Sampsonville Today

Today, there is a bench by Olin Arts Center looking over Lake Andrews in memory of Charles Sampson.  It reads, "In greatest recogintion of Charles Sampson for his fourteen years of dedicated service to Bates College who was instrumental in championing the education of World War II Veterans and their families."  The bench and plaque is surrounded by small trees and bushes. We find it problematic that the plaque in the memorial states nothing about Sampsonville, what it was, or what exactly Charles Sampson did for the college beyond his teaching; it could be argued that his support of Sampsonville was his greatest accomplishment.

Furthermore, many people and students pass the Sampsonville memorial on a regular basis but very few know anything about Charles Sampson or Sampsonville. Not many people even know that Bates College had special educational agendas to educate war veterans and allowed entire families to live on campus. We also believe that in general, there is a great gap between current Bates students and Bates' history. For instance, we only knew that New Commons and New Dorm (280) were built within the past decade, but know very little about any other history related to Bates College.