|
 Dr. James E. Ament was  educated
at Indiana University, where he was a friend of Joseph Trees. When
Trees decided to acquire National Park Seminary from John Cassedy, he called
on his friend Ament to run the school. By the late 1920's, Ament was successful enough to buy out
Trees' interest. In general, he made no dramatic changes
in the conduct or the policies of the school. During his term,
he
expanded the land available for the school by acquiring the land on which Edgewood manor house stood. He put most of it to use as a dairy
farm to supply the Seminary.
He continued construction at NPS, by adding a Music Hall and a Ballroom, expanding Senior House, adding more kitchen
and dining room space on to Main, and several other additions, including
kitchenettes for each of the sorority houses. In general, the buildings that were added in
the Ament era were not so fanciful as the sorority houses that date from the early Cassedy years.
However, Ament Hall (which houses the Ballroom) was actually designed by Dr.
Ament, who fancied himself an amateur architect.
Ament liked to name things after himself, such as
renaming Edgewood Estate to Amentdale Estates when he acquired it, and the
new buildings Ament Hall and Teresa Catherine Hall (for his wife).
 Ament became successful and wealthy during his
tenure at NPS. He adopted the image of the "lord of the manor." A 12-cylinder Cadillac
driven by a chauffeur picked up the Aments near their apartment in one of the
additions to Senior House. The chauffeur lived in a house nearby.
Ament had the challenge of keeping the school going during the Great
Depression. Enrollment dropped to a few dozen students. James Ament never saw the
school recover, as he died in 1936. His widow, Teresa, was ill-equipped for the
challenge of administering the school under these circumstances, so in
1937 she sold almost all of the land and buildings to Roy Tasco Davis.
|
