On June 9, 1939, seventy-five year old Carrie Dummer received her Governor Dummer Academy diploma. According to the Boston Globe, "Three score years had passed since Miss Dummer, then a young girl in her teens, was forced by illness to forego her appearance at her 1879 graduation. Then co-educational, the Academy in the intervening years has become exclusively a boys' school so that conferring of the degree on Miss Dummer gave her the added distinction of being the last female graduate to receive the honor. In a ceremony that followed the presentation of diplomas to 79 graduates at commencement, James Duncan Phillips, President of the Trustees, handed over the belated award to the elderly woman whose beaming smile bespoke her pleasure."
Although I hope it doesn’t take 60 years to receive my diploma, this is my last posting to the Academy’s Archives blog as I will be leaving to return to school. I enjoyed the opportunity to share the unique 245 year history of The Governor’s Academy. I wish you a happy and safe summer. - Kate
