Grace Institute

1897 - present

The Grace Institute was founded in 1897 by the former Mayor of New York City William R. Grace with the help of philanthropist and reformer Grace Hoadley Dodge. Established as a tuition-free industrial school for young women over the age of eighteen (particularly recent immigrants), the school prepared students to be cooks, dressmakers, and stenographers, among other trades and vocations. Although Grace Institute was managed by the Catholic Sisters of New York, the school was non-sectarian and aimed to attract students of different ethnicities, faiths, and races. The school originally opened on West 60th Street and Amsterdam and remained there until 1963, when due to construction of the new Fordham University campus at Lincoln Center, it moved its operations to Second Avenue between 64th and 65th Streets. In addition to training in traditional vocations, students, beginning in the mid-twentieth century, were offered through the support of the Sisters of Charity of Mouth St. Vincent, instruction in English as a second language and conversational Spanish. In an attempt to attract more Puerto Rican and Black students, the Sisters opened an extension school in the Bronx in the 1970s. In 2015, Grace Institute moved to 40 Rector Street in Lower Manhattan.

Grace Institute, 65th and Second Avenue.
Manhattan: Grace Institute, undated. (Item ID:nyhs_PR024_b-11_f-91_009-01.jpg)
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Details

Category
School
Instructional Level
Trade/Industrial
Audience
Adults
Founder(s)
William R. Grace and Grace Hoadley Dodge
Tags
women, LincolnSquare, trades, immigrants, nonsectarian, LincolnCenter

Connections

Location

  • 40 Rector St, New York, NY 10006, USA
    2015 - ?
  • 2nd Ave, New York, NY 10065, USA
    1963 - 2015
  • 150-198 W 61st St, New York, NY 10023, USA
    1897 - 1963

Archival Collections

References

  1. Clayton, Lawrence. Grace: W.R. Grace & Co., the Formative Years, 1850-1930. Ottawa, Illinois: Jameson Books, 1985.
  2. "New Industrial School." The Atlanta Constitution (1881-1945), Mar 26, 1897. http://ezproxy.cul.columbia.edu/login?url=https://search.proquest.com/docview/495385866?accountid=10226.
  3. "School is Buying Second Ave Site." New York Times (1923-Current File), May 24, 1960. http://ezproxy.cul.columbia.edu/login?url=https://search.proquest.com/docview/114984675?accountid=10226
  4. "The Grace Institute." New - York Tribune (1900-1910), Mar 22, 1904. http://ezproxy.cul.columbia.edu/login?url=https://search.proquest.com/docview/571544400?accountid=10226.
  5. Warren, Virginia Lee. "The Gradual Evolution of a Girls' School." New York Times (1923-Current File), Jan 18, 1973. http://ezproxy.cul.columbia.edu/login?url=https://search.proquest.com/docview/119701727?accountid=10226.