Burdett College, also known as Burdett Business College or Burdett College of Business and Shorthand, was an educational institution primarily located in

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...

Massachusetts Massachusetts (Massachusett language, Massachusett: ''Muhsachuweesut assachusett writing systems, məhswatʃəwiːsət'' English: , ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is the most populous U.S. state, state in the New England ...

. Founded in 1879, it focused on

business Business is the practice of making one's living or making money by producing or Trade, buying and selling Product (business), products (such as goods and Service (economics), services). It is also "any activity or enterprise entered into for pr ...

and

shorthand Shorthand is an abbreviated symbolic writing method that increases speed and brevity of writing as compared to longhand, a more common method of writing a language. The process of writing in shorthand is called stenography, from the Greek ''ste ...

and operated as a

junior college A junior college (sometimes referred to colloquially as a juco, JuCo or JC) is a post-secondary educational institution offering vocational training designed to prepare students for either skilled trades and technical occupations and workers in su ...

. It closed in 1999.

History

The college was founded on August 1, 1879, by brothers Charles A. Burdett (1858–1922) and Fred H. Burdett (1861–1935). They each served as president of the college, followed by Fred's wife, Sadie. Fred and Sadie's son, C. Fred Burdett (c.1905–1988), was then president from the mid-1930s until 1970. In 1938, the institution was described a

of business training, offering one- and two-year courses of study in the areas of

business administration Business administration, also known as business management, is the administration of a commercial enterprise. It includes all aspects of overseeing and supervising the business operations of an organization. From the point of view of management ...

accounting Accounting, also known as accountancy, is the measurement, processing, and communication of financial and non financial information about economic entities such as businesses and corporations. Accounting, which has been called the "languag ...

, executive secretarial, stenographic, and general business. Upon C. Fred Burdett's retirement in 1970, the college was sold to the Bradford School Corporation, a subsidiary of The Life Insurance Company of Virginia. The website for the Massachusetts Department of Higher Education lists the college as having closed in 1999.

Bay State College Bay State College (Bay State or BSC) is a private for-profit college in the Back Bay neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts. It is owned by Ambow Education Holding Ltd. of the Cayman Islands and Beijing, People's Republic of China. Although Bay ...

in Boston is the custodian of records for several closed institutions, including Burdett College.

Locations

Locations of Burdett College included: * 167

Tremont Street Tremont Street is a major thoroughfare in Boston, Massachusetts. Tremont Street begins at Government Center in Boston's city center as a continuation of Cambridge Street, and forms the eastern edge of Boston Common. Continuing in a roughly so ...

(1882–1885) * 592 Washington Street, Boston (1886–1891) * 694 Washington Street, Boston (1891–1904) * 18 Boylston Street, Boston (1905–1928) * 156 Stuart Street, Boston (1928–1954) * 160

Beacon Street Beacon Street is a major thoroughfare in Boston, Massachusetts and its western suburbs Brookline and Newton. It passes through many of Boston's central and western neighborhoods, including Beacon Hill, Back Bay, Fenway–Kenmore, the Boston Uni ...

, Boston (1954–1972) * 745 Boylston Street, Boston (c. 1998) * 74 Mt. Vernon Street,

Lynn, Massachusetts Lynn is the eighth-largest municipality in Massachusetts and the largest city in Essex County. Situated on the Atlantic Ocean, north of the Boston city line at Suffolk Downs, Lynn is part of Greater Boston's urban inner core. Settled by E ...

(c. 1939) * 100 Front Street,

Worcester, Massachusetts Worcester ( , ) is a city and county seat of Worcester County, Massachusetts, United States. Named after Worcester, England, the city's population was 206,518 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, making it the second-List of cities i ...

(c. 1999)

Alumni

Notable alumni of the college include: * Garrett H. Byrne, District Attorney of Suffolk County, Massachusetts * John F. Cotter, Commissioner of the Boston Fire Department * Joseph N. Hermann, Massachusetts politician * William E. Hurley, Massachusetts politician *

Clementina Poto Langone Clementina Poto Langone (1896–1964) was a civic leader from the North End of Boston who is remembered for her service to the Italian-American community. During the Great Depression she was known as a "Good Samaritan" who distributed food and cl ...

, Italian-American activist, politician, and philanthropist *

John Shea (New Hampshire politician) John D. Shea was a New Hampshire Democratic politician who represented District 2 in the New Hampshire Executive Council from 2006 to 2010. Shea was elected to the Council in 2006, defeating 12-term incumbent Peter Spaulding. He benefited fro ...

Hal Weafer Harold Leaon Weafer (March 27, 1900 – August 23, 1978) was an American professional baseball player and umpire. Weafer was a first baseman in minor league baseball. He became an American League umpire in 1943 and stayed there until 1947. He umpi ...

, major league baseball umpire *

Grafton Kenyon Grafton Irving Kenyon (March 18, 1882 – January 16, 1960) was an American businessman, politician, and military officer from South Kingstown, Rhode Island, who served as a member of both the Rhode Island House of Representatives and the Rhod ...

, Rhode Island businessman and politician

Athletics

The college fielded teams in several sports, including: *

Baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding tea ...

– c.1894–c.1902 *

Basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...

– c.1948–c.1962 ** In 1957, the team won the Boston Small College title, with a 10–0 record. *

Football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

– c.1895–c.1905 ** Opponents included

Phillips Exeter Academy (not for oneself) la, Finis Origine Pendet (The End Depends Upon the Beginning) gr, Χάριτι Θεοῦ (By the Grace of God) , location = 20 Main Street , city = Exeter, New Hampshire , zipcode ...

New Hampshire New Hampshire is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the northeastern United States. It is bordered by Massachusetts to the south, Vermont to the west, Maine and the Gulf of Maine to the east, and the Canadian province of Quebec t ...

, and

MIT The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is a private land-grant research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Established in 1861, MIT has played a key role in the development of modern technology and science, and is one of the m ...

. * Ice polo – c.1896 ** Note: a form of

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an ice skating rink with lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. In ice hockey, two opposing teams use ice hock ...

played with a ball rather than a puck

References

{{reflist, 30em Defunct private universities and colleges in Massachusetts Educational institutions established in 1879 Educational institutions disestablished in 1999 1879 establishments in Massachusetts