Bryant and Stratton Commercial School
Boston, Massachusetts
1865-1975
E-Travel
I was able to purchase the 1965 Aquila, the "100 Anniversary" yearbook. The Boston Herald carried advertisements and some school news. It also featured a brief history of B.&S. in 1956, at the time of the school's 90th anniversary.
History
The Herald notes that advertisements first appeared in 1865 in the Boston Journal that Bryant, Stratton, Mason & Peck's business college would open to receive pupils in "Writing, Bookkeeping, Commercial Law, Commercial Calculations, and cognate studies" The latter field included languages, ornamental penmanship and photography--shorthand.
The Bryant and Stratton business colleges had opened in Cleveland in 1854 when John C. Bryant, Henry B. Bryant and their brother-in-law Henry D. Stratton bought the Folsom Business College, beginning a chain of 90 international commercial schools. The Boston school was the 30th in the chain. However, in 1873 H. E. Hibbard purchased the school. While it retained the Bryant and Stratton name, it was no longer a part of the chain.
One hundred years later B.&S. was still graduating students in accounting. But the top fields that year were marketing, management, data processing, and specific secretarial emphases--medical, legal, technical and executive. The Herald notes that all graduates landed good jobs.
The student body in 1965 resembled that of almost any small two-year private college. Of 375 students, 125 were in their second year. Almost all students were local--330 were from Massachusetts. Just under a third of the student body--119-- were women. There were a student council, a newspaper, and the yearbook. Organizations included an honorary business sorority and a folklore society. Activities included a Christmas party, a spring mixer, a ski weekend in New Hampshire, and a Bermuda trip over Spring Break.
Ten years later Bryant and Stratton was acquired by Newbury College, so the name Bryant and Stratton passed from existence in Boston.
The old Copley Square High School, the home of Bryant and Stratton Commercial School 1950-1975. (CrypticC62, <commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:WTB_Muriel_S_Snowden_International_School_1.jpg>) accessed 2-07-2017
Bricks and Mortar
Classes opened in the Mercantile Library Building at the corner of Hawley and Sumner Streets. Following a fire in 1874 the school moved to a new location at 608 Washington Street, occupying the upper two-plus floors of the five-story building. By 1912 the college had moved again, this time to 334 Boylston Street in the Back Bay area of Boston. The school remained at this address until 1950, when it moved one block to the corner of Newbury and Dartmouth, the building shown in the 1965 yearbook.
That building, the former Copley Square High School, is now the Muriel S. Snowden International School, part of the Boston Public Schools.
Sports
School colors: Yearbook covers suggest that these were probably Red and Green
The number of Bryant and Stratton campuses creates difficulty in doing research. Even using a Massachusetts filter, I suspect that some B.&S. game results may be from the Providence campus. But it seems that the Boston B.&S. at times fielded teams in baseball, basketball and hockey. Aquila shows teams for basketball and hockey but gives no list of games or results.
College Football Data Warehouse lists football games for Bryant and Stratton in 1893, 1906 and 1908. The three games listed for 1893 against Pratt Institute and St. John's were almost certainly played by the Brooklyn B.&S. campus. The 1906 and 1908 games against Rhode Island should surely be credited to the Providence B.&S.
Cheerleaders (1965 Aquila)
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