“We Hold Thee In Our Hearts Forever”

As we celebrate the centennial of the founding of Northampton School for Girls this June, we reflect on the many ways the institution and its alumnae remain strongly present at today’s school. From endowed scholarships to deeply entrenched student traditions, here are a few of our favorite NSFG-born contributions to Williston Northampton culture.

Ringing The Angelus

“There is so much to be done at school that we often forget to think, to pray, or just enjoy the taste of life. This Student Council is presenting an Angelus bell to the school to remind us all of the need for quiet thought.” Thus wrote NSFG student Maria (Burgee) LeVesconte ’52 at the dedication of the Angelus, in 1952. Inscribed with “For Quiet Thought,” the Angelus hung on the NSFG campus, and its daily ringing reminded students to take time from their busy days for reflection. Though the bell fell into disuse in the late 1960s, it was, happily, reinstalled on the new Angelus Terrace on the Williston Northampton campus in 2012, thanks to a generous 50th Reunion gift from the Class of 1961 and an anonymous donor. The large brass bell now peals out at Convocation, Commencement, Reunion, and on select Fridays during the school year, when students and faculty gather in small groups to share a moment of silence and reflection.

The Power of NSFG Alumnae

One hundred years after NSFG was founded, its guiding principles live on through the philanthropy of alumnae. Not only does their collective generosity help fund daily operations, it safeguards key programs, such as The Willistonian, the Grum Project for the Arts, and the NSFG Instructorship, deep into the future through permanent endowments. Underwritten by Pat (Ingram) Bone ’65 and her husband, Steve Bone, the Grum Project every year brings painters, filmmakers, musicians, dancers, and more to campus for teaching residencies. The Willistonian’s annual operating expenses are entirely covered by an endowed fund, ensuring that the country’s oldest continuously published high school newspaper will train journalists for a long time to come. Similarly, the NSFG Instructorship, which awards three-year professional development stipends to outstanding faculty, simultaneously enhances the teacher-student experience today while building a bridge to tomorrow.

A dorm of One’s Own

When Emily McFadon Vincent House opened its doors in 2020, completing Williston’s residential quad, it made history as the first dormitory named for a female benefactor. Long before she became a business owner, world traveler, and philanthropist, McFadon Vincent ’49 remembers arriving in Northampton for her senior year after crossing the country alone by train from Tacoma, Washington. Warned by her father not to speak to anyone in the dining car, she refrained from eating for the entire three-day journey. Fortunately, she found square meals and nourishment of another kind at NSFG. “There was just this atmosphere at the school,” Emily recalled at the dedication of EMV. “Everything about it was positive.” The residence was not Emily’s first major gift to Williston. Over the years, she and husband Bob Vincent have endowed funds for professional faculty development and student financial aid, including the Emily McFadon Vincent and Bob E. Vincent Scholarship. “I can see that today’s students are still very enthusiastic, willing, and involved,” she said at the time. “The faculty are outstanding, with the right mix of high academic standards and caring offered to students”—values that shaped Emily’s own boarding school experience upon stepping off that sleeper train and into the special world of NSFG.

White Blazer Award

Presented at Commencement to the graduating senior “who has made the greatest contributions to the academic, athletic, and community life of the school,” the prestigious White Blazer has roots stretching back to the 1920s at the Northampton School. The honor, more formally known as the Sarah B. Whitaker Award after NSFG’s co-founder and co-principal, was conferred by faculty vote in recognition of exemplary leadership and integrity. Originally a sweater, the prize became a blazer in the 1930s, because, as Miss  Whitaker noted in her memoir, “styles change.” One thing that doesn’t? The honor of donning it. The White Blazer remains one of Williston’s most prestigious student accolades.

Whitaker-Bement Math Contest

Every January, female-identifying students from private and public middle schools around the region descend on campus for the annual Whitaker-Bement Girls in Mathematics Competition. Throughout the daylong event, young scholars puzzle through multiple rounds of team quantitative challenges; participate in hands-on activities led by Williston math faculty; and listen to presentations from guest speakers on topics ranging from data science, algorithms, and cryptography to coding, fractals, and what would happen if you fell into a black hole (a perennial middle school favorite). Organized and managed by the Williston Math Team, the event honors NSFG founders Sarah Whitaker and Dorothy Bement, whose deep commitment to the education of girls blazed trails in 1920s America. A vibe of spirited camaraderie prevails throughout the competition, but underlying all the fun is one serious, NSFG-approved message: Girls are serious mathletes.