Campus Curio

An article in a 1944 Vassar Chronicle discusses an unusual weathervane on the Skinner Hall of Music, “a feature which Music 140ers fail to notice as they toil up the hill.” The weathervane, which still sits on top of the building, is in memory of one of the men who gave a great deal to Vassar. As the article explains, “The weathervane is in the shape of a musical staff and the notes of the staff are GCG, the initials of George Coleman Gow, head of the music department of 37 years and composer of the Vassar Alma Mater.”

When Gow came to Vassar there was only one person in the department. During his years here he expanded it to 17 by 1944. The article concludes, “The building of Skinner was a realization of his life’s dream.” Gow had a year of work in the new music building that displayed his initials in the language of music before he retired.