Did you know that the great, great, great, great grandniece of George Washington attended Miss Harker’s School?
According to the 1952 yearbook, “The Echo,” fourth grader Margot Washington was descended from George Washington’s oldest brother, Samuel Washington. George Washington had no children of his own, so the article states that, “All of the Washingtons of today are descended from George Washington’s brothers and sisters. Except for her father, Lawrence Washington, Margot is the closest living relative of George Washington, who bears the name of Washington.”
Source: “The Echo.” Miss Harker’s School, 1952. (Palo Alto, CA) p. 12.
Sarah Ellen Polk Harker
Sarah Ellen was the mother of Catherine and Sara D. Harker, the women who founded and ran Miss Harker’s School for Girls in Palo Alto.
Mrs. Harker was born in Indiana on October 28, 1845. That would have made her two years old when the family joined the Oregon Trail and she suffered the loss of her father. He died of pneumonia, after being exposed to bad weather while crossing a raging river.
Sarah’s father’s name was Adam Polk. He was a cousin of President Polk. He came from Kentucky with his three sons to La Porte, Ind., and served (it is believed) as foreman for her grandfather, Nathaniel Winchell. Sarah’s parents married in 1842 and had two children together, Sarah and her sister Caroline.
Years later Sarah married James Bartlett Harker, a native of New Jersey. He died the same year Catherine Harker opened her school. Sarah and James had three daughters: Catherine, Sara and Caroline. Tragedy struck the family on June 18, 1893, when Caroline, the youngest daughter, committed suicide by drowning during a state of depression at age 22.
Sarah Harker eventually left Portland, Ore., where the family had settled, to work at Miss Harker’s School. In 1902, Sarah’s sister Mrs. Caroline Wellman joined her. Together, the Harker women put all their energies into Miss Harker’s School.
Sarah’s daughters never married, but their much-loved students became their legacy.
With summer fast approaching we thought it would be fun to share some Harker summer memories with you from our archives!
A summer program brochure from 1920 describes a schedule of morning academics, military drills, calisthenics, swimming, baseball and hikes. In the late ’20s and into the ’40s, brochures touted an academic “Coaching Program” in Palo Alto with morning classes in arithmetic, spelling, composition, reading and penmanship, followed by an 11:30 – 12 military drill and an afternoon of exercise and daily swimming. Harker also hosted a recreational camp at Camp Eldorado at Lake Alpine in the Sierra where the boys slept in tent cabins and ate in a log cabin mess hall. Fishing, archery, swimming and campfire programs were offered, and popular activities included bike and horseback riding, bugling, rifle practice and boating at the Palo Alto Yacht Harbor and at Lake Alpine.
We have few summer program records from the early decades of Miss Harker’s School. However, by the 1950s the summer program featured Puppet Pantomime, an original variety show presented by the children, Aquacade in the school pool, arts, crafts and woodworking. By the 1960s – after Major Nichols purchased the school – the Harker Day School featured a six-week program of “Academics, Recreation, and Just Plain Fun!”
After the move to the Saratoga campus in 1972 and into the 1980s, Harker’s summer school continued to offer academic enrichment, recreation and sports for boys and girls in both boarding and day programs. Activities included archery, dance, drama, martial arts and weight training, and an ESL program was added with boarding students coming from around the world.
In the ’90s Harker began offering extended trips such as Fields of Dreams – A Midwest Baseball Tour and Excellent Adventure in San Diego. Non-academic classes such as Hands on Science, Friendly French and performing arts workshops were offered in the morning. A three-week Club Harker session was added at the end of the original five-week camp offering families even more options, providing a more relaxed format of the regular program, as well as offering World Camp, an intensive English instruction that ended with a California Caravan Tour.
Today, Harker continues to offer fun and famous summer programs, including the newly formed Summer Institute and Summer Conservatory. Years from now we’ll reminisce about our climbing wall, Ray (the summer camp cartoon mascot), Kindercamp and the infamous Dan Gelineau and Miss Kelly – stay tuned!
Sara D. Harker will forever be known as the younger sister of Catherine, who founded a private girls’ school in Palo Alto, Calif., in 1902. Catherine was, no doubt, the intellectual of the three sisters born to Sarah E. and James Harker of Portland, Ore. She graduated from Vassar College in 1889 and taught Latin at Mills College before opening her school.
Sara arrived in Palo Alto in 1907, along with her mother and aunt, to help Catherine. Since she was a trained musician (she played the violin and piano), her first job was director of the music program. Sara expanded this music program and her own interests to the Palo Alto community, becoming a champion of the Fortnightly Music Club, which brought great artists to the community.
Sara’s other main interests were business, humanitarian works and traveling. During World War I, she was in charge of the California state office for the Commission of Relief of Belgium. Later, she traveled in Australia and studied in Boston at the Prince School, affiliated with the graduate school of education at Harvard. After further studying business, she traveled to Europe in 1931 and upon her return became principal of the lower school at Miss Harker’s.
In one newspaper account, Sara is about to embark for a European tour with four girls from the school. The item includes a charming detail of the trip: “There will be motor trips out from Nice and Rome, an excursion to Capri and Pompeii, swimming and tea at the Lido, a lake trip to the castle of Chillon, attendance at plays in Interlaken, and Munich trips to the Isle of Marken and its famous cheese market, a day on the Rhine and an airplane journey from Heidelberg to Paris.” (The article is undated, but this trip took place when a “5 room modern bungalow” rented in Palo Alto for $60 a month.)
In an undated brochure published after Catherine Harker’s death in 1938 showing Sara as headmistress, the first aim of the school is thus stated: “The first objective is to inspire every pupil with high ideals, not only of scholarship, but of character, and to awaken the desire to make the greatest possible use of life and talents.”
According to her pupils and colleagues, she succeeded in this endeavor. During the 50th celebration of the opening of the Harker School for Girls, an associate wrote of Sara: “Her leadership is one of enthusiasm, sincerity, and high ideals. Always she is interested in the individual, with her talents and potentials … She places strong emphasis upon high academic standards, but above all, she values the building of character.”
Sara Harker might always be known as Catherine’s younger sister, but she stands just as tall in the history of our school. Upon Catherine’s death in 1938, Sara took on the responsibility of running the school until her retirement at the age of 84 in 1951.
Miss Harker died in a Mountain View rest home. Hospitalized after a series of strokes for nearly three years, she was 89 years old when she died.
Gloria Brown, a 1945 Harker high school graduate, has called Sara Harker “the most influential person in my life.” She was a dedicated educator who filled her students’ heads with the love of music, learning and good works. Not bad for a little sister!
Sources: “Miss Harker’s School.” Brochure. No date, but after 1938; Newspaper item, n.d.; “Palo Alto Times,” 4/24/56; “Palo Alto Times,” 1951; “San Jose Mercury News,” 12/31/76.
Frank Cramer founded what is now The Harker School under the influence of David Starr Jordan, the first president of Stanford University. The school was a feeder school for the new university that opened in 1891.
The school was first and briefly called the Palo Alto Preparatory School for Boys. It was both a day and boarding school located in the home of Rev. W.D. Bishop on Waverley Street in Palo Alto. It was renamed Manzanita Hall in 1892.
Some years later, Cramer moved the school out to the town’s Alba Park “fringe area” of the late 1890s. The illustration above shows two buildings on the small campus. The second building was named Madrono Hall. Hopkins Avenue now follows the photo’s fence line.
A Mr. J. Leroy Dixon purchased the school from its founder in 1902, sold it, then bought it back it for a brief time. In a Palo Alto newspaper interview dated July 21, 1949, Dixon’s career is detailed. He was a well known educator and a one-time owner of Manzanita Hall.
Dixon owned Manzanita Hall for seven years. During his time of ownership, Dixon states that “Manzanita Hall had students from all over the country and sent more boys to Stanford than any other school in the state.” (Go Harker!)
He recalls the time that one boy actually turned down Stanford, because his father and grandfather had gone to CAL, and he had to go there, too, in order to maintain family harmony. According to the reporter, Rosa Jensen, Manzanita Hall was not a military academy under Dixon’s ownership. Rather, the school “stressed cultural subjects, which he [Dixon] still feels make a good background for any career.”
In June 1919 Col. Richard P. Kelly purchased the school. According to the Palo Alto Community Book, “Kelly revised the curriculum, moved the school to Parkinson Avenue, operated a boys’ camp in conjunction with the school and changed its name in 1925 to the Palo Alto Military Academy.”
The word “Manzanita” sounds like the name of a mighty Native American chief, but it is actually the word for a native American berry-bearing shrub of the genus Arctostaphylos found in the Western United States. The shrub has “leathery leaves and clusters of white to pink flowers.” The word for apple in Spanish is manzana. Manzanita is a little apple. The fruit is edible.
We do not know too much about Manzanita Hall at this time, but we can say that the little apple plant that Frank Cramer planted in 1892 is beautifully flourishing in 2002.
I had the honor of interviewing Gloria Brown on Saturday evening, March 23, at the gala event at The Harker School. Brown, a Palo Alto resident, graduated from Miss Harker’s School as a high school senior in 1945. The interview was held in honor of the 100th anniversary of the founding of Miss Harker’s School in 1902.
The stage setting was perfect. Two large burgundy arm chairs, book shelves stocked with texts from Miss Harker’s School and the Palo Alto Military Academy (both of our founding schools), and an iron coat rack that displayed two dresses once belonging to Sara Harker set the scene.
I asked Mrs. Brown questions concerning life in the Palo Alto boarding school during World War II. She described how Miss Sara went shopping armed with over 50 ration books. There was little help in the kitchen and on the grounds, but the small, devoted staff worked very hard to make life comfortable for the students. We learned about the war efforts of Miss Sara and the students. I read a letter sent to Miss Harker by General Douglas MacArthur thanking the headmistress for her efforts to improve the life for underprivileged children of Japanese leper parents.
Gloria went on to describe the delightful Sunday dinners and the parties with boys from schools approved by Miss Sara. She spoke about her admiration for Sara Harker, calling her the “most influential person” in her life. This, in spite of her near expulsion for tossing her Latin book out of the bus window as she left for summer vacation. Unluckily for Gloria, the book had been recovered by Miss Sara.
Mrs. Brown closed the interview with an explanation of the school’s motto: “To serve, not to be served,” and the recital of the school’s anthem. She also told the appreciative audience that she “will always be a Harker girl.”
At the end of April, the grade 4 class explored nature, California history, and Native American history in Coloma. The three day, two night trip was highlighted by a hoedown with a live performance from the band Slim Pickens, where all of the students danced, and a talk given by Native American speaker Kimberly Shining Star. Around a campfire, Shining Star recounted old stories of the Nisenan tribe and taught the students about her culture.
The students were able to tie in the information they learned in history class about the California gold rush with real life experiences when they panned for gold in the American River. They also had the opportunity to learn about the local flora and fauna as they hiked to the top of Monroe Ridge.
For more information about the trip, contact Kristin Giammona, elementary school division head, at kristing@harker.org.
Grade 5 students are wrapping up their filming of scenes that combine work from their social studies classes and their computer science classes. Under the guidance of social studies teachers Tobias Wade and Jared Ramsey, the students have been researching famous American historical figures. Based on the research they have done, they have written scripts for short movies.
The goal of these movies is to introduce the historical figures and describe them in a creative way. The students are given a month to collect the footage they need for their final movies, which must run between four and five minutes. After recording the footage, the students will use iMovie to edit the recordings and put together the final movie.
The teachers hope the students will gain a solid foundation in multimedia, while reinforcing the information gained in the social studies classes. For more specifics on the projects, email computer science teacher Joe Chung at JoeC@harker.org.
The inaugural John Near Scholar Grant cycle is complete and the first three reports, on military insubordination during the Vietnam War, U.S.-China relations between 1972-1986 and the impact of the Gettysburg campaign on the Civil War, have been filed in the John Near Resource Center for public access.
Olivia Zhu, Justine Liu and Tyler Koteskey, all graduating this year, were celebrated by mentors, administrators, parents and history department members and by Near’s wife, Pam Dickinson, director of the Office of Communication.
The gathering filled the Near Center in Shah Hall and the recipients summed up their experiences researching their papers and thanked mentors and others who assisted their endeavors. The center, adjacent to Near’s former classroom, reflects the late teacher’s love of American history. Near taught at Harker’s middle and upper schools for 31 years prior to his passing in 2009 and his legacy includes many hundreds of students left with a love of learning and history.
The John Near U.S. History Endowment, the first of its kind at Harker, includes the funding of grants to students or teachers each year for research on history projects of their choice along with access for the entire campus for history-related databases. Near’s parents, Jim and Pat Near, established the endowment based on his wishes prior to his passing.
When Zhu started her project last year, “The UCMJ and Insubordination: Suitability of Military Judicial Responses during the Vietnam War,” she just knew she wanted it to be about insubordination. “I work on the Honor Council here at school and maybe that’s where my interest in rules and rule breaking came from,” Zhu said. “I decided, ultimately, to settle on insubordination during the Vietnam War and how the Uniform Code of Military Justice (UCMJ) addressed insubordination among soldiers.
“Essentially, I explored the origins of the code of law, tracked its development and attempted to analyze its efficacy; additionally, I looked at some specific incidents and individuals (like Howard Levy, Bruce Petersen and the Presidio Mutiny) in the context of larger trends.
“As I learned more about my topic, I started figuring out why it appealed to me so much in the first place. Insubordination is something that’s very hard to perfectly define or understand, especially in the context of such a controversial role, and I was really interested in the clash between law and disobedience. I liked seeing why people tried to test the UCMJ and whether their actions were justified or not – there’s a bit of a blurry line there.
“I really enjoyed this entire research process – it’s been so much fun. I think the most important part of this grant was coming to realize that all my teachers helped me so much. For example Ms. [Julie] Wheeler and Mr. [Ray] Fowler lent me DVDs, Ms. [Carol] Zink and Dr. Erin Redfern [of the English department] lent me their own books to use, and the librarians were always so warm and so accommodating – it was just very much a community effort going into this paper,” she said.
Zhu, who will attend Harvard University, found that resources at hand were plentiful and travel to Vietnam was beyond the scope of her work. “I considered going to the Presidio but very little of the military infrastructure or records remain there,” Zhu said. “I watched a documentary with several interviews done there, so had a feel for the inside of the Presidio.”
Zhu said she probably would have not done the research without having been awarded the grant. “This is something where you are sitting in class and you think, ‘Oh, this is cool,’” Zhu said, “but without the grant there is not that impetus to pursue it and there is not the support system there. When you write the paper the most important thing is having an advisor.”
Zhu’s advice to future Near scholars: “I would suggest trying to get more access to primary sources. Also, don’t be afraid of library fines – the renewal cycle can take a week and it is way more efficient to pay the fines!”
Wheeler mentored Zhu throughout the research. “I had Olivia last year as a student and to get to work with her this year was such a pleasure,” she said. “This is quite a topic. Every time you peel back a layer you get 18 fascinating things that are tied together. Olivia managed to wade through the legalese and make it understandable.”
Liu first got interested in her topic, “The China Card versus the China Trade: Sino-American Economic Relations, 1972-1989,” covering the relationship between China and the U.S from President Richard Nixon’s 1972 visit to the Tiananmen Square protests of 1989, while in class. In mentor Ramsay Westgate’s AP U.S. History class, Liu found the text devoted only two lines to Nixon’s 1972 ground-breaking visit to China. Meanwhile, for another class, Liu was writing a paper on the currency devaluation in modern China and mentally began tracing the historical line between the two events, focusing on the economic aspects.
“What I was really interested in was why Nixon thought that it was in the interest of U.S. foreign policy for Kissinger to make a secret visit to China,” said Liu. “I was interested in the economic background of that decision. I used some of the grant funds to go to the Nixon Library in Yorba Linda, Calif. I was able to go into the archives room to read and handle the original documents, letters and memos relating and leading up to his 1972 trip to the PRC. What was great was that some of the documents had only really been declassified in July 2010, so that was pretty exciting. It was a really amazing opportunity and my first time ever being in close contact with documents of such historical importance.
“I think without the grant I would not have had the incentive to go out there and really write a comprehensive paper. That was the first time I got to be that close to documents that were that important to history, so that is something that I really valued that I couldn’t have done without the grant and the guidance of my mentors.” she said.
Liu will also attend Harvard in the fall and had a few words of advice, as well, for future Near scholars. “I would recommend they do their research the summer beforehand so they can figure out when a good time is to plan the trip. You have to have your entire bibliography done, you have to know where your paper is going – you have to have that outline structured for it to be a really productive trip. I outlined where I wanted my paper to go with questions I wanted to answer so I could track down exactly which archives, which boxes, of the thousands that are in the library, that I wanted to look at.”
Westgate was appreciative of the depth Liu went to in her researches. “The opportunity to explore such an important topic that is not only so relevant to our community and to our government but to go beneath the rhetoric and go to a deeper level was just phenomenal,” he said. “Every time I mentioned one or two things, I felt as if she came back with three or four answers, and that is just a testament to her, her tremendous work ethic and her intellectual curiosity.”
Koteskey’s project, “High Water Mark: Discussing the Impacts of National Power on Confederate Military Strategy through the Lens of the Gettysburg Campaign,” has been in development since the second grade when he was photographed wearing the uniform of a Union officer, said Koteskey, tongue-in-cheek. His paper analyzes the elements of national power as they applied to the Confederate States of America in 1863.
“It was the middle of the Civil War, and a crucial moment for the South,” he said. “They could reinforce the western half of the country,” but decided to make an offensive move against the North instead to try to force a call for peace.” Koteskey used his grant to travel to the Gettysburg region over the summer where he stayed with a family friend who is a Gettysburg battlefield guide for the Army War College.
“My host in Pennsylvania, Captain Bill Tyson, was instrumental in showing me around battlefields, helping to arrange interviews and providing valuable historical insight, which really complemented the guidance of my faculty advisor, Mr. Fowler.”
“What I think was most valuable to me in this project was going to Pennsylvania last summer to do the research,” Koteskey said. “It was a really different experience than I would have had getting information from books. I was able to visit Harper’s Ferry, and the Antietam and Gettysburg battlefields which, apart from being really awesome for a history buff, helped me form a better appreciation of some of the geographical factors constraining Civil War generals in their campaign planning,” said Koteskey, noting that he probably wouldn’t have done the research without the grant.
“My most defining memory though was probably my interview with Dr. Richard J. Sommers, the senior historian at the U.S. Army Military Heritage and Education Center in Carlisle. He is a published author on the Civil War who really embraced his time with me, turning our ‘interview’ into a Socratic discussion on Civil War strategy; it completely changed my mind, and the ultimate course of my paper, on many of the preconceived notions I had about General Lee’s best strategic option in the summer of 1863. He also gave me a tour of the Institute and its Civil War resources, and I got to go into a special library that’s normally restricted to the public.”
“It was really a rewarding experience,” Koteskey said of the entire project. “Mr. Fowler was extremely helpful because not only did we have just a ton of fun talking about civil wars, what-ifs and the ultimate outcome of the confederacy, but he really helped me focus my topic. All in all, it was a great experience and I want to thank the endowment fund for the opportunity.” Koteskey will attend UCLA in the fall and plans to major in political science, which “draws a lot on historical foundations,” so feeding his appetite for history.
Koteskey’s passion for the Civil War led him to enter and be named a finalist in the History Channel’s National Civil War Student Challenge, one of only 30 out of the thousands who took the challenge. The final test was the weekend of April 30-May 1 and final results will be announced by mid-May.
Koteskey’s words of advice to the next John Near scholars? “Have fun with your topic. Pick something you are interested in, that you really love, that you can picture yourself slaving over.”
“I really enjoyed working with Tyler,” said Fowler. “His passion and enthusiasm are easy to see and he picked a really challenging topic. He went to all the great extremes he described to set up his premise and argue that convincingly.”
The students received resounding applause for their presentations. “You three – and your work – perfectly embody what Mr. Near intended with this grant,” commented Dickinson. “He would be so incredibly proud of all of you.”
While grade 6 hiked through Yosemite and grade 7 explored America’s national parks, the eighth graders traveled east to the Washington, D.C., area. The students and chaperones landed in Willamsburg, Va., on Saturday and enjoyed a dinner buffet at a local pizza restaurant before checking into the hotel.
The next day, the group made their first major stop of the trip at Jamestown, the first permanent English settlement on American soil. Tour guides gave them an in-depth look at the day-to-day lives of settlers in the 1600s, such as how they prepared food and made clothes. Harker students were prepared to give presentations to each other on what they were seeing all throughout the trip, and the first presentations were in Jamestown, given by Sophia Shatas, Ashir Bansal and Helen Wu. Next up was Colonial Williamsburg, which was kicked off by lunch at the King’s Arm Tavern, one of the area’s finest restaurants in 1772. During the tour of the area, students learned much about life in Williamsburg during colonial times, including the workings of the court system and, of all things, how wigs were made and worn. Here, Neil Movva, Apporva Rangan, Harry Xu and Kelly Wang gave presentations.
Following dinner, everyone got to experience an interactive African music program. “For many students, this was the highlight of the day,” said Jennifer Gargano. “We were able to experience music and dance in a slave quarter in Colonial Williamsburg. Not only were the students able to learn about the importance of music at this time but they also actively sang and danced with the family during this program.”
On Monday, the students and chaperones made another trip to Colonial Williamsburg to tour the governor’s mansion. “Seeing the 18th century décor was interesting, but the highlight for the students was walking through ‘the maze’; a six-foot tall hedgerow maze located in the gardens behind the Governor’s Palace,” Gargano reported. After leaving the mansion, students visited colonial-themed businesses such as the blacksmith and silversmith. They also played a round of the colonial game trap-ball, a precursor to the sport we now know as baseball.
At Pamplin Park, one of the most faithfully preserved battle sites from the Civil War, the group visited the Civil War Museum and learned about the lives of soldiers who served in the war. Students Hement Kunda, Megy Appalaraju, Simran Sing and Dylan Patel gave presentations to their groups on the park. After exploring the park and reenacting some moments from the battle, two bus groups visited the Franklin D. Roosevelt Memorial, while another went to the Jefferson Memorial. “It was absolutely beautiful to see in the evening,” Gargano said of the FDR Memorial.
The next day started with a guided tour of Capitol Hill. One group of students was introduced to a Capitol Hill employee who purportedly spoke 59 languages. One by one, 10 students held a conversation with him in a different language. “They were impressed, to say the least, and immediately understood why he might be a valued employee at Capitol Hill,” Gargano said.
From there, it was off to the Arlington National Cemetery, where the students got to see the eternal flame at the grave site of President John F. Kennedy, the memorial for the space shuttle Challenger and several other important monuments. “ The highlight, of course, was watching the changing of the guard at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, followed by the laying of the wreath ceremony,” Gargano reported. During the ceremony, students Stanley Xie, Ransher Dhaliwal, Nikita Mittal and Savi Joshi laid the wreath at the tomb, with a ribbon inscribed with “The Harker School.” During the bus ride from the cemetery, students Arya Kaul, Nikhil Kishore, Allison Kiang and Nephele Troullinos gave talks about the importance of Arlington National Cemetery to each bus group.
The next stop on this particularly busy day was the American History Museum, where the students got to see the “First Ladies at the Smithsonian” exhibit, which displayed various dresses worn by past first ladies. Students also enjoyed the exhibition “Science in American Life,” which shows how various scientific advancements have affected American culture, for better or worse. Finally, the group ended the evening with a viewing of the play “Shear Madness” at the Kennedy Center.
On Wednesday, the students visited the Newseum, which features interactive exhibits about news and journalism. Quite a few students told Gargano “that this was one of their favorite activities thus far.” After watching a film about some of journalism’s most important milestones, the students spent time discovering the Newseum’s many fascinating exhibits. “From what I heard from students,” Gargano said, “they seemed to particularly enjoy the exhibits about Hurricane Katrina and Elvis.” While at the Newseum, students Neil Chitkara, Glenn Reddy and Tiara Bhatacharya gave presentations.
Next was a trip to Gettysburg, site of one of the most pivotal battles of the Civil War, where they received a guided tour of the historic battleground. “Many of the chaperones, in particular, were moved when a few of our students delivered the Gettysburg address by memory on the same grounds where Lincoln first delivered that speech,” Gargano said. The famous speech was recited by students Allison Kiang, Pranav Reddy, Glenn Reddy and Apoorva Rangan. After dinner at Dobbin House, which is listed on the National Register of Historic Places as part of the “underground railroad” that was used to traffic slaves out of the South, the students visited various memorials, including the U.S. Marine Corps Memorial and the World War II Memorial.
More student presentations were given to help put the visits into perspective. Nikhil Reddy, Julia Wang, Lekha Chirala and Jai Ahuja presented on Gettysburg and the Dobbin House, and Leo Yu, Matt Ho and Leena Kim gave presentations on the memorials.
The final day of the trip was “probably our best thus far from the students’ perspective,” Gargano said. It began with visits to three of Washington, D.C.’s most iconic sites: The Lincoln Memorial, Vietnam War Memorial and Korean War Memorial.
A quick tour of the White House was next on the agenda, and students visited several rooms on the first floor. “The tour was quick but the students were excited they were able to see the interior of the White House,” Gargano reported.
A score or more attended the official opening of the John Near Resource Center on Nov. 5, celebrating this inspiring room that reflects the late teacher’s love of American history. Near taught at Harker middle and upper schools for 31 years prior to his passing in 2009. His legacy includes many hundreds of students left with a love of learning and history and now, the John Near Excellence in History Education Endowment Fund and this center.
The endowment, the first of its kind at Harker, also funds robust online research databases for students, as well as grants to students or teachers each year for research on history projects of their choice. The first three recipients of John Near Scholar Grants have already received their funding and are listed in a display alongside photos of Near and a plaque commemorating his contribution to Harker and philosophy for the fund’s use. As only interest from the Endowment will be spent, and none had yet accumulated, the first grant recipients, initial data bases and the center itself were funded by special contributions from the Class of 2010 (with 100 percent participation!), a John Near Fun Run, a benefit poker game and special contributions from alumni.
Those attending the wine and cheese reception included history department faculty members, administrators, office of advancement staff, longtime employees, John’s wife, Pam Dickinson, director of Harker’s office of communication, and daughter Casey Near. Key members of the John Near Resource Center planning committee were also present, including Jennifer Gargano, assistant head of academic affairs; Donna Gilbert, history department chair; Susan Smith, head librarian; Mike Bassoni, facilities manager; and Sarah Covey, a ’91 alumna and interior designer who donated her expertise to the project. All were instrumental in making the room come to life.
Once the gathering was underway, Dickinson acknowledged John’s parents, Jim and Pat Near, who established the endowment fund in their son’s honor – and based on John’s own wishes – just months before he passed away. She also recognized the special role so many played in achieving the final outcome. “We all agreed this space needed to be inspirational, warm and comfortable,” she said. “Each person involved just intuitively knew the right thing to do, and did it. It’s an amazing space, and John would have loved both the space and the process.”
The room features media and periodical libraries that will each expand over time, a flat screen and DVD/VHS player, a collaborative work table, comfortable sofa seating, and bookcases of Near’s books from his personal library. Poster–sized, framed black and white photos decorate the walls – from singer Billie Holiday to president John F. Kennedy – each representing iconic facets of American history and culture that had resonated with John Near.
Gilbert noted that the room, adjacent to Near’s most former classroom, has already been in use by both students and teachers for various uses, and has become a bit of a sanctuary for teachers to enjoy a few moments away from the bustle of the hallways. Each year the room will also host a reception for the John Near grant scholars when they receive their awards, but from day to day, Near’s scholarly soul, represented by the photos and books he loved, fills the room, providing a lasting memory of one of Harker’s finest teachers.