Cart 0
Our Story Our Work People Friends
Cart 0
 

Our Story

 
annferguson_2010_11_22_03_22_31.png

The Heathmere Center was established in 2018 with inspiration and funding from Dr. Ann Ferguson, Professor Emeritus of English Literature, Gordon College. The interdisciplinary, pluralistic, and hospitable nature of academic and public discourse that she encouraged, then, is the foundation from which the Heathmere Center will operate.

 
 

In 1955, Dr. Ann Ferguson (PhD, LLD) was hired by Gordon College to teach English Literature. Throughout her tenure, she held many important leadership roles, including, Department Chair, Director Chair, and Faculty Senator. In 1956, she helped to start a theater program, and produced the first three-act play in Gordon’s history. Dr. Ferguson then went on to direct several plays in the Drama Division. After teaching for five and a half decades, Dr. Ferguson retired from Gordon College on May 15, 2010. Several years after retiring, she was awarded an honorary degree – Doctor of Humane Letters.

 
 
polaroid-portrait-crop.jpg

Her classes as well as the informal dialogues in her home reflected her expansive cultural interests and always invited a truly diverse perspective from which to discuss.

While Ann was first and foremost a professor of English literature she also had a passion for the arts, and taught classes in Art History and often took students to Symphony Hall and The American Repertory Theatre in Boston.

 
 

.
.
.

 
 
 
Pilar.jpg

“As I began to reflect on Ann’s legacy as a teacher, mentor and friend…

I started thinking about the endless ways she has contributed to and shaped the many lives that she has come in contact with.”

“It is with Ann’s gracious legacy of genuine intellectual curiosity, fearless inquiry, innovation, faithful search for truth, and selfless charity in mind that I and others began to brain storm ways to turn her legacy into something concrete and lasting.”

 
 

“I have spent many afternoons and evenings at Ann’s home reading, discussing literature, sipping tea, cooking, gardening or listening to music”

 
 

“Her home was always a shelter where time stops and people matter, where conversations occur safely and peacefully, where foods are sampled, books are checked out, new plants and flowers are discovered, and the latest news is explored and talked about fearlessly.”

Pilar Pérez Serrano PhD
Ann’s former student and colleague

 

.
.
.

 

Why “Heathmere”?

Of Scottish ancestry, Ann first began creating her garden at her home in Hamilton, MA, by planting a couple of small patches of heath around her house. A local grounds person told her that it would be impossible to grow heath in the harsh New England climate. Undeterred, Ann set out to tend, nurture and cultivate her heath, which eventually grew and spread to surround her home, integrating itself with its easier-to-grow cousin, heather. The small patches of heath became a vital component of her expansive, fecund and diverse garden. “Mere” is the Scottish word for water. Since her property overlooks Chebacco Lake, she called her home, “Heathmere.”

Why “Cultural Engagement”?

We have chosen the term “cultural” to reflect several aims of our Center. First, its root derivation from the Latin "colere," meaning to tend to the earth and grow, or cultivate and nurture, not only reflects Ann’s love of gardening, but also reflects the way humans interact with each other as well as with the earth itself. Whether human or plant, we all need a culture in which to grow, thrive and express ourselves. Yet culture can also serve as a source of conflict, disagreement and tension. Acknowledging the central role of culture for human life, our work aims to cultivate dialogic interaction amongst various cultures in order to affirm their diversity, constant change, and need for growth.