Boston Latin School _FirstSearch: WorldCat Detailed Record Page 1 of 2 OC LC FirstSearch SOUTHERN NEW HAMPSHIRE UNIV WorldCat Detailed Record Click on a checkbox to mark a record to be e-mailed or printed in Marked Records. Staff View Options Comments Exit Home Databases Searching Results Hide tips List of Records Detailed Record Marked Records Go to page **** IIIII WorldCat results for: ti: boston and ti: latin 5 WorldCat Subjects Libraries E-mail Print Export Help and ti: school. Record 11 of 85. 11 Mark: Prev Next Catalogue of graduates of the Public Latin School in Boston, 1816-1917 / Boston Latin School Association. 1918 English Book 142 p., [5] leaves of plates : ill. ; 24 cm. Boston : The Association, GET THIS ITEM Availability: Check the catalogs in your library. Libraries worldwide that own item: 14 FIND RELATED More Like This: Advanced options Find Items About: Boston Latin School Association. (1) Title: Catalogue of graduates of the Public Latin School in Boston, 1816- 1917 / Corp Author(s): Boston Latin School Association. Publication: Boston : The Association, Year: 1918 Description: 142 p., [5] leaves of plates : ill. ; 24 cm. Language: English SUBJECT(S) Named Corp: Boston Latin School (Mass.) -- Alumni and alumnae Directories. Note(s): "With a list of teachers from the foundation of the School in 1635."/ "Includes only those who completed the school course" -p.7./ Includes index. http://firstsearch.oclc.org/WebZ/FSFETCH?fetchtype=fullrecord:sessionid=sp07....numrecs= 8/3/2004 FirstSearch: WorldCat Detailed Record Page 2 of 2 class Descriptors: LC: LU75UT.B7; Dewey: 373.744 Other Titles: Graduates of the Public Latin School in Boston, 1816-1917 Responsibility: [Boston Latin School Association]. Material Type: Biography (bio) Document Type: Book Entry: 19850403 Update: 20040410 Accession No: OCLC: 11878676 Database: WorldCat **** WorldCat results for: ti: boston and ti: latin 5 WorldCat Subjects Libraries E-mail Print Export Help and ti: school. Record 11 of 85. English Español Français Options Comments Exit OC © 1992-2004 OCLC LC Terms & Conditions http://firstsearch.oclc.org/WebZ/FSFETCH?fetchtype=fullrecord:sessionid=sp07... numrecs= 8/3/2004 Boston Latin School: The Oldest School in America Page 1 of 6 BRIEF HISTORY OF THE BOSTON LATIN SCHOOL Boston Latin School is the oldest public school in America with a continuous existence It was founded April 23, 1635, [On the 13th of the second month, 1635,. Att a General meeting upon public notice. it was generally agreed upon that our brother Philemon Pormort shall be entreated to become schoolmaster for the teaching and nurturing of children with us "- Town Records] by the Town of Boston, antedating Harvard College by more than a year The curriculum of the school is centered in the humanities, its founders sharing with the ancient Greeks the belief that the only good things are the goods of the soul. Edmund Burke referred to America as exemplifying the "dissidence of dissent." From its beginning, Boston Latin School has taught its scholars dissent with responsibility and has persistently encouraged it. Establishment of the school was due in great measure to the influence of the Reverend John Cotton, who sought to create in the New World a school like the Free Grammar School of Boston, England, in which Latin and Greek were taught. The first classes were held in the home of the Master, Philemon Pormort. From the earliest years the town assigned public funds to the support of the school. It was eventually voted "to allow forever fifty pounds to the Master, and a house, and thirty pounds to an usher" (assistant teacher) In 1638, Pormort's assistant, Daniel Maude, [A tablet has been erected by the City of Boston marking the site of Maude's home in Pemberton Square] succeeded him as Master, and conducted classes in his own home until 1643. Little is known of Maude's successor, John Woodbridge, except that he is supposed to have been the first minister at Andover and that he remained in office for approximately one year. In 1650, Robert Woodmansey became the schoolmaster with a salary of "fifty pounds a year." He was followed, in 1667, by the famous colonial poet and physician Benjamin Thompson. On December 29, 1670, the celebrated Ezekiel Cheever was invited to become Head Master. Cheever was well known throughout the colonies, for he had written the famous Accidence, which was the accepted Latin grammar. Upon his death on August 21, 1708, Cotton Mather, the renowned divine, remarked, "We generally concur in acknowledging that New England has never known a better teacher." Nathaniel Williams, the first pupil to become Head Master, succeeded Cheever When he resigned in 1734, his assistant, John Lovell, was appointed to the vacancy, becoming "the pride of Boston's parents and the terror of its youth." Admission to the school during Lovell's regime was determined by reading a few verses from the Bible. Members of the six or seven classes of the school sat at different benches. The students studied Latin and Greek and the "elementary subjects." The morning session started at seven o'clock in the summer and eight o'clock in winter, and ended at eleven. School resumed at one o'clock in the afternoon and ran until five. After either the eleven o'clock hour, the five o'clock hour, or both, the pupils attended a writing school nearby. On Thursdays the school was dismissed at ten o'clock, in order that the pupils might have the opportunity of attending the "Thursday Lecture" another heritage from Boston, England. In 1760, Lovell's son James was appointed usher. He was an ardent patriot, whereas his father was a strong loyalist. They taught from desks at opposite ends of the schoolroom, and voicing opposite political convictions, they http://bls.org/bls_history/History_of_bls.htm 11/11/2002 Boston Latin School: The Oldest School in America Page 2 of 6 typified many a Boston family in those trying times. In winter it was not unusual for the boys to bring their sleds to school with them and, as soon as school was over, to coast down Beacon Street, across Tremont, and down School Street. During the winter of 1774-75 General Haldimand, [ A tablet was placed on the site of Ceneral Haldimand's house in July, 1907] a commander of British troops under General Gage, lived on School Street and had one of his servants ruin the coasting area by putting ashes on it. "The lads made a muster" - probably of the first class -and chose a committee to wait upon the General, who admitted them, and heard their complaint, which was couched in very genteel terms, complaining that their fathers before 'em had improved it as a coast from time immemorial." He ordered his servant to repair the damage, saying that he had trouble enough with Boston men, and wouldn't have any with Boston boys. He "acquainted the Governor with the affair, who observed that it was impossible to beat the notion of Liberty out of the people, as it was rooted in 'em FROM THEIR CHILDHOOD." On the morning of April 19, 1775, one of the most dramatic episodes in the history of the school occurred. John Lovell angrily announced, "War's begun and school's done; deponite libros." When the British evacuated Boston in March, 1776, both the Lovells sailed with Lord Howe to Halifax, Nova Scotia' the father as Howe's guest, the son as his prisoner. James was later exchanged and became a delegate to the Continental Congress. The Elder Lovell died at Halifax in 1778 School was resumed under Samuel Hunt, who ruled with some difficulty until 1805. He was succeeded by William Bigelow, who resigned after nine trying years. Benjamin Apthorp Gould, appointed Head Master in 1814 while still a senior at Harvard, restored order and scholarship. Many features of the Latin School of today - among them the "misdemeanor mark" and the practice of declamation- were initiated under Gould. He also fostered the beginnings of a library and issued regular reports of scholarship to parents, placing squarely on them the responsibility for the pupils' conduct. Gould resigned in 1828 to enter business and was succeeded by his assistant, Frederic Percival Leverett, the author of the famous Leverett's Latin Lexicon. Leverett left in 1831 to become head of a private school. The next Head Master, Charles Knapp Dillaway, was in office until 1836, when ill health forced him to resign. Latin School owes much to Epes Sargent Dixwell, who succeeded Dillaway, for during his fifteen years as Head Master, he founded the Boston Latin School Association and made Gould's dream of a school library a reality. When Dixwell resigned in 1851, Francis Gardner, one of the most celebrated men of mid-nineteenth century Boston, was appointed his successor. Gardner edited the famous series of Latin School text books. A rugged, forthright character, he made both friends and enemies. During the last six years of his Head Mastership, he unsuccessfully opposed the imposition on the school of a "general culture" curriculum. He died in 1876, the first Head Master to die in office since Ezekiel Cheever. Augustine Milton Gay was chosen as his successor, but he lived only a few months after his appointment. Dr. Moses Merrill was appointed next and continued in office until 1901. His contribution to the school was the reorganization of the curriculum on a more modern basis. There have been http://bls.org/bls_history/History_of_bls.htm 11/11/2002 Boston Latin School: The Oldest School in America Page 3 of 6 few changes since that time. Arthur Irving Fiske became Head Master in 1902. One of the ablest scholars in Massachusetts, he was loved and respected by his pupils. He resigned in 1910 and was succeeded by Henry Pennypacker, who brought to the office of Head Master not only the mind of the school but also the rugged personality of the athlete. He resigned in 1920 to become chairman of the Committee on Admissions at Harvard. His work there made him a figure of national importance He died in 1934. In 1920 Patrick Thomas Campbell, '89, became the first graduate of Latin School to sit in the Head Master's chair since Dr. Gardner. Enrollment doubled during his tenure. Even with this rapid growth, the school for four years in succession, from 1925 to 1928, obtained the highest average in college entrance examinations. This secured for the school permanent possession of the trophy given by the Harvard chapter of the Phi Beta Kappa Society. In 1929, Mr. Campbell left to become an assistant superintendent of schools and in 1931, was elected Superintendent of the Boston Public Schools, a position he held until his death in 1937. Joseph Lawrence Powers, '96, a Master in the school for twenty-three years, was appointed Campbell's successor. A soft-spoken, courteous man, Dr. Powers exerted an incalculable influence for nearly fifty years. He sustained the school's excellence through years of depression and war. He was also an energetic champion of the economic welfare of the Masters. From his retirement in 1948 until his death in 1955, he was dedicated to the prosperity of both the school and its alumni George Leonard McKim, '18, succeeded Powers in 1948. A veteran of two world wars, Mr. McKim gave over thirty years of service to the Boston Public Schools. During his tenure of office, the school received a great deal of publicity National magazines reported favorably on the methods and standards of the school. The performances of the students on the National Merit Scholarship Examinations proved that these commendations were justified. John Joseph Doyle, '12, became Head Master of his alma mater in 1954. Under Mr. Doyle's capable leadership, many changes were made in the school's curriculum. Four distinct courses - language, science, mathematics, and history - were set up in the upper classes. More electives and accelerated courses were also offered. The Advanced Placement program was established, giving many students the chance to receive credit for college courses on the freshman level. Mr. Doyle retired in June, 1964, after having served in the Boston Public School system for over forty years. Dr. Wilfred L. O'Leary, '25, a veteran of World War II, was appointed Mr. Doyle's successor in September, 1964. As Head Master, Dr. O'Leary devoted himself to preserving the high standards of the school. Dr. O'Leary was the recipient of several awards for his outstanding educational leadership. During his tenure, Boston Latin School welcomed women students for the first time in September, 1972. He was honored by teachers, alumni, and friends of the school when he retired in June, 1976 Mr. David Miller, a teacher at the school for over thirty years, assumed the position of Acting Head Master in September of 1976 Mr. Miller served in that capacity until the appointment of the present Head Master. Michael G Contompasis, '57, was appointed Head Master of his alma mater in http://bls.org/bls_history/History_of_bls.htm 11/11/2002 Boston Latin School: The Oldest School in America Page 4 of 6 April, 1977. Continuing the tradition of excellence, Mr. Contompasis broadened the educational vistas of the school. As a result, national attention was focused once more on Boston Latin School. In the fall of 1981, Money magazine rated BLS as one of the twelve top public schools in the country. In 1992, 1994, and 1995, Redbook magazine rated BLS the best school in Massachussetts. Sumus primi. Dr. Joseph F. Desmond, both teacher and department chairman at his alma mater for thirty-four years, assumed the position of Acting Head Master during the 1986-1987 academic year, when Head Master Contompasis was on sabbatical for study at Harvard University, pursuing his doctorate. Upon returning to his position in September 1987, Mr. Contompasis oversaw both the renovation of the main building and the construction of the new gymnasium building. In recognition of his outstanding leadership, Mr. Contompasis in 1988 became the thirty-fifth recipient of the BLS Association's prestigious "Graduate of the Year Award." Of the fifty-six signers of the Declaration of Independence, five had been pupils of this school: John Hancock Massachusetts. Samuel Adams Massachusetts. Benjamin Franklin Pennsylvania Robert Treat Paine Massachusetts. William Hooper North Carolina Commemorating those Latin School boys who fought to preserve their country in the Civil War, there stands in the first-floor corridor at the main entrance to the school a statue by Richard Saltonstall Greenough, Class of 1829. This statue, the gift of the graduates of the school, represents Alma Mater holding on her left arm a shield bearing the names of those who fell defending their country and extending in her right hand a laurel crown to those who returned from the conflict. Marble tablets, on either side of the main entrance list the names of those who returned. This statue originally stood in the large hall of the building which housed the school when it was located on Bedford Street It was the first, and for some time, the only memorial to the sons of Boston who served in the war. Latin School's service in World War I is memorialized by a bronze tablet on either side of the main corridor. The tablet on the right has inscribed upon it the names of those Latin School boys who died in service. The tablet on the left is in honor of the four hundred and eighty alumni and undergraduates who enlisted in the army or the navy. Portraits of Lt. Warren Eastman Robinson, Junior Master in the Latin School, and of many Latin School boys who served and died in World War I are in the lower corridor. During the far-flung campaigns of World War II, ninety-eight Latin School boys in the various branches of the United States armed service laid down their lives. http://bls.org/bls_history/History_of_bls.htm 11/11/2002 Rudenstine Celebrates Boston Latin, Harvard Ties Page 1 of 3 [an error occurred while processing this directive] HARVARD Gazette April 13, 2000 HARVARD GAZETTE ARCHIVES contents Rudenstine Celebrates Boston Latin, Harvard notes Ties newsmakers police log Speech by Neil L. Rudenstine, President, Harvard University Gazette home March 31, 2000 Gazetto archives Harvard News Good morning. I'm very Office glad to be with all of you Feedback this morning, to celebrate your school SEARCH THE and its achievements, GAZETTE and to wish you good fortune as you begin your ambitious fund- raising drive. search I've been asked - in the next nine or ten minutes - to offer you some President Neil L. Rudenstine chatted on brilliant, pithy, and March 31 with Boston Latin School profound remarks about students Andrew Barr (left) and Shi Wen the continuity of the Li (who will be attending Harvard in the relationship between the fall), just before participating in a Boston Latin School and symposium titled Continuity and Harvard over the course Change: Classical Education in the of the past 364 years; to Twenty-First Century. The symposium explain what we mean was the first in a series of events by the terms "classic" launching Boston Latin's Pons Privatus and "classical capital campaign. As a prelude to the education"; and then to panel discussion, Rudenstine spoke say what the idea of a about the strong historical ties that have classical education bound Harvard College and Boston Latin might consist of in the for nearly four centuries. Photo by Gail century that lies ahead. Oskin. We all know, I think, that the Boston Latin School is older than Harvard, and that the University has - totally unsuccessfully - been struggling to catch up ever since 1636. You have prepared your students superbly. You have sent battalions, divisions, and even armies of them to Harvard. And we in turn have done our best not to ruin them completely, so that they could graduate at least no worse off than when you sent them to us. This has been an incredible challenge for us. Ever since the time when one of your alumni, Ben Franklin - as a young Boston reporter - pilloried Harvard for catering to arrogant. lazy, fashion-minded, and ignorant youths. we have had a reputation for allowing our undergraduates to float freely and sometimes aimlessly through four of their most formative years. Indeed, we are a place, so it is said, that is infinitely harder to get http://www.news.harvard.edu/gazette/2000/04.13/nlr.html 11/11/2002 Rudenstine Celebrates Boston Latin. Harvard Ties Page 2 of 3 into, than it is to get out of. The Boston Latin School, by contrast, has stood for the highest standards, the cultivation of powerful study habits, and the pursuit of fundamental time-tested knowledge through the rigor of its structured classical curriculum. When Phillips Brooks - of Boston Latin and Harvard fame - was teaching at this school, in 1855, he wrote enthusiastically to a friend that You must prepare yourself to see a great change in the youth of our city There is more intelligence and brilliance in their faces, and if you meet a Latin School [student] you will at once know him for one who has had the best instructors, and who knows ever so much more than his [teachers] About a hundred years later, another keen observer - and another one of your faculty members - Philip Marson, observed that no student however brilliant, could escape the unremitting toil or the objective evaluation of his efforts He also knew that perfection of workmanship was the goal [and that he would be judged inexorably The school was a proving-ground for those who survived, and a shock to those who would not or could not accept the relentless drive and discipline. Now, if you ask me how or why the laissez-faire lubricity of Harvard, and the tensile steel-case structures of Boston Latin, could possibly have made for such long-lasting connubial relations throughout nearly four centuries, I can only imagine that something deeply Hegelian must have been taking place: the counterbalancing of your sturdy thesis and the University's less sturdy antithesis, which has somehow produced a wonderful, enduring, alchemical synthesis. This process was not. of course, always smooth. And it sometimes produced very surprising results. For example, Charles William Eliot was one of your pupils who felt more shocked than illuminated by what Philip Marson described as the school's "relentless drive and discipline." Eliot reminisced, late in his life, that when he was a boy attending "the best public school in Boston the control used was physical force, the application of [sheer] torture - that [was] the long and short of it " As a consequence, Eliot and his father decided to give young Charles an antidote: he began - out of school - to take lessons in carpentry, and wood-turning. He also learned typesetting and hand-printing, he rowed boats desperately. he went fishing (with unknown results), and he even bought a pony to go riding. All of this amounted to Eliot's "liberal" - perhaps not quite classical - education. Later, he decided to take even further revenge when he became President of Harvard. He led the way in making certain that neither Greek nor Latin would be compulsory at the College, and he opened up the "free elective" system so that students could study those subjects which most interested them. So it was that the Boston Latin School stimulated and inspired Charles William Eliot, Harvard's greatest President, to undertake relatively ruthless unclassical educational reforms: in spite of which, you still kept sending to our College countless Latinists, and we kept accepting them cheerfully and proudly Among those many students whom we shared, were any number who did http://www.news.harvard.edu/gazette/2000/04.13/nlr.html 11/11/2002 Rudenstine Celebrates Boston Latin, Harvard Ties Page 3 of 3 not obviously or easily fit any identifiable mold - neither yours nor ours. Ralph Waldo Emerson, for instance; and Samuel Adams, Cotton Mather, John Hancock, Edward Everett, George Santayana, Bernard Berenson, and Leonard Bernstein. Given this variety - including the admirable idiosyncrasies of every one of these individuals - we should probably conclude, wisely, that there is in fact no "mold," and that each of our institutions is roomy enough - and also stringent enough - to give both stimulus and succor to our pupils, while we also strive to create an environment which fosters the development of significant values, and important habits of the mind and heart - including the eminently classical habit of self-discipline. Beyond that, our respective curricula today almost certainly resemble one another more than we might suspect. While our two institutions may not have arrived at the point of perfect synthesis, you are clearly far less relentless than you were in Charles Eliot's day, and we in turn are rather less laissez- faire than we were in Benjamin Franklin's day. We both insist that students study the natural sciences, as well as history, literature, and the arts. We both ask our students to gain some mastery of at least one foreign language. We also insist that our students must be able to use the English language well - and to use our language well means. of course, to be able to think imaginatively, precisely, and critically: to be able to articulate ideas, present evidence, and synthesize - as well as to write with some attention to narrative style, and to the poetics of our native speech. Whether all of this constitutes a strictly classical education, I will leave to our panel to decide. But that it constitutes a challenging, probing, invigorating, and useable education - which will serve all of our students well - I have absolutely no doubt. So, let me close by thanking you for 364 years of Boston Latin students who have come to Harvard; for your strong convictions concerning what constitutes excellence in learning; and for your determination to continue such a powerful and enviable tradition into the next century and well beyond. Copyright 2000 President and Fellows of Harvard College http://www.news.harvard.edu/gazette/2000/04.13/nlr.htm 11/11/2002