Windsor Historical Society Sponsors In-Depth Look at Evelyn Longman Batchelder collections in the Loomis Chaffee School Archives

Join Loomis Chaffee School’s Acting Archivist Karen Parsons on Saturday, June 18 from 10 a.m. to noon for an in-depth exploration of nationally-renowned sculptor Evelyn Longman Batchelder’s life in Windsor.  In 1918, Evelyn Longman (1874-1954) arrived in Windsor on the invitation of Nathaniel Horton Batchelder, Headmaster of the Loomis Institute.  In sculpting a campus memorial to his late wife, Longman launched a productive artistic career in Windsor and cemented her relationship with Batchelder and the school community.  Marrying the Headmaster in 1920 and moving her studio to the Loomis campus, Longman tackled the challenges of working as a woman artist and outside urban artistic circles. 

Mr. Batchelder’s efforts to help his wife included building her studio, convincing the railroad to build a spur to the studio so her work could be shipped off easily to foundries, and creating a welcoming atmosphere on campus for artists, writers, and people of her “circle.”  He supported the business side of her career by taking care of the correspondence and selling her work out of his office.  Evelyn Longman Batchelder was able to balance the demands of being a wife, a mother, and a headmaster’s wife with her career, producing numerous works including those that grace the Loomis Chaffee School campus today.  Tour goers will view Evelyn Longman Batchelder’s letters and sculptural studies housed in the Loomis Chaffee archives, her studio, and works surviving on campus.   The cost for the program is $5 for adults, $3 for seniors and students, and $2 for Windsor Historical Society members. Pre-registration required by June 17^th; this is a limited enrollment program.   Call Windsor Historical Society at 688-3813 to register and obtain a map of where to meet.