5 Comments Posted by Alumna - Class of '64

To Trish and Gael, I will never forget the night Donald Eldridge, the President of Bennett College at that time, called the meeting in the auditorium (that’s an eerie picture) in the fall of ’63 about Timothy Leary. We were dragged out of our dorms (I was a senior living in Carroll Hall--detached from Halcyon Hall-- at that time) at 10 p.m. and weren’t told anything about why we were being summoned. I probably thought the Russians were coming. I remember that the first thing he talked about was marijuana, which I had never heard of before. But he went on to tell us that Timothly Leary (the father of LSD) had bought an estate about a mile down the road toward town. The instructions were that if we were caught with so much as one big toe on the edge of that property, we would be expelled. Let me just say that I don’t know of anyone that was ever caught--if they even checked it out. I personally didn’t know what he was talking about, couldn’t have cared less, and just wanted to go to bed.

When I saw the picture of the old auditorium, I remembered it as not only the site of the infamous Timothy Leary meeting, but the place where I had Art History and History of World Civilization classes, took exams, and received a note passed to me by my roommate from her brother, whom I was dating. The note simply said “I love you.” It was the first time he told me that. Ah, yes, what, memories.

For Tracey Noble: The name of the school was Bennett College, not Bennett Jr. College. And the girls who attended the school, while generally known to be well above average in looks and come from wealthy families, were not a bunch of airheads. Many of the people in my class went on to 4-year schools, even 7-sister schools such as Wellesley. I personally went on to obtain a B.S. in Business Administration with a minor in computer science and enjoyed a lengthy career in information technology with a well-known international telecommunications company. A lot of the negative image was built by jealous Vassar girls, who had a reputation for being homely, but smart, and were jealous that the Bennett girls were monopolizing all the desirable Ivy League boys. Don't always believe what you hear...I was there. As for what it was like in subsequent years, I cannot say...I wasn't there. However, the fact that you were "an unwilling freshman," hated being there, and spent most of your time communing at Timothy Leary's place, kind of says a mouthful. The term "spoiled brat" comes to mind.

This looks like it could have been taken from my dorm room (the one in the little converted linen closet I talk about in my comments on the main wooden staircase). In the lower right, I can make out the flat roof I used to sunbathe on in the spring. I had that view of the turret, and the three windows to the left of it were the administrative offices--which prevented me from going out there 'til they left for the day. (See staircase picture for other comments.) I think whoever took this picture was probably standing on the flat roof.

I don't know exactly which stairway this is (heaven knows how many there were!) but it looks like it could be the one the seniors chased us freshmen up in the dark, lashing our legs with switches they had broken off of bushes, as part of freshman hazing. Lord, these pictures are bringing back (good) memories!

I lived in this building my freshman year at Bennett College ('62-'63), and I'm having a tough time trying to figure out where many of these photos were taken. I can tell you that you entered the front of the building off the courtyard and shortly through the front door you ascended a few steps to an area where the main staircase, a beautiful, massive wooden staircase, stood toward the right. You actually made a 180 to ascend the staircase. Halfway up the staircase there was a landing, a few steps to the right, another landing, and then another set of stairs to the second floor.

Once on the second floor, if you turned left, you entered a hallway that was all door rooms. My room for most of the year was a converted linen closet with double doors that had glass window panes (frosted). I LOVED that little private sanctuary! It had a floor-to-ceiling window that led out to a flat roof adjacent to the turret. I had a beautiful view of the hockey/lacrosse field off to the right and the turret to my left. Unfortunately, adjoining the turret were the administrative offices, and we were not allowed on the roof. However, after hours it was a great place to sunbathe. The room had a noisy radiator that I grew to love, as it dried and warmed my tasseled loafers in the winter in addition to keeping that little space warm. All that fit in there was the bed, a desk, and a bureau, and one visitor at a time. At the beginning of the year, I briefly shared a large room on the third floor overlooking the courtyard. It was off the hallway above the hallway where my converted linen closet was, but at the opposite end of the hall.

If you turned right, you went down another hall of dorm rooms. Below the dorm rooms to the right, on the first floor, was the Dining Room. From the outside standing in the courtyard facing the front entrance, the dining room would be part of the ell on your right. There was a long bank of enormous, tall windows all along the length of the dining room. When I was attending there, we dined family-style, and were required to wait tables, 1-week at a time, in rotation (which was no more than 3 or 4 times a year probably). The tables were round and seated 8. The food was of the quality of a fine restaurant, and standing rib roast of beef was on the menu every Sunday. There was a chime played every night to announce the commencement of dinner, and when everyone was gathered and each student stood behind her chair, we all said grace (a scripted grace said aloud by all). I remember one time, around Halloween, some college guys (in costume) pulled up in the courtyard in a hearse during dinner, entered the dining room through one of the big windows, and removed one of the guy’s girlfriend in a coffin and drove off. It was pretty hilarious. We weren’t all straight-laced. In fact, the courtyard was the site of many a drop-trou[sers] prank to impress the ladies. The drinking age in New York back then was 18. Oh the stories I could tell…

I just happened across a photo of the former Bennett College (previously the Bennett School for Girls) , my alma mater, while searching the internet a few days ago, and the shock of it nearly brought tears to my eyes. It is absolutely criminal that this has been allowed to happen to such an amazing, glorious example of historical architecture. It's hard to image, but at the time I attended Bennett, it had the highest tuition of any school in the U.S., even more than Harvard. And to think it has come to this. I will treasure the photos in my yearbook all the more now, as well as my memories of a wonderful time long past.