Watchman Institute

Watchman Industrial School
Location
Map
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Coordinates41°50′03″N 71°34′59″W / 41.834158°N 71.583052°W / 41.834158; -71.583052
Information
TypePrivate Trade school
Established1908
Closed1938
CampusRural/Suburban

The Watchman Industrial School and Camp, also known as the Watchman Institute, was founded in 1908 for black youths by Reverend William S. Holland in Providence, Rhode Island. He based it on the educational theories of Booker T. Washington. In 1923, Holland moved the school to North Scituate when he acquired the property of the Pentecostal Collegiate Institute. He closed the school in 1938 during the Great Depression, when many private schools were unable to survive financially.

The school had suffered fires in 1924 and 1926; newspapers reported that the Ku Klux Klan was suspected, as it had become active in the western part of the state. Holland and his wife operated the related summer camp at the facility from 1938 until 1974.