Extraordinary News for Hackley School

We are delighted to share exciting news of an extraordinary gift to benefit Hackley School. As you will read in today’s Wall Street Journal, Hackley has received a gift of three paintings from the Collection of Herbert Allen and Ethel Strong Allen, a bequest from Ethel Allen. This gift extends the Allen family’s long commitment to Hackley School's charitable mission.

The paintings -- Nymphéas by Claude Monet, Pommiers et faneuse, Éragny by Camille Pisarro, and L’allée des peupliers à Moret au bord du Loing by Alfred Sisley -- will be sold at auction by Christie’s on November 7, 2012, with proceeds going to support Hackley's educational program. Christie's experts estimate that the three paintings should sell for more than $35 million.

Herbert Allen -- father of Herbert A. Allen ’58 - -served as a trustee of Hackley School for 37 years, and as an honorary trustee for six more until his death in 1997. Joining the Hackley community in the 1950s when the school was struggling financially, he recognized the school’s potential, and nurtured it. One of his grandsons noted that his grandfather wanted “to ensure that Hackley School would be one of the best of its kind and be able to continue its original mission.”

Whatever Hackley is now and can be in the future is a result of Herbert Allen’s faith and his actions, and the ongoing commitment of his children and grandchildren. The Allen Pool, the Kathleen Allen Lower School, and faculty housing in Allen’s Alley are just some of the transformative gifts made possible by Mr. Allen’s generosity. Herbert A. Allen ’58 has continued the family’s philanthropic mission on behalf of Hackley, most notably with a gift of $10 million that launched Hackley’s successful Centennial Campaign. The Centennial Campaign raised the $50 million that has fundamentally reshaped the campus landscape over the last fifteen years, beginning with the purchase of 172 adjoining acres from the Rockefeller family, the subsequent transformation of campus facilities that support the educational program, and the strengthening of our faculty compensation and financial aid programs.

Ethel Allen’s bequest not only represents a vote of confidence for the school’s achievements to date, but assures Hackley will continue to advance this work, offering students a warm, supportive and globally engaged community that enables both challenge and nurture, giving them the means to set high personal goals and attain them. For generations, Hackley students have shared a commitment to the welcome carved above the main entrance, “Enter here to be and find a friend.”

We at Hackley are deeply grateful to Ethel Allen and all in the Allen family for their leadership in support of our common educational endeavor, a unifying purpose that has inspired the service and commitment of generations of alumni, students, parents, grandparents, faculty and staff over so many decades.

Sincerely,

Walter C. Johnson, Headmaster
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FYI: At Christie’s in Rockefeller Center

• VIEWING TIMES: Nov 3 10am - 5pm, Nov 4 1pm - 5pm, Nov 5 10am - 5pm, Nov 6 10am - 5pm, Nov 7 10am - 12pm
• AUCTION: Nov 7, 7pm - TBD