Use Restrictions

The copyright interests in this collection have been transferred to the James Madison University Special Collections Library. For more information, contact the Special Collections Library Reference Desk. (library-special@jmu.edu).

Access Restrictions

Collection is open for research. Researchers must register and agree to copyright and privacy laws before using this collection. Please contact Research Services staff before visiting the James Madison University Special Collections Library to use this collection.

Preferred Citation

[identification of item], [box #, folder #], Staunton Academy Records, SC 0074, Special Collections, Carrier Library, James Madison University, Harrisonburg, Va.

Acquisition Information

This collection was purchased in February 1987.

Processing Information

In order to streamline the process of applying collection numbers, Special Collections staff completed a large-scale renumbering campaign in the spring of 2017. This collection was previously cataloged as SC 1758.

Administrative History

The Staunton Academy in Staunton, Virginia, was incorporated in 1792, but a formal schoolhouse was not completed until after 1810. The Academy was founded from funds raised through bond sales, and also from state funds raised through the sale of glebe lands. The administration of the Academy was first entrusted to James G. Waddell and Bartholomew Fuller, who were the Academy's first principals and faculty, the former teaching classics and the latter teaching mathematics. In 1833, Lyttleton Waddell became joint principal with William Cooke, and Waddell continued as principal for more than twenty years. During that time, the school was very prosperous, attracting many pupils from abroad. The final principals to be appointed by the Board of Trustees were Pike Powers and Charles E. Young. In the 1872-1873 school year, the Staunton public schools were crowded with 375 children. The Staunton Academy, who had 25 day students in 1873, was asked for the use of their building by the public schools. As of 1873, the Staunton Academy became a public school.

Scope and Content

The Staunton Academy Records, 1808-1828, consist of ten items comprising almost exclusively minutes from the board of trustees' meetings of the Staunton Academy as well as correspondence and issues addressed at said meetings. Of particular interest is an 1818 document that lists the original members of the board when the Staunton Academy was established in 1792.

Arrangement

The collection is arranged chronologically within a single legal sized folder.

Subjects and Indexing Terms

• Education -- Virginia -- Staunton
• Fuller, Bartholomew
• Letters (correspondence)
• Minutes (administrative records)
• Schools -- Virginia -- Staunton
• Staunton (Va.) -- Schools