Mount's History Includes Boys!

In preparation for the 150th anniversary, we have been spending quite a bit of time in the archive room here at the Mount, gathering pictures and other accounts that make up our history. As part of that search, we have been looking through the records of some of the earliest attending students from the late 19th and early 20th Centuries. We were very surprised when we discovered the records of the many boys who attended the Mount in those early years, a fact some of us here at the Mount were not aware of!

Through those records we were able to compile a rough time line of when boys attended the Mount, which we thought may interest others who like us were unaware of this part of Mount's great history. The earliest reference in our archives to boys at the Mount comes from Mother Mary John's Diary in August 1874 and states:

"'The house was searched for Charlie Rose.' (Charlie Rose was the victim of Philadelphia's most famous kidnapping case.) The school must have been known as having boys or it would not have been searched. This is one of the earliest references to the fact that there was a boys' school at the Mount."

Following this there are various diary references and old records of student names that confirm that there were in fact boys at the Mount. Then, in a later entry, we found information about the length of time boys were at the Mount:

"Boys' School was closed at the end of 1907-08 scholastic year. Some of the boys went to Merion Academy of Mercy, some to Villanova. The closing did not last long. in 1910 for reasons that have not been discovered, MSJ was again open to boys. This time as Day Pupils only. This again did not last long. In about two years, boarders were again received. The number grew so rapidly that by 1919, a separate school was established at Norwood, Chestnut Hill."

This entry is followed by more names and accounts of the boys themselves. Thus, although our information is limited, we do have some records of the boys who attended the Mount and thus are a part of our great history.

We would love to hear from anyone who had a male relative or friend attend the Mount, and would like to invite you to comment here on the blog and include pictures if you have any!