Mount Pleasant Classical Institution and Mount Pleasant Institute Collection

The Mount Pleasant Classical Institution opened in 1827 as a school for boys aged 4 through 16. It closed five years later in 1832. The original prospectus was issued by the school's founders, Chauncey Colton and Francis Fellowes, members of the Amherst College Class of 1826, both of whom served as principals. Henry Ward Beecher, Amherst College Class of 1834, is perhaps the most famous graduate. The school and its program are described in detail in the History of the Town of Amherst compiled by Carpenter and Morehouse (pp. 271-273).

A second school in the same location was founded in 1846 by Rev. John A. Nash, Amherst College Class of 1824, as the "Mount Pleasant Boarding School for Boys," for boys between the ages of 8 and 16. The name was changed in 1851-52 to "Mount Pleasant Boarding School," and again in 1853/54 to "Mount Pleasant Institute," a title that it retained at least through 1902-03, when it relocated to Hadley, Massachusetts. John A. Nash served as principal until 1854, when he was appointed professor of scientific agriculture at Amherst College. He was succeeded at Mount Pleasant Institute by his son, Henry C. Nash (AC 1851) and grandson, William K. Nash (AC 1883).