Cyrus Peirce

Cyrus Peirce (1790–1860), American educator and Unitarian minister, was the founding president of the first American public normal school, which evolved into Framingham State University.

Biography

Early life Cyrus Peirce (originally pronounced "Purse," but now usually as if it were spelled "Pierce") was born on August 15, 1790, in Waltham, Massachusetts, the twelfth and last child of Isaac Peirce and Hannah Mason Peirce, his wife. He went to Framingham Academy before going to Harvard. During his sophomore year in the winter of 1807–1808, he began teaching in nearby West Newton.

After receiving his bachelor's degree from Harvard in 1810, Peirce went to Nantucket Island to take charge of a private school there, but after two years there, he returned to Harvard in 1810 to start divinity school, which he completed in 1815. He then returned to Nantucket where he resumed his teaching career.

In an 1841 letter to Henry Barnard where he described his work in the Lexington Normal School, Peirce wrote:

The experimental normal school in Lexington, which was to evolve into today's Framingham State University, began on a modest note with only three students, but it had grown to 42 by July 1842, when ill health forced Peirce to resign his position there and return to Nantucket. By 1844 the school had moved to West Newton and Peirce was persuaded to return for another term in July 1844. He served until May 1849, when ill health again forced him to resign. While at the school, he closed each class with the call for them to "Live to the Truth". His words are the motto of today's Framingham State University, which has acknowledged him as its first president.