Last Post Babson College Archives are closed.

I am no longer archivist at Babson College as my position has been eliminated. The archives and museums will be closed. I don't know who at Babson College will be available to answer your questions.

Links to many of my former pages at the Internet Archive can be found on the right.



R. C. (Rip) Rybnikar

George Francis Marlowe, Jr.

In 1921 Roger W. Babson began buying up land to build a residential school for his new Babson Institute of Business Administration. Ten years later, where once was farm and field, there were nine campus buildings and six other buildings bracketed by the pre-existing Children's Convalescent Hospital on the Needham side and the Channing Sanitarium on the Wellesley side. Most of these new buildings were designed by one man—British-born architect George F. Marlowe.

George Francis Marlowe, Jr. was born in Norwood, London on March 30, 1877. His parents, George Francis and Fannie S. Marlowe moved to Worcester, MA where George attended primary and secondary school. As a young man he studied architecture with Constant-Désiré Despradelle. Despradelle taught architecture at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and was a major proponent of the “Beaux-Arts” school of architectural design. Marlowe also studied drawing and painting with Charles Herbert Woodbury.

George married Diantha Williams Horne (1879—1966) on July 28, 1909 in Framingham, MA. Diantha was a children's book illustrator. One of George's first designs was a house he called “Little Maynard” which he built for his wife's parents. George and Diantha eventually took up residence in this house at 198 Maynard Road in Framingham.

Early in his career he worked for Peabody & Stearns and Andrew, Jacques, and Rantoul, two Boston firms with national reach and reputation. (Unfortunately the records of his time at these firms was unavailable to me.) He worked on a variety of local projects. Marlowe was a member of the Boston Society of Architects from 1912 and was elected a member of the American Institute of Architects in 1921.

How did he get associated with Babson Institute? In the absence of a definitive record I am limited to conjecture. In 1921/2 he worked with Eliza Newkirk Rogers. Ms. Rogers (Wellesley 1900) taught at Wellesley College and designed several of their buildings. George Marlowe worked with her on two college buildings, Hallowell House and Horton House. Horton House is to the top left of this display. Does the building look familiar? I am assuming that Wellesley resident Roger W. Babson saw this building and decided that this was the style he wanted for his new campus. (He later insisted that all future buildings be of a “Georgian” style. No pun intended.)

George Marlowe became a salaried employee in January 1922. In quick succession he designed the Administration Building (now Mustard Hall), two classroom buildings (Lyon Hall—today's Luksic Hall—and Bryant Hall) that were mirror images of one another, Richard Knight Auditorium, Peavey Hall Gymnasium, and the Babson Park Clubhouse (now Park Manor South). In his second breath he designed the Bank Building (which is known as Publisher's Hall), Coleman Hall (the central area designed for the Great Relief Map with a wing designed as a library), and Westgate Hall (which was the original residence of the President as well as the infirmary). He made time to do decorative pieces as well. The location dial off the Athletic Fields was designed by Marlowe in 1926. His last project was Park Manor (later renamed Park Manor Central) and at the completion of this building in 1930 he resigned from Babson Institute.

From 1928 through 1938 he had an independent architectural practice. He did work for St. Andrew's Church in Framingham, the Framingham High School, Walnut Hill School in Natick, and the Edgell Memorial Library in Framingham.

He was very active in arts, historical, and preservation matters in Framingham. In addition to his architectural society memberships, he was a member of the Edgell Memorial Library Board of Trustees for 46 years. He was a member of the Society for the Preservation of New England Antiquities. He was a long-time member of the Framingham Historical Society serving as President from 1932 until 1942.

In later life his life-long interest in travel joined with his interests in New England architectural history. From 1937 until 1954 he wrote social-cultural histories of New England. In the fall of 1941 he gave a series of public lectures “The History of Framingham in Six Periods” for the Framingham Historical Society. That same fall he published an 11-part series on the history of Framingham for the Framingham News.

His 46 year marriage to Diantha ended with his death in April 1955. She died in 1966. They are buried in the Edgell Grove Cemetery in Framingham.

R. C. (Rip) Rybnikar

Easy Street & Cheer Up! by Roger W. Babson

In the fall I scanned a copy of Roger W. Babson's response to the Great Depression which he called Cheer Up! Easy Street is the rendering of the life of a man from Maine who shared his story with Mr. Babson. How does one make his/her way in the world?

R. C. (Rip) Rybnikar
Babson College Archives