The Manhattan Free School & P.S. 43
1827 - present
The Manhattan Free School was an Antebellum-era common school established in 1827. It was founded by the Public School Society of New York City. In approximately 1854, the society added a second, larger building onto the Manhattan Free School and named it P.S. 43, as their school merged with the NYC Board of Education. However, in1895, the two buildings were replaced by one new, larger structure, thereafter known as P.S. 43. Subsequently, that structure was replaced in 1934 and, when completed in 1937, constructors etched "Manhattanville Junior High School" into the stone display about the building's main entrance. It was also known as the Adam Clayton Powell Intermediate School, but a less common reference. In 1951, Columbia University, The Jewish Seminary, and serval other key institutions proposed the $12.5 million Morningside-Manhattanville plan, an urban renewal project that ultimately, and also wrongly, displaced Black and poor residents. This led to a demolition of most structures between 123rd Street and 135th Street, between Amsterdam and Broadway Avenues, thus causing intense racial tension and a political boundary. Although all schools that once occupied this location and building no longer exist, P.S. 43 retains its original1854 location as the Urban Assembly School for the Performing Arts (M369). It is one of the oldest continually-occupied public educational spaces in the country.
Details
- Category
- School
- Instructional Level
- Elementary/Grammar School, High School, Middle/Junior High School
- Audience
- Children, Teenagers
- Founder(s)
- Public School Society
- Tags
- Manhattanville, philanthropy, Antebellum, socialwelfare, urbanrenewal
- Notes
- Occupied by Urban Assembly School for the Performing Arts (M369) as of 2023.
Location
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509 W 129th St, New York, NY 10027, USA? - ?
References
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Eric K. Washington, "The Three Rs and The Golden Rule," Manhattanville: Old Heart of West Harlem (Charleston: Arcadia Publishing, 2002), 42.
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Lionel Pincus and Princess Firyal. "Bounded by W. 133d Street, Amsterdam Avenue, Manhattan Street, W. 127th Street and (Riverside Park, Hudson River) Twelfth (Riverside Drive) Avenue" Map Division, The New York Public Library. New York Public Library Digital Collections. Accessed May 13, 2023. https://digitalcollections.nypl.org/items/510d47e2-1354-a3d9-e040-e00a18064a99
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"PLAN BOARD BACKS COLUMBIA HOUSING: NINE INSTITUTIONS SUPPORTING MORNINGSIDE-MANHATTANVILLE $12,500,000 PROJECT BARNARD ADDS TO CAMPUS BLOCK IN 119TH ST. TO BE CLOSED PARK AND BRIDGE PLANS ALSO PASS COMMISSION BARNARD PLAN APPROVED." New York Times, Oct 18., 1951. http://ezproxy.cul.columbia.edu/login?url=https://www.proquest.com/historical-newspapers/plan-board-backs-columbia-housing/docview/111963653/se-2.