In the fourth year of New Hampton School’s existence (Nov 1824), about two dozen students, “desirous of improving our selves in the Art or Science of Musick,” submitted a petition to establish a singing school at the Academy.
Two of the signers, brothers William and Nathan Mallon, were boarding students from Boston. What is remarkable about this almost two-hundred-year-old document is how it captures the importance of student voices right from the beginning. The students were obviously effective, as the following year (1825) NHS hired a new faculty member: Mr. Jeremiah Putney, Teacher of Vocal Musick.
