"The Oread Institute" presented by Jan Parent and Preservation Worcester

Jan Parent presented an interesting program on the Oread Institute with photos shown on PowerPoint. She is a new docent for Preservation Worcester. To begin with, she said that in 1845 Eli Thayer bought four acres on Goat Hill for $150 an acre and later bought ten acres down to Main Street. Believing that women should have the same opportunities as men, Thayer built what he named the "Oread Collegiate Institute." At the time, Oberlin College in Ohio was the only college admitting women. He built the school like a castle. Stone was quarried off his land. In 1848, the 4-story North Tower was built, having a diameter of 50 feet. On May 14, 1848, the Oread Collegiate Institute opened in the North Tower with fourteen students. Two years later the South Tower was built. Eli Thayer named the college after Virgil’s poem The Oread.

In 1852, there were fourteen teachers and 150 students. Room and board was $112. It cost $12.50 more for a Tower room. Tuition for day students was $25/year. For the first ten years, there were only twelve graduates – because it was a private college and girls who attended were from wealthy homes and mainly were interested in finding husbands and may not finish school.

A student’s day started at 6:30 a.m. with breakfast. She would bring down her oil lamp at that time to refill it with oil. Then she would return to her room to tidy it up. If water were needed, she would have to walk half way down the hill to get it. Each day was scheduled with one hour of physical activity, which might be a walk. There were no classes on Friday afternoons; and if a student wanted to go into town, she needed a chaperone. Friday evening was game night, with games like Charades. The favorite thing on Saturdays was to go to the Ledge. There was a boys’ school across the street (which later became named "Worcester Academy"). Eli Thayer graduated from Worcester Academy. He later became headmaster 1847-1848.

Two teachers from the Oread Institute [co-principal Sophia Packard and ornamental music teacher Harriet Giles] went on to found Spelman Seminary (named after Oread graduate Laura Spelman who married John D. Rockefeller), which later became Spelman College. Mr. Rockefeller made the donation to make the Spelman Seminary possible.

The kitchen was in the south parlor and was 50 feet in diameter and four floors high. There were 24 stations with stoves for cooking [a photo was shown]. From 1898-1904 the building was the Worcester Domestic Science Cooking School. Henry Perky was the inventor of shredded wheat. The building was finally closed and razed in 1934.

Jan Parent showed a photo of a playground within what is believed to be the foundation of the North Tower [in Castle Park]. The Main South Community Development Corporation is raising funds for Castle Park. Casey Starr is a "tireless champion" working for MSCDC. Barbara Haller, Worcester City Council Member, lives in the neighborhood.

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President Heather-Lyn Haley thanked Jan Parent for the presentation and thanked everyone for coming and supporting the Worcester Women’s History Project.