The Plummer Farm School, established in 1855 by Caroline Plummer, a renowned philanthropist, began as the Plummer Farm School of Reform for Boys. In her will, Caroline Plummer allocated over $25,000 to establish an institution modeled after the State Reform School.
On March 28, 1869, the Salem City Council conveyed 35 acres of land on Winter Island to the Trustees and provided $8,000 for constructing school buildings. After over a decade of fundraising, the school opened in September 1870 with a three-story wooden building. Its purpose was to reform delinquent or extremely disadvantaged and destitute boys through work and education. When not in class, the boys were scheduled to work on the farm or participate in cooking or housework.
In 1908, the Boston Globe wrote, “There are five salaried officers connected with the school, two men and three women. The school is for the special benefit of boys sentenced by the local court, committed from the almshouse, or placed there by parents or who are homeless. There are 31 beds in the dormitory and in no case is the number in excess of the sleeping accommodations. The school is one of the best in the country. Scores of good citizens who were former inmates will readily attest that the school is first class.”
The institution received support from many prominent Salemites, including John Bertram, Robin Damon, and Francis H. Lee. In 1910, women were nominated as trustees for the first time, with Aroline Gove and Caroline O. Emmerton among the candidates.
According to the organization, in the 1950s, records indicate that Plummer stopped operating as a reform school and started functioning as a group home for teenage boys. The institution was officially renamed the Plummer Home for Boys in 1958 and began receiving referrals from the Department of Social Services (now known as the Department of Children and Families), rather than from the court or private families.
"The Plummer has evolved significantly since its start as a reform school in a farm setting. It is no longer even a school and has long ceased to operate a farm.” Wrote the Boston Globe in 2006. Over the next decade, Plummer continued to evolve, offering foster care in residential and community-based settings. They welcomed girls to the home for the first time in 2012.
In 2017, the organization became Plummer Youth Promise with the mission of connecting young people in group or foster care with permanent families.
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Digitized Archives
Plummer Farm School Records Finding Aid
Plummer Farm School Photographs and Ephemera
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