Background
Bancroft, Cecil Franklin Patch, , New Hampshire 1839 1901 Male Educator educator, was born in New Ipswich, New Hampshire, the eldest son of James Bancroft and Sarah (Kendall) Bancroft.
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Cecil Franklin Patch Bancroft
Edit ProfileEducation
In securing an education he was helped by Mr. and Mrs. Patch of the neighboring town of Ashby, where he attended the common schools, later completing his college preparation at Appleton Academy, in New Ipswich. At sixteen he entered Dartmouth College, teaching at Groton during the winter in order to support himself through the remainder of the year. He graduated in 1860, the fourth scholar in his class. During the next four years he was principal of Appleton Academy (later McCullom Institute) at Mont Vernon, New Hampshire. In 1864, however, he resigned in order to study for the ministry at Union Theological Seminary, in New York. His course there was interrupted by some months spent with the Christian Commission, assisting wounded soldiers, after which he transferred in 1865 to Andover Theological Seminary, where he graduated in 1867. During his free hours he taught Latin at Phillips Academy thus becoming favorably known to the trustees of that institution.
Career
He was recommended to take charge of a school for Southern whites recently established by C. G. Robert, at Lookout Mountain, Tennessee. He was ordained on May 1, 1867. In spite of his efforts, the new institution met with difficulties and failed after five stormy years. While Bancroft was resuming his studies in the University of Halle, Germany, he received a cable message offering him the principalship of Phillips Academy. He accepted and reached Andover in July 1873. There he remained until his death.
After surveying the situation at Phillips Academy, he seized upon the centennial of the academy in 1878 as an opportunity for arousing the interest of the alumni and the general public; and under his supervision an elaborate celebration was held on Andover Hill. He persuaded generous benefactors to form the nucleus of what later became a large permanent fund. Before he died, he had added several modern dormitories, a science building, a gymnasium, and other important improvements to the equipment.
As Bancroft's reputation grew, the academy became more prosperous. When he took office, there were only 237 students; a quarter of a century later there were more than 400. It is estimated that over 9, 600 boys were educated under him at Andover. Meanwhile the faculty was enlarged from four to twenty-two. He had remarkable success in securing and retaining able teachers, who added to the prestige of the school. He liberalized the curriculum without lowering the standard of instruction. He replaced the traditional three-year course by one covering four years; he established a system of written examinations; he discarded many useless subjects; and he eventually accomplished his chief object--"to bring the Academy into perfect harmony and working co"peration with the various colleges and scientific schools and hold it there. " His period was marked also by the beginning of organized athletics, the formation of secret societies, the spread of alumni associations, the development of school literary publications, and a somewhat greater individual freedom for the undergraduates.
Achievements
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Bancroft found Phillips Academy at a critical moment in its history, when its future was at stake. Its endowment was inadequate; its reputation in scholarship was declining; its students were decreasing in number; and it had fallen out of touch with modern theories of education. During the twenty-eight years of his administration Bancroft transformed the school both materially and scholastically.
Personality
Bancroft - known familiarly as the "Doctor" - was a broad-minded, versatile, tireless, and patient leader. A shrewd judge of men and motives, he seldom erred in choosing his assistants or in making decisions. His keen and contagious sense of humor was always in evidence. As an executive, he had a rare gift for bringing out the best in others. As a speaker on educational matters he was nationally recognized, and he also threw himself whole-heartedly into all the activities of community life, wearing himself out ultimately with hard work. In personal appearance, he was, in his later days, a man of medium height and slender figure, with kind eyes, gray hair and beard, and native dignity of bearing.
Connections
He married Frances Kittredge, one of his former pupils at Mont Vernon.
