Freehold Young Ladies Seminary Badge

Owner Georgiana Souther Barrows

Period1895

MediumSilk

Dimensions5.25 × 2.13 in. (13.3 × 5.4 cm)

InscribedPrinted on ribbon, "1845 / F.Y.L.S. / 1895"

ClassificationsBadges, Buttons, Medals, & Ribbons

Credit LineGift of Mr. John D. Alden, 1935

Object numberB-35

DescriptionA rectangular ribbon of beige silk with a finely fringed bottom; printed gold lettering reads "1845 / F.Y.L.S. / 1895."
Curatorial RemarksEstablished in 1844, the Freehold Young Ladies’ Seminary and Collegiate Institute quickly became a magnet for female students from America and abroad. Reverend Daniel V. McLean, who moved to Freehold in 1836, persuaded local businessmen John Hull (Freehold) and Thomas P. Haight (Colts Neck) to join him in founding a high-quality young women’s boarding school. Amos Richardson, a Dartmouth graduate originally from New Hampshire, served as the school’s first principal. The Seminary opened on 7 May 1845. The first prospectus of the Young Ladies’ Seminary outlined the dazzling array of subjects offered, including mathematics, philosophy, chemistry, geology, botany, anatomy, and religion, with additional fees for music, drawing, French, and “manners and habits of order.” Richardson died in 1881 and Eunice Sewall became the institution’s next principal. After Sewall’s departure in 1897, the school continued to operate for only a few more years. In 1900, the Seminary property was purchased and eventually became the Freehold Military School. In 1916, the property was sold to the Borough of Freehold, and the original Seminary buildings were razed prior to 1927 to build the Broad Street Primary School.

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