The Ferry Hall School was a girls' preparatory school founded in 1869 in Lake Forest,

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolita ...

, United States. In 1974, Ferry Hall merged into

Lake Forest Academy Lake Forest Academy (also known as LFA) is a co-educational college preparatory school for boarding and day students in grades 9 through 12. The school is located on the North Shore in Lake Forest, Illinois, United States, about 30 miles north o ...

History

Originally named The Young Ladies' Seminary at Ferry Hall, the school was founded in 1869. The capital for the project was made possible by a bequest from the will of Rev.

William Montague Ferry William Montague Ferry Sr. (September 8, 1796 – December 30, 1867) was a Presbyterian minister, missionary, and community leader who founded several settlements in Ottawa County, Michigan. He became known as the father of Grand Haven and fathe ...

, a

Presbyterian Presbyterianism is a part of the Reformed tradition within Protestantism that broke from the Roman Catholic Church in Scotland by John Knox, who was a priest at St. Giles Cathedral (Church of Scotland). Presbyterian churches derive their nam ...

minister and missionary. In its first year of existence, Ferry Hall enrolled 66 students, 37 of whom boarded at the school. It immediately became known as a school for daughters of the Midwestern social elite, and was supported by such figures as Speaker of the House James G. Blaine and Illinois Lieutenant Governor

William Bross William J. Bross (November 4, 1813 – January 27, 1890) was an American politician and publisher originally from the New Jersey–New York–Pennsylvania tri-state area. He was also elected as the 16th Lieutenant Governor of Illinois. He en ...

. The first principal was

Edward Payson Weston Edward Payson Weston (March 15, 1839 – May 12, 1929) was a notable pedestrian, who was largely responsible for the rise in popularity of the sport in the 1860s and 1870s. Biography Edward Payson Weston was born on March 15, 1839, in Providence ...

, a Congregationalist minister from

Maine Maine () is a state in the New England and Northeastern regions of the United States. It borders New Hampshire to the west, the Gulf of Maine to the southeast, and the Canadian provinces of New Brunswick and Quebec to the northeast and north ...

. Ferry Hall was "no mere finishing school"; rather, it provided something of liberal arts education for women, including uncommonly-taught subjects such as science and mathematics. The Presbyterian influence on the school was very noticeable in the form of mandatory chapel, strict visitation rules (particularly for men), and rare opportunities to leave the campus. Over time, the Seminary became the "liberal alter-ego" of the town of Lake Forest, which "maintained staunchly conservative Republican Values." The Seminary was well known for the support of social justice and missionary work, and became noticeable for inviting such figures as

Eugene V. Debs Eugene Victor "Gene" Debs (November 5, 1855 – October 20, 1926) was an American socialist, political activist, trade unionist, one of the founding members of the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW), and five times the candidate of the Soc ...

, photographer

Jacob Riis Jacob August Riis ( ; May 3, 1849 – May 26, 1914) was a Danish-American social reformer, "muckraking" journalist and social documentary photographer. He contributed significantly to the cause of urban reform in America at the turn of the twen ...

, and a man from the National Peace Conference to speak at the school. From 1904-1914, the Seminary was headed by

Socialist Socialism is a left-wing economic philosophy and movement encompassing a range of economic systems characterized by the dominance of social ownership of the means of production as opposed to private ownership. As a term, it describes the e ...

Frances L. Hughes. In 1918, Eloise Ruthven Tremain took over as the head of the Seminary, beginning a 27-year-long period "noted mostly for the principal's control." Under Tremain's control, the Seminary entered a period of notable organization and financial success, continually running surpluses. Tremain "quickly raised the esteem of Ferry Hall in the local community" and brought Ferry Hall to the forefront of American schools for girls, garnering national attention. Tremain engineered the Seminary's legal and financial independence in 1925 from

Lake Forest University Lake Forest College is a private liberal arts college in Lake Forest, Illinois. Founded in 1857 as Lind University by a group of Presbyterian ministers, the college has been coeducational since 1876 and an undergraduate-focused liberal arts inst ...

, to which it had formerly been tied. Hollywood film studios were aware of Ferry Hall's stature and used it in promoting the career of

Jean Harlow Jean Harlow (born Harlean Harlow Carpenter; March 3, 1911 – June 7, 1937) was an American actress. Known for her portrayal of "bad girl" characters, she was the leading sex symbol of the early 1930s and one of the defining figures of the ...

, a former Ferry Hall student. The film industry made much of Harlow's superior education: "To be admitted to Ferry Hall was a social achievement; to graduate from the school was a scholastic accomplishment". Ironically, Harlow never graduated. Following Tremain's departure in 1947, the school slipped into financially hard times. Enrollment, which had been filled to capacity during the

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, dropped off significantly; though some "suggested the school needed to reestablish its reputation through public relations and advertising," new headmistress Frances Wallace "stubbornly refused to try" these avenues. Ferry Hall's trustees stepped in and organized a major capital campaign that was intended to retire the mortgage still owed to Lake Forest College, eventually succeeding in the early 1950s. The centennial celebration of Ferry Hall in 1969 included such figures as

Maria Tallchief Elizabeth Marie Tallchief ( Osage family name: , Osage script: ; January 24, 1925 – April 11, 2013) was an American ballerina. She was considered America's first major prima ballerina. She was the first Native American (Osage Nation) to ...

and

Gwendolyn Brooks Gwendolyn Elizabeth Brooks (June 7, 1917 – December 3, 2000) was an American poet, author, and teacher. Her work often dealt with the personal celebrations and struggles of ordinary people in her community. She won the Pulitzer Prize for Poetr ...

. In the 1970s, headmaster John A. Bird began working with

to achieve coeducation: the schools had always been considered sister schools and, in recent years, had been offering opportunities to students of both schools. In the spring of 1974, the last class graduated from Ferry Hall. In the fall, Ferry Hall students joined Academy boys at their Mellody Farms campus and created the current coeducational institution Lake Forest Academy-Ferry Hall.

Notable alumnae

, model and actress. *

Frances Perkins Frances Perkins (born Fannie Coralie Perkins; April 10, 1880 – May 14, 1965) was an American workers-rights advocate who served as the 4th United States secretary of labor from 1933 to 1945, the longest serving in that position. A member of th ...

, (Ferry Hall chemistry teacher 1904-06; did not attend as a student.) First female U.S. Cabinet member

U.S. Secretary of Labor The United States Secretary of Labor is a member of the Cabinet of the United States, and as the head of the United States Department of Labor, controls the department, and enforces and suggests laws involving unions, the workplace, and all ot ...

under U.S. President

Franklin D. Roosevelt Franklin Delano Roosevelt (; ; January 30, 1882April 12, 1945), often referred to by his initials FDR, was an American politician and attorney who served as the 32nd president of the United States from 1933 until his death in 1945. As the ...

. * Florence R. Sabin (Primary Department student 1879-1882.) Trailblazer for women in medical sciences. *

Marion Coats Marion Coats Graves (August 2, 1885 - November 19, 1962) was an American educator known for her work in creating two-year junior colleges for women. She helped establish and was the first president of Sarah Lawrence College. Biography Marion Coa ...

(Ferry Hall Principal 1915-1918; did not attend as a student.) First president of

Sarah Lawrence College Sarah Lawrence College is a Private university, private liberal arts college in Yonkers, New York. The college models its approach to education after the Supervision system, Oxford/Cambridge system of one-on-one student-faculty tutorials. Sara ...

. *

Doris Emrick Lee Doris Emrick Lee (February 1, 1905 – June 16, 1983) was an American painter known for her figurative painting and printmaking. She won the Logan Medal of the Arts from the Chicago Art Institute in 1935. She is known as one of the most successfu ...

(1920–22), artist. *

Winifred Bonfils Winifred Sweet Black Bonfils (October 14, 1863, Chilton, Wisconsin – May 25, 1936, San Francisco, California) was an American reporter and columnist, under the pen name Annie Laurie, a reference to her mother's favorite lullaby. She also wrote u ...

(1878-1880), newspaper journalist. *

Charlotte Armstrong Lewi Charlotte Armstrong Lewi (May 2, 1905, in Vulcan, Michigan – July 18, 1969 in Glendale, California) was an American writer. Under the names Charlotte Armstrong and Jo Valentine she wrote 29 novels, as well as short stories, plays, and screenpl ...

(1921–22), author/mystery writer. *

Judy Baar Topinka Judy Baar Topinka (January 16, 1944 – December 10, 2014) was an American politician and member of the Republican Party from the U.S. State of Illinois. Originally a journalist, Topinka served in the Illinois House of Representatives from 1981 ...

, Illinois State Treasurer. *

Amy Hempel Amy Hempel (born December 14, 1951) is an American short story writer and journalist. She teaches creative writing at the Michener Center for Writers. Life Hempel was born in Chicago, Illinois. She moved to California at age 16, which is wher ...

, author.

Notes

References

* *

External links

*
Ferry Hall School history
from the Lake Forest Academy official site {{Authority control Educational institutions established in 1869 Lake Forest, Illinois Defunct schools in Illinois Former high schools in Illinois 1869 establishments in Illinois