Sarah Cleghorn, Class of 1895; an Interview with Frederica Templeton
“Here is what our town can do: this glorious old school. We have maintained it against changing educational fashions; against the cost of living; against the universal vicissitudes of all experience, for a hundred years as it was founded to serve the children of this valley.”
When Sarah Cleghorn passed away at age 83 in 1959, her New York Times obituary mentions her great friendship with fellow writer Robert Frost, who called her “saintly.” The obituary goes on to say, “Miss Cleghorn would never have thought of herself as a saint, but she was ready at all times to accept the burdens that go with a life built on principles.”
Cleghorn’s principles guided her to become active in many causes: she wrote passionately about social justice, women’s suffrage, and in opposition to child labor. She balanced her activism with both writing about and engaging in daily life—many of her poems are portraits of New England country life, and Cleghorn herself was deeply connected to the daily goings on of life in Manchester for more than 30 years.
In 1929, to celebrate Burr and Burton’s centennial, Cleghorn and Mary Campbell Munson, class of 1880, wrote a play depicting the story of the first hundred years of Burr and Burton. Walter Hard, class of 1900, owner of the local drugstore and a celebrated local poet, played the role of Mr. Burr and trustee George W. Burton, played the role of ancestor Josiah Burton. In this way, and as an early “journalist” for the Manchester Historical Society, Cleghorn left her mark on the character of Burr and Burton and its community.
To learn more about Sarah Cleghorn we caught up with Frederica Templeton from the Manchester Historical Society who, as an archivist and a writer, has extensive knowledge of the history of Burr and Burton.
Interview with Frederica Templeton
Tell me about Sarah Cleghorn–what kind of a person was she?
From my reading of her works and other descriptions of her, I would say she was a
gentle soul who was a serious poet, a dedicated teacher, and vocal social activist who
could also be very playful. She had a very interesting upbringing and managed to live a
remarkable life dedicated to socialism, pacifism, experimental education practices and
the labor movement.
What was Burr and Burton like when Cleghorn was a student here?
Sarah arrived at Burr and Burton in the fall of 1890, along with her younger brother Carl.
They both had been homeschooled by their aunts, with whom they lived in Manchester
after their mother died. She soon found friends who loved poetry as much as she did,
though she recalls in her biography that very few students wrote verses, so she had no
difficulty getting published in the school magazine.
She was described as petite with a lovely complexion and blond hair and a sweet and
gentle disposition. But beneath the mild exterior was a fierce intelligence that impressed
everyone who knew her.
Sarah’s graduating class in 1895 included 10 students, six of whom were young
women. She studied Greek, Latin, and English literature. She was not so fond of
mathematics and science.
She was fortunate to be there when E.H. Botsford was headmaster. He was a graduate
of Williams College and invited two exceptional women teachers to join him there.
Marcia and Frances Snyder were beloved faculty members and Marcia became a
lifelong friend. A plaque honoring the two sisters was placed on the fireplace in the old
headmaster’s house. She was also there when a freak cyclone destroyed the bell tower.
Sarah loved her years at Burr and Burton and later wrote of it being a school of noble
traditions, democratic to the last degree, “with a tuition too tiny to be believed.”
To what extent did her early life and education at Burr and Burton influence her
later work and contributions to the community?
She was, from an early age, a fierce adversary of cruelty and stupidity. Her intense
hatred of injustice was evident early in her life and informed many of her life choices.
She published her first poem while she was a student, and she worked hard to achieve
her dream of a literary career. After graduation, she decided she wanted to go to
Radcliffe, but only for one year, as she knew her father could not afford it. She returned
to Manchester afterward, where she took the minutes for the newly founded Manchester
Historical Society and produced several very lively and informative notebooks filled with
local news and charming, whimsical drawings.
During the early decades of the 20th century, she regularly had her poems accepted by
such widely read publications as the Atlantic Monthly and the New York Herald Tribune.
In the 1920s her income from freelance writing started to drop off and she decided to
become a teacher. Sarah was very disappointed that she was not hired by Burr and
Burton. But she ended up teaching at two new Progressive schools outside New York
City, where she was very happy. During this time, she also became involved with the
Labor movement in New York City. Her pacifism led her to be a very vocal anti-war
activist during the First World War.
Fall
Sarah had a burning passion for social activism. She felt deeply about the injustice she
witnessed in American society during her lifetime in many different areas: cruelty to
animals, warfare, and poverty. She expressed her beliefs against all forms of injustice,
never tiring of writing letters to newspapers and politicians, and joining organizations
that reflected her values.
When she was 60, she published her biography Threescore, in which she describes her
idyllic childhood, and the joyful companionship of local children who would become
lifelong friends. Her great affection for Manchester shines through her memories of those
years. A copy of her memoir, annotated by her with comments, photographs, and
drawings, is in the Burr and Burton Archives.
In her later years, Sarah became a Quaker. She died on April 4, 1959, at age 83, and is
buried with a simple stone marking her grave in the Plymouth Meeting Friends Cemetery outside Philadelphia.
—
Frederica Templeton is president of the Manchester Historical Society. She was a member of Burr and Burton's Advancement Office and school archivist from 1996-2012 and is the author of The Castle in the Pasture: Portrait of Burr and Burton Academy published in 2005. Her son Colin Templeton ’96 and daughter Sarah Templeton ’05 are Burr and Burton graduates.
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