History
Henry F. Durant founded Wellesley College and soon discovered that many of his students needed further preparation before entering college. To address this need, Charles P. Dana, a Wellesley businessman, gave Durant a building to use for housing students in a new preparatory school; this served as the first site for Dana Hall School.
Julia and Sarah Eastman, hired from Wellesley College by Henry Durant to run this new school, began classes at Dana Hall School on September 8, 1881. The founders believed in the equality of women and their right to be educated. Durant and the Eastmans avoided unnecessary rules, stressed individual development and offered a full program of liberal arts education for young women.
The Eastman sisters retired in 1899. The school was then bought by Helen Temple Cooke, whose energy and brilliant mind were dominant forces in the school until her death in 1955. During Miss Cooke's tenure, Tenacre, Dana Junior, Dana Hall, and Pine Manor Junior College were added to form the Dana Hall Schools.
Pine Manor became independent of Dana Hall in 1962, as did Tenacre in 1971. When Pine Manor relocated to Chestnut Hill, Dana Hall moved down Grove Street to the adjoining Pine Manor campus, adding new dormitories, a new dining center and a new gymnasium. The lower grades (seventh and eighth) formed the current Dana Hall Middle School, and the grade nine became a part of the Upper School. The sixth grade was added to the Middle School in 1984.
Dana Hall School's commitment to excellence in education has been reinforced by a succession of exceptional women leaders. Alnah J. Johnston, (1938–1962), Edith B. Phelps (1963–1973), Dr. Patricia A. Wertheimer (1973–1981), and Dr. Barbara S. Powell (1981–1983). Dorothy O. Farmer served as acting head in 1962-1963, as did Ann E. Bekebrede for the academic year 1983-1984. Elaine W. Betts became the eighth headmistress of Dana Hall School in 1984. In 1993, Blair H. Jenkins became the ninth head of school, sharing leadership with Elaine Betts until her retirement in 1995. Jenkins retired at the end of 2008, and in the fall of the 2008-09 school year Caroline K. Erisman became the 10th Head of Dana Hall School.
Read more about this topic: Dana Hall School
Famous quotes containing the word history:
“I believe that history might be, and ought to be, taught in a new fashion so as to make the meaning of it as a process of evolution intelligible to the young.”
—Thomas Henry Huxley (1825–95)
“It’s not the sentiments of men which make history but their actions.”
—Norman Mailer (b. 1923)
“The disadvantage of men not knowing the past is that they do not know the present. History is a hill or high point of vantage, from which alone men see the town in which they live or the age in which they are living.”
—Gilbert Keith Chesterton (1874–1936)