The Great Class of 1965

Webster Hall Project

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Webster Hall Construction Is Now Complete
 
THE CLASS OF 1965 ANNOUNCES THE ESTABLISHMENT OF
"THE CLASS OF 1965 GALLERY"
IN WEBSTER HALL / RAUNER LIBRARY

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Steve Waterhouse Presents President Wright Our Mega-Check

In the midst of the Class' Homecoming Tailgate Picnic, and surrounded by '65 Alumni, Wives, Friends and Children,
Steve Waterhouse hands President Wright a MEGA-CHECK for the $1,065,065 raised by the Class of 1965.
 
 
Attendees at our 35th Reunion participated in a special tour which was inspiring.
Photos are interwoven with Steve Waterhouse's letter below.

Steve Waterhouse's Letter of October 26th 1998

 
October 26, 1998

Dear Classmates,

We are pleased to announce that the Class of 1965 has now raised over $1,065,065 to name the mezzanine level of Webster Hall, comprising 2 Study Rooms and the Presidential Portrait Gallery, as the "Class of 1965 Gallery." The study areas will be referred to as the East Wing and the West Wing.

This is the largest contribution to a facilities project by a Dartmouth Class
in the history of the College!

Congratulations and a Round of Snaps for our Class!

On October 17, at our 20th consecutive Fall Mini Reunion in Hanover, over 75 Alumni, wives, friends and children presented a ceremonial check to our new College President, James Wright. As the pictures enclosed show, all of us were very pleased by Jim Wright's kind and enthusiastic remarks. Besides this being the happy end to a long fundraising effort and having absolutely perfect Fall weather, we found we had a great new President and lovely wife, Susan, to lead our College forward. That added a special touch to a great day for us all!

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The largest check amount ever written by a Dartmouth Class
for a facilities project

 

THE HISTORY

As many of you will recognize, this project has been ongoing since 1991. It has involved a sustained leadership effort by a number of classmates. None of us foresaw the total significance of this effort when we started to raise monies for a then undesignated project by our Project 96 Fund, certainly not naming these rooms in WH. When we arrived on the Hanover plain in 1961, WH was in its final year of use as the primary meeting hall at the College. In 1962, Hopkins Center opened and for the next 30+ years, Webster has stood as a splendid example of the term "White Elephant"! Over those 30+ years, some 20 proposals have been made for Webster Hall, including turn it into a basketball court, a swimming arena, a museum or simply tear it down.
 
Due to our then recently completed Class Project that had restored the Dartmouth College Case papers, our class was considered a good sounding board for the latest proposal. During our Mini Reunion in 1993, over 20 classmates met with senior College staff on the main floor of Webster Hall to discuss the merits of a proposal to convert this prominent, but rarely used building, into the new home for the College's Special Collections. The Class members there voted unanimously in support of the new proposal. Further, we agreed on an attempt to raise money to name at least one of the study rooms on the mezzanine level after the Class of 1965. There was a loose discussion of a dream to name all three mezzanine rooms but no formal endorsement was made.
 
We were the first in the greater College community to see the strengths of the proposal and to wholeheartedly embrace the project. It was our leadership that pushed this proposal to become a late, but significant, featured $12 Million component in the recently completed Will to Excel Capital Campaign. We wrote and distributed brochures, we lobbied possible contributors, we energized the College's fund-raisers and impacted others with our enthusiasm. Every time we came to a possible stopping point in our own fundraising effort, the decision to continue to pursue our dream of naming the entire mezzanine after our Class was enthusiastically endorsed.

No other Class has ever taken on a challenge of this sort.
What we've achieved over the past seven years is truly unique in Dartmouth's history!

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President James Wright Expressing His Thanks

THE SPECIAL COLLECTIONS

For those of you who have not yet had experience with the College's Special Collections, you are in for a treat. The Collection includes over 100,000 rare books......some set in the first wooden type before 1500; 5.6 million original manuscripts dating from the 13th century BC to the present; material on authors like Caldwell, Dr. Seuss, D.H. Lawrence, Miller, Orwell, Dickens, Shakespeare and many more; the largest collection of Robert Frost's papers and books as well as all his original manuscripts; the College's historical archives with every manner of written, visual, aural or electronic record of Dartmouth; many of Sir Winston Churchill's private papers; the original material on Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer; perhaps the world's finest collection of hand illustrated books; the papers, books, and even a kayak from Vilhjalmur Stefansson, the Arctic Explorer; Daniel Webster's personal copy of the Audubon prints; and many, many more outstanding artifacts that help define our cultural existence in this world! The collection has been conservatively valued at over $150 million but, in reality, it is priceless and irreplaceable. Ten thousand visitors a year come to view material in the Special Collections! It has been a hidden treasure of the College that we are helping give its due light!

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DONOR/SOLICITOR RECOGNITION

Many classmates helped raise the $1,065,065 including, Hank Amon, Bob Blake, Don Boardman, Rick Davy, Jim Griffiths, Bill Webster and Allen Zern. We all have appreciated the enthusiastic response that so many members of the Class have shown to us as we have called to talk about this wonderful project. It has been the most rewarding fundraising effort in our class's history.

We want to say "Thank You" to the approximately 195 classmates who have made a pledge/contribution to this project. The enclosed list is intended to be a complete summary of those members of the class who either made a direct contribution to the WH Campaign or made a contribution to the Class Project Fund between 1991 and 1998. A pamphlet will be prepared by the College outlining the history of the Special Collection, the effort to convert Webster Hall to its new purpose and the background of the Class of 1965 Gallery. This pamphlet will list all the individuals named here and copies will be available for visitors to our gallery forever. A copy will be sent to each member of the Class when it is completed early next year. If you are not on the list and should be, let me know immediately. If you want to be on the list, read below.

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Special recognition will be given to twenty-six members of the Class who have made major contributions of $25,000 or more to spearhead our fundraising efforts. They will be among roughly 35 individuals who will be recognized on a plaque in the main lobby of the building as the leading contributors to the whole project and by being named on a chair in the East and West Wings of The 1965 Gallery. Another seven classmates who contributed over $6,500 to the campaign will also be recognized with named chairs in the study areas of The 1965 Gallery.

Finally, as a very special memento of this event, all 125 classmates who contributed more than $100 to this project will receive a numbered copy of an historic book, "Daniel Webster and a Small College," which was published in 1965 in a limited edition of 1000. The book is basically a detective story that analyzes the question whether Daniel Webster actually said those magic words, "It is sir, as I have said, a small college, and yet...." The author, John Sterling '11, was a member of the first ever Capital Gifts Committee of the College and a former Chairman of the Alumni Fund. We found these remaining, never issued original copies of this book in 1991 at the warehouse of The University Press of New England. We set them aside then for a special event and this is the most significant opportunity we will probably ever have to use them.

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ONE MORE OPPORTUNITY TO PARTICIPATE

We are providing one last opportunity for anyone to make a contribution to this project. Because we recognize that the contributors to this project will be forever identified with our once in a lifetime, most significant 1965 Class Project, we do not want to shut the door on anyone who would still like to participate. Although the prime project funding has been raised, there are other items not included in the project's building budget that the Special Collections staff would like to add to The 1965 Gallery......three new display cabinets, relocation of four special portraits, some dictionaries, a couple of benches, etc.

Therefore, we have agreed with the College that any additional money raised will be spent on furnishings or other items desired by the Special Collections staff for The 1965 Gallery. If you want to make a contribution to this project, send your check, made out to "Dartmouth College," to Stephen L. Waterhouse, 5 Clement Road, Hanover, NH 03755 and he will organize the appropriate distribution. This could be a first gift or an addition. This could be for $100 or $25,000 or anything in between. This could still get you a named seat in The 1965 Gallery (i.e. a total gift of over $6,500) or recognition as a major contributor (i.e. a total gift of $25,000 or more!). It is up to you! We will not be calling you. If you want to be part of this very special Class effort, you have one final chance to participate at whatever level you wish to.

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CURRENT BUILDING & CONSTRUCTION STATUS

As announced elsewhere, the entire Webster Hall Project is totally funded with over $12 Million raised. The construction work is now almost complete. The inside of the building is getting its finishing paint touches. The new high tech, internal glass enclosed storage structure is now being finalized. The area between Baker and Webster has been dug up and a new high density underground storage facility installed. Grass has been planted. WH will be receiving its first books in early November. WH should be operational around December 1, 1998. For those of us who toured the facility on the morning of October 17, it exceeded our expectations. Our named space is simply marvelous. We can't wait to see it filled with chairs, tables, and students!

OFFICIAL DEDICATION IS APRIL 16, 1999

The official dedication ceremony will be Friday, April 16, 1999. Every member of our Class is cordially invited to be present at this major event in our Class and the College's history. For those who are interested, the Library staff will lead a seminar on the "History of the Book" on Saturday, April 17. There will be a full announcement on the events for this weekend as the time gets closer. For those interested in attending, rooms have been set aside in the Hanover Inn for this event. Make your reservations now!

With kinds regards,

Stephen L. Waterhouse
Project Chairman

For the leadership team of Jim Griffiths (Class President 1996-2000); Hank Amon (Class Head Agent 1996-2000); Don Boardman (Reunion Giving Chairman 1994-1995); Rick Davy (Head Agent 1994-1995); Allen Zern (Class President 1990-1995); Bill Webster (Class President 1985-1990); Steve Waterhouse (Class President 1975-1980)

P.S. Remember, if you want to be part of this historic project, send your check in now!

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Carly Amon atop proud father, Hank
 
 

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