Henry Barnard was born in Hartford, Connecticut in 1811. In 1843, he was appointed by the governor of Rhode Island to examine public schools in the state and recommend improvements. Barnard was the first commissioner of public schools in Rhode Island, serving from 1845-1849. In 1845, Barnard established the Smithville Seminary, a teacher’s college, in Rhode Island and later served as superintendent and principal of the Connecticut State Normal School in New Britain, Connecticut from 1851-1855. He also was the chancellor of the University of Wisconsin-Madison (1859-1860), president of St. John’s College in Annapolis, Maryland (1866), and served as the first United States Commissioner of Education (1867-1870). Barnard died in Hartford, Connecticut in 1900.
The collection includes various letters regarding education written by Henry Barnard to A. D. Lord in Kirtland, Lake County, Ohio and Miss Marble at the State Normal School in Providence, Rhode Island. The collection also includes the typed transcripts of handwritten letters.
Researchers are advised to contact Rhode Island College Special Collections for questions regarding permissions to reproduce, distribute, or otherwise publish material from this collection. Although Rhode Island College has physical ownership of the collection, it does not necessarily hold literary rights. It is up to the researcher to determine the owners of the literary rights and to obtain any necessary permissions from them.
The collection is open for research.
Henry Barnard letters, MSS-0096, Special Collections, James P. Adams Library, Rhode Island College.
The collection is arranged in chronological order.
Provenance of the collection is unknown. It was in the holdings of Special Collections prior to 2023.
The collection was described by Special Collections intern, Melissa Moniz, in 2023 under the supervision of Digital Archivist and Special Collections Librarian, Veronica L. Denison.
This collection has not been digitized. For information about obtaining digital copies, please contact the Rhode Island College Special Collections.