Mount Pleasant Classical Institute, was a

boarding school A boarding school is a school where pupils live within premises while being given formal instruction. The word "boarding" is used in the sense of "room and board", i.e. lodging and meals. They have existed for many centuries, and now extend acr ...

for boys in

Amherst, Massachusetts Amherst () is a city in Hampshire County, Massachusetts, United States, in the Connecticut River valley. Amherst has a council–manager form of government, and is considered a city under Massachusetts state law. Amherst is one of several Massach ...

. It operated for five years from 1827 to 1832, and served ages 4–16. It was founded by

Amherst College Amherst College ( ) is a Private college, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Amherst, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1821 as an attempt to relocate Williams College by its then-president Zepha ...

graduates Chauncey Colton D. D. and Francis Fellowes, his brother in-law. Mount Pleasant Classical Institute consisted of a principal and seven or eight teachers. At one point there were seventy boys. The school offered traditional and progressive elements. The students were allowed to govern themselves. The curriculum had classical courses, commercial theory, and gym. Mount Pleasant Classical Institute

Abolitionist Abolitionism, or the abolitionist movement, is the political movement to end slavery and liberate enslaved individuals around the world. The first country to fully outlaw slavery was Kingdom of France, France in 1315, but it was later used ...

preacher Henry Ward Beecher and brother of

Harriet Beecher Stowe Harriet Elisabeth Beecher Stowe (; June 14, 1811 – July 1, 1896) was an American author and Abolitionism in the United States, abolitionist. She came from the religious Beecher family and wrote the popular novel ''Uncle Tom's Cabin'' (185 ...

was the second student enrolled in the school after its inception. Yearly tuition was over $250. The school was also home to Greek refugees: Abolitionist and woman rights activist John C. Zachos, author and lecturer Christophoros Plato Kastanes, author Alexandros Georgios Paspates, Constantine Fundulakes Newell, Christopher Evangeles. According to Kastanes book, the teachers were Gregory Anthony Perdicaris and Petros Mengous author of ''Narrative of a Greek Soldier in 1830''. After departing from Mount Pleasant Classical Institute, John C. Zachos followed the Rev Dr. Chauncey Colton to an Episcopalian institution twenty miles north of Philadelphia. Bristol College which was also founded by Dr. Colton it combined manual labor and study. After the school was closed, the building was partly dismantled and moved to other locations within Amherst. One wing, which became known as the “Bee Hive”, was turned into a tenement house which housed lower-income families and African American refugees during the Civil War.

Notable alumni

* Henry Ward Beecher * Martin Russell Thayer * William Carey Crane * James Roosevelt Bayley

References

Bibliography

External links

Mount Pleasant Classical Institution and Mount Pleasant Institute Collection
from the Amherst College Archives & Special Collections Boarding schools in Massachusetts Educational buildings in Amherst, Massachusetts Schools in Hampshire County, Massachusetts {{Massachusetts-school-stub