Document Type
Finding Aid
Collection Date
1928-1999
Finding Aid Date
9-10-2015
Identifier
RG 10.3 CRAN
Description
All physical materials associated with the New England Province Archive are currently held by the Jesuit Archives in St. Louis, MO. Any inquiries about these materials should be directed to the Jesuit Archives . Electronic versions of some items and the descriptions and finding aids to the Archives, which are hosted in CrossWorks, are provided only as a courtesy.
Cranwell Preparatory School was located in the Berkshire town of Lenox, MA. In May of 1939, Edward Cranwell deeded the land to the Society of Jesus for school purposes and retained 200 acres for his use. By fall of 1939, the first class of the Cranwell Preparatory School arrived with Reverend John F. Cox, S.J. appointed Rector of the new institution. In 1964,Cranwell Preparatory School changed its name to Cranwell School. It functioned as a school until 1975 when finances and a dwindling student population forced it to close. Cranwell Preparatory Schoolbecame Cranwell Renewal Center, Inc. in 1977 and the property was used by the Jesuit Community until the sale of the property in 1985 to local businessmen who converted it into a resort hotel.
The records consist of written histories, mortgages, deeds, property maps, correspondence, diaries, publications, minutes, budget material, newspapers, yearbooks, directories, bound volumes, and photographs and postcards. The collection reflects the growth and development of Cranwell from its inception in 1939 through its heyday in the mid-1960s and finally through its closure and eventual sale in 1985. Jesuit Community house diaries, visitor logs, final vow records, Discipline Office logs (dairies of daily campus life not discipline records), and clipping logs offer a picture of day-to-day campus activity. The Well, Cranwell’s school newspaper, and Bell Tower, the school yearbook, as well as commencement programs for each graduating class and numerous photographs of students, faculty, buildings, and staff reflect student life on campus. Office records, financial, and legal documents, overseer and trustee minutes illuminate the administrative aspect of academic life.
The records are arranged in nine series arranged by date: Histories/Historical Documents, Legal Documents, Board of Overseers and Trustee Minutes, Finances, Diaries and Newspaper Clipping Books, Discipline Office Logs, Office Files, Building and Grounds Files and Publications. The finding aid also includes a summary of the Visual Material available for use.
Recommended Citation
New England Jesuit Province Archives; New England Province of the Society of Jesus; and Cranwell Preparatory School, Lenox, Mass., "RG 10.03 Cranwell School Records" (2015). Finding Aids, Record Groups. 12.
https://crossworks.holycross.edu/findaid_nen_rg/12
RG 12 Photographs / RG 10.3 Cranwell School, Box-Folder List
Estate Names associated with the Cranwell School Property.docx (11 kB)
Estate Names Associated with the Cranwell School Property