The Deerfield High School in Deerfied, Massachusetts, was only two years old when this end of term exhibition was held in 1860. Each academic term ended with an exhibition of the students’ talents. Exercises like those presented here allowed – even, perhaps, forced – the students to display their proficiencies, whether at elocution, music, or memorization. The skits themselves drew from popular literature or drama – the “May Queen” here, for example, came from William Shakespeare’s Midsummer Night’s Eve – or gave moral stories. “The Student and his Neighbor,” probably communicated moral instruction, with Sobersense combating Swager and Noisybreath. “The Swiss Patriot” drew its inspiration from the history of the Swiss Republic and William Tell. As one of the world’s earliest republics, Switzerland was seen by many of the revolutionary generation as an inspiration.
Greenfield Gazette and Courier. Order of Exercises at the Exhibition of the Deerfield High School. March 27, 1860. Pocumtuck Valley Memorial Association, American Centuries. https://americancenturies.org/collection/l01-082/. Accessed on October 16, 2024.
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