Walter F. Hendricks
Walter F. Hendricks (1892 – September 29, 1979) was an educator and founder of three colleges in Vermont, all of which would later close. He founded Marlboro College (1946–2020), Windham College (1951–1978), and Mark Hopkins College (1964–1978).
Early life and academic career
Hendricks was born in Chicago and earned his BA from Amherst College in 1917.{{Cite news |last=Ennis |first=Thomas W. |date=1979-10-03 |title=Walter Hendricks Is Dead at 87; Teacher Began Marlboro College |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1979/10/03/archives/walter-hendricks-is-dead-at-87-teacher-began-marlboro-college.html |access-date=2023-09-30 |issn=0362-4331}} At Amherst, he was a student of Robert Frost.{{Cite journal |last=Toomey |first=Daniel |date=2012 |title="Believing It In": Robert Frost, Walter Hendricks, and the Creation of Marlboro College |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/43897290 |journal=The Robert Frost Review |issue=22 |pages=34–57 |jstor=43897290 |issn=1062-6999}} He later earned a master's degree and doctorate from the University of Chicago.{{Cite news |title=Walter Hendricks Is Dead at 87; Teacher Began Marlboro College; Professor of English |language=en |work=The New York Times |url=http://timesmachine.nytimes.comhttp//timesmachine.content-tagging.us-east-1-01.prd.dvsp.nyt.net/timesmachine/1979/10/03/112122900.html?pageNumber=103 |access-date=2023-09-30}} He then served as professor and chair of the English department at Illinois Institute of Technology.
At the end of World War II, he served as director of English at Biarritz American University in France, a temporary college set up for G.I.s awaiting de-mobilization.
College Presidencies
= Marlboro College (1946–1951) =
In 1946, he founded Marlboro College in Marlboro, Vermont and the college would open the following year, in fall 1947. Due to his connection with his former professor Robert Frost, Hendricks convinced Frost to serve as a trustee for the new college.{{Cite web |title=The Wikipedia Library |url=https://wikipedialibrary.wmflabs.org/?next_url=/ezproxy/r/ezp.2aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cuanN0b3Iub3JnL3N0YWJsZS80Mzg5NzI5MD9zZWFyY2hUZXh0PSUyMndhbHRlcitoZW5kcmlja3MlMjImc2VhcmNoVXJpPS9hY3Rpb24vZG9CYXNpY1NlYXJjaD9RdWVyeT0lMjUyMndhbHRlcitoZW5kcmlja3MlMjUyMiZhYl9zZWdtZW50cz0wL2Jhc2ljX3BocmFzZV9zZWFyY2gvY29udHJvbCZyZWZyZXFpZD1mYXN0bHktZGVmYXVsdDo0Yjg3NzU0NGRmODUzM2NiOTUzYTNiYjQ1NzM4YzczZQ-- |access-date=2023-09-30 |website=wikipedialibrary.wmflabs.org}} He would serve as president there until 1951, dismissed by the board of trustees after accusing a student, a dean, and the local postmaster of being Communists.{{Cite web |title=History – Marlboro College Archives |url=https://marlboro.emerson.edu/about-marlboro/history/ |access-date=2023-09-30 |language=en-US}}{{Cite web |last=Ragle |first=Tom |title=Marlboro College, A Memoir |url=https://static1.squarespace.com/static/5d9a0c607ea5b924f4a0f9c1/t/60162c166a9e44621a19cbd1/1612065819361/Marlboro+Memoir+Complete.pdf}}
= Windham College (1951–1964) =
In 1951, he founded Windham College,{{Cite web |title=Windham College: How Landmark Came to Occupy the Former Windham Campus |url=https://www.landmark.edu/library/landmark-college-archives/college-history/windham-college-how-landmark-came-to-occupy-the-former-windham-campus |access-date=2023-09-30 |website=www.landmark.edu}} which was located about 25 miles east and north, in Putney, Vermont. He would serve as president there until 1964, when dissatisfaction at his management and protests by both students and faculty forced him to resign.
= Mark Hopkins College (1964–1972) =
Finally, in 1964, he founded his third and final college, Mark Hopkins College, serving as president there until 1972. The main and only administration and classroom building was in a mansion on Route 9 in Brattleboro, Vermont.{{Cite web |date=2003-12-27 |title=Town House |url=https://www.rutlandherald.com/news/town-house/article_3fe32c08-de5b-5338-91ab-3273d2fb0a09.html |access-date=2023-09-30 |website=Rutland Herald |language=en}} It was called Gibson Hall, named after the previous owners of the building, Ernest W. Gibson Jr., who served as Governor of Vermont from 1947 to 1950, along with his family.
Mark Hopkins College was accredited by the State of Vermont and authorized to grant bachelor's degrees. However it was never accredited by the New England Commission of Higher Education.{{Cite web |title=Merged, Closed, and Previously Accredited Institutions |url=https://www.neche.org/merged-closed-and-previously-accredited-institutions/ |access-date=2024-01-21 |website=New England Commission Higher Education |language=en-US}} It closed in 1978 after an embezzlement scandal.{{Cite news |title=Walter Hendricks Is Dead at 87; Teacher Began Marlboro College; Professor of English |language=en |work=The New York Times |url=http://timesmachine.nytimes.comhttp//timesmachine.content-tagging.us-east-1-01.prd.dvsp.nyt.net/timesmachine/1979/10/03/112122900.html?pageNumber=103 |access-date=2023-09-30}}
Legacy
Tom Ragle, who later served as President of Marlboro College, noted that Hendricks was "a promoter and a good, even master teacher - I never heard his most inveterate opponents deny this." However, he continued "Walter was not a good administrator." Similarly, one student, many years later, reflected that Mark Hopkins College failed because Hendricks was a poor manager.{{Cite web |last=McCaffrey |first=Vincent |date=2018-09-29 |title=A guest at the feast of memory |url=https://www.vincentmccaffrey.com/2018/09/29/guest-feast-memory/ |access-date=2023-09-30 |website=Vincent McCaffrey |language=en-US}}
References
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Category:Amherst College alumni
Category:University of Chicago alumni