Artifacts & Documents: Printed Material

Deerfield Academy's Rules of Conduct, 1811

zoomable artifact image here

Dig Deeper

Deerfield Academy was closed from April 1810 to April 1811. When it reopened boys and girls were boarding in the same wing. This prompted the trustees to adopt strict rules for student conduct. Strict punishments for any student who broke a rule were also included. A summary of the rules is printed on page 3, starting two-thirds of the way down the left-hand column. Students (or their families) were expected to pay for their own wood, candles, and washing; there was a 9:00 curfew; and "persons of different sexes never converse nor meet together within the walls or the precincts of the academy, except in the presence of some one in the government of the institution," among other rules. Penalties ranged from "gentle admonitions" to expulsion.

Date:
April 9, 1811
Courtesy of:
Pocumtuck Valley Memorial Association Library