The History of Cranbrook: From its Founding to the Present

The Cranbrook Educational Community (CEC) is a 319-acre campus located in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan, and is home to the Cranbrook Academy of Art, the Cranbrook Institute of Science, and the Cranbrook Schools. The CEC was founded in the early 1920s by George Booth and Ellen Scripps Booth, who envisioned a community that would provide educational opportunities for students from all backgrounds. The Booths began their work by hiring renowned Finnish architect Eliel Saarinen to design the campus. Saarinen designed the Cranbrook School for Boys (1925-1927), the Kingswood School for Girls (1929-1993), the Cranbrook Institute of Science (1935-1993), the Cranbrook Academy of Art (1925-1994), and the Cranbrook Museum and Art Library (1938-1944).

In addition to these institutions, the Booths also established a variety of programs to serve the community. These include day camps, a soccer clinic, a film seminar, a compensatory educational program for students from low-income families, a jazz ensemble, ice hockey, lacrosse and tennis camps, as well as the Cranbrook Theater School. In October 1984, the organization of Cranbrook schools was changed to include the merger of the upper grades of Cranbrook and Kingswood to create Cranbrook Kingswood Upper School, a blended school on two campuses. This merger was part of an agreement between the Cranbrook Foundation and a new community trust.

Under this agreement, all of Cranbrook's assets were transferred to the trust. The Cranbrook Academy of Art is dedicated solely to graduate studies in the arts and offers master's degree programs in fine arts and architecture. The school also has an exchange program with the Cranbrook School of Kent in England in honor of George Booth's legacy. Today, Cranbrook continues to provide educational opportunities for students from all backgrounds.

The campus offers a variety of programs and activities that are designed to foster creativity and learning. The Booths' vision for an educational community has been realized through their commitment to providing quality education for generations to come.

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Mike Martin

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