As we mark our School’s 75th academic year in 2020–21, we are pleased to share the story of a special Heritage Society member: the man who made the very first planned gift to Cardigan Mountain School.
Richard Cullen was chairman of the board at International Paper, Inc., in 1946, and working closely with the company’s president, John Hinman. As a Cardigan Incorporator, Hinman was at that time planning for the School’s opening. The two men had become close friends, and Cullen took an interest. He was particularly impressed by the group of businessmen and leaders who had been assembled to back the effort, which included former Dartmouth president Ernest Martin Hopkins. Cullen contributed a significant gift to the cause, which Cardigan historian Robert Hopkins later attributed to “his friendship for John Hinman, his admiration for E. M. Hopkins, and his real interest in and desire to help boys.”
Invited to join Cardigan’s Corporation, Cullen was himself soon actively working to secure stability for the fledgling school. Both his example of support and his outreach to others began to draw significant financial support to the School. A note from lead donor E.H. Neese explained to Cardigan founder Harold “Hap” Hinman that “Mr. Cullen and your brother John are very good friends of mine, and I have such a high opinion of both that any project of which they approve or in which they are interested is bound to appeal to me.”
It was a blow to all when, in 1948, Cullen passed away suddenly from a burst appendix. A stunned Hap Hinman shared the School’s sympathies with Mrs. Cullen, noting that Cardigan and its leaders were “the better because of having shared Mr. Cullen’s interest and generosity.” To honor Cullen, friend D. S. Gottesman immediately established young Cardigan’s first scholarship in his memory: a stunning five-year commitment of funds to support Cardigan boys and “To Perpetuate the Name of Richard J. Cullen.”
But Cullen’s legacy was not yet complete. Unbeknownst to the School, Cullen had also made provisions for Cardigan in his estate. When Hap Hinman received word of Cullen’s $10,000 bequest, he described it as “a bountiful gift made without restrictions [...]. It is a mighty fine gift.” Cullen’s generous, unrestricted gift enabled Cardigan to fully retire the remaining debt held on The Lodge, which at that time was the school’s main building located on Canaan Street. The balance of the gift was placed into savings pending “A full discussion on its use [...] at the Annual Meeting.”
Cullen’s bequest came at a critical time in the School’s early growth. His support helped to stabilize what was still a very young organization, one that was vulnerable to even moderate volatility in financial markets and student enrollment. He had provided the measure of security needed to ease frustrating financial worries nipping at the heels of Cardigan’s leaders, and given them the space to look ahead and plan for a bright future. Cullen’s gift was a brilliant and strategic use of funds, made by a man who had experience putting his finances to work. No doubt he would be proud to know that his sound investment helped to secure opportunity for the generations of Cardigan boys to come.