Cram's Scholastic Heraldry

The arms of Groton School.
Rendered by Chad Krouse, 2024.

The father of "collegiate gothic" architecture, Ralph Adams Cram (1863-1942) received a lot notoriety for his depth of knowledge regarding the art and science of heraldry but rarely do we see specific examples of his armorial designs rendered for US corporate bodies.  

The earliest known scholastic coat of arms designed by Cram are those of the Groton School located in Groton, Massachusetts.  According to Groton School (2009), the arms were unveiled in 1902 and blazoned:  Argent, on a cross Gules a sword with point to base hilt enfiling a crown Argent on a chief Sable three open books edged with two clasps Argent.

In my rendering above, I wanted to solve one problem I kept seeing in various emblazonments of Groton's arms, namely that the crown tends to get lost with the sword's hilt when everything is kept white.  By using various shades of white to silver for the sword's hilt and pommel, the crown is able to pop and become more evident in arms.  

The arms of Wellesley College.
Rendered by Chad Krouse, 2024.

Following a devastating fire in 1914 on the Massachusetts campus of Wellesley College, Cram was commissioned to help rebuild the charred grounds.  According to Wellesley College (1918) we learn about how the college's arms came to be:

"During various discussions that occurred with Messrs. Day & Klauder and other architects the desire was often expressed that the College should have a coat-of-arms. Mr. Day called attention to the fact that the seal of a college should not be used as a heraldic device on buildings. It was Mr. Davenport of the Board of Trustees who became interested in securing a coat-of-arms for the College, and asked the privilege of taking the initiative in the matter.  On consultation with Mr. Cram, Mr. Davenport asked Mr. William T. Aldrich of Boston to prepare a coat- of-arms for the College. Various designs were considered, and finally in June, 1917, he presented to the Trustees a coat- of-arms which had been prepared by Mr. Aldrich and approved by Mr. Cram. This design was accepted as the coat- of-arms of Wellesley College. The heraldic reading is as follows: 

Blazon: Azure, on an open ancient book the words "Incipit Vita Nova" on a chief Or, a cross crosslet of the field between two fountains" (pp 21-22).

Contemporary emblazonments of Wellesley's arms show five clasps on the open and inscribed book, and for this reason I added clasps to my rendering above.  The official blazon noted in Wellesley (1918) does not have have clasps on the book.

So, while Cram did not design Wellesley College's arms, he "approved" them.  I included these arms simply because it was important enough for the college to mention Cram's nod to the design and thus relevant to our discussion regarding his scholastic heraldry.

William T. Aldrich (1880-1966) was an architect in Boston who was later commissioned in the 1930s by Wellesley College to design a sports center.  At the moment I cannot find any other heraldic designs by Aldrich.  Perhaps Wellesley's was a one-off? 

The arms of Rollins College.
Rendered by Chad Krouse, 2024.

The coat of arms Cram designed for Rollins College located in Winter Park, Florida is the other known work in scholastic heraldry by Cram.  Rollins College was established in 1885 by the Congregational Church.  Zang (2019) notes that the college adopted Cram's design in 1933 and adds: 

"[Rollins' coat of arms] carries a blue St. Andrew’s cross on a gold shield. In addition to the college motto in Latin, it also incorporates the key elements of a rising sun and cascading water below from the College Seal. The two swords emblazoned on the cross were taken from the Coat of Arms of the family of Alonzo Rollins (1832-1887), the initial donor of the College. The book above the cross is a symbol of knowledge, and the emblem below designates a natural spring as a representation of Ponce de Leon’s famous Fountain of Youth." 

The arms of Rollins College are blazoned:  Or, on a cross saltire Azure two swords in saltire Argent pommel and hilt Or between in chief an open book with two clasps proper and a fountain in base

Should more examples of Cram's designs in scholastic heraldry come to light, I'll promptly update this article.

Works Cited

Groton School. (2009). Groton School Quarterly, LXXI, 3, p.3

https://issuu.com/grotonschool/docs/quarterly_2009_fall/4

Wellesley College. (1918 December).  Annual reports of the President and Treasurer of Wellesley College 1916-1918, series 7, no. 6.  

https://www.google.com/books/edition/Annual_Reports_of_the_President_and_Trea/odgiAAAAMAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=Annual+Reports+of+the+President+and+Treasurer+of+Wellesley+College+1916-1918&pg=PP7&printsec=frontcover  

Zang, W. (2019). Branding Rollins: A brief history of college logos and other institutional symbols. Rollins Archives.  

https://blogs.rollins.edu/libraryarchives/2019/05/29/branding-rollins-a-brief-history-of-college-logos-and-other-institutional-symbols/