The Encyclopedia Americana (1920)/Phillips (Andover) Academy

PHILLIPS (ANDOVER) ACADEMY, a celebrated college preparatory school for boys at Andover, Mass., founded 25 April 1778, opened 30 April 1778 and incorporated 4 Oct. 1780. It owes its existence to the initiative of Samuel Phillips (1751-1802). The property, originally conveyed to the academy trustees by Samuel Phillips (the elder) and his brother John, consisted of 141 acres with several buildings upon it, in Andover, 200 acres in Jaffrey, N. H., and some $8,000 in cash. In 1785 a new academy building was erected, the gift of the three brothers, Samuel, John and William Phillips. The trustees of the academy were vested in 1807 with authority to receive and hold funds for a theological school and what is now known as the Andover Theological Seminary (q.v.) was founded the next year. The academy has grown to be one of the foremost institutions of its kind in this country, and in recent years its equipment has been very materially increased, the archæological department with ample endowment and costly building being one of the most notable of recent gifts. The larger number of the students go to Harvard and Yale on leaving the academy, and the institution is, therefore, based on the requirements of those universities. It accommodates about 400 pupils. Its endowment now amounts to about $500,000, and outside of invested funds the academy property amounts in value to $500,000. There are 60,000 volumes in the several libraries of the institution. Consult Adams, ‘Some Famous American Schools’ (1903).