Colored School #4
*On this date in 1849, we celebrate Colored School #4. This school was built in New York City as an early segregated education building for Black students.
The former Colored School No. 4 is a three-story mid-block brick school building constructed in 1849-50 on West 17th Street in the Chelsea neighborhood. It is the only known surviving school building exclusively serving African Americans in Manhattan and is associated with many significant individuals. Colored School No. 4 is a reminder of racial segregation education in New York City. It illustrates how education afforded crucial opportunities and skills to Blacks in their struggle against the discrimination and inequities of their daily life.
The New York City Public School Society constructed the building, which follows the Model Primary School House plan (adopted by the Society in 1844). Its 25-foot-wide four-bay façade features large multi-pane windows and two separate ground-floor entries—one for boys and the other for girls—leading to separate spaces for boys and girls inside.
1853, the building was transferred to the City of New York, where the Board of Education was established. The school became Colored School No. 7 in 1860 and later Colored School No. 4 in 1866. At that time, eight primary public schools in Manhattan served 2,377 Black students. In 1884, the school became Grammar School No. 81 when the Board of Education dropped the term "Colored" from the official names of public schools. Despite the name change, Grammar School 81 continued to serve Black children exclusively until 1894, when the public school system closed the segregated schools. The school's principal, Sarah J. S. (Tompkins) Garnet, a suffragist, was one of the first African American female principals in the New York City public school system.
J. Imogen Howard, a teacher at the school, also became a manager at Chicago's1893 Columbian Exposition. In addition, several of the school's graduates became prominent leaders in education, music, transportation, and public service, including Susan Elizabeth Frazier, who became New York City's first African American teacher assigned to an integrated public school and the acclaimed composer and classical violinist Walter F. Craig. The history of New York City's free education includes the story of the institutional segregation of African American students in the 19th century. Within that history, the former Colored School No. 4 illustrates what a small NYC public school looked like before the American Civil War and the story of prominent teachers and graduates within the African American community who excelled as they struggled for civil liberties and opportunities.
Although no longer used as a school, the building has remained a city property. Despite some alterations, the almost 175-year-old building exhibits its pre-Civil War urban schoolhouse design and illustrates the history of New York City's 19th-century public education of African American children. W 16 St W 17 St Av Of The Americas 0.01 Mil es Graphic Source: MapPLUTO, Edition 22v1, Author: New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission, BK, Dat.
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