Minden Male Academy
Minden Male Academy, originally Minden Academy, was a school in Minden, Louisiana. It was founded by Charles H. Veeder using a grant of $1,500 from the Louisiana Legislature. It was one of the few private schools in the state that was partly public-funded.[1][2][3] John T. Watkins was one of its alumni.
History
[edit]Minden Academy was established in 1838. The second principal of the school was Henry M. Spofford who went on to become a judge in the Louisiana Supreme Court. The Louisiana Constitution of 1845 made it illegal for private schools to receive public funds and the school was still running a fund for "indigent" children using the original state funding.[1] As a result, the school was split into the Minden Male Academy and the Minden Female College in 1850.
A new campus was constructed for the male school, funded by W. Abner Drake, Drury Murrell, and J. and T. Gibbs.[4] The male academy lasted into the late 1890s, when the Louisiana Constitution of 1898 required that a public school system be created. The male and female schools were recombined and converted into the Minden Public School.[1]
References
[edit]- ^ a b c Press-Herald, Minden (17 July 2018). "Academy Park and tennis in Minden | Minden Press-Herald". press-herald.com.
- ^ Agan, John A. (July 6, 2002). Minden: Perseverance and Pride. Arcadia Publishing. ISBN 9780738523880 – via Google Books.
- ^ Agan, John A. (January 19, 2015). Lost Minden. Arcadia Publishing. ISBN 9781467113199 – via Google Books.
- ^ "Academy Park - Minden, Louisiana - Louisiana Historical Markers on Waymarking.com". www.waymarking.com.
External links
[edit]- Photo of the Minden Male Academy, ca. 1900 at the Webster Parish library