The Old Academy

The Old Academy is an unusual Greek Revival temple front structure built in 1837 to replace the original Framingham Academy erected in 1792 as part of Benjamin Franklin's "academy movement." It was used by the Framingham Schools from 1851 to 1915 when the classes moved next door to the Jonathan Maynard building.

The Old Academy was constructed by Dexter and Adam Hemenway to house the Framingham Academy in 1837. It was used by the Framingham School department from 1851 to 1915, and housed exhibits in honor of the Town's bicentennial in 1900. The Framingham Historical Society has leased the building from the town since 1916. The building was documented in measured drawings and photographs by the Historical American Buildings Survey (HABS) during one of its first surveys in 1934.

The Old Academy is an unusual Greek Revival temple front building with both walls and freestanding columns built of random coursed rubble stone and gable end of flush boarding. Windows have six-over-six double-hung sash. Typical of many traditional school buildings, there are doors on either end of the portico, which could be used to segregate boys and girls or class groups. The doors lead to vestibules that contain a cloak room on one side and staircase on the other. As recoded in the HABS drawings, the interior consisted of a single large classroom space on the first and second floors, with windows on three sides.

On both the exterior and interior, the Academy retains most of its historic integrity, including the blackboards and the light fixtures. Any future plans should include requirements to preserve both the interior and exterior finishes, though temporary partitions could be constructed within the larger spaces.

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Framingham History Events

Parking: Because of Center common construction, please park in the Village Hall lot (2 Oak St.) or behind the Jonathan Maynard Building (14 Vernon St.)

Framingham Remembers...The Civil War
Location: Edgell Memorial Building/ 3 Oak Street
Hours: Open Wednesdays-Saturdays 1:00pm-4:00pm
Admission: Free for FHC Members, $5 for Non-Members

"Be Swift My Soul" A Salon with Julia Ward Howe
Date – Sunday, February 12, 2012
Time – 1:30 – 3:00
Location – Heineman Ecumenical Center, Framingham State College

Join Libby Frank as she portrays Julia Ward Howe - a woman who produced perhaps the most stirring and recognizable lines of music in U.S. history. Julia was transformed from a wealthy New York belle to a Boston writer and abolitionist in the decades leading up to the Civil War. As the wife of reformer Dr. Samuel Gridley Howe, Director of the Perkins Institute for the Blind - she entertained and visited with poets, politicians, reformers, writers and exceptional women.

Libby will present Julia as the host of a salon that might have included H.W. Longfellow, Edgar Alan Poe, Florence Nightingale, Margaret Fuller, Charles Sumner and Charles Dickens among others. These acquaintances along with her travels abroad, her love of language and music all gave birth to the compelling verses of the Battle Hymn of the Republic which were first sung in Framingham at the Plymouth Church nearly 150 years ago – February 22, 1862. Music of the era will be performed. Refreshments served following the performance at the Alumni House, 42 Adams Rd., Framingham

Memory and Meaning Series Making History/Making Place: New England's Search for a Useable Past
Location: Edgell Memorial Library/ 3 Oak Street
Date: Sunday, January 22, 2012
Time: 2:00-3:30 p.m.
Admission: $5 FHC Members and students /$10 for Non-Members

Presented by: Bill Hosley, President Terra Firma Associates - cultural resource consultant, planner, teacher, writer and photographer 
This program connects us with artists and antiquarians who used collections, monuments, story-telling and the built environment to preserve, protect, and promote the New England places they loved.
Click here to for more information and to puchase tickets online
Click here for more information and to puchase tickets online.

Civil War Living History Encampment
Location: Starts at the Old Academy Building, 16 Vernon St.
Date: May 4-6, 2012
Location:Framingham’s Centre Common

Union and Confederate soldiers will set up camp, perform artillery demonstrations, drills and medical scenarios. There will be a Saturday Night contra dance at the Village Hall also located on the Common, as well as activities related to the Civil War exhibition Framingham Remembers…The Civil War at the Edgell Memorial Library. This Library, which is the town’s civil war memorial, will be rededicated during the weekend activities and three local authors will be signing recently published books on Framingham’s Civil War history.

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Winner of $100,000 Partners in Preservation grant for Window restoration at Edgell Memorial Library

"Congratulations! What a testament to your project and your organization!"

Marilyn Martino, Executive Director, Sudbury Foundation