Hill Military Academy was a private, College preparatory military academy in Portland in the U.S. state of Oregon. Opened in 1901, it was a leading military boarding school in the Pacific Northwest. Originally located in Northwest Portland, it later moved to Rocky Butte where it remained until it closed in 1959. The school was a party to the Pierce v. Society of Sisters United States Supreme Court case.
 Main building in 1903 | |
| Type | Military academy College prep |
|---|---|
| Active | 1901–1959 |
| Location | , , 45°32′57″N 122°33′47″W / 45.549285°N 122.563149°W[1] |
Founder
editThe academy's founder, Joseph Wood Hill, was born in Westport, Connecticut, on May 28, 1856, and was raised in Connecticut.[2] He attended the Selleck school in Norwalk before enrolling at Yale University in 1874, where he earned a bachelor of arts degree in 1878.[2] Hill then moved west to Oregon where he was hired as the headmaster of the Bishop Scott grammar school in Portland in 1879.[2] In 1881, while still serving as headmaster, Hill graduated from the Willamette University College of Medicine with a Doctor of Medicine.[2] The grammar school became Bishop Scott Academy in 1887, with Hill becoming principal that year of the expanded school, serving until 1901.[2]
History
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In 1901, Hill left Bishop Scott Academy and founded the Hill Military Academy on Marshall Street in Portland.[2] John W. Gavin served as the vice principal and headmaster at this time.[2] The school was incorporated in 1908, and Hill’s oldest son Joseph A. became the vice president of the school that year.[2] The son took over as manager in 1910, with Major G. C. Von Egloffstein taking over as headmaster. Joseph Wood Hill remained as principal until at least 1911.[2]
In 1922, Oregon voters passed the Compulsory Education Act, an initiative supported by the Ku Klux Klan as an anti-Catholic measure that required attendance in public schools.[3] Hill Academy and a society that ran several Catholic schools both sued the state to prevent the enactment of the law on Fourteenth Amendment grounds, and won in federal district court.[3] On appeal to the United States Supreme Court, that court upheld the injunction against the law in Pierce v. Society of Sisters.[4]
In 1931, the school moved to a new campus on Rocky Butte in eastern Portland.[5][6] It operated at its Rocky Butte location for 18 years until, with its enrollment in decline, the school closed in 1959.[6][7] In the years since the site has been home to several schools, and the 2.38 acre "Joseph Wood Hill Park" was acquired by City of Portland in 1988.
Campus and academics
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Hill Military Academy’s original campus was located in a residential area in northwest Portland.[2] The campus consisted of two buildings, the main building and an armory.[2] The two-story armory measured 50 by 100 feet and included a drill hall and workshops.[2] Hill’s main building was a four-story structure with battlements on the exterior wall, and in general designed in the Scots Baronial Style.[2] This building housed the boarding students of the academy.[2]
Students at Hill wore uniforms and attended college preparatory classes as well as classes in the military department.[2] The school had both boarding students and day class enrollees.[5] Summer courses were held at camps held on the Oregon Coast or in the mountains.[2] The school was considered a pioneer in military education in the Pacific Northwest.[5]
Notable alumni
editReferences
edit- ^ "Hill Military Academy (historical)". Geographic Names Information System. United States Geological Survey, United States Department of the Interior. 1980-11-28. Retrieved 2009-11-12.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p Gaston, Joseph. 1911. Portland, Oregon, its History and Builders: in Connection with the Antecedent Explorations, Discoveries, and Movements of the Pioneers that Selected the Site for the Great City of the Pacific. Chicago: S.J. Clarke Pub. Co. Vol. III. pp. 451-454.
- ^ a b Paulson, Sara (2006). "State of Oregon v. Hill Military Academy". The Oregon History Project. Oregon Historical Society. Retrieved 2009-11-12.
- ^ Pierce v. Society of Sisters of the Holy Names of Jesus and Mary, 268 U.S. 510 (1925).
- ^ a b c Corning, Howard M. (1989) Dictionary of Oregon History. Binfords & Mort Publishing. p. 114.
- ^ a b Tucker, Kathy (2002). "Young Cadets Drill at Hill Military Academy". The Oregon History Project. Oregon Historical Society. Retrieved 2009-11-12.
- ^ Wexler, Geoffrey B. (2005). "Guide to the Hill Military Academy Records 1881-1973". Northwest Digital Archives. Retrieved 2009-11-12.
- ^ "Bill Bowerman Timeline". Oregon Experience. Oregon Public Broadcasting. Retrieved 2009-11-12.
- ^ "Harry Pulliam Cain". Biographical Directory of the United States Congress. United States Congress. Retrieved 2009-11-12.
External links
edit- Hill Military Academy
- The Hill Military Academy - Pacific Monthly
- The Hill Military Academy - long article with many images, emphasizing contributions to Academy by Major Luther Felker