Hill Military Academy was a private,

College preparatory A college-preparatory school (usually shortened to preparatory school or prep school) is a type of secondary school. The term refers to public, private independent or parochial schools primarily designed to prepare students for higher education ...

military academy A military academy or service academy is an educational institution which prepares candidates for service in the officer corps. It normally provides education in a military environment, the exact definition depending on the country concerned. ...

Portland Portland most commonly refers to: * Portland, Oregon, the largest city in the state of Oregon, in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States * Portland, Maine, the largest city in the state of Maine, in the New England region of the northeas ...

in the U.S. state of

Oregon Oregon () is a U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. The Columbia River delineates much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington (state), Washington, while the Snake River delineates much of it ...

. Opened in 1901, it was a leading military boarding school in the

Pacific Northwest The Pacific Northwest (sometimes Cascadia, or simply abbreviated as PNW) is a geographic region in western North America bounded by its coastal waters of the Pacific Ocean to the west and, loosely, by the Rocky Mountains to the east. Though ...

. Originally located in Northwest Portland, it later moved to

Rocky Butte Rocky Butte (previously known as Mowich Illahee and Wiberg Butte) is an extinct cinder cone butte in Portland, Oregon, United States. It is also part of the Boring Lava Field, a group of volcanic vents and lava flows throughout Oregon and Wash ...

where it remained until it closed in 1959. The school was a party to the ''

Pierce v. Society of Sisters ''Pierce v. Society of Sisters'', 268 U.S. 510 (1925), was an early 20th-century United States Supreme Court decision striking down an Oregon statute that required all children to attend public school. The decision significantly expanded coverage ...

'' United States Supreme Court case.

Founder

The academy's founder, Joseph Wood Hill, was born in

Westport, Connecticut Westport is a town in Fairfield County, Connecticut, United States, along the Long Island Sound within Connecticut's Gold Coast. It is northeast of New York City. The town had a population of 27,141 according to the 2020 U.S. Census. History ...

, on May 28, 1856, and was raised in Connecticut.Gaston, Joseph. 1911
Portland, Oregon, its History and Builders: in Connection with the Antecedent Explorations, Discoveries, and Movements of the Pioneers that Selected the Site for the Great City of the Pacific
Chicago: S.J. Clarke Pub. Co. Vol. III. pp. 451-454. He attended the Selleck school in Norwalk before enrolling at

Yale University Yale University is a private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and among the most prestigious in the wo ...

in 1874, where he earned a bachelor of arts degree in 1878. Hill then moved west to Oregon where he was hired as the headmaster of the Bishop Scott grammar school in Portland in 1879. In 1881, while still serving as headmaster, Hill graduated from the

Willamette University College of Medicine Willamette University College of Medicine is a former school of medicine that was part of Willamette University. Founded in 1867 as the first medical school in Oregon, the school relocated between Portland and the main university campus in Salem ...

with a

Doctor of Medicine Doctor of Medicine (abbreviated M.D., from the Latin language, Latin ''Medicinae Doctor'') is a medical degree, the meaning of which varies between different jurisdictions. In the United States, and some other countries, the M.D. denotes a profes ...

. The grammar school became Bishop Scott Academy in 1887, with Hill becoming principal that year of the expanded school, serving until 1901.

History

In 1901, Hill left Bishop Scott Academy and founded the Hill Military Academy on Marshall Street in Portland. John W. Gavin served as the vice principal and headmaster at this time. The school was incorporated in 1908, and Hill’s oldest son Joseph A. became the vice president of the school that year. The son took over as manager in 1910, with Major G. C. Von Egloffstein taking over as headmaster. Joseph Wood Hill remained as principal until at least 1911. In 1922, Oregon voters passed the Compulsory Education Act, an initiative supported by the

Ku Klux Klan The Ku Klux Klan (), commonly shortened to the KKK or the Klan, is an American white supremacist, right-wing terrorist, and hate group whose primary targets are African Americans, Jews, Latinos, Asian Americans, Native Americans, and ...

as an anti-Catholic measure that required attendance in public schools. Hill Academy and a society that ran several Catholic schools both sued the state to prevent the enactment of the law on Fourteenth Amendment grounds, and won in

federal district court The United States district courts are the trial courts of the U.S. federal judiciary. There is one district court for each federal judicial district, which each cover one U.S. state or, in some cases, a portion of a state. Each district cou ...

. On appeal to the

United States Supreme Court The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) is the highest court in the federal judiciary of the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all U.S. federal court cases, and over state court cases that involve a point o ...

, that court upheld the injunction against the law in ''

''. In 1931, the school moved to a new campus on

in eastern Portland.Corning, Howard M. (1989) ''Dictionary of Oregon History''.

Binfords & Mort Publishing Binford & Mort Publishing is a book publishing company located in Hillsboro, Oregon, United States. Founded in 1930, the company was previously known as Metropolitan Press and Binfords & Mort. At one time they were the largest book publisher in t ...

. p. 114. It operated at its Rocky Butte location for 18 years until, with its enrollment in decline, the school closed in 1959. In the years since the site has been home to several schools, and the 2.38 acre "Joseph Wood Hill Park" was established by City of Portland sometime after 1988.

Campus and academics

Hill Military Academy’s original campus was located in a residential area in northwest Portland. The campus consisted of two buildings, the main building and an armory. The two-story armory measured 50 by 100 feet and included a drill hall and workshops. Hill’s main building was a four-story structure with

battlement A battlement in defensive architecture, such as that of city walls or castles, comprises a parapet (i.e., a defensive low wall between chest-height and head-height), in which gaps or indentations, which are often rectangular, occur at interva ...

s on the exterior wall, and in general designed in the

Scots Baronial Style Scottish baronial or Scots baronial is an architectural style of 19th century Gothic Revival which revived the forms and ornaments of historical architecture of Scotland in the Late Middle Ages and the Early Modern Period. Reminiscent of Scot ...

. This building housed the boarding students of the academy. Students at Hill wore uniforms and attended college preparatory classes as well as classes in the military department. The school had both boarding students and day class enrollees. Summer courses were held at camps held on the

Oregon Coast The Oregon Coast is a coastal region of the U.S. state of Oregon. It is bordered by the Pacific Ocean to its west and the Oregon Coast Range to the east, and stretches approximately from the California state border in the south to the Columbia ...

or in the mountains. The school was considered a pioneer in military education in the

Notable alumni

Bill Bowerman William Jay Bowerman (February 19, 1911 – December 24, 1999) was an American track and field coach and co-founder of Nike, Inc. Over his career, he trained 31 Olympic athletes, 51 All-Americans, 12 American record-holders, 22 NCAA champio ...

Harry P. Cain Harry Pulliam Cain (January 10, 1906 – March 3, 1979) was an American politician who served as a United States Senator from Washington who served as a Republican from 1946 to 1953. Cain is mainly remembered for his conservative and often hig ...

References

{{Reflist, 2

External links

Hill Military AcademyThe Hill Military Academy
- ''Pacific Monthly''
The Hill Military Academy
- long article with many images, emphasizing contributions to Academy by Major Luther Felker Education in Portland, Oregon History of Portland, Oregon Defunct schools in Oregon Defunct United States military academies Educational institutions established in 1901 1959 disestablishments in Oregon 1901 establishments in Oregon Educational institutions disestablished in 1959