Mrs. Anna C. Ames and the Ames Gymnasium

February's Open House, scheduled for Sunday, February 22, will feature a presentation on Anna Coffin Ames. Mrs. Ames was a benefactor to Easton in many ways. One of Mrs. Ames’s gifts to Easton was the Ames Gymnasium on Barrows Street. Now known as Frothingham Hall, the building was built in1902 as a gymnasium for the first Oliver Ames High School on Lincoln Street. For some time, annual exhibitions were held at the Hall to highlight the students’ accomplishments. Adults responsible for preparing for the event were Henry S. Pratt, the boys’ coach, Mrs. Maude Scanlon, who prepped the girls for their dances, and Mrs. Oliver Ames (Anna Coffin Ames), who provided costumes- interestingly the boys wore black and red, not black and orange, like today.  
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A Boston Globe article dated May 10, 1912, describes that year’s production. Events included a ‘silver wand drill’ performed by boys aged 9 to 13, stunts on the horizontal and parallel bars, and a pyramid formation on the parallel bars. The girls performed an array of traditional dances from England, Sweden, Ireland, Spain, and Russia in authentic costumes. A final event, including both boys and girls, was an ‘Indian pantomime and dance’ which included students playing the following characters: Chief Keneu the War Eagle, his daughter White Dove, Osseo- Worker of Magic, Chief Menaow- Rushing River, Spirit of the Waters, and various braves, maidens, and nymphs.
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Although at this event the girls were in very traditional roles the high school did have women’s sports teams and in 1908 the girls’ basketball team was undefeated. The highest game score record was set that year (62 points) against East Bridgewater and an individual scoring record was set by Anna Kelley. The same Mrs. Maude Scanlon was their coach, and Mrs. Ames attended all the home games which were of course held in the Ames gymnasium. Girls on the team were Miss Mary Thompson, Miss Anna Kelley, Miss Mildred Spooner, Miss Grace Roche, Miss Alice McGlincey, and Miss Hannah Sullivan, who was the team’s captain. The Ames Gymnasium, renovated by Mary (Ames) Frothingham and renamed the Louis Frothingham Memorial Hall, is used today by the Council on Aging and the Recreation Department.

For more about Anna C. Ames come to our Open House!

Anne Wooster Drury

Sources - Links:
boston_globe_-_may_10_1912.pdf
Easton Historical Society and Museum