History
Emerson was founded in the District of Columbia in 1852 by Charles Bedford Young, Ph.D., as a school to prepare Washington area boys for entrance to Harvard. It was named for George Barrell Emerson, a noted New England educator, author, and Harvard graduate (1817). After the Civil War the school's graduates began to attend other colleges and universities, and, in 1920, became Washington's first coeducational preparatory school.
Notable Emerson graduates include Kate Grinold (2003), who was crowned Miss District of Columbia in June 2008 and who represented the District in 2009's Miss America Pageant, movie actor, and vocalist of the alternative rock band 30 Seconds To Mars Jared Leto (class of 1989), science fiction author William F. Gibson (1970), and musician Brian Baker (1983). Judge John "Maximum John" Sirica of Watergate fame attended Emerson circa 1920. Buck and Jesse Root Grant, the sons of President Ulysses S. Grant, attended Emerson Institute during his White House years, 1869-1877. Medal of Honor recipient James Madison Cutts, Jr. graduated from Emerson Institute around 1854. He went on to graduate from Brown University and Harvard Law School.
It is thought by some who know the school that John Wilkes Booth may have attended Emerson.
Emerson's school seal features an image of the U.S. Capitol dome and the date 1852. The school mascot is the owl, symbolizing wisdom.
Read more about this topic: Emerson Preparatory School
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