Ricker Classical Institute - Aquilo Yearbook (Houlton, ME)

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The Aquilo History ot Qicker 1848-1948 Today I am a senior at one of the best academies in the country- Ricker Classical Institute and Junior College-a fact of which I am very proud. I have not always been a senior, and neither has Ricker always been the modern, spacious building and school that it is today. Let us look back into the past, and for the benefit of those who do not know the history of this school, and for the renewal of school-day memories of those who do, find the source and the need from which Ricker grew. In the year of 1820 the only school known to this county was one room in the home of Joseph Houlton, Any student wishing secondary or further education had to go to the state of Massachusetts. In the year of 1820, as I have said before, the only school being one room in a private home, plans then and in the next few years were made and discussed toward the building of an academy here in Houlton in order to further education. In 1837 an act of incorporation was secured from the Maine Legislature. With the legal right of incorporation, ten citizens of this community' united into a group known as the Trustees of Houlton Academy . The amount of this corporation's real and personal estate was limited by the fact that their income could not exceed 85,000 per year, and that the trustees of the academy could not be less than 11 or over 20. The establishment of the school building was delayed due to the im- pending war over the northeastern boundary. It was not a very long wait, though, and steps were taken to commence soon after 1845. Reverend William Thomas Savage of the Congregational Church and of the State Board of Education was very instrumental in obtaining a second act of incorporation for the trustees of the academy in 1847. Under this second incorporation act eight prominent men of both local and coun- ty affairs constituted the board of trustees. These men as a corporation had the right to sue and to be sued, to make any necessary by laws as long as they were not repugnant to the laws of the state in any way. They had the power to fill any vacancies occurring in their number, This corporation was to have all the powers and privileges of any other similar corpora- tions. a The foremost member of this organization was Mr. Shepard Cary, a member of the Maine Senate and the Congress of the United States. The board president was John Hodgdong other members were Benjamin L. Staples, Joseph Carr, Jr., Leonard Pierce, Esq., Zemas Paine Wentworth, Zebulon Ingersoll and Jeremiah Trueworthy. On July 31, 1847, a land agent of the state was authorized to convey one half of the township 14, range 3, for the trustees if they before Mon- day, October 8, 1849, should have furnished a good and convenient academ- ical building and had commenced a school in this building and also if their corporation had a property value of at least the sum amounting to 51,000 over and above the debts of the corporation. A cleared, elevated lot on the Military Road, between the Hill and the Mills, was purchased from Collins by the trustees as a site for the academy. A two story building was erected with school rooms on the low- er floor and court rooms above. Sessions of the Supreme Court were held there for eleven years until the present court house was built. The acad- emy opened in the autumn of 1848. The first principal was Mr. Milton U43

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Qiclcer Classical Institute TQ NAR: A LONG- TALE SHORT 'i' ,W f wr' tt' iv X if . .ss ss ,, I ',1A I 1 u J . iu Z .. 1 Q12 , XI -gb LHTE FRARY

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The Aquilo Welch. Many of the following principals became outstanding leaders of education and of theology, Much information, both educational and social, became available, con- cerning education at the academy through the first newspaper, The Aroostook Pioneer, at Presque Isle. After April 30, 1860, much news ap- peared in the first weekly published paper in Houlton known as the Houlton Times. Recognition was continually earned. Many other papers appeared with data on the activities and about the growth, the develop- ment, and the education at the school. In 1873 Houlton still had the only academy. At the time the school had four teachers, and its purpose was to furnish the young of both sexes an opportunity of obtaining a thorough and practcial education , and this pur- pose still, in my opinion, holds true in the school. The greatest blow to the school in its early years was the passage of the high school law in 1873. This law gave any town the authority to es- tablish a good, free high school under certain conditions. Also the academy was unused for one year as the town of Houlton could not see it s way clear to take it over. About the same time, Colby College began to plan for three affiliated preparatory schools to be located in different sections of the state. The transfer of Houlton Academy to Colby was effected in 1887, and the college took full charge in the .fall. The general opinion of the people at this time was that the academy was rapidly attaining a posi- tion equal to that of the best schools in the state . During the next decade of expansion in students and in courses of study a new academy building, the gift of Mrs. Catherine L. Wording in memory of her husband, was erected, This gift was brought about through the continued interest of Dr. Ricker. This building was called Wording Hall, and in the year that the building was finished the name of the school was changed from Houlton Academy to Ricker Classical Institute, in honor of Dr. Ricker. In 1889 legislature passed a resolution appropriating annually for the term of ten years the sum of 31,000 to Ricker. In the beginning of the 1900's the people again found Ricker the only academy in Aroostook. State aid was given to the school in 1901 on a basis of the courses given and through a bill stating that a school wherein a tuition pupil attends should maintain at least one approved course four years in length. In 1903 a classification of high schools in the divisions of grades or classes A, B, C, was formed. Ricker stood as Class A and main- tained that high standard from that date until the present day. In 1926 a junior college was started. A great majority of citizens scorned this act. Even many of the school's trustees doubtfully backed this proiect. At this time Ricker as a secondary school was not so promis- ing as it had been. This too was the year in which Mr. Roy Hayes took office as the school's principal, ' A girl's dormitory was purchased in 1928, and in 1930 an annex was erected known as Haskell Hall. A new dining hall was put into the boys' dormitory. Ricker Classical Institute has always emphasized those things which contribute most to the development of strong trustworthy characters, and the teachers have been chosen for their interest in young people as well as fog tlieir teaching ability. This fact still remains in the history of the sc oo. The school went on much the same after 1940 with few changes in the teachers and courses until March 29, 1944, when a fire, started from some unknown cause, destroyed Ricker's classroom building,Wording Hall, caus- ' .W,g,,,-,,,.,g,,,,,g,,,g.-.T . ,...-:w..,,f Z5 I -A, M--. .hrwr H g, , ,