Moses Brown School

Moses Brown School is a Quaker school located in Providence, Rhode Island, founded by Moses Brown, a Quaker abolitionist, in 1784. It is one of the oldest preparatory schools in the country. Moses Brown (1738–1836) was a member of the Brown family, a powerful mercantile family of New England. Later on in his life, Moses converted to the Religious Society of Friends and went on to become a pioneering abolitionist while starting the Moses Brown Sch... More

Moses Brown School is a Quaker school located in Providence, Rhode Island, founded by Moses Brown, a Quaker abolitionist, in 1784. It is one of the oldest preparatory schools in the country. Moses Brown (1738–1836) was a member of the Brown family, a powerful mercantile family of New England. Later on in his life, Moses converted to the Religious Society of Friends and went on to become a pioneering abolitionist while starting the Moses Brown School. In 1777 a committee of New England Yearly Meeting took up the idea for a school to educate young Quakers in New England. The committee, which included Moses Brown, was part of an effort within Quakerdom to promote their faith to the next generation, but Brown also had a vision of ensuring that when they reached adulthood, these young Friends would be able to make a living. When the school opened in 1784, it was located at Portsmouth Friends Meeting House in Portsmouth on Aquidneck Island, which was the administrative center for Yearly...

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