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Abbott, Louise Maria (1836-1917)

Charter Faculty

Born on September 15, 1836 to John and Lucy (Bennett) Abbott, Louise Maria Abbott originated in Burlington, Vermont. Abbott received her preparatory education from the Burlington Female Seminary; a finishing school in Utica, New York; the “Grande Ligne, Mission,” Canada; and the Sauveur Summer School at the University of Vermont. Additionally, she studied with notable teachers, such as Professor Pollens of Dartmouth and Professor Sauveur, in order to improve her French. Abbott also traveled, though she frequently returned home to associate with her friends, which included the families of influential individuals, such as the University of Vermont’s President James Burrill Angell, Senator George Franklin Edmunds, and John Dewey. During those times, she participated in various organizations related to intellectual, spiritual, and philanthropic pursuits. After spending several seasons in Boston, New York, and Washington, she organized a private school in Burlington. Abbott was visiting the home of Governor John Wolcott Stewart when Edward Payson Hooker, president of Rollins College in Winter Park, Florida, offered her a position at his newly-established school.

As primary schools in the south had severely lagged behind New England’s, Hooker developed a preparatory department and program in which students could fulfill the basic educational requirements necessary for higher education. He sought Abbott, who had experience in that regard. Therefore, in 1885 Abbott became a member of the charter faculty of Rollins, viewing it as her Christian duty; Abbott placed much importance on the activities of the Congregational Church. At the College, she served as an instructor in subjects such as French, English, and history. She served in the capacity of a “dean of women,” such as when she suggested the name “Friends in Council” (based upon the name of her literary society in Vermont) to young women proposing to form a similar organization at Rollins. As one of the five original faculty members of Rollins, she had a close relationship with the other professors and students, who described her as having a “strong, intelligent personality…. She was a woman of rare intellectual entertainment, a devout Christian, one who understood how to teach and touch the hearts of the young people under her care.” ^[1] Owing to her poor health, however, Abbott resigned from Rollins in 1892.

After leaving the College, Abbott spent several years in San Diego, California and Burlington, before returning to Winter Park. In 1955, Rollins acquired the house she lived in. The Abbott House functioned as a faculty residence and men’s dormitory until its demolition in 1969. Abbott greatly loved Rollins and the Winter Park community, which she actively participated in. She also took interest in pursuits such as horseback riding, going on motor trips, and even expressed the desire to fly in an airplane, a reflection of her modern sentiments. ^[2] Abbott died on March 21, 1917 as a result of injuries sustained during an automobile accident. Shortly before her death, coincidentally, she had comforted a nervous woman who had expressed concerns about driving: “It would be a beautiful way to go, that is, if one is quite prepared.” ^[3] Her role as a member of Rollins early faculty ensures that, as one former student stated, “her name will be ever honored and revered by all the students of dear old Rollins.” ^[4]

– Angelica Garcia

Alfond, Harold (1914-2007)

Business Leader and Strong Supporter of the Rollins Sports

Harold Alfond’s mother had a tough time just keeping her son in clothes. When he was growing up in Swampscott, Massachusetts in the 1920s, she’d send him off to school wearing a good pair of shoes and a warm sweater. Many times, Harold would come home without them. He’d given both to someone he thought needed them more.

Half a century and more hasn’t changed some things about Harold Alfond. Certainly, as founder and Chairman of the Board of Dexter Shoe Company, he is respected for his role in building one of America’s top shoe businesses and one of Maine’s largest employers. Harold and his wife, Bibby, divide their days between homes in Waterville, Maine and Palm Beach, Florida. In both states, his extraordinary business achievements are familiar to many. But he is also distinguished by the same qualities that characterized him as a young man- his quiet nature, passion for sports, joyful love of life, solid common sense, and generous spirit. And he still enjoys putting people into a good pair of shoes.

According to Alfond, his parents, Simon and Rose, taught him the real key to his remarkable success: plain, hard work. As a youth, his early contact with the footwear business came through his father, who was employed by the Kesslen Shoe Company in Kennebunk, Maine. In those days, Harold’s feet seldom touched the ground for long. At Swampscott High, he was an outstanding three-sport athlete- twice captain of the basketball team, football team quarterback, and leading hitter on the baseball team. When he graduated from high school in 1934, his athletic skill landed him a summer of playing baseball in Derry, New Hampshire. It also led to his first job- at Kennebunk’s shoe manufacturer.

“That’s how you got a job in those days,” Alfond recalls. “They’d hire you if you were a ballplayer. You would work in the factory during the day and play baseball at night.” For twenty-five cents an hour, Harold put in ten hours every weekday and a half-day on Saturdays before heading out to the ball field. “I was the odd shoe boy, doing odd jobs. Whatever everyone else didn’t want to do, I did,” Alfond says.

That willingness to work hard paid off. Before long, Harold was earning fifty cents an hour as the factory superintendent. Although no less enamored of baseball, he had planted his feet firmly in the career that would secure his future, and he soon convinced his father of the wisdom of going into their own shoemaking business. In 1940, they bought a shoe factory in Norridgewock, Maine and began the Norrwock Shoe Company, which they built into a topnotch operation before eventually selling it to Shoe Corporation of America.

But Harold had it in his mind to own his own company again. He wanted a business he could teach his children and leave as a legacy for his family. In 1956, he found the perfect base for a new shoe factory at a vacant woolen mill in Dexter, Maine, and Dexter Shoe Company was born. Now one of the nation’s largest footwear manufacturers, Dexter Shoe Company produces street shoes as well as golf and bowling shoes for men and women, turning out some thirty thousand pairs of shoes a day at its plants in Maine and Puerto Rico. And, as the founder had once dreamed, his three sons have joined the Dexter team.

Although Harold is still deeply involved in Dexter as board chairman, work takes its place beside his other passions: spending time with his family, championing worthy causes, and of course, enjoying sports. He is an avid golfer. In fact, his reputation at the game occasioned this statement from a group of golfing friends that included Gerald Ford, Peter Ueberroth, Clint Eastwood and Harmon Killebrew: “We have all played with him and against him, and we can testify it is much better to be his partner than his opponent in a golf match.”

An owner of the Boston Red Sox, Harold Alfond cheers his team at about thirty games each season. He has also been in the stands for every World Series of the past forty years, right through the ’89 earthquake at Candlestick Park.

While his enthusiasm for sports continues to run at full speed, he admits that the secret to his vigorous health is simple: “I walk.” No secret, however, is his belief in the values found in sports, which underlies his game plan for his many philanthropic and business activities. “I had all my breaks in life from sports,” Alfond says. “I learned the importance of teamwork and how to get along with individuals, and how to judge an individual by his actions after winning or losing.” Today, he readily credits the benefits he received from sports as the catalyst for the investments he makes in others. “It started years ago,” he reflects. “I was fortunate to have so much given to me, and I felt if I could give it back when I got older, I would.” And give it back he does- with the same high-spirited determination he had on the playing field. Harold Alfond married Dorothy Levine of Waterville, Maine on August 5, 1943. “Bibby,” a graduate of Colby College in Waterville, has been his gracious partner in the demanding business of successfully raising three sons and a daughter. Harold’s devotion to home is a constant priority, and a prouder parent and grandparent would be hard to find. Theirs is an exceptionally close-knit family, whose warmth reaches out to embrace thirteen grandchildren. Many in this affable, spirited group seem to have inherited more than a talent for the family business. They also display the Alfond commitment to education and the belief in giving of one’s self.

Harold and Bibby’s eldest son, Ted, is Executive Vice President of Dexter Shoe Company. He and his wife, Barbara, are both Rollins College graduates (Class of ’68), and Barbara is a trustee of Rollins and of Holderness School in Plymouth, New Hampshire. Ted serves on the board of Kents Hill School in Kents Hill, Maine. They are the parents of three college students: John (Rollins ’92), Jenny (Colby College ’92), and Katharine (Brown University ’94). Son Peter and wife Karen, also Rollins graduates (Class of ’75), have four young children: Rebekah, Kyle, Sarah, and Deborah. The family lives in Puerto Rico, where Peter oversees the Dexter production facility, and where they’ve adopted a local school. Back in Dexter, Maine, son Bill directs the company’s golf and bowling shoe division and serves as a trustee of Governor Dummer Academy. He and his wife, Joan, have three children: Justin, Kenden, and Reis. Daughter Susan is also the parent of three college students: Emily (University of Vermont ’94), Daniel (Georgetown University ’92), and David (Georgetown ’90), who plans to teach in the black townships of South Africa. In this vibrant family, Harold Alfond remains the energetic role model whose example in making a difference is a constant source of encouragement. Harold Alfond has been called “an uncommon man,” widely cited for his broad humanitarian spirit. Highly respected as an industry leader, he is even more widely regarded for his unwavering commitment to others. Here is one American who gives generously, frequently, and from the heart. In his native Maine, his philanthropy has touched numerous community organizations as well as students and their schools. Alfond has strong praise for the value of a college education and athletics, and though he never went to college himself, he has quietly funded scholarships for hundreds of others and has fostered the growth of collegiate athletics through major gifts for sports facilities. In Waterville, Alfond’s caring is reflected at Colby College, where he has established several scholarship pro grams and served as overseer of the board of trustees. In 1955, he contributed the Alfond Arena for hockey, and in 1987, his lead gift toward a challenge grant at Colby made possible the new state-of-the-art Alfond Track.

The 3600-seat Harold Alfond Sports Arena at the University of Maine at Orono, dedicated in 1977, is also testimony to Harold Alfond’s commitment to collegiate sports. An additional gift from Alfond in 1990 will double the seating capacity of the popular arena.

Scores of students have benefitted from Harold Alfond’s support of Eaglebrook School (Deerfield, Massachusetts), Kents Hill School, Governor Dummer Academy (Byfield, Massachusetts), and Thomas College (Waterville, Maine).

In recognition of his many contributions to education, Alfond was awarded the honorary Doctor of Humane Letters by both the University of Maine at Orono and Colby College, and the honorary Doctor of Science in Businesses Administration from Thomas College. Harold Alfond has touched his community in many other ways. He has been a special friend to youth as a generous contributor to the Waterville YMCA and the Boys and Girls Club and sponsor of Waterville’s first Little League team. He served as one of the earliest members of the Mansfield Health Education Board, is a past chairman of the United Jewish Appeal, and is also a member of the Odd Fellows, Elks, and Masons. He and Bibby have been instrumental in the establishment of the Holocaust Human Rights Center of Maine.

Always responding to the needs of others, Alfond helped improve health care in the Waterville area through the founding of the Harold and Bibby Alfond Regional Cancer Center at the Mid-Maine Medical Center in 1980, in 1987, he set up the Harold Alfond Charitable Relief Endowment Fund as part of the TWOTEN Foundation, a national shoe industry philanthropic organization.

Nowhere has Harold Alfond’s commitment to education and athletics been more meaningful than at Rollins College, where his role has far surpassed that of a proud parent. He served the College with distinction as a trustee from 1977 to 1983 and in 1967 established the Alfond Athletic Scholarship, which is awarded each year to an outstanding freshman athlete/scholar. In the more than two decades since its inception, the endowment has helped over twenty student athletes attend Rollins.

“A strong and well-directed athletic program benefits the school in many ways,” Alfond points out. “We build a strong student body by attracting the best and brightest. This has made us strong academically. The interests that students develop and show now will stay with them for years to come, thereby generating even more support for the College.”

In 1972, Harold Alfond generously made possible the building of the Alfond Swimming Pool on the Rollins campus, haven of thousands of student swimmers.

In 1984, Alfond presented the lead gift for the construction of a new baseball complex for Rollins. Today, the Harold Alfond Stadium at Harper Shepherd Field stands as a modern, 800-seat lighted facility with dugouts, locker and equipment rooms, offices, press box, and concession stands.

Four years later, Alfond made another major contribution to Rollins which enhanced the athletic department’s aquatics program while beautifying the campus for all. The Harold Alfond Boathouse, completed in 1990, created a new center for both athletic and recreational waterfront activity. As part of this gift, some 2100 feet of campus shoreline along Lake Virginia has been refurbished and landscaped.

Harold Alfond’s many efforts for the betterment of Rollins will affect campus life for generations of Rollins students.

Yet, while his conviction of the value of athletics is strong, he puts no less importance on the chief business at hand. “I believe the path Rollins has chosen forms a solid base for enabling us to provide the quality and well-rounded education that our students want and deserve,” he says.

Throughout his life, Harold Alfond has made gifts that enable others to live more fully – gifts of education, health, and recreation. In so doing, his spark has ignited others who have risen to his continued challenges and followed the good example he has set. Of the path he has taken, Alfond says, “While I’m living, I’m going to try to do everything. A lot of people try to do it after they’re gone.” Harold Alfond’s contribution is a legacy that will shine far into tomorrow – not only at Rollins College, but in the countless lives he touches on his journey.

Alfond received an honorary degree form Rollins in 1997 and was elected trustee emeritus in 1993. He died on November 16, 2007 in Maine.

*This Biography first appeared in the Rollins Lamplighters Series.

Ambrose, Charles

Church Founder

Charles Ambrose was an African American who lived in west Winter Park. He married a woman named Missouri, and had one son, Chester and one daughter named Helen. ^[5] He also had two granddaughters, Thelma and Lucille. In 1886, Ambrose helped found Mount Moriah Missionary Baptist Church, the first Black Baptist church organized in Winter Park, which he ran out of his home. ^[6] Establishing such a church in the 18th and 19th century was difficult since many southern states banned blacks from assembling. Many whites could not fathom Blacks associated with Christianity. As a result, African Americans met in secret by night to learn the teachings of the Bible, preach and sing. Their congregations became known as the “invisible church.” ^[7] The Baptists were the first to license Black men to preach in the 1770s and 1780s. This opportunity led to the development of independent black churches in the 18th and 19th centuries.

In 1887 Reverend Charles Johnson Smith became the first to lead Mount Moriah Missionary Baptist Church. ^[8] He served until 1911. In 1888, the trustees of the church, which included Charles Ambrose, purchased two lots on the corners of Lyman and Pennsylvania Avenues from the Winter Park Company for fifty-five dollars. ^[9] The church was built on this property. The congregation grew rapidly between 1886 and 1935. So much so that the Ambrose home could not accommodate the audience. As a result the church met on alternate Sundays at the Winter Park Town Hall until they had a sanctuary of their own. ^[10] In 1935 William A. Coursen provided the $8,500 necessary to build the temple on Pennsylvania Avenue. ^[11]

– Kerem K. Rivera

Anderson, Winslow S. (1898-1948)

Dean of the College

Born to Robert and Annie Lewton Anderson in Portland, Maine on July 28, 1898, Winslow Samuel Anderson received his formal education in New England. There, he graduated from Portland High School and enlisted as a chemical warfare officer in World War I. Following his services to the army, Anderson attended Bates College, where he worked as assistant to the head of the chemistry department. After graduating with his Bachelors of Science degree in 1921 from Bates, Anderson decided to use his chemistry background to instruct students at Rollins College. Feeling a need to advance his studies in Chemistry, Anderson left Rollins in 1922 to attend the University of Minnesota for his Masters of Science degree. After two years of teaching at the State College of North Carolina, Anderson spent the next three years as executive secretary of the Theta Kappa Nu Fraternity.

In 1928, Anderson returned to Rollins as a professor of chemistry and dean of men. One year later, Rollins College named Anderson the dean of the College, a position in which won him “admiration and affection of the faculty and student body.” ^[12] Over his tenure of thirteen years, Anderson became closely associated with the president of Rollins, Hamilton Holt, in the development of the conference plan, helping to bring the first adult education program to Rollins, as well as Omicron Delta Kappa, Libra, and other prestigious organizations. For the keenness of vision that Anderson exhibited with his involvement, Whitman College requested his leadership. In 1944 , Anderson accepted the offer as sixth president of Whitman College. Before departing from Rollins, however, President Holt awarded Anderson with an honorary degree, stating, “We have complete confidence you will rise to higher and even higher achievements, both professionally and personally throughout the unfolding years…” ^[13]

President Anderson did just that, helping in the development in a counseling center, a student center, and a curricular program that strengthened the educational values Whitman was built upon. ^[14] Over the six-year period he served the College, Anderson also corrected inequalities among the faculty in such matters as teaching loads, ranks, and salaries, and ultimately steered the College through the difficulties of World War II.

On November 13, 1948, Anderson’s reign of presidency ended suddenly with his death. Praise for the work and guidance that Anderson provided over his fifty year lifespan was sounded one week later after his death at the First Congregational Church in Walla Walla, Washington. “We shall not forget Winslow Anderson,” remarked Chester Maxey, dean of the social sciences division at Whitman College, “And this is not the final expression of our high regard for him… a man of his quality does not live in calendared time alone, but in an endless sequence of fruitions insured by the intensity of his devotion.” ^[15]

-Alia Alli