The Baker and Hinman families have given more to the College than millions of dollars -- they have also given two current students.
George Baker '00 is the great-great grandson of George Baker, who funded the construction of Baker Library, and Kristen Hinman '98 is a descendant of John Hinman, Class of 1908, for whom the College named a residence hall, the mailboxes, a Dartmouth Outing Club cabin and a Rockefeller Center forum.
Baker, a European history major and art history minor from New York, said he feels a special connection to the College, especially when he studies in Baker Library.
"When I came to visit and went in there, my heart really started beating fast," he said.
The George Baker selection
George Baker's great-great grandfather funded the construction of Baker Library in memory of his uncle, Fisher Ames Baker, Class of 1859, a lieutenant colonel in the Union Army.
Fisher Baker left his nephew all his property at his death, and George Baker then paid to build Baker Library.
The first George Baker, who did not attend the College, served as chairman of the Board of Directors of the First National Bank of the City of New York. He donated $1 million for construction of the library in 1923 and gave another $1 million a few years later so the building could be maintained.
George Baker was devoted to his uncle Fisher, who was only three years his senior. George Baker walked all the way from his home in Troy, New York, to watch his uncle's graduation from Dartmouth.
Baker's heritage allowed him to attend the private cocktail party earlier this month in the Collis Common Ground as part of the Berry groundbreaking ceremonies. There he was able to mingle with tux and gown-clad alumni, members of the Board of Trustees and high-ranking administrators while all other students were not permitted to enter.
But Baker said he does not have any privileges over other students in other aspects of College life. He said he has no desire to stand out and does not talk about his connection to the library.
Baker is a member of Alpha Chi Alpha fraternity and said he enjoys being outdoors, loves to ski and is fascinated by planes. He not only flies model planes, but his pilot license enables him to fly planes out of Lebanon Airport.
Baker was on the crew team during his freshman year, but said he felt burned out in the summer. Instead, he decided to focus on his academic work and spending time with good friends or outdoors, biking or swimming in Occom Pond.
Baker explained his great-great grandfather asked then-President of the College John Hopkins -- who needed funding for a new library -- what $100,000 would do for the construction project. When Hopkins implied "not much," Baker said his great-great grandfather then donated $1 million for the construction of a new library.
Baker said he is very interested in his family history, and has even read about it in the Special Collections library, which has such titles as "George F. Baker and His Bank."
The first George Baker also donated five times the amount he gave to Dartmouth to the Harvard University Business School for the construction of a library.
Baker's father, grandfather and great grandfather all attended Harvard.
A Dartmouth family
Hinman said she has become accustomed to questions about her relationship to the alumnus for whom many campus buildings and the Hinman boxes are named.
She said she is related to John Hinman, the chief executive of an international paper company, who donated money to Dartmouth, but she is not sure of the exact relationship.
A creative writing major from central New York, Hinman is the 27th person in her family and the fourth generation to attend the College. She said it is hard to keep track of all the members of her family who have graduated from Dartmouth.
Growing up, she said, her family came to the College regularly for sports events, reunions and other activities, and her house was filled with Dartmouth paraphernalia.
Hinman said she came to the College with very high, almost utopian expectations after growing up and hearing stories about Dartmouth.
"I wouldn't exchange it," she said of her Dartmouth experience, although she said the College is not the perfect "green garden of Eden."
She said the commonality she shares with most of her family by attending Dartmouth has brought her closer to her parents. She said she feels like "part of Dartmouth's history and part of a Dartmouth family's history."
On a day-to-day basis, she said she does not feel more connected to the College than the average Dartmouth student, except when her family is on campus.
Hinman has been a writing assistant for the Composition Center and has taught step aerobics. She was also a Presidential Scholar and the president of Kappa Kappa Gamma sorority.
Hinman said she never thought of attending any other college. "When I looked at other schools, I compared them to Dartmouth," she said. "I can't see myself anywhere else."
