Deerfield Academy: Difference between revisions - Wikipedia

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Like many early "boarding" academies in New England, Deerfield did not have its own dormitories when it opened, and out-of-town students were required to rent rooms from local families. Deerfield did not open its first dormitory for another ten years.<ref>{{cite book |last1=McLachlan |first1=James |title=American boarding schools: a historical study |date=1970 |publisher=Scribner |location=New York |page=46}}</ref> Even so, the newly opened academy was able to attract many students from the surrounding area; of the school's first 269 students, only 68 were from the town of Deerfield.<ref>Orcutt, p. 48.</ref> At the turn of the nineteenth century, Deerfield had over 100 students.<ref name=":1">McPhee, p. 4.</ref> Early Deerfield graduates occupied many [[United States Congress|congressional]] and [[gubernatorial]] seats in [[New England]].{{Citation needed|date=February 2024}}

Deerfield became a semi-[[Public school funding in the United States|public school]] in 1859, after the [[Massachusetts General Court|Massachusetts legislature]] ordered the town of Deerfield to establish a free public high school.<ref>Orcutt, p. 51.</ref> In 1876, the academy was reincorporated as the '''Deerfield Academy and Dickinson High School''',<ref>{{Cite book |last=Commonwealth of Massachusetts |url=http://archive.org/details/actsresolvespass1876mass |title=Acts and resolves passed by the General Court |date=1876 |publisher=Boston : Secretary of the Commonwealth |others=State Library of Massachusetts |pages=74}}</ref> after local resident Esther Dickinson left the town $50,000 to build a new academic building (since demolished) and town library.<ref name=":2">{{Cite web |title=Deerfield Academy/ Dickinson High School |url=http://americancenturies.mass.edu/collection/itempage.jsp?itemid=5468 |access-date=2024-02-27 |website=Pocumtuck Valley Memorial Association}}</ref> As late as the 1920s, the academy was still relying on tax revenue from the town.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Fuller v. Trustees of Deerfield Academy, 252 Mass. 258 |url=https://casetext.com/case/fuller-v-trustees-of-deerfield-academy |access-date=2024-02-27 |website=casetext.com}}</ref> Despite the town's financial support, the academy was in deep financial trouble by the end of the 19th century. Industrialization had depopulated large portions of western Massachusetts, depriving the academy of many potential students. From 1880 to 1900, the [[Deerfield, Massachusetts#Demographics|population of the town of Deerfield]] nearly halved, falling from 3,543 to 1,969.<ref>{{Historical populations/Massachusetts municipalities references}}</ref> When headmaster [[Frank Boyden]] arrived in 1902, there were only fourteen students left,<ref name=":1" /> and the boarding department had already shut down.<ref name=":3">{{Cite news |last=Fowle |first=Farnsworth |date=1972-04-26 |title=Frank L. Boyden, 92, Principal Of Deerfield Academy, Is Dead |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1972/04/26/archives/frank-l-boyden-92-principal-of-deerfield-academy-is-dead.html |access-date=2024-02-27 |work=The New York Times |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331}}</ref>

=== Reinvention as a college-preparatory school ===