Gates Reflect History of Marist and Hudson River Valley
On the gates at Marist College’s south entrance, the rampant fox (left) acknowledges the College’s mascot as well as a long tradition of the fox as a heraldic symbol of wisdom. The medallions (right) depict important figures from different eras in the Hudson River Valley.
Marist’s south entrance has a distinctive new look thanks to stone carvings that represent the history of the College and the Hudson River Valley.
The gate on the south side of the road features a rampant (rearing up) fox, acknowledging the mascot of Marist College as well as a long tradition of the fox as a heraldic symbol of wisdom. A similar fox appears on the College’s coat of arms.
The medallions on the opposite gate depict important figures from different eras in the Hudson River Valley.
- St. Ann was the namesake of the Marist Brothers’ original property in Poughkeepsie, St. Ann’s Hermitage.
- Edvard Bech was the owner of the estate purchased by the Marist Brothers in 1908 to expand their Hudson River holdings.
- St. Marcellin Champagnat was the 19th-century French priest who founded the Marist Brothers.
- Frederic Church was a landscape painter who was a central figure in the 19th-century American art movement known as the Hudson River School.
- Henry Hudson was an English navigator who explored the river that now bears his name.
- Daniel Nimham was the last chief of the Wappinger tribe; he died fighting for the American side during the Revolutionary War.
- Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt, America’s 32nd president and his wife, were Hyde Park residents and global figures who helped shape the 20th century.
- Sojourner Truth was a 19th-century abolitionist and women’s rights activist who was born in Esopus.
- George Washington made his headquarters and residence in Newburgh from April 1782 to August 1783 while commander-in-chief of the Continental Army.
- John Flack Winslow was a 19th-century industrialist who helped finance the construction of the USS Monitor, which made history in 1862 by defeating the ironclad CSS Virginia at Hampton Roads, VA, during the Civil War. Winslow’s estate was located on what is now the northern part of the Marist campus.