Educating the Hub: Three Centuries of Boston Public Schools
Schools
Donation of Abiel Smith to the Town of Boston, 1815
In 1815, white businessman Abiel Smith died and bequeathed $4,000 to the Town of Boston for the education of African-American children. Boston’s school committee used the money to fund the already existing African School and later to fund the Abiel Smith School which was opened on March 3, 1835. The Smith School closed in 1855 when Boston’s African American children began attending other public schools.
Attendance Records from the School of Mutual Instruction, 1823.
The School of Mutual Instruction was an experimental school in Boston. It relied upon a system in which older or more advanced students instructed the younger or weaker students under the supervision of the schoolmaster. Tokens with an attached pecuniary value were distributed as rewards for successful students. The students could redeem the tokens for books and other prizes.
Classroom Instruction at the Horace Mann School, ca. 1892
Founded in 1869, the Horace Mann School is the oldest public day school for the deaf.
Class of Miss Kate Howard at the Horace Mann School, 1892
In the latter half of the nineteenth century, the Horace Mann School educated hundreds of deaf and hard-of-hearing students, including Helen Keller.
School Manual, 1869
The city’s school manuals contained lists of schools, school districts, teachers, school committee members, and other school staff.
High School for Girls Admissions and Discharge Records, ca. 1857-1890
Founded in 1852, Boston's High School for Girls was America's first public girls' high school.