Elizabeth Blodgett Hall

2025-08-18T20:41:01Z

2603:7000:C600:BA6:5460:8A3A:7C7A:A671:

{{Short description|American school administrator (1909–2005)}}
{{More citations needed|date=January 2025}}
{{Infobox person
|name =
|caption = Elizabeth Blodgett Hall
|birth_date = {{Birth date|1909|11|16|mf=y}}
|birth_place = [[New York City]], New York, U.S.
|death_date = {{Death date and age|2005|07|18|1909|11|16}}
|death_place = New Canaan, Connecticut, U.S.
|resting_place =
|education = Miss Hall's School
|alma_mater = Radcliffe College
|occupation = College president, educator
|known_for = Founder of [[Bard College at Simon's Rock|Simon's Rock at Bard College]]
|spouse = Livingston Hall
|parents =
|children =
|relations =
|signature =
}}

'''Elizabeth Blodgett Hall''' (November 16, 1909 – July 18, 2005) was an administrator of both secondary and college level institutions. She was a pioneer and innovator of the '[[early college programs|early college]]' [[early college high school|model]] of post-secondary education.

==Early life==
Hall was born on November 16, 1909, in [[New York City, New York]] as the only child of Thomas Harper Blodgett and Margaret Carroll Kendrick. As a young girl she attended the [[Ethical Culture Fieldston School|Ethical Culture School]], before her family moved to the [[Berkshire Hills]] of western Massachusetts.<ref name="concordacademy_hall">[http://www.concordacademy.org/about_concord_academy/elizabethhall.aspx Concordacademy.org] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130927183901/http://www.concordacademy.org/about_concord_academy/elizabethhall.aspx |date=2013-09-27 }}, Retrieved September 22, 2013</ref> Hall was raised in [[Great Barrington, Massachusetts|Great Barrington]], and in 1928 she graduated from [[Miss Hall's School]] in nearby [[Pittsfield, Massachusetts|Pittsfield]].{{cn|date=September 2023}}

In 1928, Hall attended her father's alma mater, [[Knox College (Illinois)|Knox College]], for one year.{{cb|date=September 2023}} While raising her four children and commuting from the suburbs, she became one of the first older adults to study at [[Radcliffe College]], where she graduated in 1946.{{cn|date=September 2023}}

==Career==
From 1949 to 1963 she was headmistress for [[Concord Academy]], an independent college preparatory school in [[Concord, Massachusetts]]. During her time there, Mrs. Hall was responsible for developing Concord Academy into a demanding college preparatory school.

In 1964 on the grounds of her family's Great Pine Farm, Hall founded [[Bard College at Simon's Rock|Simon's Rock]] with financial support from a family foundation established by her mother. The school was designed as an early college, accepting students coming from their sophomore or junior years of high school and usually before receiving high school diplomas. The first class at Simon's Rock entered in 1966. Hall served as the school's president from 1964 to 1972. In 1979 Simon's Rock became affiliated with [[Bard College]]. Hall served on the Simon's Rock Board of Overseers and the Board of Trustees of Bard College. In 1996 she was named an emerita member of both boards.

== Personal life ==
On September 13, 1930, Hall married [[Livingston Hall]] at St. James Episcopal Church in [[Great Barrington, Massachusetts]]. They had four children.<ref name="concordacademy_hall"/>
Hall died July 18, 2005, at the age of 95 in [[Canaan, Connecticut]].<ref>[https://www.nytimes.com/2005/07/20/education/20hall.html New York Times Obituary], Confirmed September 22, 2013</ref>

==Legacy==
Hall earned a reputation as a capable educational administrator and pioneer who was able to successfully translate her vision into an innovative and sustainable institution. In recognition for her leadership at Concord Academy and Simon's Rock, Hall received the Distinguished Alumna Award from Miss Hall's School ''for the leadership to guide a fledgling girls' school from obscurity to national prominence, for the vision to create a new and almost totally original institution, for the dedication, perseverance, and philanthropic commitment to turn that dream into a reality, and for her devotion to the betterment of young people''.<ref>[https://www.misshalls.org/ftpimages/397/misc/misc_66435.pdf misshalls.org], Retrieved September 27, 2013</ref>

==References==
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Hall, Elizabeth Blodgett}}
[[Category:Founders of American schools and colleges]]
[[Category:University and college founders]]
[[Category:1909 births]]
[[Category:2005 deaths]]
[[Category:Bard College at Simon's Rock faculty|.]]
[[Category:Heads of American boarding schools]]
[[Category:Radcliffe College alumni]]
[[Category:Educators from New York City]]
[[Category:People from Great Barrington, Massachusetts]]
[[Category:20th-century American educators]]
[[Category:American headmistresses]]
[[Category:20th-century American women educators]]
[[Category:20th-century American philanthropists]]
[[Category:21st-century American women]]
[[Category:20th-century American women academics]]

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Elizabeth Blodgett Hall