In 1967 Loomis history teacher and school historian, Lou Fowles, secured an envelope with three wax seals. This lent an air of mystery to the handwritten note Fowles tucked in the envelope. Each seal bears a raised “F”, harkening back to the centuries-old tradition of using wax seals to authenticate the identity of a letter’s author. This old-fashioned act is all the more curious given that this letter was addressed to the future.

Lou Fowles taught at the Loomis School for 44 years, retiring in 1970. His pedagogy was distinctive and progressive. His students measured plot sizes in Windsor’s Palisado Cemetery, conducted oral history interviews on the origins of the Chaffee School, and delved into public records documenting centuries of Loomis family land ownership. Fowles’ own extensive research on the Founders and the early years of the school yielded the semi-centennial history, The Harvest of Our Lives.

Perhaps mindful that this letter would gain heightened meaning because of the context in which it was discovered, Fowles placed the sealed envelope in a large box containing hand written research notes, students’ research papers and his own talks and essays—the materials he used in writing The Harvest of Our Lives. Labeling the box as such, he even included a copy of his school history with a few corrections jotted in the margins.

Fowles addressed his letter to the author of the centennial history of the school. At a small gathering at the Heads House during Spring of 2010, the envelope was opened. The letter tells of Fowles’ admiration for the Founders, “an exceptional Yankee family”, and anticipated changes, including the possibility that Loomis and Chaffee might join as one school. The school’s centenary year, 2014-2015, must have seemed far into the distant future. With preparations for this celebration underway, we are grateful for all that Lou Fowles did to uncover the lives of those truly exceptional Loomis siblings and for his tireless efforts in documenting the early years of the school.