Archons Available at the Internet Archive

       We have been very fortunate to have received a grant through the Digital Commonwealth and the Boston Public Library to have our entire collection of Archons, dating back to 1906, scanned and available on line!  These Archons, which once served as both the school newspaper/magazine as well as the alumni publication, give tremendous insight into academy life over the past 100+ years. In addition to providing increased accessibility for research, these digitized documents also provide protection for our existing collection, both as a back up copy for the originals and as a format which will minimize handling, and therefore wear and tear on the original Archons. 

       I am writing to tell everyone that the work on this project is complete!  The Archons are available at www.archive.org. Once on the website, simply type in Governor Dummer Academy, The Governor's Academy, or Archon to see a list of the issues, which number over 500.  From there, you may click on any issue and read it on your computer, or download it to your kindle or other e reader device.  Individual issues are searchable by name or subject as well. 

I am grateful to a number of people and groups that helped to make this project possible, including Danielle Pucci and the people from Digital Commonwealth, staff at the Boston Public Library, and volunteers Maria Krull, Namita Bhattacharya, Truman Lu, and Michael Dik.  Most recently, I received extensive help from Marco Abreu, son of faculty member Eleodoro Abreu, in entering the relevant information in the Massachusetts cataloguing system online.  I hope everyone has the chance to explore this wonderful resource!

Theophius Parsons and the Essex Result

Theophilus Parsons may be one of our most noteworthy alumni. Depicted in the mural above his classroom, the Little Red School House, and adjacent to his teacher, Master Moody, Parsons was likely in Master Moody’s first class. Parsons’ father, the Reverend Moses Parsons, pastor of the Byfield Parish Church, was the man responsible for choosing Samuel Moody as the first master of the Dummer School. Parsons studied here with Master Moody, continued his studies at Harvard University, and eventually opened a law office in Newburyport. While working as a lawyer in Newburyport, Parsons participated in a variety of important tasks, not least important of which was mentoring young lawyers. Law schools did not become the norm for a legal career until the late 1800s, so Parsons had several young men apprentice with him, including fellow Dummer alumnus Rufus King and future President John Quincy Adams. Parsons also served on the first Dummer Academy board of trustees. Perhaps the most important work was done in the area of political thought regarding the new nation.

In 1778, during the American Revolution, Massachusetts submitted a draft of a state constitution to the various towns for approval. Criticism of this initial document was widespread. Theophilus Parsons wanted to do more than criticize; he wanted to suggest an alternative. Gathering representatives from towns throughout Essex County, Parsons led meetings to discuss the proposed constitution and possible alternatives. The group published their political thoughts in a document that came to be known as The Essex Result. The archives owns an original version of this document. The document and ideas contained within formed the basis of the new Massachusetts Constitution, adopted in 1780, and the US Constitution of 1787.

The Essex Result was noted for proposing two major political ideas. The first of these is the notion that power in the new government should be divided between the legislative, executive, and judicial branches of government, each with a distinct role to play and each with some power to check the other branches. The second significant proposal involved the protection of explicit rights, as included in the constitution. This had also been suggested by the Virginia Declaration of Rights. The two categories of rights most frequently mentioned in the Essex Result were freedom of conscience and rights of the individual, including privacy and the rights of the accused.

Because of its ability to fuse political ideology with practical concerns, The Essex Result was a very influential document in its era. The ideas contained in it formed the basis of a new Massachusetts State Constitution, adopted two years later in 1780. The Massachusetts Constitution, in turn, is widely considered the model for the US Constitution. These ideas, so important to our nation today, began with Theophilus Parsons and his work, The Essex Result.

Academy Ghost Stories

 In honor of Halloween, I am reprinting an article from the February 1941 Archon about campus ghosts.  Enjoy!

Master Moody

Master Moody is a major figure in early school history, yet one about which relatively little is known.  We know that he came from a long line of ministers, including his father, "Handkerchief" Moody, who was the subject of Nathaniel Hawthorne's famous short story, "The Minister's Black Veil."  We also know that he was recommended for the job of master here by the Reverend George Whitfield, who became famous for his preaching throughout the colonies during the Great Awakening.  Likewise, we know he was near the top of his class at Harvard.  We do not know much, however about his early life prior to Harvard, nor do we even know what he looked like.  No verifiable portrait has been found, which is why he is depicted in our new mural with his back to us, holding the key to the Little Red School House in his hands.

Master Moody and his classroom, the Little Red School House, are forever linked in the minds of many.  Walking through the school house today, I picture Master Moody, standing amidst students like Theophilus Parsons, Rufus King, Nathaniel Gorham, and many others who would move on to their own greatness.  Moody accomplished in these years what all educators dream of: the ability to shape students lives and motivate them to reach their fullest potential. 

For his era, however, Moody's methods were unorthodox.  Moody required that students recite lessons aloud, despite the fact that students in his class were likely on different lessons.  Moody also believed in physical education; he regularly took the boys down to the river to swim.  Perhaps most unusual, however, was Moody's decision to hire a French dancing instructor to supplement the boys' more traditional curriculum.  This decision was met with anger by several alumni, including Benjamin Colman, who wrote a letter to Moody explaining the sinfulness of this decision.  This letter was one of the first items I discovered when working in the archives.  I find it fascinating and wanted to share it with all of you.  Here it is, reprinted in its entirety from the Essex Institute's Historical Collections from February of 1865.  Enjoy!

Sir Whereas I am enformed there is a proposal of setting up a manners School in Byfield, and am likewise enformed the Inhabitants are not only allow'd, but are desired to Signify their minds, or opinions of such a school, Wherefore I take the Liberty granted & do hereby humbly shew my opinion, and now do Say that if we have not already such a school amongst us, as that our Children & Youth are taught to behave in the most becoming manner, Towards God & man, I will Joyn with heart & hand to set up, & maintain such a school, the Wise man tells us Proverbs 9: 10: that the Fear of the Lord is the beginning of Wisdom, and he adds the Knowledge of the holy is Understanding, I humbly Conceive, that the most sublime manners Consists in a suitable Behaviour before God, As he is the first the geatest & the best being, he on Whome we entirely & absolutely Depend for being & support, and without whose respect & favour we & ours are forever undone, and to be careless about our Childrens being Instructed in this point of good manners, viz to fall down in their hearts before God with a Reverential awe of the Divine Majesty, at all times, would argue us the most stupid among the Rational beings that God has made, yea the ox knows his owner, & the ass his masters Crib, & pays some suitable regard to. him according to their kind. I also desire that our Children may be taught to behave with good manners before men, viz, to Obey their Parents, to honour their Superiours, and lovingly and respectfully towards one another.


But if the school to be set up be a Dancing school, as in fact I Suppose that is the Design, Though the Term be changed, which undoubtedly is artfully done lest pious minds, & tender conciences should startle, if they knew that Dancing were the thing to taught & learnt, and I appeal to all that have observed such schools as are set up by the Denomination of manners schools, Whether the youth have not been proceeded with by the master, first to step & Compliment, and then as they become Ripe for such Exercise, to Dance, I suppose this is the Constant practice in such schools, as really as we learn our children the alphabet & Syllables, & then put them to Reading. — For my part I can't see what great or good end it would serve if our Children should lern to Dance. If it be said the Psalmist calls upon people to praise God with Timbrel & Dance, Psalm 150: 4: I answer we are not under that Jewish Dispensation, but under a purer & better viz a Gospel Dispensation, and I appeal to all whether for us to play & Dance before the Lord now in our Religious Worship as King David did of old would not look ridiculous and shamefull if not sinfull, Doubtless there was something in Davids performances then that God accepted, but we have nothing to do with those abolished sacrifices & services that were made use of then. further I take it that Dancing is Reproved or forbideu of God by the Prophet Isaiah Chapter 3: 16: Moreover the Lord saith because the Daughters of Zion are haughty, & walk with stretched forth necks, & Wanton eyes, Walking & mincing as they go, and making a Tinkling with their feet, by which tinkling with their feet, the late Rev! Doct' Mather in his Discourse on s* Text Understands Dancing, and truly as the margin reads it, Tripping nicely, I think we must understand it to mean Dancing, and I wish that our people would read & well Consider the s4 DoctTM Discourse.

I am against it on account of the Tendency of it, it being an Exercise that strikes Powerfully upon the fancy, Tends to Divert the mind & heart, exceedingly from a serious Consideration of the things of Religion & Eternity, and can I be Willing, that my Children lern & practice that which would carry their minds & hearts farther from God, is it not bad enough that by Nature they are alienated from the life of God Thro the Ignorance that is in them. Shall I encourage them to a vice, (which if it be forbid by the Word of God it must bear the Term) That tends to stupify Concience & prevent them from Seeking Converting grace, I dare not. Again I am against it on account of the Consequences of it, for Tho I suppose the present proposal is that the male Children be taught by themselves, yet when the female see this they will think they are very unkindly Delt by, if they may not have as Polite Education as their fellow youth, and will by one meens or other, press in & obtain the like Instruction, Which will introduce mixt Dancing, which I dread almost next to Whoring amongst us. The late Revd mr Whitefield says concerning himself, his acting plays, that although God brought good out of it, as it taught him a proper gesture of speaking, yet such a way of training up youth is as Contrary to the Gospel of Christ, as light is to Darkness, Hell is to Heaven, see his life, The same author in his sermon on the Prodigal son, has these words, page 15: "Before I go forward give me leave "to tell you who (because musick & Dancing are mentioned) may think "it lawfull to Dance & have Balls, but my dear friends, such things "are as much Contrary to the Gospel of Christ as light is to Dark"ness, and whatever you may think if God ever touch your hearts; & "make you new Creatures, you will be sick of these things, you will no "more be present at a Ball or assembly, then you will thrust your head "into the fire, I speak by Experience, no one hath been a greater sin"ner that way than the poor creature that is preaching the Gospel of "Jesus Christ to you, many a previous hour & night have I spent "this way, and thought it no harm as you may do, I went to the "Sacrament, I kept fasts before the Sacrement, I thought it no harm "to go to Dancing for all that, but my dear friends Take Warning. "it hath cost me many a Tear many a gloomy hour, to reflect upon "the many precious hours I have spent this way, and am amazed God "did not send me to Hell, Take warning by me it cost me many a "bitter hour, as it will you if ever you come to God, you may put "off convictions now, but when Deth takes hold of your souls, you will "see things in another light, you Will be amazed to think that you "should be Deceiving your own souls, Take heed of these things they"will eat out the vitals of Religion &c. thus he
And furthermore Dear Sir does not the appearances of things at this day forbid us doing anything of this nature, viz the Wise virgins slumbering and sleeping, the unconverted hardened in sin, people sermon profe, so that tho the most alarming Doctrines are inculcated upon us, the people give a decent attendance in hearing, and that seems to be all that is done, Where are persons enquiring what shall we do to be saved, how shall we escape the Wrath to come. are the things of Religion & Eternity of less Importance because people are rgardless of them. I think that such Considerations that Divine influence is awfully withheld from the meens of grace, so that our children and youth are growing up without the saving knowledge of God, is a very Meloncolly Consideration, & Calls for deep Humiliation at this Day, the pious remnant are small, the ways of Zion Mourn, because the precious Gospel feast is neglected an Slited. I appeal to your Self sir, and to all persons that know Experimental Religion, whether if the Spirit of God ware poured out as a spirit of conviction, so that sinners had a Just sense of their Sin & Danger, their lost & perishing condition while out of Christ Could they possibly have any Taste or Relish for Dancing. Or can you think that any person in the sweet exercise of Faith & love to God, under a true apprehenshon of the shortness of time and the vastness of Eternity, I say could such a person take pleasure in a Dancing School. Well Sir if persons that have the truest light, the Justest apprehenshions of things, Decline, shall not we also, and if a relish for such things spring only from fancy, Carnal Sensuality, Ignorance of God and Divine things, or for want of Due consideration, wherein our truest & best intrest consists, shall we give way to them. Moreover Divine Providence in our political affairs, I think calls for searchings of heart, God is evidently contending with us for our Sins, shaking his Threatning rod over our Nation, & this Province in particular, and does not God Chalenge it as Horrid contumacy in in his professing people, When he Calls to Mourning & Humiliation by his Rightious Judgements, for them to indulge mirth & Carnal Recreation. but to conclude, What Shall I say sir to my pious Christian friends in other Towns, to Whom I have Recommended the Dummer School & Master, as the best in the Province: or on the Continent, When they enquire of me thus or to the like effect, What has your good mr Moody Converted the Noble Dummer School into a Dancing School, Shall I not blush Think you, before God and man, I think I shall, yet tis a small thing that I be put to Shame, but tis no small matter for God to be offended & Dish[on]oured. Thus Dear Sir I have in a poor broken manner given some of my Sentiments on the matter proposed, I hope I give no offence in so doing, so far as I know myself, I stand ready to receive light, and to any mistake that I may have made, I am Sir with great respect your Obliged friend & humble Servant

BENJAMIN COLMAN.

Mural Displays



New mural located just beyond the circulation desk in Pescosolido Library



In honor of our beautiful new mural created by Joshua Winer and David Fichter, I am organizing a series of displays based upon elements in the mural.  This week's display features two of the oldest parts of the campus landscape: the Mansion House and the Milestone.



Did you know that the Milestone, commissioned by John Dummer and carved by gravestone carver John Hartshorn, was part of a family rivalry in Byfield?  Two dominant local families, the Dummers and the Sewells, were each trying to position themselves as the leading family in the area.  Likewise both were disappointed when a compromise decision was made to name the parish Byfield, after Judge Byfield, rather than name it after their own families.  Dummer wanted to ensure his family's prominence, and so commissioned the milestone on his own property, with a triangle carved in the bottom, which had been established as a family symbol from an earlier carved doorstep.  Since milestones were important guides to travelers, having such a stone on one's land was a sign of importance.





19th century photograph of Mansion House



Mansion House is likewise filled with interesting stories, including several ghost stories.  Perhaps the most fun and most benign story centers on the lore of William and Katherine Dummer's arrival in the Mansion House.  William was bringing his bride to the summer home made for them after their wedding.  They rode his horse up to the house, and went through the door and up the steps to their bedroom while riding the horse!  Legend tells that when there is a blue moon in August, visitors can hear a horse's hooves on the back staircase. 

Since the school's birth, Mansion House has been part of the academy's history, housing not only masters such as Master Moody himself, Charles Ingham, Ted Eames, and others, but also serving as home to boarding students for many years.  Before the dining room was added to Commons in the 1880s, boarders were fed in the Mansion House dining room by local widows who took on that job. 







Mansion House has also been subject to a variety of renovation projects, the most recent of which took place in the 1960s when the Governor's Room was added onto the side of the house.

New Mural to Honor Academy History

In conjunction with the 250th Anniversary of The Governor's Academy, the Pescosolido Library will be home to a mural honoring the academy's history.  Artists Joshua Winer and David Fichter have already begun their work in order to have the mural ready for the opening of school in September.  I thought I could give you a sneak peak of artist Joshua Winer at work.

Refurbishment of a Little Governors' History

Good news!  Thanks to the generosity of the donors to the Class of 1954 Archives Fund, we were able to have a significant painting restored and ready to display to the community.  The painting, which depicts a wrestling match between Governor Dummer Academy and St. Mark’s School, was painted by WPA artist Waldo Pierce and donated to the school in 1967.  Both the painting and its author have interesting histories.  Pierce was a well known artist during his era.  He was a native of Maine who graduated from Harvard in 1909, he served in the American Field Service ambulance corps during WWI and lived in Paris among other American ex-patriots during the 1920s.  During this time he began a lifelong friendship with writer  Earnest Hemmingway, who had also served as a driver in the ambulance corps.  Peirce returned to the US and became a fairly well known artist.  According to an article in the Harvard alumni magazine, Peirce was often referred to as "the Hemmingway of painters," a description that did not please him. Later in life, he developed a number of friendships in the Newburyport area, including one with former art teacher Kittie Mercer.  As a result of their friendship, in part, Peirce wanted to paint something for the school, and chose as his subject a wrestling match between Governor Dummer Academy and St. Marks School.  The story about the painting that I was told mentions an older woman in the bottom section of the painting who was running.  Apparently, her grandson was wresting for GDA and she was not happy with the action on the mat and ran onto the mat and began pulling the hair of the opposing wrestler.  I’d love any additional information about the painting and its story that people could provide.  In the meantime, I will enjoy the beautifully restored painting and look forward to the start of school when it can be displayed for others to appreciate as well.

A Request for Alumni

This weekend I had a wonderful chance to meet some of the older alumni and hear stories about their time at Governor Dummer Academy.  I was looking at some old photos with one gentleman who noted that he didn't realize that the academy had a rifle club when he was there.  This lead me to thinking about my own limited perspective on the school's history.  When piecing together stories about the academy, I am limited to the materials in the archives.  The presence, or lack thereof, of photographs or other documents might lead me to think that activities were more or less influential than they actually were.  This is where you as alumni come in.  I would love to hear from people about your own experiences here as students.  What events, activities, moments, etc. stand out in your minds?  What do you still carry with you today?  What stories would you like to share with current students?  Please send them to me.  You can either send them by email or, if you are feeling tech savvy, tell them to a web cam and upload them to your computer and send me a link.  Personal material helps to capture the history so that it is not lost to the ages.  Help this archivist by sending along your stories.  Thanks.

Baseball at the Academy

Hi, my name is Matthew Karin, a senior at The Governor's Academy, and I will be a guest archives blogger for the next several weeks. I am currently an intern in the Academy’s archives as a part of my senior spring term project. I chose this as my project because I have always loved history and the fascinating stories that go along with it. My first research is on the history of baseball at The Governor’s Academy because of my lifelong career of playing the sport. Information on this history of baseball can also be found in my Cobb Room display and in the archives flyers posted around campus.

The Governor's Academy has a long tradition with baseball throughout its 250-year history. The first known mention of a game of baseball in America was in 1791 in Pittsfield, Massachusetts. Pittsfield is also the site of the first intercollegiate baseball game in 1859 when Amherst defeated Williams College 73-32. The first professional baseball teams in America were founded in 1869 under the modern day National League, however it wasn’t until 1901 that Boston had a professional baseball team: The Boston Americans.

Based on photographs and evidence from the archives, we presume that baseball began at Dummer Academy in the 1870s. The earliest photograph of baseball in the archives is a team picture from 1883, which is comprised of 8 students and 1 coach. At the time, it was not uncommon that coaches participated in baseball games as player-coaches. Both the game itself and its field have changed over the past 140 years. The first change came in 1907 when Captain Ambrose raised money from fellow players to renovate the uneven and unplayable field. Every player donated money towards the project and a member of the Trustees doubled each donation. After Easter break, the new field was ready with several inches of new gravel to level the field and a “skin” diamond was put in. A “skin” diamond is the modern day baseball diamond that has dirt around the base paths. Twenty-five years later, in 1932 the baseball field was rotated from home plate directly in front of Route-1 to its present location. The change was made to “prevent the congestion of traffic caused by passing cars pulling up while the occupants watched the game and also to decrease the number of foul tips which last year went over the backstop and rolled across the road.” Lastly, in 1977 Morse Field was renamed Howard J. Buster Navins Baseball Field in honor of the legendary baseball coach. Buster Navins was a graduate of Dummer Academy who coached soccer, basketball, and baseball for 41 years. He was inducted into the GDA Athletic Hall of Fame in 2005.

World War II era- Part II

World War II Era- Part II

As I have written in an earlier blog, Headmaster Ted Eames wrote monthly letters to alumni serving in the military during World War II. These letters range from light and upbeat news of events on campus, to information obtained from other alumni in the military, to deeper, more philosophical letters on the day the atomic bomb was dropped on Hiroshima as well as the day Japan surrendered. It seems clear that alumni did write back to Mr. Eames. Some of these rather dramatic adventures were published in the Archons of that era. Below is one such tale. I hope you enjoy reading it as much as I did.

World War II display

If you liked the last blog about changes taking place on campus during WWII, please check out the new display in the front lobby of the Alumni Memorial Gymnasium. It contains letters from Edward Eames to the troops, first hand accounts from alumni on the front, photographs, newspaper articles, and more!

World War II era at Governor Dummer, part I

Recently, I’ve been combing through the archives’ collection of WWII materials in an effort to put together a display for the front of the Alumni Memorial Gymnasium, a building constructed in honor of those Dummer men who went on to serve the nation during World War II. One of the true treasures in our collection are the letters written by headmaster Eames to those fighting in the war. My sense of Mr. Eames, both from these letters and from my other World War II related archival research, is that he was a man trying to do his duty both as an American citizen as an educator of young men at the time. I believe it was these dual goals that led Eames to make changes to the academy life, both in the form of curriculum changes and the development of the student work program.
The student work program came out of both the necessity of replacing the work of so many that went to either serve in the armed forces or work in war industries. The school simply did not have the personnel available to do the jobs that needed to be done, so headmaster Eames organized a system where each boy was responsible for jobs, both in the morning before classes began, as well as in the afternoon, in place of athletics one afternoon per week. These jobs ranged from cleaning the bathrooms, sweeping and moping hallways and stairways, emptying the trash, and other tasks around dormitory and classroom buildings. Jobs also extended, however, to include outdoor work such as mowing lawns, raking leaves, shoveling snow, lining fields, and clearing brush. Students would have regular daily jobs, special daily jobs, and some weekly and seasonal jobs.
While replacing lost personnel was certainly a motivation behind the development of the student work program, I believe headmaster Eames was also trying to develop students with a work ethic which would serve them well both in the service or whatever the future would bring them beyond the academy.
Less well known than the work program are the curricular changes made by Mr. Eames during the war. In a letter to parents, Mr. Eames acknowledged that because of the war, many students may have to serve in the military before they would normally be able to graduate from the academy. Others would forgo college for military service. He therefore saw it as his duty to prepare his students as thoroughly as possible for military service in particular and the responsibilities of adulthood in general. In order to do this, one of his strategies was to add coursework to the curriculum that would provide students with necessary knowledge and experience for use in the military. Included among the new courses were ones involving the study of Morse Code, navigation, special mathematics with applications in the field of aviation, and mechanics. The description of the new mechanics course in the Archon explains that “knowledge on machines, as well as skill in using and repairing them, is important in almost every phase of modern warfare.”
Above are some of the photographs of students participating in some of the curricular and extracurricular changes that took place as a result of the war. Enjoy these photos, and check back for upcoming World War II blogs including letters written by alumni about their experiences during the war.

Dancing at the Academy

The history of dance at the Governor’s Academy has been long and not without controversy. While today’s dances can be filled with disagreements about what sort of dress is “appropriate,” all seem to accept the notion that dances are generally a positive part of student life. Not so when dance began at the academy, in Master Moody’s day. Moody decided that bringing a dance instructor to the academy would help his students both get exercise and develop a useful skill. Some of the alumni did not agree with his positive view of dance. One, in a letter to Moody, equated the instruction of dance to working with the devil, and was outraged that such a subject be taught.

In the 20th and 21st centuries, our views on dances have become much more modernized. Even within this narrower time frame, however, dance life at the academy has changed. No longer do we have dance cards listing the fox trot, the waltz, the one step, as the dance card from the 1920 Halloween Dance does. Likewise, a dance today is an evening, rather than an entire weekend event. The schedule from the 1959 dance reveals, with its plan for female guests staying the weekend on campus, that such a short event was not always the norm. Indeed, even looking only at the previous 100 years, our notions of dance have changed.

Thankfully for the archives, we have some wonderful artifacts from these earlier dances that give us a glimpse of student life in earlier times. A new display of some of these is set up currently in the Cobb room right outside the admissions office. If you have a chance, please stop by and check it out. Or email me at sslater@govsacademy.org with your own memories of campus dances.

a History of Hockey at the Governor's Academy

First Girls' Hockey Team, 1985

1950's Hockey Practice Without Ice

1922 Varsity Hockey

1885 Roller Polo

The recent cold spell has put winter on my mind, as well as winter sports, which have a fairly long history here at the Governor's Academy. While ice hockey began as a sport in Canada in the mid to late 1800's, we have no records of the sport being played here that early. The earliest signs of hockey on campus began in 1885, when the academy sponsored what was known as roller polo, the precursor to roller hockey. By the 1920's, when the NHL had its first games in the US, Governor Dummer had its first ice hockey teams, both varsity and junior teams. These boys' teams played for many years until finally, in 1985, 14 years after the first girls were admitted to the academy, the boys were joined by the first girls' ice hockey team.

Hockey has also changed venues several times during its history at the academy. Players have played on a pond near Parsons, a rink next to Ingham, an outdoor rink, later enclosed, behind Perkins, and their current luxurious accomodations in the Whiston-Bragdon arena. For those who are able, a display of photographs related to our school's hockey history, along with newspaper clipping and skates from 1950 alum Charles Bowen, are on display currenly in the Phillips Building display case in the Cobb Room. Please stop by and check them out. For those of you unable to pass by the Cobb Room display, a sampling of photos from the display are included above.