Right: One of the many noteworthy Presidential letters that Fay School is displaying in honor of their Sesquicentennial (contributed)
In honor of its 150th anniversary, Fay School is displaying a complete collection of Presidential autographs.
It’s more than a collection of signatures. Some of the framed documents include interesting letters and historical documents.
The public is invited to two viewings: this Saturday, May 21 from 2:00 – 4:00 pm and Tuesday, May 24 from 12:00 – 3:00 pm.
For more information, read the school’s release below. (Scroll to the bottom for details on the viewing events.):
Fay School’s Collection of Presidential Autographs & Documents
In the early 1900s, Fay School’s second headmaster, Waldo B. Fay, began a collection of presidential autographs. He wrote to sitting presidents and asked each one to contribute his signature. Over the years, alumni and friends of Fay added to the collection, and today, Fay has a complete set of documents featuring the autographs of every president. This year, in honor of Fay’s 150th anniversary, Fay’s Board of Trustees restored and reframed the collection, so we could share this exciting snapshot of history with our community.
The collection includes a fascinating array of documents that offer a glimpse of the range of responsibilities and activities of the Commander-in-Chief. Some of the documents are mundane—such as a check for $10 from William Henry Harrison, or an approval from Millard Fillmore to affix a presidential seal to a letter destined for the Queen of Spain.
Other letters shine a light on pivotal points in American history—such as a letter from Ulysses S. Grant, written just a few weeks before the end of the Civil War, about the movement of troops towards City Point, Virginia, the headquarters of the Union Army in 1864 and 1865. In it, he tells one of his majors to expect the arrival of 900 horses and 1200 men, who are “now armed with muskets.”
In other cases, the letters highlight the numerous requests presidents receive for favors, such as an 1852 letter from James Buchanan, in which he declines to lend his political support for a friend running for office in Pennsylvania. He notes that “in many instances my best friends will be conflicting applicants for the same office. This of course will place me in an embarrassing position…I have determined not to connect myself for the present in favor of any individual, although in the end I shall exert myself to secure the distribution of the offices among those political friends to whom I am under obligation.”
Many of the later letters in the collection are responses to direct requests for presidential autographs to add to the Fay collection. Fay’s letter from William Howard Taft, for example, is a handwritten note to his brother, Horace Taft, who asked for the autograph on behalf of Frederick Staples, who was at the time a well-respected master at Fay. Taft writes, “As Mr. Staples and you and I are colleagues in the same profession, I feel an obligation to comply with his wish. More than that, a request of this kind is suggestion of former greatness that tickles vanity.”
And some of the letters reflect a direct connection between Fay and the presidents. The letter from Theodore Roosevelt, for example, is written to Sloan Simpson, Fay Class of 1889. Simpson served as a Rough Rider with Teddy Roosevelt during the Spanish American War, and the two developed an enduring friendship. During the Roosevelt presidency, Simpson visited the White House and also hosted Roosevelt back on his Texas ranch for hunting expeditions. Later in life, Simpson donated much of correspondence with Roosevelt to Fay, and the framed document in the collection, which refers to a planned reunion of their Rough Rider regiment, is just one of many letters in the Fay archives.
Now installed in the Root Meeting Room, the refurbished collection is an exciting reflection of American history and a unique opportunity for Fay students to explore primary documents up close. The documents have been mounted in chronological order—with wall space available for #45!
The collection will be open to the public for viewing on Saturday, May 21 from 2:00 – 4:00 p.m. and on Tuesday, May 24 from 12:00-3:00 p.m. Parking will be available at Fay School’s East Entrance, located at 25 Middle Road in Southborough. The collection is located in Root Academic Building and there will be event signage directing visitors to Root Meeting Room.
