Monk Terry and Jack Crocker.

The history of Groton weekend dates back to the early half of the twentieth century, when two Heads of School tied Middlesex and Groton together.

In 1938, the beloved Frederick Winsor retired and was replaced by Lawrence “Monk” Terry, who gave his name to the Terry Room. In the 1920s, Terry had met Jack Crocker while attending Groton and they became very good friends. The two remained close through college and in 1940, two years after Terry became Head of School at Middlesex, Crocker became Head of School at Groton. Their friendship forged a connection between Middlesex and Groton that still lasts today.

In a picture that dates back to the 1940s-1950s, Terry and Crocker rest on a milestone, on which one arrow points left to “Westford, Littleton, Groton School” and another points right to “Middlesex School, Concord.” On the back of the photo, it says “Jack + Monk were roommates at Groton and then at Harvard. Because of their relationship MX has ‘Groton Day’.”

Groton Weekend itself was not established until the 1980s. In 1964, David Sheldon succeeded Terry as headmaster, but the Middlesex-Groton bond continued to thrive. According to Mrs. Herter, “Groton Weekend started when the two Heads of School at the time (David Sheldon for Middlesex and Bill Polk for Groton) decided to plan a weekend for both schools so that everyone could have a ‘long weekend’.”

According to Mr. Harrison, a former history teacher who now works in the Alumni and Development office, sometime during the mid-twentieth century the ISL decided to rotate the game schedule periodically to maintain competitiveness among schools. The ISL allowed each school to pick two rivals to play on fixed weekends, and Middlesex picked the now-traditional rivals Groton and St. George’s. The school kept the last game of the season with St. George’s, yet Groton remained somewhere in the middle of fall. The Heads of School of Middlesex and Groton during the 80s, who were David Sheldon and Bill Polk respectively, got together and decided that Groton and Middlesex could use a mid-semester long weekend to play each other.   

But that is not the whole story. Mr. Butera suggested that a former faculty member, Bill McCook, might have proposed the idea during a faculty meeting in the 1980s. Characterized as “Mr. Middlesex” by Mrs. Herter and “the Answer man” by Mr. Harrison, McCook was probably the faculty member who noticed a drop in students’ grades and morale during mid-Fall and thus proposed to establish a long weekend for everyone around game day with Groton.        Skimming through old issues of the Anvil, I found the first Groton-targeted quote ever published: “There’s No Sex Like Middlesex… Beat Groton!”(1986).

However, the phrase “Groton Weekend” was not used until 1988, when Mike Obrien and Jon Reed wrote, “Groton Weekend was the setting for a real thriller, which unfortunately resulted in a 4-3 loss for Middlesex.” Then, in a 1989 interview with Mr. Tulp, a faculty member who was leaving Middlesex for Groton, the Anvil asked, “Are you looking forward to the Middlesex-Groton weekend?” Mr. Tulp answered, “Yes, very much so, in fact. It will be a nice opportunity to see old faces and to chat with everyone.”

Today, Groton weekend marks the game day that “alumni all over the country pay attention to,” according to Athletic Director Joe Lang. But history will remember that behind the unusual Friday schedule lies a Dean’s care for his students, behind the sweat and tears lies the love for sports, and behind the school-wide belligerence on Groton weekend lies the friendship of two old classmates and Zebras.