel Perry would serve as Secretary, a role he never assumed. These minutes are, however, in Laban Morey Wheaton’s hand, as he recorded their initial discussions, and continued as the Board’s Secretary. A committee of three men was appointed to draft resolutions to establish the Seminary fees and calendar, and to regulate the Board.

After some consideration, twenty-one resolutions were adopted. The four most important resolutions were to name the institution Wheaton Female Seminary, establish the officers and their responsibilities, set two academic terms consisting of twenty-two weeks with a tuition of ten dollars each, and to name Miss Eunice Caldwell principal. (A set of spoons presented to Caldwell by Laban Morey Wheaton is on display in the Hidden Treasures section of the exhibition.) The minutes further authorize her to hire assistants if the enrollment exceeded twenty-five students, all of whom had to be thirteen years of age or older.

Today, the trustee’s minutes are still recorded by hand and kept in the Wheaton College archives


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Haviland & Co., Limoges, FranceEliza Baylies Wheaton’s Tea SetPour Clark Adams & Clark Bostonca. 1891-1899Porcelain, hand painted

Gift of Robert WolffPermanent Collection

1980: Donated by Lucy Howe Wild, Class of 1923, daughter of Alice Johanna Howard and Alfred Wheaton Wild, Laban Morey Wheaton’s cousin and business manager to both Laban Morey and Eliza Baylies Wheaton.


James McNeill WhistlerLa Marchande de Moutarde (The Mustard Shopkeeper)1858Ink on paper (drypoint and etching)

On extended loan courtesy of Mrs. Joanna Salvo, Class of 1981Permanent Collection

1981: Joanna Salvo graduates.

James McNeill Whistler was one of the most famous American artists of the 19th century. This etching, completed the year before he left Paris for London, is based on a drawing Whistler completed in Cologne during a walking tour of France and the Rhineland. The print exemplifies his whimsical approach to etching, as well as the mastery he possessed over line and form, especially in the expressive lines of the doorframe, and in the delicate treatment of the young girl’s face. La Marchande de Moutarde is considered one of Whistler’s most important early works. Exhibited beside one of his portrait etchings at the Paris Salon of 1859, scholars considered the print to be his artistic introduction to the public.Joanna Salvo, a Continuing Education (non-traditional) student who graduated from Wheaton with an Art History degree in 1981, purchased this etching and later loaned it to the Permanent Collection. Salvo attended Wheaton as a single mother after the untimely death of her husband, and made a personal commitment to learn all that she could. She continued her education at Brown University, where she earned a Master’s degree, and wrote her thesis on Whistler. Salvo has a reputation for possessing a keen eye for fine art: several of her loans to the collection are among the works most used for teaching and student research. This piece, which was purchased at auction, appealed to Salvo because of its significant history and her strong interest in Whistler’s work and life. While she has owned various Whistler pieces during her years as a collector, this particular piece remains one of her favorites.


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Judith NultyBend in the Road (Pors Poulhan)1982Oil on canvas

A Gift from Nathan and Patricia Shippee for theElizabeth Wright Shippee ’37 MemorialPermanent Collection

1982: Painting created.

While a student at Wheaton in the 1960’s, Judith Nulty rented Max Beckman’s Bend in the Road from the Shippee Rental Collection, which consisted of more than 300 original and reproduction framed paintings and prints that students, faculty, and staff could rent for a nominal fee. Nulty liked the print so much that she asked to purchase it from the College. A practicing artist whose work is held in numerous public and private collections, Nulty has created myriad paintings and drawings, many of which could bear the title “Bend in the Road”. Much of her work is inspired by the countryside of southern France, where she has long lived and worked. In 1982, Nulty held a solo show at the Shippee Gallery in New York City. The Shippees purchased her painting Bend in the Road unaware that it had been inspired by the print she had rented for her Wheaton dorm room. Nulty’s painting is at Wheaton today because the Shippees decided it should return to the site of its inspiration. These connections between Nulty and the Shippees demonstrate the bonds shared by Wheaton alumnae, especially those inspired by the visual arts.


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Unknown artistIvory Cupid from “Byron Desk”18th centuryIvory

Gift of Mrs. Harriet A. Gibbs-RossMarion B. Gebbie Archives & Special Collections

1983: Ivory cupid returned.

-Written and recorded by Christina Cannon, Class of 2013

Colleen (surname unknown)Sesquicentennial ProclamationMay 26, 1984Ink on paper

College HistoriesMarion B. Gebbie Archives & Special Collections

1984: Sesquicentennial celebrations begin.

“We invite all who know Wheaton to join in honoring the intelligence, creativity, boldness of spirit, and commitment to the challenges of the world that inspire this College.” -Sesquicentennial Proclamation

From the Commencement ceremony of 1984, to the Reunion gathering of 1985, the College celebrated the 150th anniversary of its founding as Wheaton Female Seminary. Sesquicentennial events, including academic forums, concerts, and exhibitions were held every month, and some long-forgotten traditions, such as May Day, were revived.The Proclamation’s calligrapher integrated the Sesquicentennial logo, which was created by College Designer Barbara Dill, into her design. The falling confetti in orange, red and blue reinforces the idea of celebration. Today, twenty-five years later, 100 Years, 100 Objects helps celebrate the centennial of the Seminary’s transformation into Wheaton College. The objects exhibited throughout the galleries tell stories connected to current and past members of the Wheaton community. The sesquicentennial proclamation contributes to Wheaton’s developing history and begs the question: What stories will you tell, 25 years from now?


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Josiah WedgwoodPortland Vase20th centuryJasperware

Gift of James P. and Barbara Gammon Flint, Class of 1931Permanent Collection

1985: Vase donated.


Unidentified artistLohan Chairca. 1890Rosewood

Gift of Holcombe and Ethelind Austin in Memory of Professor J. Arthur Martin who taught religion at Wheaton from 1947-1983Permanent Collection

1986: Chair donated.

Donated in 1986 by the Austins in memory of Professor of Religion J. Arthur Martin, this 19th century Chinese Lohan Chair is a symbol of honor celebrating an important member of the Wheaton community. In 1959, Professor Martin developed the idea for a series of lectures that would provide students “an opportunity to hear and to come to know distinguished theologians and philosophers and to profit from the inspiration and guidance of a person of such intellectual stature as is usually found in our leading universities.” He brought the idea to Henry Witte Otis, who funded The Marjorie Otis Memorial Lecture Series in Religion in memory of his first wife, Marjorie Maxfield Otis. The Otis Lecture Series brought impressive speakers such as Paul J. Tillich and Eleanor Roosevelt to the Wheaton campus. (An image of Mrs. Roosevelt meeting with students is displayed in the Social Responsibility section of the exhibition.) The Austins’ choice of object with which to remember Professor Martin was clearly purposeful. Martin brought honor to Wheaton through his academic contributions and establishment of the Otis Lectures. The Lohan chair is a type of furniture designated for an individual of high honor, such as an elderly relative, a religious leader, or an important visitor. (Lohan is a Chinese word meaning “fit for a saint.”) The wide seat and curvilinear back are structured to allow one to sit comfortably cross-legged, placing the respected sitter in a welcoming and open position, encouraging him to bestow knowledge upon those gathered in his company.


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Joy CainPueblo Pot1984Blackware clay

Donated by Carol Horowitz in 1988 in memory of her Wheaton roommate, Jane Elizabeth Clarke, both Class of 1969Permanent Collection

1988: Pot Donated.

The bottom of this stone-polished blackware pueblo pot is inscribed with the artist’s name — Joy Cain — and Santa Clara Reservation, where she digs her clay. Also inscribed with the initials of Jane Elizabeth Clarke and her class year, 1969, this pot was commissioned by Carol Horowitz, Class of 1969, in memory of the friendship Clark and Horowitz began at Wheaton College. The pot’s carved design represents the thunder and lightening Horowitz and Clarke experienced during their travels together in northern New Mexico.

This work is important to Wheaton College’s Permanent Collection, and relevant to 100 Years, 100 Objects, because of the friendship and community it represents: Carol Horowitz, a good friend of the potter, could have commissioned a piece for herself, yet she chose to commission this work in memory of her Wheaton roommate. It was created in 1984, the year of their 15th Reunion.

Wheaton College prides itself on the bonds formed in and outside of the classroom. Those who attend Wheaton value the community we have created here. Pueblo Pot testifies to the dedication of one alumna to another and to the long-lasting friendships formed at the college.


Paul Gray, Chairman of the Board of Trustees,and Alice F. Emerson, PresidentCoeducation Announcement Letter1987Ink on paper

General Files: CoeducationMarion B. Gebbie Archives & Special Collections

1987: Coeducation announced.


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Unidentified artistCycladic figureBefore 11th c. BCEMarble

Purchased with the Newell Bequest FundPermanent Collection

1989: Figure acquired.

This small humanoid figure is the oldest object in the Permanent Collection. It originated in the Cycladic Islands off the coast of Greece, perhaps on the island of Naxos, where a similar marble is quarried. Bronze Age sculptures, like this one, were commonly buried in graves throughout the Aegean region. They usually depict a woman posed with her arms crossed over the body. Rarer examples of Cycladic figures depict men, usually playing an instrument. This figure features incised lines suggesting form, but other examples retain traces of painted eyes, ears, or hair. Cycladic figures range in size from a few inches to more than several feet in height, the smaller being most common. The stylized manner in which these figures were carved was admired by many 19th century artists, including Picasso, Brancusi and Le Corbusier. Although these figures are usually displayed standing, they were not intended to do so. Because the feet are carved in a way that could not possibly balance the figure, they were probably intended to be shown reclining. What, then, is their purpose? Although scholars can offer no definitive answer, speculations range from substitute human sacrifices to ancestor figures, and from spirits who guide the souls of the dead to toys for the deceased. However, the most commonly accepted theories are that Cycladic figures are divine protectors of the dead, or fertility goddesses. What do you think?


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Unidentified photographerWheaton Tritons (Synchronized Swimming Team)1990Color photograph


1990: Tritons attend National Synchronized Swimming Championship.

“I went to Wheaton for Synchro. When looking into colleges, [my friend] was like, ‘Wheaton is the best, it’s the greatest place to be’ — and it really was for me.”–Georgia Ganem, Class of 1991.

The Tritons pictured in this after-practice snapshot were Wheaton’s first athletic team to compete in any national championship. In March 1990, they attended the National Synchronized Swimming Championship at Ohio State University. Although Wheaton’s synchronized swimming team is now among the most competitive in the nation, these young women viewed it as “just a club.” Only some who joined the team had prior synchronized swimming experience — many had “converted” from dance and competitive swimming backgrounds. During the academic year, the Tritons gave several shows, performing to songs from Mary Poppins and Dirty Dancing, among others. Members of this team were also the first Tritons to perform in the Balfour Natatorium (as yet incomplete in this photo) in the Haas Athletic Center, which was dedicated in 1991.

The Tritons became like a family, training while having fun and confiding in each other. This team set the example for future Tritons — in competition, in cherishing moments with dear college friends, and in enjoying life while striving for greatness.


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Oliver Ames [Shovel Factory]Class Shovel1948-1974Paint, steel, wood

Class Shovel CollectionMarion B. Gebbie Archives & Special Collections

1991: Haas Athletic Center opened.

On April 8, 1989, ground was broken for Haas Athletic Center, construction for which took two years to complete. The Haas Athletic Center realized the third objective of a strategic plan developed in 1975; the Library addition and Balfour-Hood Center fulfilled the first two. Trustees Dave Cowens, Anson Beard, and Jean Jones Beard, Class of 1965, joined President Alice F. Emerson in the ceremony, using Class Shovels traditionally reserved for the Senior Class tree planting.

Class trees have been planted by Seniors since the end of the 19th century. Each graduating class also buried a treasure box filled with mementoes near its tree. During 25th Reunion celebrations, the box is dug up and opened, if, that is, it can be found, as the tree’s growing root system often encompasses the box.

Prior to the annual Senior Class tree planting, the College carpenters carve the class year into the shovel, and paint the carving in the class color. Over the years, this practice results in a colorful shovel that serves as a reminder of preceding classes and of a longstanding campus tradition. The Archives now has five class shovels, all of which were recently used at the groundbreaking for the Diane C. Nordin ‘80 Turf Field.


Kate GreenawayMother Gooseca. 1881Ink on paper

Gift of Emerson GreenawayMarion B. Gebbie Archives & Special Collections

1992: Greenaway collection donated.


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W.M. Kratt Co.Gentlemen Callers Pitch Pipe1993Metal, plastic, tape

Donated by Gentlemen CallersMarion B. Gebbie Archives & Special Collection

1993: Pitch pipe donated.


Herbert HaseltineArab Foal (Filly)1990Color photograph

Bequest of Monawee Allen Richards, Class of 1934Permanent Collection

1994: Sculpture donated.

Herbert Haseltine was born in Rome to American parents. Both his father and uncle were artists, and he studied drawing and painting as a young adult. An avid equestrian, Haseltine’s favorite subjects were horses. When he turned to sculpture on the advice of French painter and sculptor Aimé Marot, Haseltine continued to focus on horses. Two of his best known works are the equestrian statue of George Washington in the National Cathedral in Washington, D.C., and his portrait of the legendary racehorse Man O’ War, now displayed in Lexington, KY. Haseltine also produced numerous smaller equine sculptures. Wheaton’s sculpture depicts a young Arabian horse, modeled after foals seen by Haseltine when he visited Crabbet Park Arabian Stud Farm in Sussex, England. The farm is known for breeding fine Arabians, one of the oldest known breeds of riding mounts. These high-energy, intelligent horses, which evolved in the deserts of the Middle East, are popular in America today, and excel in a variety of equestrian competitions, especially endurance events.Wheaton has a long-standing tradition of equestrian sports, although the equestrian team has generally favored Thoroughbreds or ponies over Arabians. One of the first teams on campus, the equestrian drill team once had access to a barn at the former private school House in the Pines. (The earliest films about Wheaton, which were made in the 1920s, include footage of the team.) Today, the Wheaton College Equestrian Team travels to North Smithfield, RI to practice for IHSA (Intercollegiate Horse Show Association) shows.


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Otto HeinoLemon Glaze Potca. 1995Clay, glaze


1995: The formula for a long-lost Chinese yellow glaze is rediscovered.

Centuries ago, Chinese potters developed a high-fire yellow glaze. The formula for this glaze was lost until 1995 when Finnish-American ceramicist Otto Heino rediscovered it after years of trial and error. Every Wednesday, Heino and his wife Vivika experimented with different glazes. Two months after his wife’s death in 1995, Heino made small alterations to a formula that he and Vivika had tried before. To his great surprise, a beautiful lemon yellow glaze greeted him when he opened the kiln. This small matte lemon yellow pot is one of many works donated by Madeline Hunter Farnsworth, Class of 1937. Her contributions to the Permanent Collection, several of which are on display in this exhibition, illustrate her understanding of Wheaton’s commitment to the arts. Farnsworth played a major role in developing the collection through her many generous donations. She purchased art throughout her life, and began to collect specifically for the College after retiring from the Rockefeller Brothers’ Fund, donating nearly 300 objects before her death in 2006.


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Auguste RaffetWhat Are Your Intentions About My Daughter, MySophie?/Battle Study1836Watercolor and graphite on paper

Gift of Alexander B.V. JohnsonPermanent Collection

1996: Drawing donated.

This work presents two different scenes by the 19th century French artist Auguste Raffet. On the top half of the sheet, Raffet depicts a battle scene. Recognized for the precision and accuracy of his lithographs of the Napoleonic campaigns, Raffet’s compositions often displayed action-packed military scenes. Due to its expressive strokes and minimal attention to detail, the top scene in this work was probably a preliminary sketch for a later, more refined piece. On the bottom half of the sheet, Raffet depicts two well dressed, presumably upper-class men having a conversation in public. The significance of their interaction is difficult to pinpoint without the title, written in French beneath the drawing. Translated, it reads: What are your intentions about my daughter, my Sophie? The question illuminates the relationship between the two central figures. The man on the left, apparently Sophie’s father, poses the question to his daughter’s suitor, a well-dressed man, at right. This sketch displays the artist’s observation of French society. While these two images share a sheet of paper, they appear unrelated due to their vastly different subject matter and orientation in opposite directions. Perhaps Raffet intended these scenes to create a commentary on social constructs related to marriage and war, but without documentation of the artist’s intent, it is difficult to know for certain. Further, the artist may have combined these two sketches simply to save money on materials. Ultimately, this dual work reveals subjects that drew Auguste Raffet’s interest.


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Anne Marie KennyBlack Shaft I Industrial Quilt1994Mixed Media


1997: Purchased by donor on March 1, 1997 from McGowan Fine Art, Concord, NH.

Black Shaft I contradicts conventional quilting in its lack of utilitarian function and textile materials. The piece combines quilting techniques such as sewing and layering material, with contemporary assemblage, while mirroring the square patterning typically associated with traditional quilts used in a home setting. After purchasing this piece from a New Hampshire gallery, Madeline Hunter Farnsworth donated it to the Permanent Collection in 1997, the sixtieth anniversary of her graduation.

Farnsworth was a great patron of the visual arts and donated nearly three hundred objects to Wheaton. A year after her death in January 2006, her generosity and keen eye for art were celebrated in an exhibition showcasing her collection. A Tribute to Madeline Hunter Farnsworth, Class of 1937 ran from 1-28 February 2007 and displayed dozens of the ceramics, drawings, paintings, prints, and sculptures Farnsworth donated over a period of nearly thirty years. She was, in the words of Professor Ann H. Murray, who curated the show, “an astute collector, generous donor, and loyal friend.”

-Written by David LaFleche, Class of 2014

Various Wheaton Faculty MembersSigned Quilt for Wheaton Provost, Hannah Goldberg1998Mixed media

Hannah Goldberg CollectionMarion B. Gebbie Archives & Special Collections

1998: Hannah Goldberg retires.

“Part of the Wheaton education is teaching the individual that he or she can make a difference. We try to instill the notion of service, of caring about the community.”– Hannah Goldberg, Provost from 1983-1998

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For fifteen years (1983-1998), the late Hannah Goldberg served as Wheaton’s Provost and Academic Vice President, and as Acting President from 1991-1992. During her tenure, Goldberg was a dynamic and innovative leader who developed many groundbreaking initiatives. She spearheaded a curriculum review that led to successful educational reforms including the First Year Seminar, an academic staple that examines a subject through multidisciplinary perspectives. Goldberg also oversaw the development of the Filene Center for Work and Learning in 1986, emphasized the importance of cultural diversity, and transformed the Otis Lecture Series into the Otis Social Justice Award, given biennially to someone who “explores issues central to a just society.” This quilt was made for Goldberg upon her retirement in June 1998, and was returned to the Marion B. Gebbie Archives before she died. Created and signed by faculty members, the quilt represents the deep love and respect felt by the Wheaton community for Goldberg. Each square commemorates Goldberg’s contributions and interests, such as the first FYS course titled “Great Controversies,” a silhouette of Catherine Filene Shouse, and playing cards (Goldberg was a devoted poker player). Although she retired in 1998 and died in 2010, this quilt celebrates the strong social and academic impact Goldberg had on Wheaton and how the changes she enacted continue to affect the college in positive ways.


Joan Miro (1939-1983)L’Envolée II (The Flight)1963Mixed media

On loan courtesy of Morgan ReesePermanent Collection

1999: Painting first lent to Wheaton.


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Koikawa Shunchō, as Utamaro II (Kitagawa Utamaro)Ishiyama in the Fall18th-19th centuryInk on paper (woodblock)

Gift of Eliza Baylies Chapin WheatonPermanent Collection

2000: Print conserved.

This print was among a group of Japanese prints purchased by Eleanor Norcross, an 1872 graduate of Wheaton Female Seminary. Norcross was a close friend of Mrs. Wheaton and visited her frequently. When Norcross travelled to Paris in the late nineteenth century, Mrs. Wheaton commissioned her to purchase prints and art books to enhance the institution’s collection. Starting in the 1890s, Norcross began sending shipments of artwork and books to Norton. For example, in 1922, President Samuel Valentine Cole gratefully accepted a donation of ten objects, including paintings and prints, knowing that they would be a valuable addition to the college. The prints Norcross acquired, using funds provided by Mrs. Wheaton, comprise nearly 30% of the Japanese works in the Permanent Collection. During the Edo-period, which spanned the 17th through 19th centuries, artists like Kitagawa Utamaro embraced and popularized the genre of woodblock prints known as ukiyo-e. This art form rose in popularity during the second half of the 17th century, when a period of social and political calm led to the development of art in a commercial form. Ukiyo-e prints were mass-produced, so they were affordable not only to nobles, but also to members of the middle class.

Kitagawa Utamaro died in 1806, and his apprentice, Koikawa Shunchō, continued to produce work using his mentor’s name until 1820, when he started printing under the name Kitagawa Tetsugorō. Through her work-study position with the Permanent Collection, Jocelyn Allen, an Art History major, recently identified this print as the work of Koikawa Shunchō during the period when he created as “Utamaro II”; the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston also holds a copy of the print in its collection.

The tranquil landscape depicted in the work belies its complicated history. Framed by a blue sky adorned with a full moon, buildings and thick woods fill the right side of the image, while several figures walk along the beach. As in a photograph, the print captures a specific moment in time, immortalizing the beauty of Ishiyama at this time of year.


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Unidentified artistUntitled [Reaction to 9/11]2001Paint, wax, wire, wood

Marion B. Archives & Special Collections

2001: Terrorists attack the U.S.A.


“C.J. Fox” [Irving Resnikoff]Portrait of Albert D. Graham Before 1957Oil on canvas

Gift of Bernard A. KuttnerPermanent Collection

2002: Portrait of Mr. Grahamdonated.

Bernard A. Kuttner inherited these portraits from his German-born mother, Vera Knopfmacher, following her death in 1996 at age 94. Kuttner’s mother believed the portraits to be the work of British painter Charles James Fox (1860-1937). However, Fox was as a landscape artist who rarely painted portraits. Mrs. Knopfmacher also thought that the subjects were prominent members of British society in the early twentieth century.

As part of a comprehensive inventory, paintings in the Permanent Collection are currently being fully catalogued and researched. Through this process, it became clear that the Grahams were not British but American. Albert D. Graham was a banker and served, near the end of his life, as Chairman of the Board of the First National Bank of Baltimore. The Grahams owned extensive property in and around Baltimore, and, in 1954, they left nearly two hundred acres to the city for use as a park. Mr. Graham died on May 16, 1957, having been preceded in death by his wife Margaret. Graham Memorial Park still exists to this day, their legacy to the city they loved.

C.J. Fox, as opposed to Charles James Fox, was the pseudonym of Leo Fox, a New York City art dealer who hired Irving Resnikoff, a Russian-born émigré to the United States, to paint portraits from photographs. These works were then signed with the pseudonym and sold by Fox as the work of an artist who did not exist. Resnikoff never met any of the subjects, yet his work is held in numerous public and private collections as he often created portraits of well-known Americans, including Dr. Leonard Wood who ran unsuccessfully for the Republican nomination for President in 1920 and who later served as Governor General of the Philippines, and President John F. Kennedy. Today, when portraits signed C.J. Fox appear at auction, Irving Resnikoff is credited as the artist.

-Written by Rose Liu, Class of 2013

“C.J. Fox” [Irving Resnikoff]Portrait of Margaret Harlan Graham Before 1957Oil on canvas

Gift of Bernard A. KuttnerPermanent Collection

2003: Portrait of Mrs. Graham donated.

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“Published for the Trade”Eliza Baylies Wheaton’s Diary1872Ink, leather, paper

Wheaton Family Manuscript Collection Marion B. Gebbie Archives & Special Collections

2004: Purchased using the Piper Fund for the Historical Collection on Women, and a gift from David Drumm in memory of his mother, Euphemia Marsh Drumm, Class of 1934.


Tsukioka YoshitoshiBattle Scene Triptych19th centuryInk on paper (woodblock)

Gift of Joan SonnabendPermanent Collection

2005: Triptych donated.

Tsukioka Yoshitoshi (1839-1892) is considered the last master of ukiyo-e, a style of woodblock printing that depicts tales from Japanese history as well as images of actors, courtesans, and landscapes. Artists practicing this technique use a knife or chisel to shallowly sculpt a wood plank that is then inked and printed on cloth or paper. Multiple blocks are used to create layered images, one for each color in the final print. Following the death of his father in 1863, Yoshitoshi began to produce a series of work depicting battle scenes, torture, and violence. His so-called “Bloody Prints” are also believed to have been inspired by the disintegration of Japan’s feudal system in the mid-nineteenth century. These triptych panels with their grisly scenes of warfare probably originated during this period.

Prior to her death in 2011, Joan Sonnabend, a well-known collector, dealer, and patron of the arts and friend of Wheaton President Ronald A. Crutcher and Dr. Betty Neal Crutcher, donated nearly twenty works on paper to the Permanent Collection. Among her gifts were these panels, which she purchased in Kyoto, Japan in 1978.


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Paul SignacMan Rowing a BoatLate 19th/early 20th centuryCharcoal on paper

Bequest of Madeline Hunter Farnsworth, Class of 1937Permanent Collection



Ludwig BemelmansStudy of a Nude20th c.Ink and watercolor on board

Given by Marjorie Gelb Jones, Class of 1962, in honor of her father Dr. Stuart Gelb, a friend of and advocate for WheatonPermanent Collection


In 1914, Ludwig Bemelmans emigrated from Austria to America , where he worked in the hotel and restaurant business and served with the US Army, before beginning his career as an artist and author. Most famous for his series of Madeline children’s books, Bemelmans also wrote fiction for adults, and contributed to numerous publications including Vogue, Town and Country, and Harper’s Bazaar. Even with this success, he considered himself more an artist than a writer. Bemelmans produced cover illustrations for The New Yorker, designed a set for a Broadway production, and became a serious painter later in life. Examples of his paintings are now on display at the Metropolitan Museum in New York and the Musee National d’Art in Paris. While the exact date of this drawing is unclear, it was a Christmas gift to Dr. Stuart Gelb in the 1950s. Drawn in a similar style to the figures depicted in the Madeline books, this sketch of a nude hung in the Gelbs’ dining room for many years. Since the display of a nude subject was considered “naughty” at the time, Dr. Gelb was amused by it and enjoyed having the piece on view. Interestingly, the nude is not the only image on the board. When the frame was removed to photograph the drawing, a sketch of a woman’s face was found on the reverse side. What is even more surprising is that the style of the sketch differs greatly from the nude. Its bold lines more closely resemble Picasso’s work or one of the moai found on Easter Island. Was Bemelmans exploring different artistic styles, or could another artist have done this sketch?


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Unidentified creatorTwo-man Crosscut Bucking SawLaban Morey and Eliza Baylies WheatonBefore 1865Wood, leather, steel


2008: Saw brought to Archives.

This large two-man saw is as much an enigma as Laban Morey Wheaton’s fishing stick, displayed in the Wheaton Traditions section of the exhibition. It stood for years in a corner of the campus Carpenters’ Shop, until the carpenters asked if the saw should come to the Archives. The “L M Wheaton” branded on one side of the wooden case, and “E B Wheaton” on the other indicates that it belonged to the founders of Wheaton Female Seminary, guaranteeing the object’s acceptance into the Archives. How did this object survive, when so many “important” documents and objects related to the Wheatons vanished?

The Wheaton family owned extensive property in Norton. When heating and cooking relied upon wood, “cutting woods” were an important feature of any estate, either for home use or sale to neighbors. After coal replaced wood for heating and cooking in the mid-19th century, woodlands were maintained to produce building material. The Wheaton’s general store sold lumber, some of which may have been produced by this saw. Its wide blade and opposing curves indicate it is a bucking saw, used to cut felled trees into boards.

Workman hired for the day would have carried the Wheatons’ saw (using shoulder straps now extant only in remnants) into the woods, used it to cut lumber, and then returned the saw at the end of the day. Wheaton College workmen may have continued to use this saw into the twentieth century, especially after thousands of trees were damaged by the 1938 Hurricane. Unable to sell the excess lumber produced from these trees, the College carpenters built two faculty houses, perhaps using boards made with this saw.

-Writtem by Zephorene L. Stickney, College Archivist & Special Collections Curator

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Evelyn Wilson (1915-2006)Witnesses20st centuryTerracotta

Gift of the Ben and Evelyn Wilson Foundation Permanent Collection

2009: Object donated.

Evelyn Wilson’s career was remarkable. The child of Hungarian immigrants, she grew up on Manhattan’s Lower East Side, studied languages (ultimately speaking six) at Hunter College, received an engineering degree from Brooklyn Polytechnic Institute, and attended the Paris Academie Julien. In 1940, she married artist Ben Wilson. This diverse background led to a career in the cosmetics industry; she was the executive vice president of Faberge Perfumes, president of Faberge France, and a designer for Revlon. At the same time, she was a practicing artist—exhibiting her sculptures for nearly fifty years, and working in her studio until a year before her death.

This sculpture, featuring four female figures surrounding a fifth female, may be part of the series Community of Women, which was Wilson’s major life’s work. She was drawn to this subject “because of the personal challenges she had faced as a woman artist and career woman, and because of her abiding admiration for the nurturing, compassionate nature of women.” Critics have noted the sense of serenity, mutual support, and tenderness evident in these sculptures, which were often fashioned in groups of figures.

Joanne Jaffe, daughter of the artists and president of the Ben and Evelyn Wilson Foundation, donated hundreds of their works to colleges and universities, including Wheaton College. Following her mother’s death in 2006, Jaffe arranged for the gift of three sculptures to the Permanent Collection.


Kate Kimball, Class of 2010 Liberation 2010Ink, paper, stone, and watercolor

Purchased by the Wheaton College Friends of ArtPermanent Collection

2010: Book created

Kimball, a member of the Class of 2010, created this piece for her Senior Seminar in Studio Art. Designed as a foldout pamphlet, the book was created with polyester plate lithography and watercolor. It represents the transformation Kimball experienced during her final year at Wheaton, illustrating many of the challenges students face as they consider life after graduation.

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In her artist’s statement for Liberation, Kimball discussed her personal struggle with the transition from student to soon-to-be college graduate. Creating the book allowed Kimball to tell her personal story of liberation in six visual chapters. She was inspired by the proverb: “Right when the caterpillar thought the world was over, it became a butterfly”. Kimball’s story begins with a representation of herself in an anxious state of mind, eager to hold on to the past. This image is followed by one of the artist shedding her skin and emerging into the wider world. Following a depiction of herself as a butterfly emerging from a chrysalis, she becomes an octopus, reaching out in numerous directions toward her future, whatever it may be. Kimball celebrates her belief that imagination and creative practice will bring success to her endeavors post-Wheaton.


Dan WoodInauguration2010Ink on paper (relief print)

Purchased with the Eliot Fitch and Christine Price Bartlett, Class of 1946, FundPermanent Collection

2011: Print purchased.

Dan Wood’s large-scale print Inauguration, with its wholly contemporary subject matter created with largely traditional printing methods and materials, showcases a compelling dialogue between the new and the old. This collision, as well as the print’s richly layered hues and alluringly textural appearance, caught the eye of Professor R. Tripp Evans, who recommended the work’s purchase after viewing it at the RISD Faculty Biennial in 2011. Conceptually and aesthetically, Inauguration presents a beautifully realized culmination of Wood’s artistic aims. Long fascinated with both the seemingly mundane or commonplace and the innate potential of found materials, Wood saves newspaper scraps and clippings for years before using them in his work. Inauguration was conceived as Wood was preparing for the 2010 exhibition “Welcome Back to the Twentieth Century!” at AS220 Project Space in Providence, RI. Eager to pursue his interests in color on a larger scale, Wood scanned a black-and-white newspaper clipping about Obama’s inauguration, added cherry blossoms, and colorized the images. The result was printed on handmade Lotka paper from Nepal using a Vandercook letterpress machine. While its politically charged content is especially relevant on the heels of the recent election, Inauguration carries a visual resonance that should prove timeless.


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Unknown furrierMadame Chiang Kai-Shek’s CoatEarly 20th centuryRabbit fur and silk brocade

Marian Trescher Waldhausen Manuscript CollectionMarion B. Gebbie Archives & Special Collections

2012: Donated by the Waldhausen family.

This silk brocade and rabbit fur coat belonged to Marian Rodney Trescher Waldhausen, Class of 1955. She obtained the coat from her mother, Eloise Rodney Trescher Scarlett, who received it as a gift from Madame Chiang Kai-Shek, the First Lady of the Republic of China. Marian’s mother was a nutritionist and dietician in Baltimore, MD and helped to establish a nutrition clinic at Johns Hopkins Hospital.

Madame Chiang Kai-Shek graduated from Wellesley College in 1917 and later become a leader in Taiwanese politics. During World War II, she represented the interests of her husband General Chiang and their political party the Koumintang in the U.S. In 1944, Madame Chiang became a patient at Johns Hopkins Hospital for “undisclosed treatment due to an unknown prolonged illness.” Publicly reported in the U.S. to be “exhaustion”, European reports of her illness indicated that she had breast cancer. During her long recuperation, Madame Chiang was a frequent patient of Mrs. Scarlett. She lived, however, until the age of 106, her long life proving the benefits of nutritional counseling! The coat is believed to have been from Madame Chiang’s personal wardrobe and was given as a token of her appreciation to Mrs. Scarlett. Few people expect to be given such a sumptuous gift, yet this coat represents Madame Chiang’s generosity and respect for Mrs. Scarlett’s care and wisdom. The coat symbolizes Wheaton’s dedication to diversity, though in an unusual way. Wheaton endeavors to encourage ties with international institutions and students. This coat is an opulent reminder of the college’s efforts to educate students through positive cross-cultural relationships and to encourage commitment to social responsibility.


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This exhibition would not have been possible without the advice and assistance of numerous individuals to whom we extend our thanks.

On-Campus

• Gary Ahrendts, Faculty Technology Liaison• Kayla Allen, Class of 2014• Luis Amado, David Balser, Bill Scott, Physical Plant• Sydney Beck, Class of 2016• Megan Wheaton-Book, Assistant Archivist• Yitong Cai, Class of 2015• Pete Coco, LIS Liaison for the Humanities• Clancy Connolly, Class of 2015• Betsy Cronin ‘11, Manager, Arts Events & Publicity• President Ronald A. and Dr. Betty Neal Crutcher• Jeanne Farrell, Faculty Technology Liaison• Scott Hamlin, LIS Director of Research and Instruction• Chris Hyde, Visual Resources Curator• Josephine Johnson, Class of 2013• Lindsay Koso, Class of 2015• Jessica Kuszaj, Assistant to the Manager, Arts Events & Publicity• Michele L’Heureux ‘88, Gallery Director• Nancy Milka, Faculty Assistant• Clinton O’Dell, Associate Professor of Theater Design• Mandy Prue, Class of 2016• Sam Scott, Class of 2016• The Arts in the City Program• The Gebbie Archives Work Study Team• The Evelyn Danzig Haas ‘39 Visiting Artist Program• The Library, Technology, and Learning Committee• The Permanent Collection Work Study Team• The Wheaton College Friends of Art

Off-Campus

• Camille Myers Breeze, Founder & Director, and the staff at Museum Textile Services• Ellen Cree and Charles Guay, Happy Hollow Frame Shop• Mollie Denhard, Class of 2010• Gabby Ferreira, Class of 2012• Blake Funston, Class of 2012• Ann H. Murray, Professor Emerita of Art History and Gallery Director (retired)• Ingrid Neuman, Conservator, Berkshire Art Conservation, and Jim Cain• Lindsay Stern, Education Coordinator, The Center for Photography at Woodstock• David Vergara, P’13• Bob Weisslinger and the team at Richard Wright Art Handlers

Beard & Weil GalleriesWheaton College26 E. Main Street

Norton, MA 02766wheatoncollege.edu/gallery

Gallery Director: Michele L’Heureux ‘[email protected]

508.286.3364

Documents

100 Years, 100 Objects