Academy Star

The Academy Star was written by students at Sauquoit Academy in 1846. This handwritten newspaper has a moralistic and religious tone, mostly reflections and poems about self-improvement through writing. Notably, there is a letter included that describes the journey of a girl named Lizette to Jerusalem. She travelled from New York to Bristol, England, then to Palestine through the straits of Gibraltar. She walked through the streets of Jerusalem and visited many other Christian religious sites in the Levant. The newspaper relied heavily on contributions by other students and this caused it to have few articles in each issue. It also had an editor and editress, which are unidentified. Some of the students named include Julette, Mary, Isabella, Rose, Lillian, and Ella.

The Sauquoit Academy was established in 1844, after a meeting of donors for the school and seven trustees were elected. There were four teachers at the beginning, Professor Barber and his wife, Miss Kate Tuttle, Miss Kittie Roberts, and George W. Eastman. On the winter of 1845-1846, the school opened with 200 students. During the coming decades, the school slowly declined and had two major repairs that were paid with money raised, one in 1866 and another in 1878. In 1895, the Academy was merged with the Union School. Today, it is known as the Sauquoit Valley High School.