Massachusetts

Through rare photos and archival materials, discover Boston University's brilliant past that exemplifies Learning, Virtue, and Piety.

Most universities begin with a plot of land on which to build. This was not the case with Boston University. Founded originally in Newbury, Vermont, in 1839, the school moved to Concord, New Hampshire, in 1847 and finally took root in Boston in 1867. The university developed seven schools and colleges within the first few years, with more to come later. Located in the center of a vibrant city, Boston University has become the fourth largest independent university in the nation. In Boston University, follow the development of the school as it grew and changed over one hundred and sixty years. Through vintage images, learn about the Boston University School of Oratory, where the telephone was invented; the Massachusetts Agricultural College, in the heart of the city; and subterranean passages in some of the earliest buildings. Find out about the ghost that haunted one campus building and why the institution was not named Rich University for one of its founders and most generous donors.

Founded in Boston in 1829, Perkins School for the Blind was the first school of its kind in the United States. Perkins pioneered education for people who are deafblind when seven-year-old Laura Bridgman became the first deafblind person to learn language, in 1837. Fifty years later, alumna Annie Sullivan used the same methods to teach Helen Keller, the deafblind Perkins student who became one of the foremost humanitarians of the twentieth century. The school also pioneered the first kindergarten for the blind and the first training programs for teachers of the blind and deafblind. Perkins School for the Blind pays tribute to this groundbreaking institution and its legacy of establishing education programs that bring hope and dignity to more than forty thousand people with blindness and deafblindness worldwide.

When their Jewish heritage and progressive philosophies made the Bondy family a target of the Nazi regime, they were forced to sell their school and start anew in America. Max and Gertrud Bondy first opened their innovative school in Windsor, Vermont, and moved the campus to Lenox, Massachusetts, in 1944. Windsor Mountain School was ahead of its time--the faculty honored diversity, and it became the first co-ed integrated boarding school in Berkshire County. Families like the Belafontes, Poitiers and Campanellas were attracted to the school for its multicultural and international curriculum. From its golden age to the rock-and-roll era, Windsor Mountain strived to stay true to its mission until hard financial times forced the school to close in 1975. Roselle Kline Chartock captures the spirit of this Berkshire boarding school that still lives on in the hearts of its alumni.

Founded in 1874 as Massachusetts's fifth normal school, Worcester State University has changed significantly while evolving from a teacher training school to a highly regarded public university in New England's second-largest city. Normal schools prepared teachers to enter classrooms through a curriculum of traditional coursework and innovative apprentice teaching. By 1932, when the normal school moved from its downtown location to the city's western edge, its name was changed to Worcester State Teachers College, and although it still stressed teacher preparation, the school began expanding its academic program and growing its campus. By 1963, it became Worcester State College, denoting the shift from a strictly teacher training school to a liberal arts and sciences college. New and unique programs proliferated, and graduate education increased student options. By 2010, Worcester State, like all Massachusetts state colleges, became a university, again signifying how much it had evolved in less than a half century. As Worcester State University approaches its 150th anniversary, this book illustrates some of the major changes in the institution's history.

On September 8, 1875, Wellesley College, an undergraduate liberal arts college for women, opened its doors to its first students.

Eager, brave, and determined, they came from around the country to begin their new life. They took classes and made their home in College Hall, the grand building founders Henry and Pauline Durant built on a hill overlooking Lake Waban. From the beginning, an outstanding faculty, led and inspired by a series of gifted female presidents, devoted themselves to the education of their students, encouraging intellectual discussion, debate, and analytical thought. In this pioneering world of women's education, a community of learners was born and has thrived for the past 130 years. Wellesley's graduates have carried the tradition of excellence beyond the campus, epitomizing the college's mission ""to provide an excellent liberal arts education for women who will make a difference in the world."" In photographs and words, Wellesley College tells the story of this school from its early beginnings.

A special place of learning began in Bradford, Massachusetts, on the banks of the Merrimack River in 1803. It was christened Bradford Academy and it grew and flourished for almost two hundred years. A new identity and a new name came in 1932 when the academy became Bradford Junior College. For almost forty years, BJC held a distinguished position as one of the best of the nation's junior colleges. A second, almost revolutionary, transformation occurred in 1971. Bradford became coeducational and earned the right to grant the baccalaureate degree with a four-year course of study. Since 1971, the college has maintained a reputation for innovative teaching with a rigorous liberal arts curriculum within a small, caring community of scholars and learners. In the millennial year 2000, Bradford completed 197 years of service to academia. With change on the horizon, it is timely to view this special place, with its special people, called Bradford.

These images from the University archives show both the continuity and change at Tufts through time,

Tufts College was founded in 1852 as a liberal arts college by a group of Universalists committed to creating a nonsectarian institution of higher education. From its first year with four faculty, seven students, and one building, Tufts University has grown to include four campuses, seven schools, and more than eight thousand students. In the one hundred fifty years since its founding, Tufts has maintained its commitment to teaching, learning, and research, providing a place for students to grow as scholars, leaders, and citizens of the world. Instead of an exhaustive history, this book provides fascinating glimpses into life at Tufts from the earliest days to the late twentieth century. These images from the university archives show both the continuity and change at Tufts through time, illustrating central themes in its history: the pivotal role of teaching, learning, and research; the importance of leadership; a strong cultural tradition; and a commitment to citizenship on campus and in the wider world.

Early missives from Mount Holyoke College for women reveal a look at postcards from students at the groundbreaking institution.

By the turn of the nineteenth century, Mount Holyoke College had already built a strong reputation as a female seminary and was emerging as a top-ranked women's college, especially for students in the sciences. Around this time, postcards were becoming a popular and entertaining form of communication. In this attractive and fascinating volume, we get a glimpse of the early images of the school, as well as the messages written by students in attendance as they kept in touch with friends and family. As the school grew and changed, so did the messages sent home from the campus.

Woburn High School has instilled the importance of education in generations of students for over 160 years. The school opened its doors in 1852 with thirty-four students in a leased room at the Knight Building on Main Street. Increasing enrollment and curriculum requirements necessitated the building of a larger school on Main Street in 1854 and again in 1906 at the Dow Farm property on Montvale Avenue. Woburn's reputation as a leading leather manufacturer during the Civil War inspired the Tanner nickname, bull mascot and school motto: "Tanner Pride." With the leadership of thirteen principals throughout its history, over thirty-two thousand students have graduated from this school. Today, more than half the faculty are returning alumni, and generations of Woburn families continue to send their children to this school. Join author Susan Thifault as she explores a history of pride and tradition at Woburn High School.

Framingham State College was founded as the first public institution for the education of teachers in the United States. Started in large part with the support of the legendary Horace Mann, it opened on July 3, 1839, in Lexington, Massachusetts. Due to its popularity, it was compelled on two occasions to move to larger quarters. In 1844, it relocated to West Newton and, in 1853, to its current location on Bare Hill in Framingham, Massachusetts.

Framingham State College chronicles the history of the institution from when it first started in 1839 with three students. Buildings are seen as they originally looked and as they look today. Animating these views are stories of how the buildings were named and of the students who lived and learned in them. In addition, the teachers and administrators who walked and taught on these grounds are highlighted in rich detail.

In the first decade of the 20th century, the state of Massachusetts established itself as a leader in the education of individuals with disabilities. The third state school for the feebleminded was built in rural Belchertown, in the western part of the state. Opened in 1915, Belchertown State School would eventually encompass almost 900 acres of land and would become the largest employer in town. For nearly 60 years, the state school educated individuals with disabilities who were otherwise excluded from public education, training the "residents" to become independent members of their families and of society. The model was a success until reports of abuse and neglect began to surface, culminating in the landmark 1972 Ricci v. Greenblatt case, which ultimately led to the state school's closure in 1992. The state school's rich history, maintained and curated by the late Donald LaBrecque, chronicles the rise of special education and developmental services and the ultimate collapse of the state school system.

In December 1908, 12 years before the 19th Amendment gave women the right to vote, Arthur Winfield MacLean, an entrepreneurial Boston attorney, resolved to train women to be lawyers. What began with just two students grew each year until 1918, when he incorporated his enterprise as Portia School of Law, the only law school in the country founded exclusively for women. By 1927, the law school had 436 students and regularly provided the majority of female admittees to the Massachusetts bar. Guided by Dean MacLean and his successors, Portia began admitting men in 1938 and in 1969 achieved national accreditation as New England School of Law. In 1998, it was admitted to the Association of American Law Schools. Throughout its history, New England School of Law has maintained a tradition of offering opportunity and motivating its students to transcend barriers. Today that tradition is carried on by an outstanding faculty backed by committed administrators and trustees.

Suffolk University grew from humble beginnings in the Roxbury parlor of Gleason L. Archer, a lawyer who had worked his way through high school and college. A chance meeting brought him together with a benefactor who loaned him money for his law school studies, asking only that Archer pass along the favor. By 1930, Archer had built Suffolk University into one of the largest law schools in the country. The College of Arts and Sciences was founded in 1934, and the Sawyer School of Management-- then known as the College of Business Administration--was established in 1937. That same year, the three academic units were incorporated as Suffolk University. Suffolk University contains images that show the depths and breadth of this institution that has called Beacon Hill home for 100 years. Whether known as the Rams, the Ramblers, or the Royals, the Suffolk spirit shines through.

The University of Massachusetts Amherst, situated one hundred miles west of Boston, began as a modest land-grant institution with four buildings and has since grown to a sprawling campus with three hundred fifty buildings and twenty-four thousand students. Founded in 1863 to serve students in the fields of agriculture and science, the university has survived in the shadow of some of the most prestigious institutions of higher education in America. Irreplaceable images from the Special Collections and Archives department of the W. E. B. Du Bois Library include the many famous people in business, entertainment, professional sports, journalism, science, and politics who proudly refer to themselves as alumni of the place known as UMass Amherst.

Cotting School details the interesting history of this national leader in serving children with a broad spectrum of disabilities.

In 1893, two pioneering orthopedic surgeons, Dr. Augustus Thorndike and Dr. Edward Bradford, saw the need to educate children whose physical challenges prevented them from attending school. As an experiment, they founded the Industrial School for Crippled and Deformed Children in Boston. Modeled after 19th-century European institutions, the school was America's first for children with physical disabilities. Early classes were held in a church basement where Mary Perry volunteered to teach seven students. Tuition, a hot meal, and transportation in a horse-drawn carriage were free. Thanks to the leadership of the two doctors and board chairman Francis Joy Cotting, within 10 years the school was housed in an impressive, debt-free brick building. Renamed the Cotting School, the school is now located in Lexington and serves 130 day students from 74 communities. Staffed with highly skilled special education teachers; nurses; physical, occupational, and communication therapists; and dental and vision specialists, Cotting is a national leader in serving children with a broad spectrum of learning and communication disabilities, physical challenges, and complex medical conditions.

The University of Massachusetts Lowell owes its origins to two institutions founded in the 1890s. In 1894, the state authorized the founding of the Lowell Normal School, an institution that trained teachers for the state’s public school system. In 1895, the state also authorized the founding of Lowell Textile School to encourage research in new technologies related to textile manufacture. Over the decades, the two schools on opposite sides of the Merrimack River grew. Lowell Normal became Lowell Teacher’s College in 1932 and then Lowell State College in 1960, and Lowell Textile became Lowell Technological Institute in 1953. In 1975, the state merged the two institutions to form the University of Lowell, which, in 1991, became part of the UMass system. University of Massachusetts Lowell: 125 Years draws from a rich array of historical images to honor the school’s past and present and preserve the memory of students, faculty, staff, buildings, and events.