Historic Hood College Series
Vessels and Pens From The Wood Of A Great Tree On The Campus Of Frederick's Historic Academic Landmark
Representative Gallery
Hood College Black Walnut Pens Now Available - see "Unique Gifts Under $50" Page
About Hood College
Hood College was chartered in 1897 as the Woman’s College of Frederick, when the woman’s department of coeducational Mercersburg College, in Pennsylvania, was moved to an area below the Mason-Dixon Line.
The College was officially chartered with the “purpose and object of creating and maintaining a college for the promotion and advancement of women, and the cultivation and diffusion of Literature, Science and Art.” (source: Hood College Website). The first semester at Hood, which was then located in Winchester Hall on East Church Street, saw a student body of 83 led by a faculty of eight. Fourteen women received the first baccalaureate degrees, awarded in 1898.
Thanks to the generous 1897 gift from Margaret Scholl Hood, for whom the Board of Trustees re-named the school in 1912, the College acquired a 28-acre tract of farm land on the northwestern edge of the city. Construction was begun on the three and one half story Colonial Revival brick Alumnae Hall (pictured below), the first new building to be built on the present campus, in 1914; today, the building, known also as “Ad Hall,” houses many of the principal administrative offices of the College. Its four fluted Ionic front columns, named Hope, Opportunity, Obligation, and Democracy, were dedicated to the Classes of 1915-1918, respectively. Today more than 30 academic, residential and administrative buildings are quartered on Hood's 50-acre campus, which became fully coeducational in 2003.
In 2015, nearly 1,500 undergraduates and nearly 1,000 graduate students from across the nation and the world were enrolled at Hood. The College, widely recognized for its degree programs in the natural sciences, offered 33 undergraduate majors, master's degrees in 15 professional areas, eight post-baccalaureate certificates and certification programs in education.
Architecturally, the Hood College campus represents the culmination of Beaux-Arts style planning ideals coupled with Colonial Revival architecture. Its significantly influential 20th century collegiate design concept was recognized in 2002, when the Hood College Historic District was listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
Read more about the history and traditions of Hood College and its continuing commitment to excellence in education at the official Hood College website.
The College was officially chartered with the “purpose and object of creating and maintaining a college for the promotion and advancement of women, and the cultivation and diffusion of Literature, Science and Art.” (source: Hood College Website). The first semester at Hood, which was then located in Winchester Hall on East Church Street, saw a student body of 83 led by a faculty of eight. Fourteen women received the first baccalaureate degrees, awarded in 1898.
Thanks to the generous 1897 gift from Margaret Scholl Hood, for whom the Board of Trustees re-named the school in 1912, the College acquired a 28-acre tract of farm land on the northwestern edge of the city. Construction was begun on the three and one half story Colonial Revival brick Alumnae Hall (pictured below), the first new building to be built on the present campus, in 1914; today, the building, known also as “Ad Hall,” houses many of the principal administrative offices of the College. Its four fluted Ionic front columns, named Hope, Opportunity, Obligation, and Democracy, were dedicated to the Classes of 1915-1918, respectively. Today more than 30 academic, residential and administrative buildings are quartered on Hood's 50-acre campus, which became fully coeducational in 2003.
In 2015, nearly 1,500 undergraduates and nearly 1,000 graduate students from across the nation and the world were enrolled at Hood. The College, widely recognized for its degree programs in the natural sciences, offered 33 undergraduate majors, master's degrees in 15 professional areas, eight post-baccalaureate certificates and certification programs in education.
Architecturally, the Hood College campus represents the culmination of Beaux-Arts style planning ideals coupled with Colonial Revival architecture. Its significantly influential 20th century collegiate design concept was recognized in 2002, when the Hood College Historic District was listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
Read more about the history and traditions of Hood College and its continuing commitment to excellence in education at the official Hood College website.
A Stately Black Walnut Is Removed
On a picture perfect October day in 2015 the massive Black Walnut tree behind Alumnae Hall - riddled as it was with insect damage (and bees, lots of bees!) - came down in a flurry of fun-to-watch human enterprise. I'm always a little bit sad when such a big beauty meets her end as a standing tree, but when it's felled for the right reasons, and the removal is approached with the seriousness and respect (yes, I said respect) that it is due, it's also quite entertaining to watch the process. In this case, the largest of the straight pieces of trunk were claimed by a lumber buyer, and it's nice to think that someday, somewhere, folks might gather round a gorgeous table crafted from its wood. The best part for me, of course, was loading several large chunks of the wood onto my buddy Jim's trailer for the trip back to my shop.