Finding Aid to the New London Academy Papers

JONES MEMORIAL LIBRARY
2311 MEMORIAL AVENUE
LYNCHBURG, VIRGINIA 24501
(434) 846-0501
NEW LONDON ACADEMY (FOREST, VIRGINIA) PAPERS
The collection includes a typescript of the minutes of the Academy board of trustees,
covering elections, regulations, appointments to the faculty and financial matters. A copy
of a physiology exam given in 1896, an invitation to and program for the 1945 graduation
ceremony, and newspaper clippings about the school are also included in the collection.
FOLDER 1 Minutes, 1 July 1826 - 27 May 1881
FOLDER 2 Miscellaneous clippings, Programs, Newsletter (1945), Physiology exam
(1896)
NEW LONDON ACADEMY
The oldest secondary school in Virginia, New London Academy was chartered by the
General Assembly in 1795. It first operated as a private classical school for young men.
Francis EPPES, a nephew of Thomas JEFFERSON, was a student at the Academy. In
1879, the school became coeducational.
Although originally funded by local subscription, a lottery was held in 1797 to raise
money to erect buildings and to establish a permanent fund for the support of the
Academy. Lotteries were held for fifty years for the Academy and were its chief source
of revenue.
In 1887 the Academy became part of the public school system. In 1892, the Academy
held the first specialized summer training school for teachers in Virginia. In 1910, the
Academy was the first to offer classes in agriculture and home economics. The Academy
was eventually changed to an elementary school in 1964.
In 1971, the Academy was named a historic landmark and was placed on the Virginia
Historic Register. In 1972, it was placed on the National Historic Register. The oldest
remaining building of the Academy was constructed ca. 1837 and was restored by a grant
from the General Assembly of Virginia.
[New London Academy Papers, Mss., MS2071, Jones Memorial Library, Lynchburg, VA; Calder Loth,
ed., Virginia Landmarks Register, 3rd ed. (Charlottesville: University Press of Virginia, 1986), p. 54.]

MS2071