school continued to operate for another four years, closing in 1975. In 2015, Connie Hertzberg Mayo published a historical fiction novel, The Island of Worthy Boys, set in late 19th century Boston and at the Boston Asylum and Farm School for Indigent Boys on Thompson Island. Superintendent Bradley (served 1888–1922) and his wife are prominent characters. Outward Bound, 1994-present In the early 1990s, David Manzo of Community Providers of Adolescent Services, Inc. d/b/a COMPASS, John Verre of the McKinley Schools, Edward F. Kelley of RFK Children's Action Corp, and Peter Willauer of Thompson Island Outward Bound Education Center, created a comprehensive residential treatment program called Citybound, for adolescents with emotional and behavioral disabilities on Thompson Island. The Willauer School, an expeditionary learning Outward Bound school operated from 1994 to 2006. The island is currently owned by the Thompson Island Outward Bound Education Center and operates Outward Bound programs that brings more than 5,000 students and 3,000 adults a year to the island. Thompson Island Outward Bound supports its mission through donations and profits from Thompson Island Conference Center (event business running corporate outings and social events) and Outward Bound Professional (adult team-building). Boston Harbor Islands Protected Space In 2002, the National Park Service and the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Management purchased a conservation restriction for Thompson Island. With the assistance of The Trust for Public Land, who helped negotiate the deal, future development was limited to only the existing school campus. It also guaranteed permanent public access to the island, completing the permanent protection of all of the Boston Harbor Islands. Representative Joseph Moakely was instrumental in raising the $2 million of funding appropriated by Congress, and another $2 million matched by Massachusetts. In popular culture In Season 3 of the WGBH children's reality game show Fetch! With Ruff Ruffman, in the episode "What's Bugging Ruff?", Thompson Island is where Jay, Noel & Sammy are sent for their challenge of learning about various species of insects. In the 2018 novel Varina by Charles Frazier (which is based on the life of Varina Davis, wife of Jefferson Davis), the fictional African American character Jimmy recounts how he spent several happy years at the Thompson Island Farm School in the late 1860s. References External links Thompson Island Outward Bound website Thompson Island page from Boston Harbor Islands Visitor's Guide Thompson Island collection, 1814-1990, University Archives and Special Collections, Joseph P. Healey Library,