| Hill Military Academy | |
|---|---|
 Main building in 1903 | |
| Active | 1901–1959 |
| Type |
Military academy College prep |
| Location |
Portland, Oregon, USA 45°32′57″N 122°33′47″W / 45.549285°N 122.563149°WCoordinates: 45°32′57″N 122°33′47″W / 45.549285°N 122.563149°W[1] |
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.
Founder[]
The 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[]
Joseph W. Hill
G. C. von Egloffstein, principal from 1910
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 First 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] The school’s enrollment then declined, and the school closed in 1959.[6][7]
Campus and academics[]
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[]
- Bill Bowerman[8]
- Harry P. Cain[9]
References[]
- ↑ "Hill Military Academy (historical)". Geographic Names Information System, U.S. Geological Survey. 1980-11-28. http://geonames.usgs.gov/pls/gnispublic/f?p=gnispq:3:::NO::P3_FID:1158288. Retrieved 2009-11-12.
- ↑ 2.00 2.01 2.02 2.03 2.04 2.05 2.06 2.07 2.08 2.09 2.10 2.11 2.12 2.13 2.14 2.15 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.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Paulson, Sara (2006). "State of Oregon v. Hill Military Academy". The Oregon History Project. Oregon Historical Society. http://www.ohs.org/education/oregonhistory/historical_records/dspDocument.cfm?doc_ID=677C336B-B3FC-DE68-06CD3D3C8E9B358B. Retrieved 2009-11-12.
- ↑ Pierce v. Society of Sisters of the Holy Names of Jesus and Mary, 268 U.S. 510 (1925).
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 Corning, Howard M. (1989) Dictionary of Oregon History. Binfords & Mort Publishing. p. 114.
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 Tucker, Kathy (2002). "Young Cadets Drill at Hill Military Academy". The Oregon History Project. Oregon Historical Society. http://www.ohs.org/education/oregonhistory/historical_records/dspDocument.cfm?doc_ID=00080420-24AB-1E9F-9D1880B05272FE9F. Retrieved 2009-11-12.
- ↑ Wexler, Geoffrey B. (2005). "Guide to the Hill Military Academy Records 1881-1973". Northwest Digital Archives. http://nwda-db.wsulibs.wsu.edu/findaid/ark:/80444/xv90295. Retrieved 2009-11-12.
- ↑ "Bill Bowerman Timline". Oregon Experience. Oregon Public Broadcasting. http://www.opb.org/programs/oregonexperiencearchive/billbowerman/timeline.php. Retrieved 2009-11-12.
- ↑ "Harry Pulliam Cain". Biographical Directory of the United States Congress. United States Congress. http://bioguide.congress.gov/scripts/biodisplay.pl?index=C000021. Retrieved 2009-11-12.
External links[]
- 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
The original article can be found at Hill Military Academy and the edit history here.