Moving to Millbrook

Millbrook, Dutchess, New York  (1908-1978)

“Farewell To Irvington. FAREWELL, dear Bennett School at Irvington, scene of our happy days. June has come all too quickly. We are leaving you now, never to return. It is with sadness that we part-that we think that you are to be no more. But amid our sorrow there comes a happiness, a joy in our new school in Millbrook, where your traditions and ideals are to be carried out, in a far greater and fuller way than ever before. Upon you, dear Halcyon, we bestow our warmest desires for success and happiness.” ~ "Farewell to Irvington" The Bennett Annual, 1907

May Friend Bennett’s decision to move her school to the countryside reflected broader educational trends of the Progressive Era, when many schools promoted rural campuses as healthier and morally uplifting environments for students. Millbrook, NY, despite being a four-hour journey (or more) from New York City, was well known for its “healthful climate and... the great beauty of the hills” and where Miss Bennett “could do the most for her girls.”

With encouragement and support from her friends in Irvington and a cordial welcome from Millbrook locals, including Mr. Samuel Thorne, Miss Bennett signed a contract to purchase Halcyon Hall, an abandoned luxury hotel, for $70,000 on October 22, 1906. The hotel building featured a large living room and ballroom, offices, study halls, a dining room, kitchens, and extensive views of the countryside. The 22-acre property also included 3 cottages, a large stable, and 3 smaller stables.

The hotel property had been largely neglected and unoccupied since its closure in 1895, and plans were immediately set in motion to secure the funds necessary to repair and adapt the deteriorating building for educational use. After several improvements to the buildings and grounds, Miss Bennett's School for Girls officially opened at Halcyon Hall in 1908.

Services dedicating the school’s new home were held on November 19, 1908. The event was described as follows:

“The girls did beautifully in the marching and singing required of them. The grand processional hymn, ‘Now thank we all our God,’ was sung as the girls, clad in their simple white dresses, marched slowly down the large staircase and on to the music room, the members of the faculty and dignitaries [including Miss Bennett, President Slocum (of Colorado College), Bishop Greer, and President Taylor (of Vassar College)] following.”

The first winter at the new location was unfortunately marked by hardship and illness. Halcyon Hall’s antiquated heating system was no match for severe weather and blizzard conditions. A faculty member died from pneumonia, and several more were diagnosed with appendicitis. Finally, an outbreak of scarlet fever forced the school to close two weeks before the spring commencement. “A year of emergencies,” Miss Bennett commented to her staff. “I hope I shall never have another such again.”

Despite the hardships of that first year, under Miss Bennett’s leadership, all funds earned from tuition were directed back into the school, improving the campus and building the faculty. Aided by Miss Bennett’s improvements and travel innovations that shortened the journey between Millbrook and the city, the financial security of the school gradually stabilized.

Over the next fifteen years, Miss Bennett purchased several additional buildings and equipment, as recorded in an Account Book kept by the Financial Office. These included Brookside Cottage, Exmoore House (Miss Bennett’s home on the campus), The Firs, Ferda Cottage, Harkaway, and other facilities supporting academics and student life. Additional staff were hired, including Charles Rann Kennedy and Edith Wynne Matthison, who joined the faculty in 1919. See: Theater and the Arts & Campus

The school continued under the leadership of May Friend Bennett until her death in 1924. Under the terms of Miss Bennett’s will, leadership passed to Courtney Carroll and the school was incorporated on May 29, 1924. Courtney Carroll was appointed Principal and a Board of Trustees including Charles Rann Kennedy, Edith Wynne Matthison, Edith Duble, Margaret Gage, Margaret Moss, and Mr. Baron W. Gage was established.

View additional records and images of Halcyon Hall here.

References: 

Farewell to Irvington (1907) The Bennett Annual, p. 62. Bennett College Collection. 

"The Bennett School For Girls Halcyon Hall," 1908. Country Life in America Magazine. America's Historical Newspapers.

Wilcox, Marie Farnsworth, (1930). May Friend Bennett: A Memoir. Kessinger Publishing. https://discover.midhudsonlibraries.org/search/card?id=a8217319-09db-523d-9ad4-3a1566149665&entityType=FormatGroup.