What colleges have you attended?
I attended one college from 1978 to 1980 and received my Associates Degree in Secretarial Science back when that was still a thing.
Annhurst College was a beautiful liberal arts college set in Woodstock Connecticut – “the quiet corner” of the state. Laid out on both sides of Route 169 it was originally a teaching college for Daughters of the Holy Spirit, the nuns who taught in the catholic schools in the eastern part of the state. It then developed into a “regular” college for girls, and by the time I got there, it was co-ed with a 5-1 ratio of females to males. At the time I was there the student body was around 250-300 people.
The college consisted of one old brick building that housed “the gym” and sciences classrooms on the second floor, and classroom/administration building, a student center/cafeteria, and cultural center of built in the 1960s. There were two dormitories – one built in the 1960s and the other built earlier, as well as another building that housed the nuns when I went there and contained the chapel. There were also old homes that some nuns lived in and one was used for the admissions office. In the basement was The Hobbit Hole, the college bar. The only official place to drink in Woodstock because it was a dry town!
I loved it from the moment I saw it. I loved walking everyday to meals and to classes along the paths, sitting out in front of the student center after a meal, or waiting for one, riding my bike to Roseland Lake, taking the school’s bus to Putnam on Fridays to pick up supplies from K-Mart, ordering pizza nearly every night (and gaining that “Freshman 15”), and just reveling in the beauty of the countryside.
Sadly, in the spring of my 2nd (and last) year at Annhurst, it was announced that it would be closing at the end of the academic year. all underclassmen were given help to find somewhere to go at that late notice and alumni were left without “a home”. It really left a hole in the hearts of everyone.
Thankfully about 10 years ago, an alumni association was started up and there is an annual reunion held at the campus which is now part of Woodstock Academy (a private school).
My husband and I occasionally ride out to Woodstock on the motorcycle and he drives down Route 169 so I can have my bit of nostalgia.
*A common conversation after graduation:
ME: I go to Annhurst college. THEM: Oh! Amherst in Massachusetts wow! ME: No, ANNhurst college in Woodstock. THEM: Woodstock NY! Oh wow! ME: NO ANNhurst College in Woodstock CT. It closed the year I graduated. THEM: Oh! Never heard of it.
Tell me in the comments if you’ve ever heard of it!
Thoughts From The Passenger Seat 
This made me smile Nancy.
Proud graduate of ANNhurst College – class of 1980 !
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Thank you Paula – I hope you enjoy my posts. ANNhurst College Forever!
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I’ve spent the past 46 years saying “ANNhurst not AMherst, Woodstock, Connecticut not Woodstock, New York.” It was a beautiful place then and I’m surprised to return year after year to find the setting has changed little, with a few exceptions.
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It remains a very special place!
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Thank you Nancy! I loved Annhurst and it closed at the end of my Junior year. It was a very sad time for everyone. To me, it was the equivalent of a parent passing away. I loved living there and enjoying the beautiful grounds, walking behind the campus to the nearby farm to visit the cows. Other times, I would take my guitar and find a tree where I would sit all by myself to play and sing. I loved that we were small and knew everyone. We had a great community and I will always treasure and cherish Annie U.
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Thank you for your thoughts!
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Yep. Class of 1977. Art Major. And likely the only student ever to earn a BA in three years from Annhurst. It is indeed a beautiful campus, and we received top-notch education there. Grateful to the Daughters of the Holy Spirit for their dedication to teaching.
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Thank you for your thoughts!
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Loved reading your memories of Annhurst. Times sure had changed between my tenure and yours. Your Hobbit Hole was our dining hall. I went to Annhurst in the early 60’s, graduating in ‘64. A bar??? That was unthinkable in my time. At the end of my freshman year my roommate and I snuck a 6-pack into our room and were petrified of getting caught. On retrospect I wish we had just to see what would have happened.
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Thank you for your memories! Madonna Hall and the Student Center were probably not even built when you were there? I can’t imagine what it was like! Where were your classes held?
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There was one classroom building, the brick building where the gym was. Burrell Hall, St. Anthony’s, and St. Francis were the dorms. Anthony and Francis were old houses. Oh, and the dining room which was in the basement of what was then the Convent. It was pretty stark!
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I always heard “Amherst? I graduated in 1968. Had wonderful classmates. We were some of the first to graduate in elementary ed.
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Thank you for your comment! Are you related to any Zottolis from Wallingford Ct?
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Awesome blast from the past. I attended 1979-80, my college freshman year. Still recall all the great times on that beautiful campus, remember The Hobbit Hole, faculty-student wine & cheese receptions, wandering around the countryside. Easily would have stayed and graduated had Annhurst remained. I had an amazing year full of special memories that I treasure. Thank you for writing about Annhurst.
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Thanking you for checking and I’m so happy you enjoyed my reminiscing! There is an active Facebook group and you are welcome there as well as at the annual reunions!
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I have not heard of ANNhurst College, but it sounds lovely. I must be close to the same age as you. I went to Mount Holyoke College in western MA, a women’s college (that is near Amhurst). Being from Minneapolis, most people I know here have never heard of that. It was culture shock in many ways for me, and I missed my friends at home. One time at a “mixer” (which I hated and never went to another one) a drunk guy thought I was from “Minnianappolis” (combination of Indianapolis and Minneapolis). I was from flyover land. Some students went on study abroad for their junior year, but I ended up going to “junior year at home”, attending the University of MN for that year (partly to save money) That was another culture shock, being huge. I went back to Mt Holyoke for my senior year. In retrospect, I probably would have been better off going to college closer to home.
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That was a long way for you to go to college! I had to google it as I wasn’t sure where it was but I see I know the general area. Have you ever been back for any reunions?
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I have been to Boston a number of times, but never back to western MA or to the campus of MHC. After college I stayed in touch with a few people, but have since lost track of them. There was an all class virtual reunion a couple of years ago, during covid. I signed up to do a zoom get together during the virtual reunion, but at the last minute I thought “I do not even like zooming with people I know, I do not want to be on a large zoom with a bunch of people I do not remember”. So I did not participate after all. I would like to see the campus again some day.
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I hope you have a chance to visit it again someday.
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Just attended the annual reunion last weekend. Wonderful! Only 3 people from our class of ’68, but loads of other alumnae. I was a “day hop” for 4 years, but it was a perfect fit for me. Thank you Sr. Irene, a.k.a. Sr. Christine!
Janet Steele Knox
eknox19041@aol.com
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Thank you for commenting! I was there too – I was the person who got the first raffle prize AND won the 50/50 raffle!
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