1. Primary Source Study
1. Introduction
The Progressive School movement began in the 1920s with a
number of schools developed in reaction to the Victorian era in
combination with the Prog Schools’ leaders own experiences of
school and their feelingss about Freud. They were arguably more
‘reactive’ than progressive.
1

2. The three schools I am studying are:
Malting House - Geoffrey Pyke & Susan Isaacs (1926 - 29)
Beacon Hill - Bertrand & Dora Russell (1927 - 1944)
Summerhill - AS Neill (1921 - present day)
The primary source is a letter from AS Neill to Dora
Russell in the Spring of 1944, shortly after Russell finally
closed her school.
The letter was found in the Dora Russell archives, held at
the International Social Studies Archive but also available
digitally. Pieces are not easy to retrieve; they are in a
comlicated download system where you cannot preview what you are
getting beyond a tiny thumbnail however I tried to find
correspondence with either Isaacs or Neill in the hope of
finding out their opinions towards one another and eventually
stumbled upon several letters from Neill - none of which are
published in his collected letters (”All the best, Neill”).
This piece is particularly interesting for highlighting
several important themes:
1. Community among progressive school members
2. Attitudes towards family members
3. Staffing problems
4. Financial problems
5. Journalism and publications
6. “Oceans of compromise”
2. Interpretations
Community among Progressive school members
The Progressive School Movement has been written about
collectively in several major education works - Skidelsky,
Stewart, The Modern Schools Handbook. However it is difficult to
know to what extent it was a movement versus a coincidence of
time and place. There appears to have been relatively little
communication between the headteachers of the schools and their
biographies exclude one another.
Though the ideas are similar and all were labelled by
journalists as “Do As You Please” schools there were crucial
differences in the style of teaching. While AS Neill remained
committed throughout to the idea of students being able to do
what they want and having self-governance they was more of a
scientific zeal in the other schools and they gradually changed
over time (references?)
The letters uncovered show however that Dora wrote
regularly to Neill, she asked for his help with finance, and at
2

3. regularly to Neill, she asked for his help with finance, and at
one point even allows Neill to bring his charges to her school
during an evacuation. This is not mentioned in Neill’s
biography. Why? (a) Potentially it would bring national
scandal, both were well known and had famous divorces. (b) Neill
was too busy creating himself as the leader of a narrative and
did not want to give the glory away. (c) Dora Russell was again
being ignored for being female and therefore uninteresting
(Tamarisk Tree and other letters).
2. Attitudes towards family members
Neill’s wife was dying in the manner he describes when he
wrote this letter (biography). The language was shocking - at
least to me! - and seems to be of someone who does not much care
for his wife. The theme of family and relationships is
interesting through all three schools ( Isaacs, biog).
Pyke & Isaacs have an affair that all but ends Malting
House. The Russell’s eventually divorce from their ‘open
marriage’ when Bertrand has an affair with a second nanny and
Dora becomes pregnant by another man (who offers to marry her,
but she refuses) ( Tamarisk Tree).
Neill marries several times throughout his life ( biog, put
in what these are) and the relationships are secondary to his
school.
For all three the school seems to be about meeting desires
that cannot be held together in their own personal life.
Freudian reading, psychohistory.
3. Staffing Problems
All three schools struggled with staffing. The Dora Russell
archives have hundreds of letters of people writing wishing to
work there, many are unsuitable - they are attracted by the
fame, and even when all three get people they complain that they
are not used to the school. It does appear that the particular
style of the school requires a level of patience that most
people do not have.
The issue of women leaving to have children was
particularly pertinent. One of the reasons why Russell and
Isaacs are both involved is because it enables them to work with
their own children.
4. Financial Problems
Both Malting House & Beacon Hill were rocked by
relationships but the actual reason they could not continue was
due to the impact this had on finances. As Neill describes
3

4. due to the impact this had on finances. As Neill describes
here, they are struggling. Summerhill, of all the schools,
appears to have had the best finances because AS Neill published
constantly - he was particularly famous in the US during the
1960s, and this might explain why Ellis Library has such a glut
of his books (and other books on Summerhill) from this time.
Financial problems were exacerbated by external
consequences - in the case of Pyke, it was the 1929 depression
(he was a trader and became bankrupt).
In the case of Beacon Hill the loss of Russell was always
problematic, as was the fact that he continually insulted the
school and distanced himself from it. But the really big problem
was WWII. First Russell was forced to move because the area sh
was in was being heavily bombed. The second building they moved
to was then taken over by the government and she did not gain
any compensation (it went to the landlord). This prompts Russell
to write to people (including Neill) for money, or advice on how
to get money. It does appear that she is less successful because
she is female and not widely known (she was always hidden behind
Bertrand Russell in almost every article, and is mad about this
in her biography and subsequent writing!)
5. Journalism and Publications
It is notable that Dora Russell, Susan Isaacs and AS Neill
were all prolific writers and authors. Russell and Isaacs both
also lectured. Only AS Neill was able to combine the two and
nearly always wrote as a way of making money for the school.
Isaacs and Russell both maintained writings about other subjects
alongside the school and there is a sense that both were
researchers or ‘social scientists’ first, with the school really
a subject for their own narrative. This does not play a
particular part in the schools’ demise (it really was financial)
but it does show something of a difference in motive.
6. “Oceans of Compromise”
The most interesting sentence in this piece is Neill’s
words:
“Oceans of new progressive schools mostly compromises”
Over the years progressive schools tended back towards the
norm. They became stricter, the adults imposed more in the
government, they closed down, they introduced uniforms, they
bent to the will of inspection regimes introduced after WWII. AS
Neill’s description of Oceans of Compromise is both desparate
and correct.
The question to be answered by the historian is: Why?
4

5. From what I have said so far:
- Finance
- Relationships
- Motivated by ‘fame’ or ‘social science’ rather than
education
- Staffing
These appear to be key and one is led to wonder to what
extent these are the issues surrounding new schools even today.
When one looks at the charter schools that closes we see a lot
around finance and staffing. I also wonder the extent to which
relationships matter. It seems so unlikely that they could
matter greatly for all three schools and yet be simply absent in
the literature today. Why is that missing? Are we all
professional now? Or is there still an ‘ocean of compromise’ in
the research we are doing?
Synthesis - What does this tell us about US Education
History?
1. Finance is a greater driver of change than ideology -
the integration of girls and boys is equal in these schools
(quite rare in England) because of finance, this was also the
case in the US, equally - I expect - in the case of segregation,
types of schooling, specialisation, etc.
2. The importance of relationships - are they in any of the
books we discussed?
Mann - first wife died, this spurred him on as he grieved
for a very long time, Second wife - Mary Taylor Peabody - was a
teacher, very highly respected, and absolutely significant in
helping Mann win over most of the people who helped him stay on
board
Jefferson - married once, 6 children - his wife, Martha,
had half-brothers and sisters who were slaves because her father
was a slave trader and attorney and fathered them. They were
then inherited by the Jeffersons. Jefferson also fathered a
child by one of the slaves, Sally Hemmings. DNA testing in 1998
has proven the link.
Du Bois - Twice! - first died - she was an almost ‘saintly’
woman who became entirely withdrawn (Lewis’ Biography) - Du Bois
had serial affairs with famous/educated women and all but
ignored his daughter. His second marriage was to a woman of 50
when he was 84.
Booker T. Washington - married 3 times - first two died -
second one had been to MA Normal School - then went to work at
Tuskagee - is this likely to have had an impact? *CO-FOUNDER OF
TUSKAGEE*
3. To what extent does ‘fame’ affect history? -
Mann, Webster, Jefferson, Booker T. Washington, Du Bois:
5

6. Mann, Webster, Jefferson, Booker T. Washington, Du Bois:
this is the ‘narrative’ that we are sold but perhaps there is a
different one bubbling just underneath the surface.
Conclusion:
This project makes me want to be a historian.
6