The history of education in Dedham, Massachusetts covers schools and schooling from the establishment of the first public school in America to the present. It includes the history of the Dedham Public Schools, several Catholic schools, and other private schools. It also includes two institutions of higher education.
First public school
On January 1, 1644, by unanimous vote, Dedham authorized the first U.S. taxpayer-funded public school; "the seed of American education." Its first teacher, Rev. Ralph Wheelock, was paid 20 pounds annually to instruct the youth of the community. John Thurston was commissioned by the town to build the first schoolhouse in 1648 for which he received a partial payment of £11.0.3 on December 2, 1650. The details in the contract require him to construct floorboards, doors, and "fitting the interior with 'featheredged and rabbited' boarding" similar to that found in the Fairbanks House.
By the later part of the century, however, a sentiment of anti-intellectualism had pervaded the town. Residents were content to allow the minister to be the local intellectual and did not establish a grammar school as required by law. As a result, the town was called into court in 1675 and then again in 1691.
Other schools, including Boston Latin School and the Town of Rehoboth have claimed to be the first public school, but Dedham's was the first to be supported exclusively by tax dollars. Lt. Governor Roger Wolcott led a committee that heard the claims of several cities and towns, including the presentation made by Dedham's Don Gleason Hill and Rev. Carlos Slafter. Governor Frederic T. Greenhalge and the Governor's Council. confirmed that Dedham's was the first. On June 17, 1898, a monument was unveiled on the grounds of the First Church Green, near the site of the original schoolhouse.
First schoolhouse The first classes were likely in the meetinghouse. The first schoolhouse was built in present-day Dedham Square near the First Church and Parish in Dedham by Thomas Thurston at a cost of £11 3 pence. Approved at a town meeting in January 1648–9, it measured 15' by 18' with two windows and a fireplace. Each boy was responsible for providing his share of firewood during the colder months. The building likely resembled contemporary schools in the English countryside with a raised platform, wooden wainscoting, and high windows. The teacher's desk would look like a pulpit and students would sit on plank seats.
The schoolhouse also included a watchtower at one end to prevent Indian attack. Placing the school next to the church was deliberate and symbolized the need for both academic and moral instruction. It stood for nearly 50 years, although in 1661 school was kept in the house of the teacher, Francis Chickering.
Other early educational efforts The early residents of Dedham were so committed to education that they donated £4.6.6 to Harvard College during its first eight years of existence, a sum greater than many other towns, including Cambridge itself.
On March 16, 1695, Dedham and several other towns established a 300-acre School Farm in what is today Wellesley, Massachusetts, near Wellesley College. It did not prove to be profitable, and so it was sold on March 13, 1699, for 50 pounds.
Dedham Public Schools
On January 2, 1643, the Town Meeting set aside land for three public purposes: a school, a church, and a training field. Two years later, on January 1, 1645, by unanimous vote, the Town of Dedham authorized the first taxpayer-funded public school in the United States. It is believed the success of Dedham's school helped convince the Great and General Court to enact a law mandating schools in every community. Dedham's delegates to that body also served on the local School Committee.
School was held year round, with students attending from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. in the summer and 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. in the winter. Initially held in the village center, the school began travelling around town as families moved to outlying areas. From 1717 to 1756, school was held in different parts of town according to population and taxation. In 1762, for example, it was held in the village for 166 days, in South Dedham for 79 days, in Clapboard Trees, for 69 days, and in the West Precinct for 52 days. When in the outer precincts, classes were often held in private homes, but in some parts of Dedham residents privately built schoolhouses. One such school, in Springfield, was built by residents before that part of town had even organized as a parish. In addition, both boys and girls attended dame schools.
Many schools were built in the years following 1897, and were adorned through purchase and donation with a number of works of art. In 1896, the Avery School began running a program to teach illiterate adults how to read. There was also in the 1840s a Lyceum that put on plays in addition to the usual public education programs.
Establishment of a high school
As early as 1827 the Commonwealth of Massachusetts required all towns with more than 500 families to establish a free public high school. Beginning in 1844 the School Committee repeatedly began recommending that the town establish a high school. It wasn't until 1850 when, under threat of a lawsuit, that the town meeting voted to "instruct the Town's School Committee to hire a building and teacher, and establish a High School according to law." A sum of $3,000 was appropriated to support it.
Kindergartens A kindergarten supported by private subscription was established at the Ames School in 1893 and ran until 1896. In that year the town appropriated money for kindergartens at the Ames, Avery, and Oakdale Schools, but they did not last long.
Teachers The first teacher, Rev. Ralph Wheelock, was paid 20 pounds annually to instruct the youth of the community. Descendants of these students would become presidents of Dartmouth College, Yale University, and Harvard University.
Michael Metcalf was hired as a teacher in 1656 at the age of 70 and John Swinerton was hired in 1663. Joshua Fisher and Thomas Battle also taught during the early years of the school. Battle, Metcalf, and Fisher were all farmers who stepped in to teach when a professional teacher could not be found. As they had their own farms to manage in addition, their pay was not docked unless they missed an entire week's worth of classes. Until he left to minister to the people of the new community of Wrentham in 1671, Rev. Samuel Man also served as teacher.
Sir Joseph Belcher, the son of Rev. Joseph Belcher, was the first teacher to travel to the various precincts to hold classes. In 1766, Manasseh Cutler, a future congressman and "father of Ohio University," began teaching.
Charles J. Capen started a private school in 1849 and then became the first high school teacher when it was established the following year.
School Committee and administration The school was originally controlled by the town meeting but, in 1652, it was put under the control of the Selectmen. In 1789, as the town was split into districts, a school committee was formed. Clergymen were elected to oversee the schools. In the mid-1800s, the school committee consisted of Rev. Alvan Lamson, Rev. Samuel Babcock, and Rev. Calvin Durfee. While living in Dedham, Horace Mann served on the School Committee.
In 1880, the growth of the schools required that a professional superintendent of schools be hired to oversee them. I. Freeman Hall, who had previously taught in Quincy, was hired. His successors through 1936 include Abner J. Phipps, Henry E. Crocker, Guy Channel, Oscar S. Williams, Roderick W. Hine, and John C. Anthony.
From 1956 to 2004, the administration's offices were housed in the "White House" originally built by Charles and Mary Shaw at the corner of East Street and Whiting Avenue. In 2004 they moved to the B-wing of Dedham High School as the house was razed to make room for the new Dedham Middle School.
Finances The teacher's salary was paid by taxes. For every boy between the ages of four and 14, a tax of between three-and-a-half to five shillings was assessed, depending on how far from the school the family lived. Families who lived more than 2.5 miles from the meetinghouse were exempt from the tax until their children started attending. This covered between 25% and 50% of the total cost, with the rest made up by a tax on the estates of the entire population. In the years following the passage of the Old Deluder Satan Law, Dedham was occasionally fined for not spending enough money of its school but, for the most part, the appropriations to the school were generous.
The schoolmaster's salary was initially set at £20 and was raised in 1695 to £25. As there was little specie in the colony at the time, salaries were instead paid in wheat and corn. Michael Metcalf, for example, received five pounds of each crop at every six months. Not until 1696 did teachers receive actual money for their labor. While the salary was not high, teachers earned a great deal of respect. Records show that teachers were given the honorary title of "sir" at a time when most men were not even referred to as "mister."
The first donation to the school was made by Dr. Henry Deengaine of Roxbury. His deathbed will, taken verbally by John Eliot and approved by Governor John Winthrop, left £3 to the school. In 1680, Dr. William Avery gave £60, and the Honorable Samuel Dexter left $170 in his will. Dexter requested that his bequest, along with several other sums previously donated for the school but were used to hire soldiers instead, be returned to the school. The town agreed to the terms but this fund, along with other school funds, subsequently disappeared. A fund established by Deacon Nathaniel Kingsbury in 1749 had a corpus of £100, the interest of which was to be used for the schools.
On January 1, 1744–5, school trust funds had a balance of £236, 2s, 8d. By 1749–50, the account had £345, 8s, which was loaned out to 12 men in sums between £5 and £100.
Districts With the town growing and multiple schoolhouses being built, the school was essentially split into districts in 1756. The districts were not established by law, however, until 1789. As early as 1848, Rev. Dr. Alvan Lamson of the First Church and Parish in Dedham was making the argument that the districts should be abolished and Horace Mann said that the law allowing districts was "beyond comparison, the most pernicious law ever pass in the Commonwealth on the subject of schools." The districts were discontinued in 1866 when the Town purchased all 11 buildings for a total of $49,180 and returned their value to the taxpayers of the respective districts.
Catholic schools St. Mary's School and Asylum
In 1866 the Sisters of Charity founded the St. Mary's School and Asylum at what was formerly the Norfolk House. The property was sold to them for $1 by Martin Bates who, out of a "spirit of vindictiveness," gave it to the Sisters because the Town of Dedham would not purchase the run down building from him at his asking price. Bates, who was not Catholic, had previously tried selling the building at auction, but could find no buyer willing to pay a price equal to his mortgage. At news of the sale, the Dedham Gazette wrote in an editorial:
Whatever prejudices may naturally exist against the establishment of a Roman Catholic School in so central a location, the community cannot but feel that the transformation of a building recently used only for the indiscriminate sale of liquors into an institution founded for 'promoting virtue, learning and piety in the town of Dedham' is an object worthy only of the most exalted motives, and in this view should be accepted as a public blessing.