After a long period of inactivity, The Golden Sextant returns with a new look and a new section. We have moved from our original PageMill platform to WordPress, thanks to some help from Boston Web Company, a Belmont neighbor. And in recognition of the upcoming centennial of the Belmont Hill School founded in September 1923 by Reg Howe’s grandfather, we have added a new section.
Initially this section will focus on the School’s early history from the perspective of its founding family: Dr. Reginald Heber Howe, Jr., Headmaster; his wife, Marion Barker Howe; their daughter Susan, a graduate of Windsor School, who was soon to marry Phillips E. Wilson, a member of the original faculty remaining until 1942; their son Richard (Dick), starting in third grade and graduating with the Class of 1933; and William Torrey Barker, Jr., Mrs. Howe’s younger brother, a member of the faculty from 1926 until his death in 1938 and first Director of the Lower School.
In 1926 Dr. Howe built the house at 49 Tyler Road adjacent to the School. In its original configuration the house consisted of a master’s home with a dormitory attached as a back wing. The Wilsons were the first occupants of the home. After Dr. Howe’s death in 1932, the dormitory wing was enlarged and converted into into an apartment for Mrs. Howe and Dick, then in the Fifth Form. The Howe family continues to occupy the home to this day, at which time its residents include four of Dr. Howe’s grandchildren, among them Reg Howe, BHS ‘58, and Alex Behn, BHS ‘24.