How Milton Hershey Raised the Bar for Milton Hershey School through the Deed of Trust
Milton and Catherine Hershey signed the Deed of Trust, creating the Hershey Industrial School (now Milton Hershey School), in 1909, but their vision did not end there. They established the school with intention and chose to Raise the Bar by continuously improving and expanding to meet the community’s needs.
Twenty years after signing the Deed of Trust, tragedy struck when the stock market crashed in 1929, plunging the nation into the Great Depression.
Instead of cutting back on business and letting workers go, Milton Hershey began the Great Building Campaign, which brought new construction endeavors, including the “School on the Hill,” now called Catherine Hall and home of MHS Middle Division.
When unemployment peaked, he put the community first and changed the Deed of Trust to help more children.
In the original deed, only orphans who had lost their fathers were admitted, and the oldest a child could be at enrollment was 8 years old. The change he enacted increased the enrollment age from 8 to 14 years old and allowed any orphaned boy who lost his mother or father to be considered for enrollment.
Due to high unemployment, many families sought a safe place to send their children, and the expanded school admission criteria allowed more children to benefit. In 1929, 242 students enrolled at the school, and just eight years later, in 1937, there were over a thousand. Mr. Hershey’s initiative to make a change to help others set a precedent as we continue to grow, expand, and change.
One of the boys who benefitted from the change to the deed was 13-year-old William Dearden, who enrolled in 1935 after his mother’s death. He later became the first MHS graduate to become CEO of The Hershey Company. Dearden always remembered his alma mater, and he, too, raised the bar, turning The Hershey Company into the top confectionary business in the United States.
We continue to honor Milton and Catherine Hershey’s legacy and generosity as we expand their impact through Catherine Hershey Schools for Early Learning. Our founders’ vision did not end in 1909; it just began.
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