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Common Ground / The evidence desk

Sources & Methods

The evidence behind the history.

60 of 60 school records: Verified against The Spirit That Is Pomfret, internal institutional history

AI-generated atmosphere: morning fog over the Pomfret School playing fields, built from a real 2023 survey of the hill.AI-generated atmosphere · not a photograph
hill-fogAI-generated atmosphere over a real 2023 survey of the campusCT State GIS Office. (2023). 2023 Aerial imagery. Retrieved from https://maps.cteco.uconn.edu/data/flight2023/. Lidar: 2023 Connecticut Statewide Lidar, NOAA Office for Coastal Management Digital Coast, dataset 10296.
Citations by source
SourceLaneCitations
Pomfret School recordsSchool record43
Pomfret School Board minutesSchool record9
The PontefractSchool record5
ManuscriptsSchool record1
@blackatpomfret (Instagram)School record1
Change.org petition (public record)School record1
National ArchivesNational context7
WikipediaNational context3
U.S. House of Representatives, HistoryNational context2
U.S. Department of State, Office of the HistorianNational context1
Encyclopaedia BritannicaNational context1
Stanford King InstituteNational context1
History.comNational context1
Total76

What this project is (and isn't)

This student-built DEI website connects to current Pomfret department resources and preserves a historical collection, told wherever possible through the school's own printed record — student newspapers, literary magazines, yearbooks, and institutional documents. Historical entries include source notes. Current program summaries link to the school’s published information. It is not an official publication of Pomfret School, and it does not speak for the School.

Our sources

Our sources fall into four tiers: (1) Pomfret student publications — The Pontefract, Manuscripts, The Griffin, and the Pomfret Bulletin — held by the Pomfret School Archives and, with rare exceptions such as the publicly scanned 1961 Griffin, not publicly digitized; (2) The Spirit That Is Pomfret, an internal institutional history (see below); (3) verified photographs — of named alumni and of timeline events — each credited where displayed, with license and source recorded in the endnote; and (4) external public sources for national-context events and public-domain historical images — the National Archives, the Library of Congress, Wikimedia Commons, court records via Justia and the Congressional Research Service, and standard references. Timeline images are displayed without color filters; the original files we serve are unaltered, and every image credit names its source — external credits link to the source record. A small number of recent images are Pomfret School’s own, published here as part of a student project under school advisement while formal clearance is completed.

How we verify a quote

Original first: where we could read the original student publication, the citation is labeled “Read directly from the original student publication.” Where we could not yet reach the original, the citation is labeled “Verified against The Spirit That Is Pomfret, internal institutional history” — honest about being one step removed. Dates we cannot pin render as approximate (“c. 1940”). National-context items are labeled “External source” with a link. Three court cases in the national lane (Bakke, Grutter, SFFA) were date-checked against multiple secondary references; direct verification against the primary record is planned before those entries leave review.

On The Spirit That Is Pomfret

Several quotes and dates were confirmed against The Spirit That Is Pomfret, a detailed institutional history held by the School. Because that book is an internal resource, we do not reproduce its pages or images here; where we quote it briefly, the quotation is attributed and labeled “verified against internal institutional history.” Wherever possible we cite the underlying student publication directly, so any reader with archive access can confirm independently.

What we don't have

The school’s own archival runs are not publicly scanned — citations point to physical holdings; the handful of public scans we do use appear as credited timeline images. Student press coverage is uneven across decades, and the archive is quietest exactly where exclusion was most complete: absence of a voice in the archive is not evidence it didn't exist. Several national-context events touch politically contested questions; we describe each to its verifiable holding or documented fact, nothing further.

How to cite this site

Cite the site: “Pomfret DEI: Programs, Resources, and History. Pomfret School student project, 2026. [URL].” Cite a page: add the page title and the date you accessed it. Cite a primary source you found here: cite the original publication as listed in the entry’s source note — and if you can, verify it against the original in the Pomfret School Archives.

Corrections & changes

Every substantive change to a date, name, quote, or claim on this site is logged here with the date of the change and the reason. No corrections logged yet. (A public correction-submission address will be added once a faculty owner for it is in place.)

Credits

Research, design, and code: Keke Li (Pomfret School). Advising: Dr. McCarter, Dean of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion. Built with Next.js. Peer archives that shaped our methodology: the Princeton & Slavery Project, Densho, and the Loomis Chaffee Ethical History Project.

Endnotes

76 citations, oldest first

  1. 1894 · Pomfret School Founded. Pomfret School records, 1894-10-03. Pomfret School Archives. Not publicly digitized; verified against internal institutional history. Image: Pomfret School (pomfret.org) (Already published on site). ↑ timeline
  2. 1896 · Plessy v. Ferguson. National Archives, Plessy v. Ferguson (1896) (accessed 2026-07-01). ↑ timeline
  3. 1898 · Pomfret School Incorporates. Pomfret School Board minutes, 1898-06-01. Pomfret School Archives. Not publicly digitized; verified against internal institutional history. Image: Pomfret School Archives, via Wikimedia Commons (PD — published pre-1931). ↑ timeline
  4. 1920 · 19th Amendment Certified. National Archives, 19th Amendment (1920) (accessed 2026-07-01). ↑ timeline
  5. 1930 · Halleck Lefferts Becomes Third Headmaster. Pomfret School Board minutes, 1930-03-05. Pomfret School Archives. Not publicly digitized; verified against internal institutional history. ↑ timeline
  6. 1930 · New-Boy Segregation Ends. Pomfret School records, 1930-09-15. Pomfret School Archives. Not publicly digitized; verified against internal institutional history. ↑ timeline
  7. 1935 · Neutrality Act of 1935. U.S. Department of State, Office of the Historian, The Neutrality Acts, 1930s (accessed 2026-07-01). ↑ timeline
  8. 1935 · Italy Invades Ethiopia. Encyclopaedia Britannica, Italo-Ethiopian War (1935–1936) (accessed 2026-07-01). ↑ timeline
  9. 1936 · Race and Empire Debated in The Pontefract. The Pontefract, 1936-04-01. Pomfret School Archives. Not publicly digitized; verified against internal institutional history. Image: Pomfret School class book, 1930 — Internet Archive / Allen County Public Library (PD — published pre-1931). ↑ timeline
  10. 1940 · Refugee Children Question Comes to the Board. Pomfret School Board minutes, 1940-11-01. Pomfret School Archives. Not publicly digitized; verified against internal institutional history. ↑ timeline
  11. 1941 · Executive Order 8802. National Archives, Executive Order 8802 (1941) (accessed 2026-07-01). ↑ timeline
  12. 1942 · "Double V" Campaign. Wikipedia, The Double V Campaign (accessed 2026-07-01). ↑ timeline
  13. 1942 · Paul Robeson Sings at Pomfret. Pomfret School records, 1942-03-19. Pomfret School Archives. Not publicly digitized; verified against internal institutional history. Image: Paul Robeson leading shipyard workers in song, Oakland, September 1942 — U.S. Office of War Information, National Archives (535874) (PD — US federal work). ↑ timeline
  14. 1945 · First Female in the Pomfret Classroom. Pomfret School records, 1945-09-01. Pomfret School Archives. Not publicly digitized; verified against internal institutional history. ↑ timeline
  15. 1948 · Geographic Diversification. Pomfret School Board minutes, 1948-09-01. Pomfret School Archives. Not publicly digitized; verified against internal institutional history. ↑ timeline
  16. 1949 · Pontefract Editor Calls for Integration. The Pontefract, 1949-05-01. Pomfret School Archives. Not publicly digitized; verified against internal institutional history. ↑ timeline
  17. 1954 · A Lone Voice in Manuscripts. Manuscripts, 1954-04-01. Pomfret School Archives. Not publicly digitized; verified against internal institutional history. ↑ timeline
  18. 1954 · Brown v. Board of Education. National Archives, Brown v. Board of Education (1954) (accessed 2026-07-01). ↑ timeline
  19. 1955 · Montgomery Bus Boycott Begins. Stanford King Institute, Montgomery Bus Boycott (accessed 2026-07-01). ↑ timeline
  20. 1956 · Second Female Faculty Member Hired. Pomfret School records, 1956-01-15. Pomfret School Archives. Not publicly digitized; verified against internal institutional history. ↑ timeline
  21. 1957 · Little Rock Nine. National Archives, Executive Order 10730 (1957) (accessed 2026-07-01). ↑ timeline
  22. 1957 · First Coeducation Proposal. Pomfret School Board minutes, 1957-10-01. Pomfret School Archives. Not publicly digitized; verified against internal institutional history. Image: Pomfret School (pomfret.org) (Already published on site). ↑ timeline
  23. 1961 · First Black Diploma on the Hilltop. Pomfret School records, 1961-06-01. Pomfret School Archives. Not publicly digitized; verified against internal institutional history. Image: The Griffin, 1961 (Pomfret School yearbook) — via Internet Archive (PD — copyright expired). ↑ timeline
  24. 1962 · Faculty Diversifies: Shamil Utuner Joins. Pomfret School records, 1962-09-01. Pomfret School Archives. Not publicly digitized; verified against internal institutional history. ↑ timeline
  25. 1963 · A Better Chance Charter Membership. Pomfret School records, 1963-01-01. Pomfret School Archives. Not publicly digitized; verified against internal institutional history. ↑ timeline
  26. 1963 · Matt Hobbs '64 Visits Wilkinson High. Pomfret School records, 1963-01-01. Pomfret School Archives. Not publicly digitized; verified against internal institutional history. ↑ timeline
  27. 1963 · March on Washington. National Archives, March on Washington program (1963) (accessed 2026-07-01). ↑ timeline
  28. 1964 · Civil Rights Act Signed. National Archives, Civil Rights Act (1964) (accessed 2026-07-01). ↑ timeline
  29. 1964 · First African American Student Enrolls. Pomfret School records, 1964-09-01. Pomfret School Archives. Not publicly digitized; verified against internal institutional history. Image: Pomfret School Bulletin, Fall 2005 (Already published on site). ↑ timeline
  30. 1964 · The First Four African Americans. Pomfret School records, 1964-09-15. Pomfret School Archives. Not publicly digitized; verified against internal institutional history. ↑ timeline
  31. 1964 · Outreach Program Founded. The Pontefract, 1964-10-01. Pomfret School Archives. Not publicly digitized; verified against internal institutional history. ↑ timeline
  32. 1965 · First African American Graduate. Pomfret School records, 1965-06-01. Pomfret School Archives. Not publicly digitized; verified against internal institutional history. Image: Pomfret School archives, 1965 (Already published on site). ↑ timeline
  33. 1965 · Hart–Celler Immigration Act. U.S. House of Representatives, History, Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965 (accessed 2026-07-01). ↑ timeline
  34. 1967 · SPHERE Program Launched. Pomfret School records, 1967-06-01. Pomfret School Archives. Not publicly digitized; verified against internal institutional history. ↑ timeline
  35. 1968 · Board Votes for Coeducation. Pomfret School Board minutes, 1968-02-01. Pomfret School Archives. Not publicly digitized; verified against internal institutional history. ↑ timeline
  36. 1968 · Afro-Latin Society Formed. The Pontefract, 1968-09-01. Pomfret School Archives. Not publicly digitized; verified against internal institutional history. ↑ timeline
  37. 1968 · First Female Students Arrive. Pomfret School records, 1968-09-01. Pomfret School Archives. Not publicly digitized; verified against internal institutional history. ↑ timeline
  38. 1968 · Girls' Soccer Introduced. Pomfret School records, 1968-09-15. Pomfret School Archives. Not publicly digitized; verified against internal institutional history. Image: Merjian's Maulers, 1974 — Pomfret Magazine, September 2003 (detail) (Already published on site). ↑ timeline
  39. 1968 · Shirley Chisholm Elected to Congress. U.S. House of Representatives, History, The first African American woman elected to Congress (accessed 2026-07-01). ↑ timeline
  40. 1969 · First Female Graduate. Pomfret School records, 1969-06-01. Pomfret School Archives. Not publicly digitized; verified against internal institutional history. Image: Pomfret Magazine, September 2003 (Already published on site). ↑ timeline
  41. 1970 · First Female Trustee. Pomfret School Board minutes, 1970-06-01. Pomfret School Archives. Not publicly digitized; verified against internal institutional history. ↑ timeline
  42. 1972 · SPHERE Consortium Founded. Pomfret School records, 1972-01-01. Pomfret School Archives. Not publicly digitized; verified against internal institutional history. ↑ timeline
  43. 1972 · First True Coeducational Class Graduates. Pomfret School records, 1972-06-01. Pomfret School Archives. Not publicly digitized; verified against internal institutional history. ↑ timeline
  44. 1972 · Title IX Signed. Wikipedia, Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 (accessed 2026-07-01). ↑ timeline
  45. 1972 · First Female Boarders + Minority Enrollment Milestone. Pomfret School Board minutes, 1972-09-01. Pomfret School Archives. Not publicly digitized; verified against internal institutional history. ↑ timeline
  46. 1972 · First Female Editor-in-Chief of The Pontefract. The Pontefract, 1972-11-04. Pomfret School Archives. Not publicly digitized; verified against internal institutional history. Image: Margaret Lamb '74 — Pomfret Magazine, September 2003 (detail) (Already published on site). ↑ timeline
  47. 1973 · Girls Ice Hockey Club Formed. Pomfret School records, 1973-01-01. Pomfret School Archives. Not publicly digitized; verified against internal institutional history. ↑ timeline
  48. 1973 · The Survival Mandate. Pomfret School Board minutes, 1973-09-01. Pomfret School Archives. Not publicly digitized; verified against internal institutional history. ↑ timeline
  49. 1975 · First Institutional Financial Aid Package. Pomfret School records, 1975-01-01. Pomfret School Archives. Not publicly digitized; verified against internal institutional history. ↑ timeline
  50. 1975 · Girls Varsity Hockey Established. Pomfret School records, 1975-09-01. Pomfret School Archives. Not publicly digitized; verified against internal institutional history. ↑ timeline
  51. 1975 · AFS Foreign Exchange Resumes. Pomfret School records, 1975-09-01. Pomfret School Archives. Not publicly digitized; verified against internal institutional history. ↑ timeline
  52. 1977 · First Female Recipient of the Pomfret Bowl. Pomfret School records, 1977-06-01. Pomfret School Archives. Not publicly digitized; verified against internal institutional history. Image: Jessica Birdsall '77 — Pomfret Magazine, September 2003 (detail) (Already published on site). ↑ timeline
  53. 1980 · Michael Gary '82 Attends via ABC. Pomfret School records, 1980-09-01. Pomfret School Archives. Not publicly digitized; verified against internal institutional history. ↑ timeline
  54. 1981 · First Annual Afro-Latin Day. Pomfret School records, 1981-02-21. Pomfret School Archives. Not publicly digitized; verified against internal institutional history. ↑ timeline
  55. 1984 · VOICE Founded. Pomfret School records, 1984-01-01. Pomfret School Archives. Not publicly digitized; verified against internal institutional history. ↑ timeline
  56. 1988 · Schwartz Visiting Fellows Program Founded. Pomfret School records, 1988-09-01. Pomfret School Archives. Not publicly digitized; verified against internal institutional history. ↑ timeline
  57. 1989 · First Dean of Women Appointed. Pomfret School records, 1989-09-01. Pomfret School Archives. Not publicly digitized; verified against internal institutional history. ↑ timeline
  58. 1991 · Multicultural Awareness Program & "Unity Amidst Diversity". Pomfret School records, 1991-09-01. Pomfret School Archives. Not publicly digitized; verified against internal institutional history. ↑ timeline
  59. 1992 · Full Coeducation Achieved. Pomfret School records, 1992-09-01. Pomfret School Archives. Not publicly digitized; verified against internal institutional history. ↑ timeline
  60. 1995 · First Director of Multicultural Affairs. Pomfret School records, 1995-09-01. Pomfret School Archives. Not publicly digitized; verified against internal institutional history. ↑ timeline
  61. 2008 · Barack Obama Elected. History.com, Barack Obama elected as America's first Black president (accessed 2026-07-01). ↑ timeline
  62. 2012 · First Director of Diversity Hired. Pomfret School records, 2012-09-01. Pomfret School Archives. Not publicly digitized; verified against internal institutional history. ↑ timeline
  63. 2013 · "The Pomfret Purpose" Strategic Plan. Pomfret School records, 2013-01-01. Pomfret School Archives. Not publicly digitized; verified against internal institutional history. ↑ timeline
  64. 2013 · ABC Legacy Award. Pomfret School records, 2013-06-01. Pomfret School Archives. Not publicly digitized; verified against internal institutional history. ↑ timeline
  65. 2014 · Ferguson. Wikipedia, Killing of Michael Brown (accessed 2026-07-01). ↑ timeline
  66. 2015 · Virginia S. Eaton Multicultural Resource Center. Pomfret School records, 2015-09-01. Pomfret School Archives. Not publicly digitized; verified against internal institutional history. ↑ timeline
  67. 2015 · QUEST Program Launched. Pomfret School records, 2015-09-15. Pomfret School Archives. Not publicly digitized; verified against internal institutional history. ↑ timeline
  68. 2018 · Certificate Program with Social Justice Track. Pomfret School records, 2018-09-01. Pomfret School Archives. Not publicly digitized; verified against internal institutional history. ↑ timeline
  69. 2019 · DEI Role Elevated to Dean Level. Pomfret School records, 2019-09-01. Pomfret School Archives. Not publicly digitized; verified against internal institutional history. ↑ timeline
  70. 2020 · @BlackAtPomfret Launched. @blackatpomfret (Instagram), 2020-06-01. Pomfret School Archives. Publicly documented; see Sources & Methods. ↑ timeline
  71. 2020 · Alumni Petition for Change. Change.org petition (public record), 2020-06-07. Pomfret School Archives. Publicly documented; see Sources & Methods. ↑ timeline
  72. 2020 · Bias Incident Reporting System. Pomfret School records, 2020-09-01. Pomfret School Archives. Not publicly digitized; verified against internal institutional history. ↑ timeline
  73. 2022 · Strategic Plan 2022–2027. Pomfret School records, 2022-01-28. Pomfret School Archives. Not publicly digitized; verified against internal institutional history. ↑ timeline
  74. 2024 · First Female Head of School Appointed. Pomfret School records, 2024-10-01. Pomfret School Archives. Not publicly digitized; verified against internal institutional history. Image: Pomfret School (pomfret.org) (Already published on site). ↑ timeline
  75. 2025 · Heather Willis Daly Installed. Pomfret School records, 2025-09-26. Pomfret School Archives. Not publicly digitized; verified against internal institutional history. ↑ timeline
  76. 2026 · "A Day On for Justice" — MLK Day. Pomfret School records, 2026-01-21. Pomfret School Archives. Not publicly digitized; verified against internal institutional history. ↑ timeline

Image source ledger

  1. Students walking together on campus — Pomfret School — The Pomfret Hello (School-owned — clearance pending). Formal school clearance pending.
  2. Pomfret Main House group photograph — Pomfret School Archives, via Wikimedia Commons (PD — published pre-1931).
  3. The Pontefract board — Pomfret School class book, 1930 — Internet Archive / Allen County Public Library (PD — published pre-1931).
  4. John Irick portrait — Pomfret School archives, 1965 (Already published on site).
  5. Mission Accomplished magazine cover — Pomfret Magazine, September 2003 (Already published on site).
  6. Alumni House Observatory — Carol M. Highsmith — Library of Congress, Carol M. Highsmith Archive (PD — dedicated by creator).
  7. Naomi Vega portrait — Pomfret Magazine, September 2003 (Already published on site).
  8. Dr. Coretta McCarter portrait — Pomfret School (pomfret.org) (School-owned — clearance pending). Formal school clearance pending.
  9. Heather Willis Daly at the podium — Pomfret School (pomfret.org) (School-owned — clearance pending). Formal school clearance pending.
  10. Multicultural Resource Center crest — Pomfret School (pomfret.org) (School-owned — clearance pending). Formal school clearance pending.

Register · 5 plates

Generated media

Every AI-made moving image on this site, from the film register. None shows a person. Each one carries the chip “AI-generated atmosphere · not a photograph” where it appears, and says what in it was invented.

  1. hill-october The Hill in October

    Hybrid: AI atmosphere over a render of the real 2023 survey

    Model
    Higgsfield · Kling 3.0 (kling3_0 pro, image-to-video, start image only, sound off)
    Job id
    1113cef3-0fbf-40ce-9d99-f9c2bae5fe98 · start image dff6b202-d762-40ad-a9cf-e9d33f8a05cd
    Made
    2026-10-07 · 5.04 s · plays once, then holds
    Grown from
    A render of the real 2023 LiDAR survey of the whole campus from the south-east, regraded to an October golden hour with GPT Image 2.5 (layout kept fixed). Real public survey data (2023 CT LiDAR, NOAA Digital Coast 10296; CT ECO 2023 orthophoto, use limitations none). The regraded start image is AI.
    Shown on
    Home
    Label
    “AI-generated atmosphere over a real 2023 survey of the campus”

    What is invented

    • sky and the distant hills beyond the edge of the scan
    • the season: the survey was flown in April with bare trees; the autumn foliage colour is invented
    • the light, shadows and haze (time of day)
    • building walls and facade detail the aerial survey cannot see (it records roofs)
    • all motion, including the camera move
    Film Register entry for hill-october

  2. hill-blue-hour The Hill at blue hour

    Hybrid: AI atmosphere over a render of the real 2023 survey

    Model
    Higgsfield · Kling 3.0 (kling3_0 pro, image-to-video, start image only, sound off)
    Job id
    b62923b6-2c97-4462-9745-c2914d61b973 · start image 11fa4e25-3e54-4ad2-9bbc-62084081151e
    Made
    2026-10-07 · 5.04 s · plays once, then holds
    Grown from
    A new render of the real 2023 LiDAR survey from the north-east over the dormitory row and the fields, regraded to an October blue hour with GPT Image 2.5 (layout kept fixed; windows dark). Real public survey data (2023 CT LiDAR, NOAA Digital Coast 10296; CT ECO 2023 orthophoto, use limitations none). The regraded start image is AI.
    Shown on
    HomePage not foundMagazine Archive
    Label
    “AI-generated atmosphere over a real 2023 survey of the campus”

    What is invented

    • sky and the distant hills beyond the edge of the scan
    • the season: the survey was flown in April with bare trees; the autumn foliage colour is invented
    • the light, shadows and haze (time of day)
    • building walls and facade detail the aerial survey cannot see (it records roofs)
    • all motion, including the camera move
    • the low mist in the valleys
    Film Register entry for hill-blue-hour

  3. hill-fog Fog lifting off the fields

    Hybrid: AI atmosphere over a render of the real 2023 survey

    Model
    Higgsfield · Kling 3.0 (kling3_0 pro, image-to-video, start image only, sound off)
    Job id
    1e4ad439-d73a-4bb4-94ad-cd73f8b2e724 · start image 3f0052d2-9ec9-42e8-967f-13c46c9cc0e0
    Made
    2026-10-07 · 5.04 s · plays once, then holds
    Grown from
    A new render of the real 2023 LiDAR survey from the north, across the athletic fields toward the campus, regraded to an early October morning with ground fog by GPT Image 2.5 (layout kept fixed). Real public survey data (2023 CT LiDAR, NOAA Digital Coast 10296; CT ECO 2023 orthophoto, use limitations none). The regraded start image is AI.
    Label
    “AI-generated atmosphere over a real 2023 survey of the campus”

    What is invented

    • sky and the distant hills beyond the edge of the scan
    • the season: the survey was flown in April with bare trees; the autumn foliage colour is invented
    • the light, shadows and haze (time of day)
    • building walls and facade detail the aerial survey cannot see (it records roofs)
    • all motion, including the camera move
    • the fog and dew
    Film Register entry for hill-fog

  4. observatory-push Push-in to the dome

    Generated: AI-animated from a public-domain photograph

    Model
    Higgsfield · Kling 3.0 (kling3_0 pro, image-to-video, start image only, sound off)
    Job id
    22ad4c1a-1905-4c13-bd33-e64a092ffa9c
    Made
    2026-10-07 · 5.04 s · plays once, then holds
    Label
    “AI-animated from a public-domain photograph”

    What is invented

    • the camera move and the parallax it reveals
    • leaf and light movement
    Film Register entry for observatory-push

  5. observatory-rise Rise off the hill

    Generated: AI-animated from a public-domain photograph

    Model
    Higgsfield · Kling 3.0 (kling3_0 pro, image-to-video, start image only, sound off)
    Job id
    bfcba978-fdc9-4746-ab35-2c4cec3b58d8
    Made
    2026-10-07 · 4.58 s · plays once, then holds
    Label
    “AI-animated from a public-domain photograph”

    What is invented

    • the camera rise
    • everything outside the original photograph’s frame that the rise reveals
    • leaf and cloud movement
    Film Register entry for observatory-rise

Real data · 2023

Survey data

The whole-campus views on this site start from two public surveys flown over Pomfret in spring 2023: an airborne LiDAR scan (laser returns from the ground, trees and roofs) and a 3-inch aerial photograph used to colour it. The pictures below are renders of that data, made without AI. Where a plate adds weather or light with AI, the Generated media list above says so.

The whole Pomfret School campus and the woods around it seen from the air: a render of the real 2023 LiDAR survey, coloured from the April aerial photograph, with bare spring trees.2023 LiDAR + aerial survey · CT State GIS Office
  1. Frame 1 of 60 of the flight over the surveyf000
  2. Frame 13 of 60 of the flight over the surveyf012
  3. Frame 25 of 60 of the flight over the surveyf024
  4. Frame 37 of 60 of the flight over the surveyf036
  5. Frame 49 of 60 of the flight over the surveyf048
  6. Frame 60 of 60 of the flight over the surveyf059
hero-scan2023 LiDAR + aerial survey · CT State GIS Office. Real survey data, rendered without AI.CT State GIS Office. (2023). 2023 Aerial imagery. Retrieved from https://maps.cteco.uconn.edu/data/flight2023/. Lidar: 2023 Connecticut Statewide Lidar, NOAA Office for Coastal Management Digital Coast, dataset 10296. © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL 1.0).

Datasets

  1. 2023 Connecticut Statewide Lidar (QL1, classified point cloud)

    NOAA Office for Coastal Management, Digital Coast (dataset 10296), for the CT State GIS Office · Public data; NOAA Digital Coast distribution · accessed 2026-10-07

    Lidar: 2023 Connecticut Statewide Lidar, NOAA Digital Coast dataset 10296.

  2. 2023 Aerial imagery (3-inch orthophotography)

    CT State GIS Office / CT ECO · Metadata use limitations: none; citation required · accessed 2026-10-07

    CT State GIS Office. (2023). 2023 Aerial imagery. Retrieved from https://maps.cteco.uconn.edu/data/flight2023/.

  3. OpenStreetMap building outlines, Pomfret School campus

    OpenStreetMap contributors · ODbL 1.0 · accessed 2026-10-07

    © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL).

  4. Pomfret School campus map (visitor map)

    Pomfret School · School publication; used only to identify buildings, not reproduced · accessed 2026-10-07

    Building identification from Pomfret School’s published campus map.

Where each tour stop stands

Tour stops located from OpenStreetMap outlines, checked against the LiDAR
No.StopLatitude, longitudeRoof heightLiDAR building returnsOutline
01Clark Memorial Chapel41.88455, -71.9627016.5 m61%OSM way 866772269
02School House41.88507, -71.9633920.1 m71%OSM way 866772276 (north part)
03Centennial GardenNot located: no public source places it, so it has no pin.
04Jahn Rink41.88520, -71.9715410.4 m90%OSM way 866772258
05Olmsted Observatory41.88398, -71.960198.0 m49%OSM way 1015123107
06Hard Auditorium41.88477, -71.9634716.3 m75%OSM way 866772276 (south part)

Renders made from it

  • hero-scan Flight over the 2023 survey. A 60-frame camera flight over the real 2023 LiDAR point cloud of the whole campus (71.9 million returns, coloured from the 3-inch 2023 orthophoto), rendered without AI: soft depth-sized point splats, eye-dome edge shading and distance haze. The quiet sky and the fade at the edge of the scanned area are rendering choices, not data. Its last frame shares the camera of the still behind hill-october (the raw take’s first frame, which is also the plate’s first frame). The survey pins over it are placed from OpenStreetMap building outlines. Made with scripts/lidar/hero_flight.py, scripts/lidar/export_hero.py.
  • survey-explorer Explore the Hill in 3D. The same survey thinned for an interactive WebGL view (about 880 thousand points on desktop, 290 thousand on mobile), finest over the central campus and each located tour stop (stops located from OpenStreetMap building outlines). Drawn without AI as soft splats sized to the thinning, with eye-dome edge shading; the paper haze, the ragged fade at the edge of the scanned area, and a shadow tone filling small gaps the aerial survey cannot see (ground beside walls and under eaves) are rendering choices, not data. The posters on /tour and the stills that open each stop page are frames of this renderer from the explorer's own cameras (scripts/lidar/explorer_stills.mjs), not separate renders. Made with scripts/lidar/explorer_cloud.py, scripts/lidar/explorer_stills.mjs.