91吃瓜网 was founded in 1781 by Dr. John and Elizabeth Phillips, who resided in Exeter, New Hampshire. A successful businessman, John Phillips felt strongly about what we now call community service, having given much of his time to his church, the town, and to the province. First a teacher by trade, he firmly believed in educating 鈥測outh from every quarter.鈥� He was Dartmouth College鈥檚 first major benefactor and provided financial support to his nephew鈥檚 founding of Phillips Academy in Andover, Massachusetts, before establishing 91吃瓜网 three years later.
Principals
91吃瓜网 has been led by 18 men and women throughout its history, including 17 appointed principals and one who served a year as an interim principal.
18th Century
| 1719 Dec 27 | John Phillips born in Andover, Mass. |
| 1743 Aug 4 | John Phillips weds Sarah E. Gilman in Exeter. |
| 1765 Oct 9 | Sarah Phillips dies. |
| 1767 Nov 3 | John Phillips weds Elizabeth (Dennett) Hale. |
| 1781 Apr 3 | Act of Incorporation of PEA. |
| 1781 May 17 | John Phillips and his wife Elizabeth sign the Deed of Gift, the “Constitution” of the Academy. |
| 1781 Dec 18 | First meeting of PEA Trustees. |
| 1781 | John Phillips gives the Academy $60,000. |
| 1783 Mar 20 | PEA opens its doors to 56 students in the first Academy Building (now on Elliot Street). |
| 1783 May 1 | Formal opening of PEA, William Woodbridge, Preceptor, and dedication of first Academy Building. |
| 1783 Sep. | Enrollment: 56. Tuition fees: none. |
| 1788 Oct 8 | Benjamin Abbot appointed the second Preceptor. |
| 1793 Nov 13 | Trustees vote to erect a second Academy Building on land given by J. T. Gilman. |
| 1794 | Second Academy Building erected. |
| 1795 Apr 21 | John Phillips dies at 76; wills 2/3 of his estate (approx. $60,000) to PEA. |
| 1796 May 14 | Daniel Webster enters PEA at age 14. |
| 1797 Mar 12 | Trustees vote to award certificates for “good progress.” |
| 1797 Sep | Elizabeth Phillips dies. |
| 1798 Sep 10 | Trustees vote that “No student shall wear silk of any kind” and that dress of students be less expensive. |
| 1799 Dec 14 | Military exercises in Exeter led by student group, the “Washington Whites,” at death of President Washington. |
19th Century
| 1801 Jul 9 | Records of Trustees first refer to annual “Exhibitions” or “Closing Exercises.” |
| 1803 Aug 23 | First permanent Mathematics Instructor appointed. |
| 1808 May 20 | Benjamin Abbot, “Preceptor,” appointed “Principal.” |
| 1809 | First tuition fee levied — $2 per year — and remitted to “foundationers.” |
| 1813 Feb 26 | Oration by Isaac Butler complains of destruction of students’ snow fort by “rough-scuffs of the town.” |
| 1814 Aug 14 | Nicholas Gilman leaves $1,000 to PEA for instruction in Sacred Music. |
| 1818 Jun 3 | Trustees vote to have an English Department in addition to the college preparatory Classical Department. |
| 1818 Jul 16 | Golden Branch (oldest surviving Academy society) founded. |
| 1821 | Wings added to both ends of the second Academy Building. |
| 1834 | Francis E. Parker gives the Academy $130,000. |
| 1835 Aug 20 | Daniel Webster elected as Trustee; serves until his death in 1852. |
| 1838 Aug 22 | Gideon Lane Soule appointed third Principal. |
| 1838 Aug 23 | Abbot festival held on the occasion of Benjamin Abbot’s retirement after 50 years as Principal. |
| 1841 | Joseph G. Hoyt becomes Professor of Mathematics. |
| 1841 Aug 19 | Trustees vote to alter the Constitution of the Golden Branch Society to prevent meeting in secret. |
| 1849 | Tuition $14 per year. |
| 1849 Oct 25 | Death of Benjamin Abbot, second Principal, 10 years after retirement. |
| 1852 Aug 24 | An “experiment” in dormitory living begins in Williams House; rooms free, board $1.42/week. |
| 1854 Jul 31 | Adopting the plans of Mathematics Professor Hoyt, the school is divided into three classes — junior, middle, and senior. There are also a Preparatory and an Advanced Class. The former is kept as small as possible, and every effort is made to increase the size of the latter, which corresponds to the Freshman class in college. |
| 1854 Aug 13 | Trustees vote that “Use of intoxicating liquors by any student shall cause him to sever his connection with the Academy.” |
| 1855 Aug 27 | Opening of first permanent dormitory, Abbot Hall. Room rent fixed at $1.00 per year. |
| 1856 Jan 3 | Exeter’s new Town Hall dedicated; site of early PEA dramatic and musical productions. |
| 1856 Apr 13 | Christian Fraternity founded (merged with Student Council in 1954). |
| 1857 Mar 24 | Trustees vote to constitute a Faculty of the Instructors. |
| 1858 Mar 23 | George A. Wentworth appointed Professor of Mathematics. |
| 1858 Jul 13 | Trustees vote to permit students to study outside of the main recitation building. |
| 1858 Sep 1 | Moses Uriah Hall, Black student from Exeter, enters the Academy. |
| 1859 Jan 19 | Bradbury Cilley appointed Professor of Classics. |
| 1859 Aug 29 | School calendar is set at three equal terms with a summer vacation of 11 weeks. |
| 1859 Oct 19 | Baseball clubs first organized. |
| 1860 Mar 3 | Abraham Lincoln visits his son Robert Todd at PEA and speaks in Town Hall on behalf of the Republican Club. |
| 1861 Apr 22 | First Exeter student leaves for Civil War. |
| 1862 | John L. Sibley, class of 1819, gives $66,000 to the Academy. |
| 1862 Nov 25 | Jonathan Sibley establishes a Charity Fund to aid students of little means. |
| 1863 Nov 24 | Tuition increases to $10 per term. |
| 1864 | Boating first recognized at the Academy. |
| 1864 Sep 11? | Official Register of Students records that five students entering from Kentucky “left the Academy because there was a coloured boy in their class.” It goes on to say, “I wish they could all be publicly examined in company with him.” [Presumably written by Dr. Soule. The Black student is not identified in the student register.] |
| 1865 Sep 27 | Academy students establish Episcopal Society, later becomes Episcopal Parish (Christ Church). |
| 1866 Jan 1 | New England Alumni Association forms in Boston. |
| 1868 Jul 2 | Trustees vote to hire first Instructor in Modern Languages (French). |
| 1870 | Tuition $15 per term. |
| 1870 | Dr. Soule changes the hour at which students are required to be in their rooms from seven o’clock to eight. |
| 1870 Sep 8 | John Percyville Parker, a Black student from Ripley, Ohio enters the Academy as a member of the Class of 1871. |
| 1870 Dec 18 | Fire destroys second Academy Building. |
| 1872 | Dedication of the third Academy Building and celebration of Soule Festival, honoring Dr. Soule’s 50 years of service. |
| 1872 Nov 5 | First boat club formed. |
| 1872 Dec 17 | Trustees purchase Squamscott House, a hotel, for use as a dormitory. Later named Gorham Hall. |
| 1873 Feb. 1 | Third Principal, Gideon Lane Soule, resigns after 35 years. |
| 1873 May 22 | Albert C. Perkins appointed fourth Principal. |
| 1875 | First Academy Orchestra. |
| 1875 Jun 13 | Woodbridge Odlin establishes first professorship in English. |
| 1875 Sep 6 | First meeting of PEA Athletic Association. |
| 1878 Apr 6 | First issue of The Exonian. |
| 1878 May 2 | First baseball game with Andover (PEA 12 – PA 1). |
| 1878 Jun 12 | Ralph Waldo Emerson delivers an address on education to the Golden Branch, after which he remained all night in Exeter as the guest of Dr. Gorham, class of 1837, Trustee. |
| 1878 Nov 2 | First Exeter-Andover football game (PA 22 – PEA 0). |
| 1878 | James A. Tufts appointed Instructor in English. |
| 1879 Mar 15 | The Exonian reviews first Glee Club concert, held in Town Hall. |
| 1879 May 3 | Dramatics Club presents its first “entertainment” in Exeter Town Hall. |
| 1879 May 28 | Death of third Principal, Gideon Lane Soule. |
| 1880 Jun 22 | First PEAN published. The name is derived from P忙an, the Greek word meaning 鈥渟ong of praise鈥�. |
| 1881 Nov 19 | First meeting of G. L. Soule Literary Society. |
| 1883 May 8 | Resignation of the fourth Principal, Albert C. Perkins. |
| 1884 Jul 1 | Walter Q. Scott appointed fifth Principal. |
| 1884 Nov 15 | Exeter wins first tennis match against Andover. |
| 1885 Aug 12 | Ground broken for the first Academy Gymnasium. |
| 1886 May 29 | First issue of the Literary Monthly published. |
| 1887 May 21 | Trustees award first Diplomas to Senior Class. |
| 1888-1889 | Enrollment 206. Tuition $20 per term, room and board extra. |
| 1889 Apr 20 | Resignation of the fifth Principal, Walter Q. Scott. |
| 1889 Jun 12 | First Exeter-Andover track meet (PA 6 – PEA 3). |
| 1890 Jun 24 | Charles E. Fish appointed sixth Principal. |
| 1891 | Chemical Laboratory built. |
| 1894 Sep 12 | Soule Hall opens. |
| 1894 Dec 11 | PEA wins a public spelling match against Robinson Female Seminary. |
| 1895 Mar 30 | Resignation of sixth Principal, Charles E. Fish. |
| 1895 Jun 17 | Harlan P. Amen appointed seventh Principal. |
| 1895 Oct 9 | The Exonian reports trustees have made arrangements for those students whose parents have given permission to play pool and billiards in the new rooms devoted entirely to the amusement of students. |
| 1895 | Enrollment of 123 students at the Academy. |
| 1896 Jan 21 | Organization of Phi Epsilon Sigma society after Principal Amen lifts ban on fraternities. |
| 1896 Sep 9 | First E-Book published. |
| 1896 Sep 15 | Peabody Hall opens. |
| 1897 Jun 6 | First Merrill Prize Speaking Contest. |
| 1897 | Paid coaches for athletic teams first regularly provided. |
| 1899 Sept 30 | Phillips Congregational Church dedicated. |
| 1899 | Tuition $150 per year. |
20th Century
| 1901 Feb 4 | Abner Merrill, class of 1838, gives the Merrill Building on Spring and Water Streets (Site of present Merrill Hall). |
| 1903 Jun 16 | Opening of Alumni Hall (now part of the Mayer Art Center) as a central dining hall for entire school. |
| 1903 Sep 16 | Hoyt Hall built. |
| 1903 | Thompson Gymnasium built. |
| 1903 | First Exeter-Andover golf match. |
| 1905 Mar 22 | First issue of the Phillips Exeter Bulletin. |
| 1905 Jun 20 | The historic Nathaniel Gilman House given to PEA. |
| 1905 Jun 20 | George A. Plimpton, class of 1873, gives playing fields. |
| 1905 Winter | Academy hires Miss Jessie Ford of Exeter, a trained librarian, to “scientifically classify” and catalog its 2000-volume library. The library occupies two rooms on the second floor of the Academy Building. |
| 1906 | First Exeter-Andover debate. |
| 1907 Apr 10 | “Old” Dunbar Hall burns in spectacular fire. |
| 1907 May 18 | PEA chapter of the Cum Laude Society established. |
| 1907 Sep 25 | First meeting of Student Council. |
| 1908 Sep 16 | “New” Dunbar Hall opens after the old one burns. |
| 1908 | The Southern Club forms. |
| 1910 Apr 15 | Enrollment of 516 students at a tuition of $150 per year (room and board extra). |
| 1911 Jun | G. A. Plimpton gives “the fields beyond.” |
| 1911 Oct 26 | Cornerstone of Davis Library laid. |
| 1912 Sep 18 | Webster Hall opens. |
| 1913 Oct 8 | Death of the seventh Principal, Harlan P. Amen. |
| 1913 Oct 8 | Exeter beats Andover in football 59-0. |
| 1913 | 572 students enrolled. |
| 1914 Jun 18 | Lewis Perry appointed eighth Principal. |
| 1914 Jul 3 | Fire destroys third Academy Building. |
| 1914 Oct. 5 | Cornerstone of fourth Academy Building laid. |
| 1914 Oct 14 | Hill Bridge, gift of George Hill, class of 1865, completed, connecting Plimpton Fields with the “Fields Beyond.” |
| 1914 | First Exeter-Andover hockey game. |
| 1915 Oct 9 | Dedication of fourth Academy Building. |
| 1916 Feb 12 | Students allowed to attend Friday night shows at the Ioka. |
| 1916 May 30 | F. J. Price, class of 1901, is the first Exonian to die in World War I, at Ypres. |
| 1916 Nov 29 | Negative wins in Golden Branch debate “Should Exeter Be Coeducational?” |
| 1916-1918 | Sixty-two Exonians killed in World War I. |
| 1917 Feb 24 | First drill of student Military Battalion held in Town Hall. |
| 1918 Feb 22 | Dedication of Thompson Gymnasium. |
| 1918 Oct 2 | Spanish flu epidemic at the Academy. |
| 1919 Apr 4 | First school service held in Phillips Church. |
| 1919 Jul 8 | First summer session opens with 65 students after trustees approve the recommendation of the faculty that a session of the school be held during the summer (1) to increase services and better utilize the facility, (2) to provide an opportunity to progress faster in education, and (3) to “check some of the loss in efficiency [in studies] which results from the excessive length of summer vacation.” |
| 1919 Jan 16 | Exeter Opera House on Water St. burns (home of the PEA Dramatic and Minstral Shows from 1890 to 1916). |
| 1920 | First Exeter-Andover swimming meet. |
| 1920 | First Exeter-Andover basketball game. |
| 1920 | The Lantern Club founded. |
| 1920 | The Scientific Society founded. |
| 1920 | Tuition $250 per year. |
| 1922 | Christmas Fund created. Class of 1920 votes that as many of them as possible should give 10 dollars apiece each year to their old school. The example of the Class of 1920 is followed by the classes of 1921 and 1922. The idea of this “Christmas Fund,” which has since become “Annual Giving,” is the second oldest annual fund in the U.S. [Yale created their fund in 1811]. |
| 1922 Sep 25 | Trustees purchase Phillips Congregational Church from Second Parish. |
| 1923 Jun 25 | The Infirmary, gift of Mr. and Mrs. Thomas Lamont, opens. |
| 1924 May 31 | Founding of General Alumni Association. |
| 1924 | General John G. Pershing and his aide, Col. George C. Marshall, visit Dr. Perry and Gen. Pershing’s son at Exeter. |
| 1924 | Edward S. Harkness gives $24,000 for new dormitories. |
| 1925 Nov 14 | Dedication of Amen, Cilley, and Wentworth Halls. |
| 1926 Feb 21 | Twenty known cases of scarlet fever at PEA. |
| 1927 Oct 1 | Saturday night film series in gymnasium begins. |
| 1928 | E. S. Wells Kerr assumes position as Dean. |
| 1929 Nov 9 | Dedication of new stadium and football field. |
| 1930 Nov 17 | Edward S. Harkness gives $5,800,000 to PEA. |
| 1930 Nov 25 | Faculty adopts a resolution regarding the Harkness gift and the institution of the Harkness System of 12 students per class around a conference table. |
| 1930 | Jeremiah Smith Hall built, gift of Col. William Boyce Thompson. |
| 1930 | Squash building built, gift of Col. William Boyce Thompson. |
| 1931 Jun 6 | PEA celebrates its 150th anniversary. |
| 1931 Sep 23 | Jeremiah Smith and Thompson Science Buildings open. Both are gifts of Col. William Boyce Thompson, class of 1890. |
| 1931 | Twenty-five additional teachers hired for the new Harkness System. |
| 1931 | Baseball and track cage built, gift of Col. Thompson. |
| 1931 Jun 6 | The Sesquicentennial Celebration of the founding of the Academy. |
| 1932 | Phillips Hall and Merrill Hall built, gift of Mr. Harkness. |
| 1932 | Exeter Inn built, gift of Mrs. William Boyce Thompson and Mrs. William Boyce Thompson Schultz (mother and daughter). |
| 1932 Sep 21 | Lamont Annex, or Contagious Ward (now Lamont Hall), opened. |
| 1932 | Wings built on the Academy Building (gift of Mr. Harkness). |
| 1933 | First Exeter/Andover wrestling match, lacrosse meet, and (indoors) track meet. |
| 1933 Sep 20 | “Flat rate” ($1,051) covering tuition, room, and board first charged. |
| 1933 Dec 12 | The Review replaces The Literary Monthly. |
| 1934 Sep 18 | Wheelwright Hall opens (gift of Mr. Harkness). |
| 1935 Jan 7 | Alumni Hall closed as a dining hall. |
| 1935 Mar 12 | Death of Jeremiah Smith Jr., class of 1888, President of Trustees from 1920-1935. |
| 1935 Sep 19 | Bancroft Hall opens, gift of Mr. Harkness. All boarding students housed on-campus for first time. |
| 1936 | First Exeter-Andover fencing match. |
| 1937 Sep 26 | Knight House acquired by PEA; third story is added to provide more dormitory space. |
| 1938 Nov 11 | Trustees vote that no member of the Academy shall be permitted to take food away from the dining halls. |
| 1941 Sep | The Grill, with seating for 125 people, moves to Alumni Hall after the Exonian Building (across from Hoyt Hall), which housed the Grill, the Exonian offices, and the school carpentry and paint shops, is torn down in August. |
| 1941-1945 | WW II: 141 Exonians killed, 26 members of the faculty leave for the service. |
| 1942 June | The five remaining fraternities are closed by vote of the Faculty. |
| 1942 Dec 1 | The Faculty votes Anticipatory Program to help seniors finish school before draft age of 18. |
| 1943 Oct 27 | The Exonian reports 620 students have helped 22 local farmers harvest apples and potatoes during wartime labor shortage. |
| 1944 Feb | First Anticipatory Program graduation. |
| 1945 | Approximately $115,000 given in scholarship aid to worthy boys. |
| 1945 | James Forrestal speaks at Exeter graduation; son Michael is one of the graduates. |
| 1945 | Appointment of H. Hamilton Bissell as director of Scholarship Boys. |
| 1945 Jun 11 | Eighth Principal Lewis Perry announces retirement. |
| 1946 Mar 12 | Faculty dinner to honor retiring Lewis Perry; 250 present. |
| 1946 Jun | Perry-Lamont Day. Thomas W. Lamont, retiring President of the Board of Trustees, and Dr. Perry speak in Thompson Gymnasium. |
| 1946 Jun 2 | William G. Saltonstall appointed ninth Principal. |
| 1946 Sep 18 | Principal Saltonstall’s first Chapel service. Academy has 731 boys from 12 foreign countries and 42 states. |
| 1946 Nov 26 | Faculty votes to drop the two-year Latin requirement. |
| 1946-1947 | New flat rate $1,250/year. |
| 1947 Jan 18 | Change in curriculum: three years of any language, ancient or modern, required hereafter for diploma. Nationwide comment on protest of editor of The Exonian over dropping of Latin as requirement. |
| 1947 Apr 3 | Campaign for $5,000,000 opens. Thomas W. Lamont gives $500,000. |
| 1947 Sep | Academy vs. Town Tax Case settled. |
| 1947 Sep | Enrollment of 718 boys in Academy: from every state in union but one. |
| 1947 Oct 20 | Adult Education Program for the town of Exeter begun by PEA Faculty. |
| 1948 | Campaign for $5,000,000 concluded successfully, raising a total of about $5,600,000. |
| 1948 Jan 6 | Issue of Look polls PEA students and finds them Republicans 3 to 1. |
| 1948 Feb 2 | Death of Thomas W. Lamont, class of 1888 (President of Board of Trustees, 1935-46); leaves $3,500,000 to PEA. |
| 1950 | 154 PEA graduates who lost their lives in WW II honored at Chapel service. |
| 1952 Feb 19 | Principal Saltonstall made an announcement: 鈥淥n a Four-S policy of sun, snow, sleep and surprise, there will be no school today.鈥� His announcement started what would become an annual tradition known as 鈥淪t. Gurdon鈥檚 Day鈥� (Gurdon was Saltonstall鈥檚 middle name); and later 鈥淧rincipal鈥檚 Day.鈥� The Exonian reported on February 23, 1952 that the day off was prompted by a drop in morale and health in the student body, and that it may become an annual event. The spring issue of the Exeter Bulletin reported to the alumni that 鈥渢he announcement made history, health, happiness and hurrahs for the 741 Exeter students and their instructors. The students filed out of Chapel (the Assembly Hall) and spent the day in a variety of ways, mostly good.” |
| 1952 Aug 21-28 | National Council of Teachers of Mathematics and the New England Institute for Teachers of Mathematics meet for a week’s joint session at the Academy, under the direction of Jackson B. Adkins, member of the Academy Mathematics Department. Meeting attended by more than 500 people. |
| 1953 May 13 | Retirement of E.S. Wells Kerr, first Dean of the Academy; first Academy building, on Tan Lane, designated “the Dean’s House” in his honor. |
| 1953 May 30 | Dedication of the Lamont Gallery and Art Center (formerly Alumni Hall). |
| 1953 Dec 8 | Faculty exempts seniors from the 10:30 bed hour rule and from required attendance at breakfast. |
| 1954 Apr 13 | Faculty votes to mix all four classes in dormitories. |
| 1955 Nov 9 | The Pendulum replaces The Review. |
| 1956 Nov 15 | Faculty votes “that students not be permitted to patronize any establishment in Exeter that has pinball machines.” |
| 1957 Jan 10 | Senior grill begins. |
| 1957 Sep 16 | Exeter Bookstore opens. |
| 1957 Sep 19 | First “Daily Bulletin” issued. |
| 1959 Apr 7 | New physical education program for ninth graders (“Prep Spaz”) voted. |
| 1960 May 28 | Dedication of the Lewis Perry Music Building. |
| 1960 Sep 29 | Barber shop in basement of Academy Building closed. |
| 1960 Oct 23 | Robert Frost, at 86, gives his last PEA lecture. |
| 1961 Jan 28 | Exeter Social Service Organization (ESSO) formed. |
| 1961 May 31 | Faculty votes to allow students to have radios in their rooms. |
| 1961 Jul 3 | Summer School becomes co-educational (187 students, including 13 girls). |
| 1961 Sep 22 | Cafeteria system introduced in dining halls, but students continue to wait on faculty tables. |
| 1962 Oct 16 | Former President Dwight D. Eisenhower visits grandson (David D. Eisenhower II, class of 1966) at PEA. |
| 1963 Mar 4 | Ninth Principal William G. Saltonstall resigns to head Peace Corps in Nigeria. |
| 1963 Jun 10 | Richard W. Day appointed 10th Principal but must fulfill an existing commitment, so does not begin his tenure until the 1964-1965 academic year. |
| 1963-1964 | William Earnest Gillespie serves as Interim Principal for one year. |
| 1963 Oct 12 | Dedication of McConnell Hall. |
| 1963 Dec 23 | The enrollment is 771 and tuition is over $2000 for the first time (day student tuition is $900). |
| 1964 May 6 | Dow House, formerly the Exeter Clinic, purchased. |
| 1964 Nov 13 | Trustees vote to join Andover in sponsoring School Year Abroad Program. |
| 1965 Mar 13 | $7,300,000 bequest of Edward C. Simmons, benefactor, advances scholarship aid. |
| 1965 May 29 | First John Phillips Award presented to Burke Marshall, class of 1940, on Alumni Day. The John Phillips Award was established by the Trustees for presentation to an Exeter alumnus “whose life and whose contributions to the welfare of his/her community, his/her country, or mankind exemplify in high degree the nobility of character and usefulness to mankind that John Phillips sought to promote in establishing the Academy.” |
| 1966 Jan 22 | First Coke machines installed in dorms. |
| 1966 Mar 31 | First group of Washington interns arrives in DC for work in Congressional Offices. |
| 1966 Apr 22 | Dramatics Association’s first performance in newly renovated Harris House, later 3-D Hall. |
| 1966 Sep 14 | Bowl of apples set out daily in Principal’s office. |
| 1967-1971 | Long Step forward raises $25,634,521 in capital campaign, exceeding its goal. |
| 1967 Sep 17 | Wetherell Dining Center opens. |
| 1967 Oct 25 | Wednesday supper dress code abandoned. |
| 1968 Apr | Appointment of first George Bennett Fellow is announced. |
| 1968 May 4 | Faculty votes to expand Independent Study Program for seniors. |
| 1968 May 31 | Trustees vote to drop required attendance at Sunday church service. |
| 1968 Jun 9 | Former Secretary of State Dean Acheson speaks at graduation. |
| 1968 | Kirtland House moved from Elm St. to Elliot St. to make room for the new dining center. |
| 1968 Jul 1 | Bruce Dobler becomes the first George Bennett Fellow, a program established in February 1967 by Elias B. Kulukundis ’55 to provide for a writer-in-residence at the Academy. |
| 1968 Sep 5 | School year begins with first woman faculty member, Anne W. Cunningham, Instructor in Mathematics. |
| 1968 Dec 3 | Faculty votes to change school year from three terms to two semesters, permitting early graduation of seniors. |
| 1969 Apr 1 | Ground broken for new Library and Elm St. Dining Center. |
| 1969 Jul 30 | Gould House moved across Main St. to make room for new dormitories. |
| 1969 Sep 17 | Main St. and Ewald Halls open. |
| 1969 Oct 5 | Browning House purchased. |
| 1969 Oct 15 | Student silent march from Town Hall to Kensington in protest of Vietnam War. |
| 1969 Nov 8 | Dedication of “new” gymnasium. Rededicated in 1980 as Love Gymnasium. |
| 1970 Jan 26 | Death of eighth Principal, Lewis Perry, 鈥�18, 鈥�20, 鈥�46 (Hon.) at 94. |
| 1970 Jan 28 | First mid-year graduation. |
| 1970 Feb 27 | Trustees announce that PEA will become co-ed. |
| 1970 Sep 15 | School opens with first female students. Thirty-nine girls, all day students, are enrolled. |
| 1970 Oct 21 | First interscholastic girls’ competition in field hockey (Exeter H.S. JV 2 – PEA 0). |
| 1971 Feb 23 | Paramount Pictures starts filming A Separate Peace, by John Knowles, class of 1945, at PEA. |
| 1971 Apr 17 | Computer installed in Academy Building. |
| 1971 Sep | Enrollment of 128 girls at the Academy. Bancroft and Hoyt established as first two girls’ dormitories. |
| 1971 Nov 16 | Classes halted while students and faculty move 60,000 books into the new library. |
| 1972 May 12 | The Mikado performed on opening night of the new Fisher Theater. |
| 1973 May 18 | 10th Principal, Richard W. Day, resigns. |
| 1973-1974 | Mary Patterson McPherson serves as first woman on Board of Trustees. |
| 1973 Dec 20 | Boy-girl ratio at PEA is 3:1. |
| 1974 Feb 15 | Dress code amended to permit boys to wear turtlenecks instead of shirts and ties. |
| 1974 Mar 22 | The Exonian reports the death of Louis I. Kahn, architect of the new library. |
| 1974 Mar 28 | Stephen G. Kurtz appointed 11th Principal. |
| 1974 Jun 6 | Harriet Sue Schwartz becomes the first female to receive the Faculty Excellence Award (student of first rank). |
| 1976 May 21 | The first Founder’s Day Award presented to H. Hamilton Bissell. The Founder’s Day Award was conceived by Stephen G. Kurtz, Principal, and established by the Trustees in 1976 to recognize exceptional service to the Academy.聽It is given by the General Alumni/ae Association with the advice and consent of the Trustees. |
| 1977 Sep | Ninth grade girls admitted as boarders for first time. |
| 1978-1981 | Third Century Fund raises $25. 8 million, exceeding its goal of $22.6 million. |
| 1978 Jun 18-30 | Summer Institute on Moral Education. |
| 1978 Jul | PEA receives the Sustained Excellence Award. |
| 1978 Jul 3 | Death of 10th Principal, Richard W. Day. |
| 1979 Jul | PEA receives the Sustained Excellence Award. |
| 1980 Jul 7 | PEA receives the Sustained Excellence Award. |
| 1980/81 | “Ten Years of Co-education” celebrated. |
| 1980/81 | Bicentennial Year celebrated with three gala weekends. |
| 1980 Apr 11 | William L. Dunfey donates funds to further improve the status of women faculty. |
| 1980 Jun 15-22 | “Exeter Conference on Secondary School Science Education.” |
| 1980 Sep 26 | PEA hosts month-long teachers’ writing project. |
| 1980 Oct 25 | Dedication of George H. Love Gymnasium. |
| 1981 | In 1979-1980 there are 24 women on the faculty. |
| 1981 Jan 16 | Student Dining Hall workers begin to receive minimum wage by government intervention with school. |
| 1981 Jun 5 | First four-year boarding girls graduate. Ninth grade girls were not admitted as boarders until 1977-78 (above). |
| 1982 Sep 23 | Mayer Art Gallery first show is of the “Vollard Suite,” one of four sets of 100 Picasso prints in America. |
| 1983 Feb 26 | Computer Science course added to curriculum. |
| 1983 Apr 27-29 | Jorge Luis Borges reads at Exeter as the first Lamont Poet. The Lamont Poetry Program established in 1982 by Corliss Lamont, class of 1920. |
| 1983 Jun 22-25 | National conference on “Women Educators in Independent Schools.” Major conference speakers are Gloria Steinem, Carol Gilligan, Estelle Ramey, Natasha Josefowitz, Pauli Murray, Eleanor Holmes Norton, and others. |
| 1983 Oct 15 | Jukebox purchased by Student Council for Grill. |
| 1983 Oct 29 | Students participate in Anti-Nuclear Rally. |
| 1983 Oct 29 | Milton Mountain Program — a term abroad — approved by faculty for 1984-85. |
| 1983 Nov 12 | Saturday Assemblies abolished. |
| 1984 Mar 3 | Candle-light vigil held to protest Academy investments in companies with South African interests (apartheid).聽Vigil in conjunction with a three-day fast. |
| 1984 Oct 13 | President Reagan honors PEA as one of 60 “exemplary” schools across the nation. |
| 1985 May 11 | Education Conference draws 18 schools to PEA. |
| 1985 Jun | Faculty approves “New” curriculum presented in report of the Faculty Curriculum Committee chaired by E. Arthur Gilcreast. |
| 1985 Jun 23-28 | “Computers in Secondary School Mathematics” conference. Major conference speakers: Zalman Usiskin (University of Chicago), Judah Schwartz and Michal (sic) Yerushalmy (Harvard), John Kemeny (Dartmouth), and Stephen Mauer (Swarthmore). |
| 1985 Jul 1 | Susan Jorgensen Herney becomes Dean of Students. She is the first woman to hold this position. |
| 1985 Sep 21 | Five-Year Plan announced for improvement of the Academy. |
| 1986 Jul | PEA receives the Sustained Excellence Award. |
| 1986 Mar 1 | Model UN Club attends National Model UN Conference. |
| 1986 Apr 5 | Curriculum Implementation Committee releases a new course catalogue and yearly schedule adjusted from semester system to trimester system, to begin with the 1986-87 academic year. |
| 1986 May 17 | Principal Stephen G. Kurtz announces retirement in June of 1987. |
| 1986 May 23 | A significant number of students boycott the annual Founder’s Day Assembly to protest the “general disrespect” of the faculty towards students. |
| 1986 Jun | Rules Committee revises school rules — tobacco prohibited. |
| 1986 Oct 11 | Lovshin Track dedicated to former track coach Ralph Lovshin. |
| 1987 Feb 21 | Trustees announce appointment of Kendra Stearns O’Donnell as the 12th principal. She is the first woman to hold this position. |
| 1988 Jan | PEA Child Care Center opens for children of Academy faculty and staff. |
| 1988 | Alumni/ae of color form Excellence through Diversity committee. |
| 1989 Sep 22 | First President’s Awards given on Alumni/ae Council Weekend. The President’s Awards are given by the President of the General Alumni Association to present members of the Alumni/ae Council who, “through their efforts as volunteers for Exeter, have made outstanding contributions to the Academy.” The award honors current or recent volunteer service. |
| 1989 Oct 7 | KKK activities in Exeter shock PEA and community; Assembly held addressing safety of students. |
| 1989 Oct 28 | Grainger Observatory opens. |
| 1989 Dec 13 | Treasurer Joseph E. Fellows announced a decision to open dining halls to all full-time and regular part-time staff for lunch at no cost, after trial period from November 1 to December 13 to determine potential costs and space availability in the dining halls. |
| 1990 Feb | 鈥淔ebruary Thaw” observed for the first time. |
| 1990 | Appointment of first Day Student coordinator, Werner Brandes. |
| 1990 Feb 10 | US-USSR Exchange Program underway. |
| 1990 Oct 6 | Dedication of William G. Saltonstall Boathouse. |
| 1991 May 25 | Students become non-voting members of Discipline Committee. |
| 1991 Jan 26 | First annual celebration of Martin Luther King (Jr.) Day. |
| 1991 Mar 3 | New Visitations policy: every evening instead of only on Tuesdays, Fridays, and Saturdays. |
| 1991 Jul 5-Aug 1 | First Exeter Mathematics Institute. |
| 1991 Sep 27 | Renovated and revitalized WPEA radio station resumes broadcasting at FM 90.5. |
| 1991 Nov 16 | Library celebrates 20th anniversary. |
| 1991 Dec 7 | Student assistance program commences; help offered for substance abuse. |
| 1992 Apr 29-30 | “Learning 91吃瓜网 Learning — learning differences: a challenge in selective secondary schools” sponsored and held at Exeter in cooperation with the Academic Skills Center of Dartmouth College. |
| 1992 | Boys’ first boat travels to England to compete in the Henley Royal Regatta. |
| 1992 Nov 14 | WPEA wins first annual Marconi College Radio Award for an outstanding high school station. |
| 1993 Jul 13 | PEA receives the Circle of Excellence Award. |
| 1994 Jul | Library’s computerized catalog BIBLION goes online. |
| 1995 Jan | Academy enters cyberspace with its own address on the internet聽. |
| 1995 | Principal travels to Hong Kong and Korea to visit alumni/ae and parents. |
| 1995-1996 | “Twenty-five Years of Co-education Celebration” (gala ball and concerts). |
| 1995 Oct 2 | Residential Life Day, later called Academy Life Day, held for the first time. |
| 1995 Nov 8 | Forrestal-Bowld Music Center dedicated. |
| 1995 Nov 11 | Korean-Vietnam Memorial dedicated. Architect: Leers Weinzapfel Associates, Inc., Boston, MA; Landscape Architect: Michael Van Valkenburgh Associates, Inc., Cambridge, MA; Structural Engineer: Souza True and Partners, Inc. Consulting Engineers, Watertown, MA. |
| 1996 Jan 1 | Academy begins to include same-sex domestic partners in the medical benefit plan. |
| 1996 Apr 16 | Dunbar Hall holds “Run for your Life,” a two-mile race for women, whose proceeds benefit breast cancer research. |
| 1996 Apr 16 | Academy Building facade receives new Latin inscription honoring the first quarter century of coeducation: “HIC QUAERITE PUERI PUELLAEQUE VIRTUTEM ET SCIENTIAM” (“Here, boys and girls, seek goodness and knowledge”). At the same time, the dates 1781-1970 are added to the inscription on the lintel over the front entrance: “HUC VENITE PUERI UT VIRI SITIS” (“Come hither, boys, that ye may become men”). |
| 1996 May 13 | Principal Kendra Stearns O’Donnell announces plans to retire after the 1996-97 academic year. |
| 1996 May 18 | Phelps Stadium dedicated. |
| 1996 Sep 28 | Dedication of the class of 1945 Library honoring Dr. Lewis Perry. |
| 1996 Oct 15 | Telephones installed in all student rooms. |
| 1996 Oct 24 | The Exonian聽reports on record rainfall and flooding that shut down Exeter. |
| 1996 Nov 21 | Forrestal-Bowld Music Center receives Honor Award in Architecture Design from the Boston Society of Architects (Boston Branch AIA). Building designed by Boston Firm of William Rawn Associates. |
| 1997 Jan | Development Director James M. Theisen wins CASE (Council for Advancement and Support of Education) 1997 Robert Bell Crow Memorial Award. Award recognizes an independent school advancement professional for distinguished service. |
| 1997 Feb 7 | Trustees announce appointment of Tyler C. Tingley as Exeter’s 13th Principal. |
| 1997 Feb 19 | Faculty overwhelmingly votes to adopt M.E.T.I.C. [Mid-Term Effort To Improve Classes] program originally proposed by the Student Council “to afford students and teachers the opportunity to discuss a class before the end of the term in order to improve the teaching and learning environment at 91吃瓜网.” Program will begin in the fall of 1997. |
| 1997 Feb 26 | First universal voice mail message sent over Academy telephone system announces Principal’s Day. |
| 1997 May | The American Institute of Architects confers that year’s 25-Year Award on the 91吃瓜网 Library, Exeter, New Hampshire, designed by Louis I. Kahn, FAIA. |
| 1997 May 9 | New school hymn, “The Hymn of Phillips Exeter,” composed by Christopher Villar, class of 1998 and another member of the class of 1998 who wishes to remain anonymous, performed for the first time at Founder’s Day assembly. |
| 1997 May 31 | Campus-wide celebration to commemorate Kendra Stearns O’Donnell’s 10 years as Principal. |
| 1997 Jul 14 | PEA receives the Circle of Excellence Award. |
| 1997 Oct 28 | PEA Dining Services receives award for Best Institutional Food Service of the year. |
| 1997 Oct 31 | 75-year ground lease signed, turning over the Exeter Inn to Someplace(s) Different. The Inn is now managed by the leasing company, but ownership will revert to the Academy in 75 years. |
| 1997 Dec | BIBLION, the Library’s online catalog system, made accessible to internet users outside campus community. |
| 1998 May | Principal Tyler Tingley charges Program Planning Committee for Phillips Church with “writing a program statement for the church to guide the renovations of the building.” |
| 1998 Jun 4 | Class of 1998 becomes the first class to receive Exie-mail accounts, PEA’s free and permanent e-mail service for alumni/ae. |
| 1998 Nov 14 | Tapestry by Edwin Sulca presented by the class of 1998 to honor three beloved teachers, now deceased: Bette Ogami-Sherwood, Fred Tremallo, and Anja Greer. The tapestry hangs in the library. |
| 1999 Mar | Trustees vote to approve major renovation of Cilley Hall. |
| 1999 Spring | Harkness Discussion Group explores the “meaning and implications of the pedagogical approaches of the Harkness Plan.” |
| 1999 May 14 | Trustees announce gift from Stanford N. Phelps, class of 1952, of $15 million for a new science center. The building will be named for him. |
| 1999 Jun 27 | The Wells Kerr House (Academy’s original four-room schoolhouse) is moved to 12 Elliot Street in order to make room for the new science center. |
| 1999 Jul | Beginning with the Summer 1999 issue of The Exeter Bulletin (volume XCIV, No. 4), an online version is made available on the Exeter.edu website, except for the Class Notes section of the magazine. |
| 1999 Sep 8 | Faculty discusses and endorses principal Tyler Tingley’s Academic Master Planning Process, later discussed by the Board of Trustees in a special meeting on 2 October 1999. |
| 1999 Oct 2 | Ground is broken for the Phelps Science Center. Cost of the total science project (including renovation of the Thompson Science Center) is estimated at $52 million. |
| 1999 Nov 13 | PEA holds first homecoming weekend during Exeter-Andover weekend. In football, Andover wins 19-7. |
