And when that space became impossibly small, the Archives moved to its present location on the second floor of the north wing across from the Library's rare book room, where it is again bursting at the seams. Let's do an article focused on the Archives-what's here, why, etc. Come any time.-Lee. Lee Dodge came East from Nebraska to Radcliffe, and in 1961 made her way to The Choate School to join her new husband and fellow Nebraskan, history teacher Ben Sylvester. Now nearly 35 years later, she still presides over the school's Archives, which since its beginnings has essentially been a one-woman show.
Environmental issues complicate the preservation of archival material.
Student pranks have resulted in losses, including the original wooden Choate Seal that vanished during the 1994 Reunion Weekend. Lapses in security caused the theft in the 1980s of a large number of valuable cast-iron banks from a display in the Reading Room. Of great concern is that no remote storage facility is available. Flood or fire could wipe everything out. But it needn't be that way-a visit to the Archives, open to everyone, is immediate immersion in school history.