Morris High School

c. September 1898 - c. 2002

Morris High School was the first high school in the Bronx, and the first co-educational high school in New York City. It was created as part of the School Reform Law of 1896. It originally opened in 1898 as the Mixed High School, and was first located on 157th Street and 3rd Avenue in a small brick building. The school was popular, offering diverse classes and serving a diverse community, and as a result, a large building was necessary. In 1900, proposals for the new building were called for, and on July 23, 1901, the school was moved to its new permanent location on E 166 Street and Boston Road. In 1901, residents protested the school's name change. People found saying the Mixed High School awkward, and instead the school was renamed the Peter Cooper High School, after a prominent inventor, entrepreneur, and philanthropist. However, Bronxians protested naming the school after someone who was not from the Bronx, and so the name Morris High School was decided on, named after Gouverneur Morris, a member of the Constitutional Convention and a US Senator from 1799-1803. In 1949, the school was fully integrated, and was lauded as an example of the best New York could offer in education. Over the years, the school fell into some disrepair. There were attempts to fix the exterior of the school, to the neglect of the interior and educational standards, but none of these attempts ever came to fruition. With the school literally falling apart around them, the doors to Morris High School closed in 2002.

Postcard photograph of Morris High School, photograph taken by H. Hagemeister
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Details

Category
School
Instructional Level
High School
Audience
Teenagers
Founder(s)
New York Reform Law of 1896, Borough of the Bronx
Corporate Body
Borough of the Bronx
Tags
coeducational, budget, closure, reputation, law, community, athletics, inaugural, historicalsite, architecture

Location

  • 1100 Boston Rd, Bronx, NY 10456, USA
    July 23, 1901 - 2002
  • 3077 3rd Ave., Bronx, NY 10451, USA
    c. September 1898 - July 23, 1901

Archival Collections

References

  1. BRONX BOROUGH HIGH SCHOOL: NEW QUARTERS TO ACCOMMODATE INCREASING NUMBER OF PUPILS -- ONLY CO-EDUCATIONAL SCHOOL IN CITY. (1899, Sep 04). New York Times (1857-1922) http://ezproxy.cul.columbia.edu/login?url=https://www.proquest.com/historical-newspapers/bronx-borough-high-school/docview/95730883/se-2?accountid=10226
  2. THE BRONX HIGH SCHOOL: PUBLIC HEARING TO DISCUSS A NAME FOR THE INSTITUTION. RESIDENTS OF THE BOROUGH WANT IT CALLED AFTER GOUVERNEUR MORRIS, AND NOT PETER COOPER. (1901, Jun 05). New York Times (1857-1922) http://ezproxy.cul.columbia.edu/login?url=https://www.proquest.com/historical-newspapers/bronx-high-school/docview/96108108/se-2?accountid=10226
  3. Hagemeister, H. (n.d.). Morris High School, New York. Columbia University Libraries . photograph, New York, NY. Retrieved April 25, 2022, from https://dlc.library.columbia.edu/durst/cul:rr4xgxd2bv.
  4. Sharlin, N. (2019). Morris High School: A Biography (thesis). Academic Works: CUNY. City University of New York. Retrieved April 25, 2022, from https://academicworks.cuny.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=4054&context=gc_etds.
  5. WOMAN GETS VERDICT OF $20,000. (1901, Jun 15). New - York Tribune (1900-1910) http://ezproxy.cul.columbia.edu/login?url=https://www.proquest.com/historical-newspapers/woman-gets-verdict-20-000/docview/570964409/se-2?accountid=10226