The Harvey School

The Harvey School was founded by Dr. Herbert Carter in 1916 as a residential school for boys, enrolling students through the secondary grades. Dr. Carter, a New York City pediatrician, built the school at his farm in Hawthorne, New York. His intention was to provide a country environment and an educational program for his son, Herbert Swift Carter, Jr., who had been handicapped by severe illness. The school was named for Sir William Harvey (1578-1657), personal physician of King Charles I who claimed to be the first to describe the mechanics of blood circulation. Dr. Harvey's discoveries and methods established him as one of the fathers of modern medical science. John L. Miner was appointed as the school's first headmaster when its doors opened in October 1916, with an enrollment of twelve boys. Mr. Miner served the school for ten years before leaving to establish Greenwich Country Day School, originally known as The Harvey School of Greenwich. Herbert Carter, Jr. graduated from Harvey in 1919, and from Princeton University in 1923. Following a year at Oxford he returned to Harvey to teach English, and in 1926, he succeeded Mr. Miner as Headmaster. After Dr. Carter died in 1927, the main purpose of the school was no longer to care for the physically handicapped; the educational emphasis was placed on providing a curriculum for boys from grades four through eight and preparing them for the leading eastern secondary boarding schools. The Harvey School soon established a reputation for providing a sound, traditional education of the English prep school style in a small residential setting. In 1938, the school came under the leadership of Mr. Leverett T. Smith who served until 1963. In 1947 the school established a Board of Trustees and joined the ranks of private independent schools operating as a...