September 2024: Connecting the Past, Present, and Future

I am excited to look to the future and begin another school year, while, at the same time, I have been engaged in conversations about Archmere’s history and heritage. Reflecting on the last month, it was reassuring to me that the important connections between the Archmere of the past, the present, and the future remain strong.

 

This semester, I am once again teaching the Norbertine History and Spirituality class – a theology department elective - with eighteen 11^th and 12^th grade students. I continue to be impressed with the insight, skills, and work ethic of our students, in addition to their kindness and consideration. We have been discussing the life of St. Norbert and those experiences and forces in his life that led him to establish the Norbertine community in 1120. Needless to say, it is challenging in many ways to identify with a 12^th century man. However, we consider and discuss the many historical and scholarly sources about medieval social class, education, wealth distribution, and political and religious institutions, juxtaposing this information with our contemporary experiences of the same societal forces and institutions. No written works attributed to St. Norbert have been found, so we rely on the writings of his first followers who knew him to create a profile of a man who accomplished much during his 54-year lifetime and has as his legacy an international religious congregation that has existed more than 900 years. 

 

In class we discussed the personal character strengths of St. Norbert in the context of the model presented by Yale professor, Dr. Laurie Santos. We listened to a video recorded lecture from her course, “The Science of Well-Being,” and then discussed how personal character strengths can help refine career choice decisions. Another discussion focused on Norbert’s ability to resolve disputes. He is known as a “minister of peace and concord.” The written accounts of his interventions to resolve conflict involve active listening and forgiveness, topics which we discussed in the context of our own lives. 

 

Designed as the capstone project for the class, students are participating in a Norbertine Heraldry Project undertaken by the Center for Norbertine Studies at Saint Norbert College in DePere, Wisconsin. Students are researching Norbertine abbeys around the world. Each student selected an Abbey and is interviewing a member of that community, as well as collecting or creating a digital color image of the abbey’s coat of arms. The images and explanations will be published in a book, “The Norbertine Catalogus,” an international directory of all Norbertine abbeys founded since St. Norbert founded the first abbey in Premontre in 1120. This monumental project, slated for completion in 2028, is being managed by Dr. Michael Holstead, director of the Center. He has been a guest lecturer in the class and will continue to work with our students, giving them access to research materials at the College and the library collection of international and early Norbertine texts and publications administered by the Center.

 

Looking to the near past (not as far back as the 12^th century) I was happy to share Archmere’s history with a number of guests on campus this September. Needless to say, the Quad 4 Summit held at Archmere Academy brought hundreds of people to campus for the first time. Most notably, President Biden proudly shared with three international Heads of State the story of Archmere Academy, featuring The Patio – the mansion house built by John and Helena Raskob between 1916 and 1918. Having had the opportunity to speak with President Biden Saturday evening, I referred to a photo we have displayed of Al Smith and his family seated on the back terrace of the Patio with John Raskob and his family during one of his visits during Smith’s campaign for the Presidency in 1928. Raskob was Chairman of the National Democratic Party, and many of the campaign gatherings and strategy meetings took place in the Patio. At the 1928 Democratic Convention, Franklin Roosevelt introduced Al Smith as the “Happy Warrior.” Interestingly, President Barack Obama, after winning his second term to office, referred to President Biden as “America’s Happy Warrior.” This poetic connection, the presidential history made at Archmere nearly a century ago, and President Biden telephoning me to ask to hold the international summit at his alma mater in the historic Patio, is serendipitous.

 

Coincidentally, the day before the summit, I was delighted to take members of the Raskob family on a tour of the Patio. Some of the guests – fourth, fifth, and sixth generation Raskobs - have never visited Archmere, making it a very special experience for them to see where their family tree began. Giving a tour from the basement to the third floor is enjoyable and fulfilling, as I am reminded how fortunate we are to have so much written history and artifacts that, when assembled, provide a “snapshot” into early 20^th century life on American country estates. As a result of several of these visits over the years, many of the family members have donated to Archmere a number of furnishings and artifacts original to the Patio. From the dining room furniture to glass bookends, a mantle clock to library books, music room curtains to a Mason & Hamlin concert grand piano, the house has become an appropriate place to preserve, display, and lovingly use these prized gifts to educate future generations.

 

Finally, in September, the Patio stained-glass ceiling restoration project was completed. Begun two years ago, the panels, containing the approximately 125,000 pieces of stained glass, were carefully removed to be repaired and reinforced. Over the years, the weight of the stained-glass caused the panel pieces to bow, making the edges curl and not sit properly on the metal infrastructure. Each panel was flattened and thin-gauged steel rods were added that reinforced the back of the leading seams in between the glass pieces. As I recall, this was the third time the stained-glass skylight was removed and repaired, and hopefully, based on current research of best practices for preserving stained-glass skylights, it will be the last major repair project to preserve this important, impressive, and uplifting artistic work of an “eternal” sunburst and grape arbor with exotic birds by Henry Keck, a student of Louis C. Tiffany. The sun was always shining on Archmere since it was founded in 1932! The panels were cleaned and reinstalled, with the final pieces placed on September 18th. The $387,000 project was funded by gifts from individuals and foundations.

 

As I begin my fifteenth year as the head of school, I am continually humbled by the rich history of this place, the energy of the faculty, staff, and students each day, the vision of the board of trustees working together with me and our administrators, and the commitment of so many families, alumni and friends who believe in the important work that we do, giving us the confidence to plan for the future. Norbertine priests, brothers, or sisters make their religious vows to a particular abbey community – a physical place. That particular charism has saturated the Archmere community. We are all committed to this very special place.