The New York House & School of Industry

History and architecture

The New York House and School of Industry is a two-story brick building designed in the Queen Anne style by Sidney V. Stratton. Erected in 1878 on West 16th Street between Sixth and Seventh Avenues, this unusual building is one of the earliest known examples of the Queen Anne style in New York City. Its remarkably intact facade, with its picturesque massing, features finely crafted ornamental details and multipane windows that create a striking composition.

It was built to house a charitable organization founded in 1850 by wealthy women to help women in poverty. Though it is no longer the home of the founding charity, the building still, after 100 years, houses a social service organization that provides care and shelter for New Yorkers. History of the New York House and School of Industry and Its Site in 1850, when the New York House and School of Industry was founded, the city was experiencing one of its greatest periods of expansion.

Political unrest in Central Europe, famine in Ireland, and the discovery of gold in California drew immigrants to this country in unprecedented numbers and a large part of this wave of immigrants was drawn to New York, the major port of entry to this country. Between 1845 and 1850, the population of the city grew by 30,000 people per year and, in 1850, over 212,000 immigrants landed in the port of New York. As a result, the city faced major social problems.

The few institutions established at the beginning of the nineteenth century to deal with the problems of a small, homogeneous society were swamped by the sheer mass of humanity pouring into the city. Philip Hone, a former mayor and noted diarist of the period, recorded on January 29th, 1847:

"This state of things [the contrast between rich and poor] has been hastened in our case by the constant stream of European paupers arriving upon the shores of this land of promise....If we had none but our own poor to take care of, we could find employment for them, and individual charity, aiding the public institutions, might save us from the sights of woe with which we are assailed in the streets.... Nineteen out of twenty of these mendicants are foreigners cast upon our shores, indigent and helpless...."

The New York House and School of Industry was just such an "individual charity" designed to address the problems of poor women. Founded and administered by women, the list of members of the Board of Directors, consisting of "about fifty Christian ladies, with an advisory committee of gentlemen to assist them in managing their finances," reads like a census of the leading merchant families of New York: Fish, Livingston, LeRoy, DePeyster, Gracie, Van Rensselaer, Astor, Griswold, et al.. Those members who were not related to each other by blood or marriage were socially connected through their involvement in business, New York University, Columbia University, or the Episcopal Church. Many of these families maintained active participation in the organization for decades.

The expressed purpose of the charity was "...to afford to infirm and destitute females employment in needlework..., "...trusting thus to lighten the burthen [sic] of poverty and to lessen the chances of vice...." Those women judged suitable for "service," i.e., work as domestic servants, were not eligible for aid by the charity. To provide employment, fabric was purchased, prepared, and distributed to the poor who made finished clothing and goods which were then sold at the society's store.

Two types of goods were produced: "fine ordered work" and "house-work." The "fine ordered work" consisted of bridal ensembles, embroidery, braiding, knitting, quilting, and other delicate handwork. "House-work" included everyday, mundane sewing for household use and various garments for men and women. The management of the charity was conducted by the women of the Board and was carried out by committees headed by Board members. There were a number of these committees charged with various functions.

The visiting committee screened applicants by visiting each applicant and making inquiries concerning her character. Committees were established for purchasing and cutting material, for establishing the sales price of the finished garments and the price to be paid to the sewer which, according to Section 12 of the By-Laws, "...shall be moderate; that no encouragement be given to the needy to flock to our city;...." Instruction in sewing was also given and a sewing school for young girls was conducted at the building, as was an "infant industrial school" for small children.

The "infant industrial school" was run by the Children's Aid Society, a distinct, separate charity, yet it shared the building's facilities with the New York House and School of Industry.

Three years after its founding in 1850, the directors of the New York House and School of Industry purchased the frame building the charity had been occupying on the south side of West 16th Street between Sixth and Seventh Avenues from the estate of Samuel S. Howland. The street at that time was almost fully developed with rowhouses, a Congregational church, and a factory near Seventh Avenue. It was located between the Union Square neighborhood which was a fashionable residential area for New York's wealthy families and Chelsea, a highly desirable district for the middle class. After nearly thirty years of service, the building was judged inadequate and, in February, 1878, Mrs. John C. Green whose family, the Griswolds, had been active in the charity since its founding, donated $15,000 for the construction of a new building. Sidney V. Stratton was chosen as the architect.