JCHS Board of Directors member Jessica Guyer has published a book detailing the history of the Academy and the life stories of some of the students who attend there. The book is available for purchase on Amazon or by clicking on the Image of the cover page.
The synopsis reads as follows:
Advertisements for Tuscarora Academy continued to use this phrase more than 50 years after the school was established in 1836. Located in the hamlet of Academia, Juniata County, Pennsylvania, the Tuscarora Academy was a premier 19th century secondary educational institution. Thousands of students from more than 30 states traveled to Academia for their college preparatory courses, and their stories are collectively imbedded into the history of Tuscarora Academy.
Utilizing newspapers, letters, school records, documents from descendants of alumni, and the collection of the Juniata County Historical Society, author Jessica Eaton Guyer tells the story of the Academy from its inception, through its many decades of education that ended in 1916, to the sole remaining building’s current use as a museum exhibiting relics of Juniata County’s past. The book details Tuscarora Academy’s administration and steadfast adaptation to the changing educational landscape in Pennsylvania, while interweaving firsthand accounts about students, trustees, and faculty.
After receiving educations that helped shape their minds and characters, Tuscarora Academy alumni went on to settle in every state in the contiguous United States, with many establishing new towns, creating inventions, building landmark infrastructure, and filling important positions in courtrooms, legislative chambers, universities, churches, banks, and hospitals. Their stories, and more, combine to create this comprehensive history dedicated to the pioneers of early American education.
