Plainfield Academy (Connecticut)
Plainfield Academy was an early school in Connecticut. It educated many students who went on to prominence. It was founded in 1770 before the Revolutionary War[1] and closed in 1890.[2] One of the school buildings was documented for the Historic American Buildings Survey. The school was in Wyndham County.[3] The school attracted students from around New England amd was considered one of the best in Connecticut.[4] Chickasaw Indians were among its pupils.[4]
Ebenezer Pemberton was the school's first principal. After the school closed, two of its buildings (White Hall and Brock Hall) were used for district schools.[5] Rev. Lucien Burleigh was principal of its grammar school from 1855 until 1860.[4] John Witter also served as principal.[6]
An image of the school is included in the 1917 publication The Government of the People in the State of Connecticut noting it as one of Connecticut's most significant educational institutions.[7]
Land for the school was given by Lydia German and others.[6]
The school was coeducational, teaching men and women.together.[8] Teacher and educational reformer Prudence Crandall, who taught nearby, was inspired by its model including the way it avoided corporal punishment.[8]
Alumni
- John Paine Cushman, U.S. Congressman, univerdity regent, and judge
- Calvin Goddard, lawyer and Speaker of the House in the Connecticut legislature.[4]
References
- "Town History". www.plainfieldhistory.org.
- "Plainfield Academy: Grooming Connecticut Scholars in the 18th and 19th Centuries | Connecticut History | a CTHumanities Project".
- "Old Academy, Plainfield, Windham County, CT". Library of Congress, Washington, D.C. 20540 USA.
- Jr, Donald E. Williams (June 3, 2014). Prudence Crandall's Legacy: The Fight for Equality in the 1830s, Dred Scott, and Brown v. Board of Education. Wesleyan University Press. ISBN 9780819574718 – via Google Books.
- Lincoln, Allen B. (November 30, 1920). "A Modern History of Windham County, Connecticut: A Windham County Treasure Book". S. J. Clarke Publishing Company – via Google Books.
- Larned, Ellen Douglas (1880). "History of Windham County, Connecticut: 1760-1880".
- Douglas, Charles Henry (1917). "The Government of the People in the State of Connecticut".
- Williams, Donald E. (2014-06-03). Prudence Crandall's Legacy: The Fight for Equality in the 1830s, Dred Scott, and Brown v. Board of Education. ISBN 9780819574718.