A lovely school in a bucolic setting.
For an alphabetical index of the New England College series of pieces, click here.
Amherst College (the ‘h’ is silent) was founded in 1821 and is a private school with just over 1,800 students and a very low student:faculty ratio. It is not to be confused with nearby U Mass Amherst with almost 20 times the number of students but just six times the number of faculty. The Amherst College endowment is seven times that of U Mass in dollars and seventy times that of U Mass in dollars per student. Draw your own conclusions. When it comes to higher education going where the money is is generally a winning strategy.
Now it is true I am getting more than a bit tired of grey skies and lack of shadows in the snaps accompanying these pieces and, indeed, what little wan sun there was to be had when we arrived this morning promptly managed to disappear on our arrival. I sorely miss Arizona skies.
The Admissions Building was closed but a map was readily available in a box outside.
The Kirby Memorial Theater seats 400.
The Charles Pratt Dorm.
The War Memorial against the backdrop of the bucolic Berkshire Mountains.
The statue honors long time faculty member Robert Frost.
Usually it’s modern excrescences which blot the architectural copybook of New England colleges. In Amherst’s case it’s the spire remnant of the old Memorial Chapel which is not only hideous, it’s also hideously out of place in front of the Art Museum.
Barrett Hall is the center for French, Spanish and German teaching.
A bucolic setting.
The Robert Frost Library.
Henry Ward Beecher was an 1834 grad known for his support of the abolition of slavery.
The Converse Memorial Library, by McKim, Mead and White, dates from 1917. The Frost Library replaced it and Converse is now used for administrative offices.
The Ames Music Center just squeaks by stylistically.
Lovely architecture of the Dining Hall.
Edward Whitman Chapin Hall is home to the Departments of History and Religion.
The Yüshien Garden is in the Japanese style, and quite lovely, is somewhat hidden away.
The reception area of the Lord Jeffrey Inn in the town square. The property, along with the excellent adjoining 30Boltwood restaurant where we enjoyed lunch, belongs to Amherst College. The clerk informed us that Amherst students can enjoy exchange education at nearby U Mass Amherst, Hampshire, Mount Holyoke and Smith Colleges, despite the ‘women only’ status of the last two.
Famous Amherst alumni include Emily Dickinson, David Foster Wallace, Calvin Coolidge who perfected his non-speaking skills here, Jeffrey Wright, the estimable economist Joseph Stiglitz, Burgess Meredith and the silent comedian Teller, doubtless a fan of Coolidge’s. The list is out of all proportion to Amherst’s small size, which speaks volumes.
For images from a visit to the Mead Art Gallery at Amherst College, click here.