I got a lot of questions about Monday’s photo of the sallyport parking lot in the late 1950s. A couple of folks wondered if there were something inside the circular hedges in the middle but quick reference to some aerials of the area make it clear that there wasn’t. Here’s a great look at it from 1933:
I also realized that I made a mistake when I said Pitzer’s inauguration was in 1960. I’d forgotten that he waited until the semi-centennial celebration in October of 1962 to be formally installed. Here’s a really interesting image of that inauguration, taken from Lovett Hall looking out towards Main Street, and the parking lot is now a lawn. (There’s a lot going on in this photo. It was an unusually hot day, well over 90 degrees, and if you zoom in you can see all the men in their shirtsleeves. I’m also fascinated by the rather spectral figure wandering around in the trees at right towards the main entrance.)
Just by chance I recently came across an almost identical shot taken during the 1959 commencement ceremony and you can see that the circular hedge was still there.
Will keep my eyes open for information about what might have happened between May, 1959 and October, 1962.
Bonus:
That’s a lot of fountains.
Those are all the water fountains on the north side of Reckling Park. I’ve used them many times to fill my water bottles. I don’t know why they placed so many.
It’s mysterious. Looks cool, though.
They were useful when we had 5000 in the stands instead of 300.
I can tell you that the 1960 commencement ceremony (for my B. A.) was held in Autry Court because of rain. The 1961 ceremony (for my B. S.) was held in front of Lovett, similar to the 1959 event shown in your photo.