The Rise of American Boarding Schools and the Development of a National Upper Class

Prep School and Public School Graduates: Who Attends College Reunions, Who Donates, Who Doesn't, and Why

“…When we looked specifically at those alumni who had attended the six most socially exclusive boarding schools, schools often referred to (e.g., Levine 1980) by the acronym ''St. Grottlesex'' (Groton, Kent, St. George's, St. Paul's, St. Mark's, and Middlesex), there was a noteworthy pattern, one that approached statistical significance: only 16% had contributed to the annual fund, compared to 36% of all other graduates (v 2 ¼ 3.42, df ¼ 1, p < .06, r ¼ 0.04).…”

Boarding Schools and Capital Benefits: Implications for Urban School Reform

“…One such barrier is the challenge of seeing schooling beyond our current tradition of day school and preconceived notions of what schools should be like. Unlike the United Kingdom where boarding schools are more widely accepted, most families in the United States do not think of sending their children away to school before college (Levine, 1980). Further, because we are dealing with a vulnerable population within the confines of a bureaucratic system, it is difficult for policymakers and educators in this country to implement radically different ideas.…”

The sociopolitical origins of the American Legion

“…Before the Civil War, most capitalist families' made their fortunes in trade or land (Baltzell 1958, Chapters 2 and 5;Levine 1980;Hall 1982, Chapters 2-4). As trade with China diminished these families moved into banking and financed early railroad building, mining and utilities.…”

“…These institutions excluded the lower classes but quickly became highly successful, albeit unintended, mechanisms for the assimilation and integration of the industrial segment of the capitalist class. By the early 1900_s, prep schools, private clubs and the Social Register were accepting the industrialists, or their children (Levine 1980;Baltzell 1964).…”

“…Industrialization also created a new kind of working class and patricians were concerned about both the effects of immigration on their ability to socialize their children (Beisel 1990;Levine 1980) and the intensity of industrial class conflicts. The violence of those conflicts led patricians to worry "that 'class hatred' was separating their countrymen into mutually hostile, and potentially violent, plutocrats and proletariats.…”