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Before it was LOST: The Sixth Form Room at St. Mark’s
By Nick Noble ’76, Communications Manager, Editor, and School Historian
Before it was LOST: The Sixth Form Room at St. Mark’s
In 1890, when the Main Building was first occupied, Headmaster William E. Peck set aside a small room along the Chapel corridor exclusively for the Sixth Form. A small narrow room, it had a fireplace, mailboxes for the Sixth Form (there were 27 Sixth Formers in 1893, the largest senior class up to that time), and Sixth Formers took to marking the window frame/sill area with Groton game results. That space is currently room 132, where Dr. Glomset teaches. That original Sixth Form Room was under the direct supervision and authority of the Monitors. (more…)
A War Hero Beyond the War
By Hans Zhou, VI Form
A War Hero Beyond the War
In the fall of 1931, a boy with dark hair from Manchester, Massachusetts, who was fairly short for his age, joined the St. Mark’s School Class of 1936 as a new second former.[1] His name was Henry Nichols Ervin, but many people used his nickname, Skip.[2] Born on October 21, 1918, in San Diego, California, Ervin and his family moved several times and attended schools in California, Nebraska, and Massachusetts prior to enrolling at St. Mark’s.[3] Ervin had a brother named Robert Gilpin Ervin, Jr., who was two years ahead of him at St. Mark’s, and a younger sister named Adele Ervin, who is still alive today.[4] Today’s St. Markers might know Henry Nichols Ervin as the abbreviated name “H. N. Ervin” on the board outside the dining hall marked with a star, indicating that he died in the war, among a long list of other people who also fought in this war. When waiting in line outside the servery, few people would look at the name on the wall and think of the life stories of these war heroes. However, Henry Nichols Ervin had a lasting impact on St. Mark’s School through his character. He was a student leader, he volunteered at Brantwood, and his family and friends funded various prizes to honor his character.
William Peck and Nativist Fears
By Jack Foley, VI Form
William Peck and Nativist Fears
From 1883 to 1894, William E. Peck was the first layman to be Head of St. Mark’s, a conservative, Episcopalian school. Many Trustees at the school believed that Peck was leading the school away from its religious roots. At the same time, in the late nineteenth century, Catholic immigrants came to the U.S. in huge numbers and threatened its Protestant elites. The changing nature of St. Mark’s and the U.S. threatened the Board of Trustees, which led to Peck’s dismissal. (more…)
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