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 and was considered one of the best in Connecticut.[4] Chickasaw Indians were among its pupils.[4]

History

Ebenezer Pemberton was the school's first principal.[5] Land for the school was given by Lydia German and others.[6] The school was coeducational, teaching men and women together.[7] Teacher and educational reformer Prudence Crandall, who taught nearby, was inspired by its model including the way it avoided corporal punishment.[7]

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.[8]

Legacy

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]

Alumni

References
  1. "Town History". www.plainfieldhistory.org.
  2. "Plainfield Academy: Grooming Connecticut Scholars in the 18th and 19th Centuries | Connecticut History | a CTHumanities Project". 22 July 2022.
  3. "Old Academy, Plainfield, Windham County, CT". Library of Congress.
  4. Williams, Donald E. Jr. (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.
  5. 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.
  6. Larned, Ellen Douglas (1880). "History of Windham County, Connecticut: 1760-1880".
  7. 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.
  8. Douglas, Charles Henry (1917). "The Government of the People in the State of Connecticut".

41.6847°N 71.9117°W / 41.6847; -71.9117

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