This school was founded in Amherst in 1846 by Rev. John A. Nash, Amherst College Class of 1824, as the "Mount Pleasant Boarding School for Boys," for boys between the ages of 8 and 16. The name was changed in 1851-52 to "Mount Pleasant Boarding School," and again in 1853/54 to "Mount Pleasant Institute," a title that it retained at least through 1902-03, when it relocated to Hadley, Massachusetts. John A. Nash served as principal until 1854, when he was appointed professor of scientific agriculture at Amherst College. He was succeeded at Mount Pleasant Institute by his son, Henry C. Nash (AC 1851) and grandson, William K. Nash (AC 1883).

The collection consists chiefly of printed catalogues, 1846-1903 (with gaps), general information about the school, and ephemera related to an examination and an exhibition. The catalogues contain complete lists of students and a description of the curriculum and are of interest for their articulation of the system of "family organization" that was observed through a uniquely close association between the students and the family of the principal of the school, with whom they lived.