Northfield Mount Hermon

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Table of Contents

Tours

1. Historical Walking Tour

   A self-guided walking tour of NMH history

   Stops

   1. 1. Alumni Hall

      Begin your tour in the center of Alumni Hall (formerly West Hall, 1909), where a portrait of school founder D.L. Moody is framed by photographs of early Northfield and Mount Hermon students. Moody founded Northfield for girls in 1879, Mount Hermon for boys in 1881, the Summer Conferences in 1880, Student Summer Conferences in 1886, and the Chicago Moody Bible Institute in 1887. Explore the hall’s Mira B. Wilson dining room as well as the Dodge Room and Evelyn S. Hall Room, where displays highlight the history of the Northfield Seminary (later known as the Northfield School for Girls, then the Northfield School). Flags representing the countries from which NMH students hail line the dining hall and are a clear reminder of the school’s international tradition. NMH students still have workjobs in the kitchen and dining areas, and Bishop’s Bread continues to be served.

       

   2. 2. Speer Memorial and Memorial Grove

      Leave Alumni Hall by the south entrance. Walk along the sidewalk toward Ford Cottage, home of the head of school. On the left is a memorial (1989) to Elliott Speer, headmaster of Mount Hermon from 1932 to 1934, whose murder has never been solved. On the right is Memorial Grove, dedicated by the Class of 1928. Each of the 69 white pines commemorates a Mount Hermon alumnus who lost his life in World War I.

       

   3. 3. Path to Chapel Hill

      Leave Alumni Hall by the south entrance and walk downhill toward Memorial Chapel. The campus resembles a 19th-c. park with picturesque views and winding paths. On the right are Bolger House (2009), home to the NMH Admission Office, and the Mary E. MacKinnon and Shea Family cottages (2005), dorms that were built to accommodate additional students after the move to one campus in 2005.The architecture of these buildings reflects the style of the original cottages, which are on the left. 

       

   4. 4. Chapel Hill View Looking South

      Just before the chapel’s white “senior door,” turn right and walk counterclockwise around the chapel. Chapel Hill was one of Moody’s favorite spots for outdoor services before Memorial Chapel was built here in 1898, a year before his death. The grassy knolls are similar to Round Top, where D.L. and Emma Moody are buried in Northfield. When the land was purchased for the school, it was farmland called Grass Hill. To the right of the chapel, look for the large granite monument commemorating the International Student Volunteer Movement, a missionary movement that was active from 1886 to 1936. 

       

   5. 5. Chapel Hill View Looking East

      Walk to the chapel’s front doors to see the best views of the campus, including Overtoun Hall, the Connecticut River Valley, and the Northfield hills. At the base of Chapel Hill are a track and two playing fields, the location of the start and finish of the annual Bemis-Forslund Pie Race, one of the oldest surviving road races, which predates the 1896 Olympics by six years. All boys who run the race under 33 minutes and all girls who run it in less than 40 minutes are winners of a freshly baked apple pie.

       

   6. 6. Memorial Chapel

      Continue counterclockwise around the chapel’s tower and past the Ford Memorial Fountain. Enter through the senior door. Both the fountain and Ford Cottage on the hill above the chapel are named for the beloved teacher Harriet Ford, first wife of Henry Cutler, head of school from 1890 to 1932. Memorial Chapel was designed by A.W. Fuller, who also designed the Northfield Auditorium (1894). Today the sanctuary continues to function as both chapel and auditorium. The first interior, similar to the Auditorium’s revival hall style, underwent a major redesign in 1931. Its windows, including the rose window on the east side, are original.

       

   7. 7. Cottage Row

      Exit through the senior door, walk down to the road, and turn right to reach the cottages. Cottage Row dates from 1882, when campus planning favored small dormitories for housing younger students. Early students included orphans from England; thus Cottage I is named London, and Cottage V is Manchester. Cottage II, Monadnock, boasts a view of that mountain. Cottage IV, Hubbard, honors Eli A. Hubbard, an early headmaster of Mount Hermon. Cottage III originally housed the school’s kitchen, later the music department, and now it is home to college counseling. On the small early campus the Cottage Row dormitories, Camp Hall (the student center), and the chapel were sited in a line to take advantage of the fabulous view. All the early buildings were brick or stone to diminish the chance of loss by fire. Today the four larger cottages make up NMH’s freshman village.

       

   8. 8. Memorials and Sculpture

      Turn right at the Cottage III sign and walk downhill. At the end of the walkway, turn right toward the gyms. Along the way there are several plaques at the base of trees, and a seating area around a plaque that came from Northfield’s Dolben Library, honoring Claire Waton-Thaw ’41. Just before the gyms is a sculpture by former Mount Hermon teacher McAlister Coleman named “Western Totem I: Associative Law” (1968). Recall your Algebra I to solve its puzzle. 

       

   9. 9. James and Forslund Gyms

      If you have time, explore the James Gym (1910) with its old-fashioned basketball court and running balcony and the Forslund Gym (1957), an addition named for Mount Hermon’s longtime athletic director Axel B. Forslund. Inside the Forslund entrance are displays of NMH athletics history, and upstairs are drawings of athletes in the NMH Athletics Hall of Fame, which includes several Olympians. The most famous is Frank Shorter ’65, who won the marathon at the 1972 Summer Olympics.

       

   10. 10. Rhodes Arts Cnter

       Exit the gym and walk to the right to reach the Rhodes Arts Center (2008), named for William R. Rhodes, chair of the NMH Board of Trustees from 1994 to 2006. This building was designed to bring the essence of the former Northfield campus to the Mount Hermon campus. Its brick is the same color as Northfield’s Auditorium, and the carillon from Northfield’s Sage Chapel is housed in its tower. The architecture in back of the building is quintessentially New England. Be sure to go inside the building, which includes a concert hall, theater, dance studies, art gallery, and art studios. The hallways are lined with alumni and student artwork.

        

   11. 11. Recitation Memorial Rock

       Exit Rhodes by the front entrance, and walk to the right to view Recitation Memorial Rock. This memorial marks the site of Recitation Hall (1884-1975), Mount Hermon’s first permanent classroom building, and honors former teachers. Like Silliman and the original Crossley, Recitation Hall was lost by fire. From here one can view the farm complex, still an important part of NMH and worth a visit.

        

   12. 12. Schauffler-Rockey Memorial Library

       Keep walking uphill, past Holbrook and Beveridge halls, until you reach the library. The Rockey addition (1966) greatly enlarged Schauffler Memorial Library (1912). Among the library’s notable displays and paintings is “The Parable of the Ten Virgins” (1899), given to Moody by John Wanamaker, department store magnate of Philadelphia. For years the painting hung in Northfield’s Sage Chapel. The extensive school and Moody archives are located in the basement.

        

   13. 13. Blake Hall and Camp Hall

       Continue uphill to Blake Hall. Named for S. Prestly Blake ’34, cofounder of the Friendly’s restaurant chain, Blake Hall (1973, 1994) includes classrooms and the student center, with a lounge, snack bar, and bookstore. Now part of Blake, Camp Hall (1886) was named for Hiram Camp, a founding trustee and initial benefactor of Mount Hermon. It was Camp who suggested naming Moody’s school for boys Mount Hermon School. Inside Camp Hall is Grandin Auditorium, which honors John Grandin, a 20th-c. trustee who is important for his financial support of the school farm program. Before becoming an auditorium and movie theater, Grandin was the dining hall.

        

   14. 14. Mail Center

       Exit Blake and walk past Camp Hall to the attached Mail Center. As you walk along, look back to see how the newer architecture of Blake incorporates features of the much older Camp Hall and Mail Center, which still has its original mailboxes and windows.

        

   15. 15. Upper Campus

       Leave the Mail Center and walk back to Alumni Hall. To your right are dormitories, Social Hall, and the O’Connor Health Center. The largest dorm is Crossley Hall, designed by the same architectural firm (Parish and Schroeder) that from 1909 to 1913 designed West Hall, the James Gym, Schauffler library, and Ford Cottage, as well as Kenarden Hall at Northfield.