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History of education in New York City. The history of education in New York City includes schools and schooling from the colonial era to the present. It includes public and private schools, as well as higher education. Annual city spending on public schools quadrupled from $250 million in 1946 to $1.1 billion in 1960.
The outcome was the creation, in New York City, of a Board of Education to operate a system of "ward" schools, more nearly comparable to the district schools of the rural towns. In effect, public education had become defined as schooling provided by a governmental agency under public control.
- Six Tredwell Daughters to Educate!
- The Finishing Touch Plus Morality
- So Many Choices!
- Mrs. Okill’S Tops The List
- Influential Connections
- Mrs. Okill Illegitimate … and A Divorcee?
- What A Woman!
- Co-Ed For The Children
- Notable Students
- Gertrude Tredwell, The Transfer Student
As the daughters of a prosperous merchant, the six Tredwell girls were granted all the privileges of the elite class in which they were raised, including a private school education. From among the many girl’s schools in New York City, Seabury and Eliza chose two of the best for their daughters – Mrs. Okill’s and Mrs. Gibson’s. [For a discussion of ...
In the first half of the 19th century, the aim of elite female education was to provide young ladies with the social graces and manners befitting their place in society, and to instill a basic knowledge of literature, classics, arithmetic, and geography. Several schools also included instruction in the religious and moral principles that would lead...
The single-gender “academy,” copied in style and substance from the British finishing school, was extremely popular among the wealthy of New York City in the early-mid 19th century. Such schools, which occupied rented houses run by a head teacher, typically offered opportunities for both day and boarding school students; the staff, who lived at the...
Competition for students must have been fierce among the women who ran the schools. Every year, beginning in late August and continuing through mid-September, advertisements for the schools, complete with names of notable individuals who were willing to provide endorsements, appeared in the daily newspapers. In New York As It Is (1833-1837), Mrs. O...
When one considers that Mrs. Okill included the name of Reverend Benjamin Tredwell Onderdonk (1791-1861) as a reference in her advertisements, it is understandable that Seabury Tredwell supported the school. Onderdonk was a relative of Seabury’s, and, as Bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of New York, a highly respected clergyman (until he wasn’t: sta...
Several circumstances of Mrs. Okill’s life, however, turn her pedigree on its head, notably her illegitimate birth and her divorce. Mary Jay Okill was the daughter of Sir James Jay (1732-1815), oldest brother of John Jay, the first Chief Justice of the Supreme Court. Sir James, known primarily as the inventor of an invisible ink used by George Wash...
It is remarkable that, despite the social stigma associated with illegitimacy and divorce during the 19th century, Mary Okill was able to achieve such renown, especially among the privileged class, who valued family pedigree above all else. One wonders what shielded her from disgrace? Did her wealthy patrons know of her past, and decide to simply l...
Although it was known primarily as a female school, Mrs. Okill’s Academy also welcomed very young boys as students. Julia Lawrence Hasbrouck (1809-1873), who lived on Greenwich Street, enrolled her six-year-old son Louis and her five-year-old daughter Julia in Mrs. Okill’s Academy in 1843. She wrote her positive impressions of the school in her dia...
In addition to the Tredwells, Mrs. Okill’s school attracted other families that made up the glitterati of New York society. One of Mrs. Okill’s students was Eliza Hamilton Schuyler (1811-1863), the granddaughter of Alexander Hamilton. In 1825, when she was a 14-year-old student, Eliza was given a “prize book” from Mrs. Okill. In the Hamilton-Schuyl...
Among the copybooks belonging to the Tredwell girls in the Merchant’s House Museum archives, several belonged to Gertrude Tredwell. One, dated from December 16,1853, through February 13, 1854, (when Gertrude was 13 years old), indicates that Gertrude attended Mrs. Okill’s School, for at the end of a composition, a withering comment appears, written...
In the case of New York City, however, the schools were quasi-public. The early evening schools were free, but the schools were financed through the general fund of the Public School Society. The schools, which were opened in 1833, were unsuccessful and reverted into the “hands of philanthropic agencies until 1847” (Margulis 1927, p. 12).
Aug 6, 2008 · New-York as it is, in [1833-1835] 1837; containing a general description of the city of New-York, list of officers, public institutions, and other useful information.
5 days ago · Several New York high schools—Stuyvesant, Bronx Science, Brooklyn Tech, and Performing Arts—have retained national reputations for excellence, and the school system has also provided evening classes in adult education and practical skills for the city’s large immigrant population.
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Founded in 1787, the African Free School provided education for blacks in New York City for more than six decades. [ 29 ] In 1863, an image of two emancipated slave children, Isaac and Rosa, who were studying at the Free School of Louisiana , was widely circulated in abolitionist campaigns.
