Mount Pleasant Classical Institute, was a boarding school for boys in Amherst, Massachusetts. It operated for five years from 1827 to 1832, and served ages 4–16. It was founded by Amherst College graduates Chauncey Colton D. D. and Francis Fellowes his brother in-law. Mount Pleasant Classical Institute consisted of a principal and seven or eight teachers. At one point there were seventy boys. The school offered traditional and progressive elements. The students were allowed to govern themselves. The curriculum had classical courses, commercial theory, and gym. Mount Pleasant Classical Institute

Abolitionist Abolitionism, or the abolitionist movement, is the movement to end slavery. In Western Europe and the Americas, abolitionism was a historic movement that sought to end the Atlantic slave trade and liberate the enslaved people. The British ...

preacher

Henry Ward Beecher Henry Ward Beecher (June 24, 1813 – March 8, 1887) was an American Congregationalist clergyman, social reformer, and speaker, known for his support of the abolition of slavery, his emphasis on God's love, and his 1875 adultery trial. His r ...

and brother of Harriet Beecher Stowe was the second student enrolled in the school after its inception. Yearly tuition was over $250. The school was also home to Greek refugees: Abolitionist and woman rights activist John C. Zachos, author and lecturer Christophoros Plato Kastanes, author Alexandros Georgios Paspates, Constantine Fundulakes Newell, Christopher Evangeles. According to Kastanes book, the teachers were

Gregory Anthony Perdicaris Gregory Anthony Perdicaris ( el, Γρηγόρης Αντώνης Περδικάρης; 1810 – April 18, 1883) was a Greek American statesman, lawyer, professor, author, and entrepreneur. Perdicaris raised awareness about Greece in the United S ...

and Petros Mengous author of ''Narrative of a Greek Soldier in 1830''. After departing from Mount Pleasant Classical Institute, John C. Zachos followed the Rev Dr. Chauncey Colton to an Episcopalian institution twenty miles north of Philadelphia. Bristol College which was also founded by Dr. Colton it combined manual labor and study. After the school was closed, the building was partly dismantled and moved to other locations within Amherst. One wing, which became known as the “Bee Hive”, was turned into a

tenement house A tenement is a type of building shared by multiple dwellings, typically with flats or apartments on each floor and with shared entrance stairway access. They are common on the British Isles, particularly in Scotland. In the medieval Old Town, i ...

which housed lower-income families and African American refugees during the Civil War.

Notable alumni

* Martin Russell Thayer * William Carey Crane *

James Roosevelt Bayley James Roosevelt Bayley (August 23, 1814 – October 3, 1877) was an American prelate of the Catholic Church. He served as the first Bishop of Newark (1853–1872) and the eighth Archbishop of Baltimore (1872–1877). Early life and educa ...

References

Boarding schools in Massachusetts Buildings and structures in Amherst, Massachusetts Schools in Hampshire County, Massachusetts

Bibliography

* {{Massachusetts-school-stub