Leland Powers School
Leland Powers School, also known as the Leland Powers School of Communication, Leland Powers School of Radio, Theatre, and Television, Leland Powers Theatre School, the Leland Powers School of Expression, Leland Powers School of the Spoken Word, and originally called the Leland Powers School of Elocution, was originally located on Massachusetts Avenue in the South End. A purpose-built building on Evans Way, behind the Museum of Fine Arts was constructed in 1914. This building was taken by eminent domain in the 1970s.
Leland Powers School
- Name
- Leland Powers School
VALÉORINE Encyclopedia
VALÉORINE documentary reading
Documentary summary
Leland Powers School, also known as the Leland Powers School of Communication, Leland Powers School of Radio, Theatre, and Television, Leland Powers Theatre School, the Leland Powers School of Expression, Leland Powers School of the Spoken Word, and originally called the Leland Powers School of Elocution, was originally located on Massachusetts Avenue in the South End. A purpose-built building on Evans Way, behind the Museum of Fine Arts was constructed in 1914. This building was taken by eminent domain in the 1970s.
Admitted source layer · organised and presented by VALÉORINE
Note VALÉORINE
No house-authored Note is published until its assertions and sources pass the VALÉORINE evidence contract. The documentary article remains available in full while that enrichment is being consolidated.
Documentary enrichment in progress · no unsupported statement published
Reference Check
Propose documentary evidence for Leland Powers School. A contribution is never written directly as fact: identity, source, rights and evidence gates still decide.
Sign in to contribute
World of VALÉORINE
Documentary connections
Only confirmed graph relationships appear here. Images are shown only when their identity and reuse rights both pass the documentary gate.
Documentary evidence
Evidence Panel
not yet certified
- Identity
- unresolved
- Independent source families
- 0
- Admitted assertions
- 0
- Open conflicts
- 0
In this article
Key facts
Key facts
The school moved three more times - 2001 Beacon Street, Cleveland Circle, 10 Charlesgate East in the Back Bay, and 70 Brookline Avenue, adjacent Fenway Park before it closed in 1979. Speaker and author Leland Powers founded the school in 1904. The school educated several notable speakers and authors of the early 20th century, including drama educator T. Earl Pardoe, actress Reta Shaw, and journalist Wendall Woodbury.
• Name — Leland Powers School • Established — 1904 • Closed — 1979 • Type — Private • President — Leland Powers • City — Boston • State — Massachusetts • Country — United States • Former Names — School of Elocution (1879-1943) The Leland Powers School, also known as the Leland Powers School of Communication, Leland Powers School of Radio, Theatre, and Television, Leland Powers Theatre School, the Leland Powers School of Expression, Leland Powers School of the Spoken Word, and originally called the Leland Powers School of Elocution, was originally located on Massachusetts Avenue in the South End. A purpose-built building on Evans Way, behind the Museum of Fine Arts was constructed in 1914. This building was taken by eminent domain in the 1970s. The school moved three more times - 2001 Beacon Street, Cleveland Circle, 10 Charlesgate East in the Back Bay, and 70 Brookline Avenue, adjacent Fenway Park before it closed in 1979. Speaker and author Leland Powers founded the school in 1904. The school educated several notable speakers and authors of the early 20th century, including drama educator T. Earl Pardoe, actress Reta Shaw, and journalist Wendall Woodbury.
History
History
Leland T. Powers founded the school after teaching with the Redpath Lyceum Bureau, a Chautauqua circuit business. While working for the bureau, Powers was assigned as a reader during chautauquas, and as a coach to other readers. Powers also edited scripts for usage, focusing on readability and performance. During this time Powers was an associate of Carl Sandburg. In 1904, Powers' school cost $200 for a semester's tuition. Joining his wife and more than a dozen staff members in teaching 140 students annually. The School was credited with being on the leading edge of technology when in 1944 it started broadcasting a show called The Great American Home on local station WIXG. Leland Powers School closed on April 27, 1979, due to financial problems.
Graduates
Graduates
• Annette Carell, actress • Fay Davis, actress • Jeff Donnell, actress • Mary Freeman Byrne, author • Rod Fritz, newscaster, Boston (WBZ and WRKO) and New York (Fox) (as per this excerpt from the WRKO article) • Ernest Holmes, religious leader • Don Gillis, sportscaster • Neil MacNevin (Tom Evans), radio/tv announcer (see Creature Double Feature) • J T Nichols, playwright (Porktown, Taming the Savages, Jesus & the Pirates, etc.) • Palmer Payne, newscaster, NYC at WCBS (880 AM)) • Lee W. Quimby, politician • Glynn Ross, opera impresario • Bob Wilson, sportscaster
Knowledge graph
People and holdings
Those recorded as working within this institution, and the records it holds or is connected with.
Studied at
1- Ernest HolmesAuthor
Established from a fact already recorded on a verified source.
The Encyclopedia exists whether or not anything is for sale. Corrections are recorded rather than overwritten, and every version of this record is kept. Published 26 September 2026.
Elsewhere in General
15,033 published records in this field, each with its sources named.
- LeisnigPlace
- Leitir MealláinPlace
- LekiéPlace
- LekkiPlace
- LelantPlace
- LemmerPlace
- Lemon GrovePlace
- LemontPlace
Best supported in this field
For owners
Own an object connected with Leland Powers School?
A specialist will read what you send and tell you what the house can establish, what it cannot, and whether the object is suited to sale. There is no charge and no obligation. The object stays with you throughout; nothing is shipped to us unless it is arranged in writing beforehand.