Something for the Head

Frank Learoyd Boyden of Deerfield Academy, Deerfield, Mass., is something of a phenomenon in U.S. education. He is a wiry little man of 72 who speaks with a Yankee twang, likes to drive a horse & buggy, and claims to know very little about his profession ("I was never tied up with theories"). But Frank Boyden may well be the most famous and beloved headmaster in the nation. He calls himself "a" country sort of person who likes boys."

In 50 years as headmaster, he has come to know thousands of boys, and the dying town academy he took over in 1902 has gradually grown into one of the top U.S. prep schools. There, the Head has remained the only thing that never changed. He still keeps his open office in the hallway of the main building, still dashes about in his buggy, still governs his school (475 students) as if it had never grown at all. Forever open to new ideas, Frank Boyden still clings affectionately to old ones. "If they must be destroyed," says he, "let us try to destroy them with reverence."

Last week, on the Head's soth anniversary, 1,600 alumni assembled in the grand ballroom of Manhattan's Waldorf-Astoria to pay him tribute. But the main purpose of the banquet was to present the Head with a gift. For a long time, Alumnus Alexander Johnson had looked around for something that would please him.

At 10:30 p.m., a groom brought in the gift, led it straight up to the ballroom dais for the Head to see. The gift, perhaps the oddest of 1952: a new horse & cart for the country sort of person who has devoted his life to boys.

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