2019: Ann Blodget Holberton ’69, Finance & Community Advocacy

I’m truly humbled by this alumnae award at our 50th reunion. Our wonderful class of 1969 has many talented members who have helped change the world in special ways. I’ll make sure I get busy and nominate some of you for future awards. Thank you to my friends and my husband Phil who secretly nominated me.

Thank you for this rare treat to publicly indulge myself and share some some stories and sentiments. Often I’m pitching a cause, so this is a real treat. Since my Chatham Hall years were 50 plus years ago, walk with me down memory lane and the contextual events of those times.

First of all, I would be remiss if I didn’t mention my dear Mom, Margaret Meigs Blodget class of 1942 who went to Chatham with her older sister in the early 1940s. The two of them came from NYC, as this was a safe haven for them from the emerging world chaos of World War II. As aside note, many school mates were daughters of alumnae and it was really wonderful to see our Moms interact together when they were back here visiting us. Mom had loved Chatham, the athletics, choir, and the traditions. She struggled as a student here, but with a sense of purpose and grit, she went on after graduating from here to be the executive assistant to the Editor of Parade Magazine. College was not in the cards for her but Mom made her mark in all she pursued, like a true Chatham Hall girl. Thanks Mom for your leadership.

As for me, let me start by flashing back to 1966....

I recall leaving home for Chatham Hall in my Sophomore year, traveling from Rochester NY. Funny how that very long day is burned forever in my mind. It began with an early flight to LaGuardia from Rochester with a teary goodbye with my Mom. From that flight, I had to transfer by taking a cab from LaGuardia to Penn Station in NY City with all my belongings for school, including a very heavy typewriter. (Yes, a cumbersome typewriter not a laptop). There in the hustle and bustle of a confusing Penn Station under construction, I found the group of amped up girls assembling for the Chatham Hall New Girl Train. (Sounds like Harry Potter heading to Hogwarts right? Our version of the Hogwarts Express!).

At Penn Station other girls seemed to have family there saying goodbye and helping with their luggage and typewriters. I felt a bit like an orphan at first, but was instantly welcomed by a couple of seniors and was introduced around. We continued getting acquainted on that train trip and we picked up more new girls as we headed south. Because of the instant feeling of camaraderie, it felt like a short ride from NYC, but after many hours we arrived at the Chatham stop late at night. I recall getting off the train in darkness in what seemed like the middle of nowhere. (yes, in those days the train went to and stopped at the town of Chatham).

We were greeted that night at Pruden and were given our room assignments. I was directed to Penthouse alone and the housemother Mrs. McClure showed me to my empty room #4. She then said that my luggage wouldn’t arrive until morning and she loaned me a nighty. I was told that my roommate, Janet Dix, would arrive in a day or two because she had been a freshmen and wasn’t a new girl needing orientation. That night I climbed into my bed in the dark quiet of Penthouse, exhausted and in a borrowed nightgown, but I was excited about what was ahead.

Those years went quickly. I have clear memories of busy days, rushing to get dressed for chapel and dinner after being on the athletic field, balancing course work, finding time for a trip to Tearoom, or going to Faith Home, the nearby orphanage. Those days of learning and playing together and supporting each other had more purpose than I realized then.

But allow me more flashbacks. At the end of junior year, about 51 years ago, I stood before my classmates and the entire school with my knees shaking and heart pounding and gave a chapel talk as the newly elected President of Student Council. I was totally afraid and was trying to grasp what was ahead.

Well, thanks to the support of my fellow council members(many you are here),wonderful friends and classmates, and some caring faculty, I survived senior year. 

Oh here’s an interesting piece of school history.  In that spring of our senior year, 1969, a student exchange with Woodberry Forest was organized because there were talks going on between both Woodberry and Chatham about going coed or merging. Somehow my name was on the list for that foray into coeducation, and I went with a bus load of us for a one week stay at Woodberry Forrest. I think in exchange for us, a bus load of Woodberry boys came to Chatham too. That was pretty monumental stuff back then. I’m not sure of any details on those high level trustee negotiations but thankfully Chatham Hall continued in its tradition of being an all girls educational experience, much to the big relief of both Woodberry and Chatham Hall student bodies.

Our years here of 1966-1969 were dynamic times in the world to say the least. Then the  world grappled with the Vietnam war, and NASA readied for a lunar landing, and all while our younger siblings were watching Star Trek. As I think back, Chatham gave us the opportunity to figure ourselves out so we were better prepared to survive and be resilient in those volatile college years ahead. They say that today’s kids who are resilient will succeed in their life’s pursuits. Well I would dare say that we all learned tactics here to help us be resilient. We left Chatham after we enjoyed a rich, busy structured life. Our community service and our trips to town gave us only minuscule glimpses beyond the campus.

When we graduated from Chatham Hall we had no way of knowing that 1969 and 1970 would be monumental in American history and in the world. Just think, one month after commencement the world witnessed the first landing on the moon. Woodstock happened that August, and to think that I almost went to Woodstock! That fall of 1969, College life offered unprecedented freedom, gave us an introduction to protests against the war and more, and was filled with dizzying new choices for women, in particular. Our college dorm housemothers were gone, men could visit the dorms openly, recreational drugs were readily available, professors were leading discussions on the world and the war. Then there was the student strike and the Kent state shootings of fellow college students. I look back at that whiplash of adapting from Chatham to college. For me, Chatham had provided a supportive haven. The support of friends, the chance to be independent and learning about ourselves was preparation for what we faced.

We left Chatham independent, somewhat confident and fairly self sufficient which put us in good stead compared to many other college freshmen of the day.

Thank you Chatham Hall and my classmates for the threesupportive years here before entering the world of tumultuous change. 

After college, finding a path was overwhelming and the economy was sputtering and everyone waited in line for gas due to extreme shortages. The workplace was changing at a rapid pace, but where and how to jump in was the challenge. I only recall the airlines coming to campus to recruit airline “ Stewardesses” yes, that was the job title. I recall the frustration of seeing the New York Times advertise jobs mostly for Girl Fridays who could type so many words a minute.... me and that darn typewriter were trying to part company!! By the way, Girl Friday was a title for underpaid secretarial jobs offered to women graduating from college. Bank training programs had just begun to admit women college graduates. Other industries slowly began to hire women into training programs that had been traditionally for men. It was all new and it required exploration.

Many of us entered those early exciting yet challenging years in corporate America. The trials and errors and bumps and bruises of that evolving and unequal workplace provided a rich playbook of skills and experience. Tales too many to tell, I recall the daunting maze of seeking equal treatment, compensation, and  always doing 150% for recognition. Things have evolved today, but not enough. We all need to keep working as teammates in the work place toward equal pay, not just for ourselves but particularly for other women. Of all my days in the corporate world, the most upending and gut wrenching day was 911. All three firms I had worked for lost hundreds of employees. Too many colleagues and friends lost to count, too many funerals to attend..... too many lost.

Since leaving my 34 year career in financial services over 10 years ago, my life’s work has evolved to turning around and raising funds for grass roots non profit organizations. It brings me great joy to lead teams to accomplish small miracles. Together we have conserved 100s of acres of land, saved historic buildings and engaged growing audiences in The Wright Museum. This focus on developing and elevating non profits has been a rewarding evolution for me. Maybe I have pent up creative juices or maybe I want to finally make a difference, I’m not sure. I ask myself that. 

In any event, this quote from EB White seems apropos: " I get up every morning determined to both change the world and have one hell of a good time. Sometime this makes planning my day difficult."

From the Boston Childrens Museum to the Wentworth Watershed Association and the Wright Museum, there isn’t a day where I don’t call on life skills and corporate battle scars! It’s worth mentioning the adage: “Your greatest life is on the other side of your fears!” I did some major work on conquering my fears in those early days. 

It’s my hope for today’s graduates that they carry the blessing of this sanctuary as their bedrock for the challenges and risks ahead.
So I celebrate my class on our 50th and I’m proud to be a member of the mighty class of 1969. Your talents and accomplishments are varied and noteworthy. All of you here and those not with us, are distinguished alums. We’ve seen lots of history, we’ve instituted change, we’ve been mentors and mothers, we’ve incubated ideas and lead teams, and we have that Chatham Hall experience that helped launch us.

For those who will soon graduate, I wish you joy in your journey, resilience in facing challenges, and the courage to create change."