Everything about The Ferry Hall School totally explained
The
Ferry Hall School was a girls' preparatory school founded in 1869 in
Lake Forest,
Illinois,
USA. In 1974, Ferry Hall merged into
Lake Forest Academy.
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, a
Presbyterian 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. The first principal was
Edward Payson Weston, a
Congregationalist minister from
Maine. 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, photographer
Jacob Riis, and a man from the
National Peace Conference to speak at the school. From 1904-1914, the Seminary was headed by
Socialist 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, to which it had formerly been tied.
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, 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 mortage still owed to Lake Forest College, eventually succeeding in the early 1950s.
In the 1970s, headmaster John A. Bird began working with
Lake Forest Academy 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 1973, 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
Further Information
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