Girls' High School collection
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Date
Creator
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Language of Materials
Abstract
The Girls' High School collection spans the period 1890 to 1964 and contains ephemera, documents, photographs and publications documenting school events and student activities.
Historical Note
Girls' High School was Brooklyn's first all-girls high school, opening in 1886 on Nostrand Avenue between Macon and Halsey Streets in the Brooklyn neighborhood of Bedford-Stuyvesant. The school's distinctive building, borrowing from both neo-Gothic and French Second Empire architectural styles and featuring a prominent clock tower, was designed by architect James W. Naughton and was deemed a New York City landmark in 1983.
The school's predecessor was the Central Grammar School, a coeducational institution that was established in downtown Brooklyn at Court and Livingston Streets in 1878. As Brooklyn's population grew, Central Grammar School became too small to accommodate the large number of new students, and the need for additional classroom facilities became apparent. Girls' High School was one of two public high schools established in response to this need, the other being Boys' High School, which opened in 1891 on Marcy Avenue in Bedford-Stuyvesant.
Although Girls' High School closed in 1964, it later merged with Boys' High School and reopened in 1976 under its new name, Boys and Girls High School, at 1700 Fulton Street. As of 2023, the school continues to operate at that location.
Sources:
- Jackson, Kenneth T., John B. Manbeck, and the Citizens Committee for New York City. The Neighborhoods of Brooklyn. New Haven: Yale University Press, c1998.
- Parker, Vernon. "On This Day in History: September 23: Boys' High School Designated Landmark." Brooklyn Daily Eagle, September 23, 2010. Accessed October 20, 2010, http://www.brooklyneagle.com/categories/category.php?id=38255.
- Robbins, Michael W., and Wendy Palitz. Brooklyn: A State of Mind. New York: Workman Pub., 2000.
Arrangement
The collection is arranged into three series by type. Within each series, materials are arranged by type and/or chronologically.
Scope and Contents
The Girls' High School collection spans the period 1890 to 1964 and contains ephemera, documents, photographs and publications documenting school events and student activities. Materials include programs for events; a collection of school songs; yearbooks; issues of the student-produced literary journal, Blue and Gold; issues of the school's newsletter, published under the titles The Chaser Fortnightly and The Fortnightly; and two volumes of poems written by students.
Subjects
Organizations
Genres
Topics
Places
Conditions Governing Access
Open to researchers without restriction.
Conditions Governing Use
While many items at the Center for Brooklyn History are unrestricted, we do not own reproduction rights to all materials. Be aware of the several kinds of rights that might apply: copyright, licensing and trademarks. The researcher assumes all responsibility for copyright questions.
Preferred Citation
Identification of item, date (if known); Girls' High School collection, ARC.128, Box and Folder number; Brooklyn Public Library, Center for Brooklyn History.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Portions of accession 1985.054 were the gifts of Grace E. Beadman, 1937, and Sophie E. Rie, 1986. Accession 2006.031 was the gift of Marjorie Smeltzer-Stevenot, 2006. Blue and Gold issues for June 1919, January 1921, and June 1921 were gifts of the Winterthur Museum Library in 2017. Sources and dates of acquisition for remaining items in the collection are unknown.
Physical Characteristics and Technical Requirements
If digital surrogates exist, they should be used in place of the originals whenever possible.
Separated Materials
In some cases, duplicate materials were discarded.
About this Guide
Processing Information
This collection was originally minimally processed to the collection level. At that point, the collection comprised portions of accession 1985.054 and all of accession 2006.031.
In 2023, the collection was reprocessed to incorporate found-in-collection material and material removed from the Brooklyn ephemera collection (BCMS.0007) and Brooklyn schools collection (CBHM.0006).
Much of the material from BCMS.0007 is labeled "BAF," which was at one time the Brooklyn Collection's so-called "Brooklyn Authority Files," also known as the clippings files and similar to vertical files.
Sponsor Note
Revisions to this Guide
Repository
Series 1: Ephemera
Class Day programs, 1890-1899, inclusive
Course of Study, 1890-1902, inclusive
Commencement programs, 1891-1898, inclusive
Commencement programs, 1898-1903, inclusive
Commencement programs, 1903-1934, inclusive
Commencement programs, 1934-1941, inclusive
Commencement ribbons, 1895-1903, inclusive
Processing Information
These ribbons were originally pinned to commencement programs which was causing damage to both the ribbons and the programs. The archivist removed and rehoused the ribbons but each is labeled with a date that corresponds to a program and it is clear from the pin holes and discoloration on the programs which ones had ribbons.
Event programs, 1897-1957, inclusive
Scope and Contents
Events include Shakespeare celebrations, Schiller centenary, class tree ceremony (1907), musical performances, theatrical productions, and a 1942 Red Cross bazaar.
Album of ephemera, 1902-1910, inclusive
Scope and Contents
Event and commencement programs, tickets, and invitations; ribbons.
Collection of Songs of Horatio C. King, circa 1903
Christmas materials, circa 1905-1940, inclusive
Mixed ephemera, circa 1908-1945, inclusive
Scope and Contents
Includes programs for excursions to Washington in 1933 and 1935, Loyal League materials, information on the Nelson J. Gates portrait, a commencement invitation and ticket, and an informational booklet circa 1940s.
Theater programs, 1910-1916, inclusive
Shakespeare celebration flyer, 1916
Annual stunt contest programs, 1928-1941, inclusive
William L. Felter memorial exercises, 1933
Series 2: Documents and photographs
Notes and documents on school history, circa 1890-1958, inclusive
Calvin Patterson correspondence, 1897
Calvin Patterson memorial window, 1903
Scope and Contents
This folder contains a photograph and descriptions of the window, the report of the committee that commissioned the window, and related invoices, receipts, and correspondence, including from Tiffany Studios.
Historical note
Calvin Patterson was the second principal of Girls' High School. He died on January 28, 1902 and the following year then-principal William L. Felter appointed a committee to consider erecting a memorial to Patterson. These efforts resulted in the commission of a Tiffany stained glass window to be installed between rooms 116 and 117 at the school in Patterson's memory. The window depicted Alcuin and Charlemagne but unfortunately is no longer extant, having been destroyed by fire.
Sources
- Michelle Cohen, Public Art for Public Schools (2009, p. 73).
Separated Materials
The committee report and related invoices, receipts and correspondence were originally stored in a custom black leather portfolio with white silk endpapers. This portfolio was badly deteriorated and causing damage to the materials within it. The archivist discarded the portfolio but photocopied the cover engraved with the words "Calvin Patterson Memorial - Report of Committee" in gilt lettering.
Administrative documents, circa 1906-1962, inclusive
Lists of prominent graduates, circa 1940s, inclusive
Alumni correspondence, 1946-1964, inclusive
Images, circa 1890s-1918, inclusive
Scope and Contents
Three cabinet card portraits of young women circa 1890s, possibly students, two with names on verso: Jennie W. Jeuness and Marguerite T. Lee. One small painted portrait of Mrs. E.F. Pettengill, date unknown. Two copies of an image of the school library from the publication School Libraries: Planning and Equipping the School Library (1918).
