It’s Founder’s Day!

This week we are kicking off the celebrations for our 60th anniversary! Today, December 6, is Founder’s Day, and Friday, December 10 is the 60th day of school! On Founder’s Day we honor Advent’s founder, Mona Hull. Learn more about our history at adventat60.org.

Mona Hull greets children outside Advent

Dr. Mona C. Hull, born on December 6, 1912, was the visionary and driving force behind The Advent School. Hull, husband Gordon F. Hull, and their five children lived in Switzerland for several years in the 1950s before returning to New England. After a brief stint in Hanover, New Hampshire, the Hull family moved to Concord, Massachusetts and attended church at The Church of The Advent.

In the years that followed the 1954 Brown v. Board of Education ruling that racial segregation in schools was unconstitutional, school desegregation was a tumultuous issue covered frequently in local newspapers. Hull gathered many articles and letters to the editor written from the position of opposing school desegregation. She filed these accounts away in green file folders. These documents seemed to serve as inspiration for Hull. She firmly believed that all children should have access to quality education and that learning beside peers from different backgrounds was the most beneficial way for children to learn. With the Church of The Advent as its sponsor, The Advent School opened its doors on September 14, 1961, and welcomed 17 children in First and Second Grades.

Mona’s daughter, Berney Graham, contacted us over the summer and asked if she could donate the Hull Family piano to Advent. We are delighted to have this thoughtful addition to our music room located in the 99 West Cedar Street building.

The Hull Family pictured with their piano, 1954 (Mona is pictured on the far right, and Berney is pictured in the bottom of the photo, playing the recorder)

Reflecting on Mona Hull’s legacy and the legacy of The Advent School resulted in unexpected connections between past, present, and future. As we continue to research and explore our history, we are eager to see what connections are uncovered next.

Thank you for being an Advent champion and for celebrating so many amazing legacies with us both on Founder’s Day and throughout our 60th year.

Advent students in the early 1960s

Hull believed that teaching children in an integrated school was the best way to ensure that the next generation unlearned the prevailing racist frameworks of prior generations.