women owed their new status and rights to many BHS Old Girls such as, Gladys Morrell, Doris Butterfield, Marie Bluck, Kitty Zuill, Hilda Aitken, Betty Kitson and Rose Gosling, who were all instrumental in the women’s suffragette movement in Bermuda.
The School Association purchased Curling Cottage at the end of 1945 and it served as the home for the Art and Music Departments. By 1947, there were 300 pupils at the school, and in 1949, Miss Hallett was awarded the degree of Doctor of Laws from Mount Allison University. In 1952, the Marjorie Hallett Wing was completed including the Queen Elizabeth Hall (QEH), which to this day still serves as the hub for the community life of the School.
A Modern School
BHS for Life: Dr Majorie Hallet went from BHS Student to School Headmistress. She held the position for 30 years, beginning in 1934, and introduced the Old Girls’ Ceremony, today known as the Torch Ceremony. In 1952, the Majorie Hallet Wing was completed and includes the Queen Elizabeth Hall (QEH).
£1,000 gift from Mrs George Plimpton in memory of her parents General and Mrs. Hastings, who had been early benefactors of the School. Throughout the 1920s, BHS saw the House System and netball introduced, with a playing field acquired in 1927. In 1931 the first ever Field Day was held, a tradition that still holds today, but is now known as Sports Day.
BHS Grows
The School was soon bursting at the seams again, and in 1932 the Rose Gosling Wing (which today houses the Primary Department) was constructed and joined to the main building by the “Covered Way”. In 1934, former student, Miss Marjorie Hallett, became Headmistress, a position she held for over 30 years. In 1937, Miss Hallett introduced the first Old Girls’ Day ceremony, which this year celebrated its 82nd anniversary as The Torch Ceremony. BHS celebrated 50 years in 1944 with a week of celebrations, ending with a Thanksgiving service at the Hamilton Anglican Cathedral. During his address, the Bishop remarked, “…it can scarcely be doubted that some of you will live to see a woman physician standing at your bedside, and listen to a woman barrister practicing in the courts, perhaps indeed to carry the doctor’s stethoscope or to wear the barrister’s gowns yourselves”. The times were changing, and BHS graduates were ready. By 1945, traditional roles were changing with women entering careers which had previously been dominated by men.
22 Torchbearer Fall 2019
BHS graduates were well prepared. Miss Hallett noted, in a 1945 quote that still holds true in 2019, “Today, to a greater extent than ever before, BHS girls are preparing themselves to enter professional and commercial fields. Efficient leadership is badly needed in all spheres of life, and in the future, as in the past, I am confident there will BHS girls ready and equipped to fill this need.” World War II saw the role of women evolve further, and indeed, these young
Throughout the 1950s, outstanding exam results were achieved and more and more young women gained entry to college and universities around the world.
Dr Hallett had steadily steered the School through a tumultuous time, from World War II, at the start of her time at BHS, to the social upheaval of the 1960s. During this period, more and more doors were opening for women, and BHS ensured that its Old Girls were able to take advantage and walk right through them.
The 1960s saw some major changes for the School. In 1968 the first black pupils gained entrance to BHS; Laurita Wilson in the kindergarten (now EYP teacher Laurita Dill) and Deborah
Physical Expansion: In 2003, BHS opened the Jessie Vesey Sports Centre, a state-of-the-art gymnasium to enhance the School’s Phyisical Education and Sport programme. Jessie Vesey ‘19 is a former BHS Head Student, School donor and, at 102 years-old, attended the ribbon cutting for the gym.
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