Bayard Rustin High School for the Humanities
Encyclopedia
The Bayard Rustin Educational Complex (M440) at 351 West 18th Street between Eighth
and Ninth
Avenues in the Chelsea
neighborhood of Manhattan
, New York City
, is a "vertical campus" of the New York City Department of Education
which contains a number of small
public schools, most of them high school
s — grades 9 through 12 – along with one middle school – grades 6 through 8 – which will expand to become a combined middle and high school.
The building was formerly Bayard Rustin High School for the Humanities, a comprehensive school which is in the process of being phased out.
and U.S. Supreme Court
Chief Justice
Charles Evans Hughes
.
In 1952, the Senate Internal Security Subcommittee, which investigated Communist
influence in schools, accused two-thirds of New York City teachers of being "card-carrying Communists." Irving Adler, Mathematics
Department chair at Straubenmuller and executive member of the Teachers Union, was subpoena
ed by the subcommittee but refused to cooperate, invoking his rights under the Fifth Amendment
. He was fired. Adler later admitted being a member of the Communist Party USA
.
In the wake of disciplinary problems so bad that teachers picketed the school, it was shut down in 1981, and reopened in 1983 as the High School for the Humanities with a revamped curriculum focusing on English
and the humanities
. It was later renamed the Bayard Rustin High School for the Humanities after civil rights
activist Bayard Rustin
.
In January 2009, following publicized difficulties, including safety issues, a Regents Test
scandal – in which the school's administration falsified test scores to push up the school's average – and a continuing low graduation rate, the Department of Education announced that the school would not accept any ninth-graders in the fall of 2009, and that it would close after its last students graduate in 2012.
in addition to the comprehensive high school. During the transition period from 2009-2012, while the old high school is being phased out, the school building is hosting a number of schools. In the 2010-2011 school year, there were seven schools in the facility:
With the exception of Quest to Learn (Q2L), all of the smaller schools are high schools. Q2L, which moved into the building just before the 2010-2011 school year, currently has only two grades, 6 and 7, but plans to add a new grade each year until it is a combined middle and high school.
-lined hallways, stained glass
windows, and wood-paneled offices. In 1934–35, the Work Projects Administration's Federal Arts Project decorated the schools with murals, some created by artist Jacques Van Aalten; but muralist Jean Charlot
was also called in to oversee the work of art students (already in progress) titled The Art Contribution to Civilization of All Nations and Countries. He himself painted a central niche, which he named Head, Crowned with Laurels; this latter was overpainted after the completion of the mural, and Charlot listed the mural as "destroyed" in catalogs of his work. It was restored by the Adopt-A-Mural Program, with mural restoration completed in 1995. It is now an interior architectural landmark. In 1999 a theatrical lighting system and rigging
renovation for the school auditorium
was completed with the help of PENCIL, Public Education Needs Civic Involvement in Learning.
The building also features a swimming pool, which is expected to be refurbished and returned to service as of the 2010–2011 academic year.
Eighth Avenue (Manhattan)
Eighth Avenue is a north-south avenue on the West Side of Manhattan in New York City, carrying northbound traffic. Eighth Avenue begins in the West Village neighborhood at Abingdon Square and runs north for 44 blocks through Chelsea, the Garment District, Hell's Kitchen's east end, Midtown and the...
and Ninth
Ninth Avenue (Manhattan)
Ninth Avenue / Columbus Avenue is a southbound thoroughfare on the West Side of Manhattan in New York City. Traffic runs downtown along its full length...
Avenues in the Chelsea
Chelsea, Manhattan
Chelsea is a neighborhood on the West Side of the borough of Manhattan in New York City. The district's boundaries are roughly 14th Street to the south, 30th Street to the north, the western boundary of the Ladies' Mile Historic District – which lies between the Avenue of the Americas and...
neighborhood of Manhattan
Manhattan
Manhattan is the oldest and the most densely populated of the five boroughs of New York City. Located primarily on the island of Manhattan at the mouth of the Hudson River, the boundaries of the borough are identical to those of New York County, an original county of the state of New York...
, New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
, is a "vertical campus" of the New York City Department of Education
New York City Department of Education
The New York City Department of Education is the branch of municipal government in New York City that manages the city's public school system. It is the largest school system in the United States, with over 1.1 million students taught in more than 1,700 separate schools...
which contains a number of small
Small schools movement
The small schools movement, also known as the Small Schools Initiative, in the United States of America holds that many high schools are too large and should be reorganized into smaller, autonomous schools of no more than 400 students, and optimally under 200. Many private schools of under 200...
public schools, most of them high school
High school
High school is a term used in parts of the English speaking world to describe institutions which provide all or part of secondary education. The term is often incorporated into the name of such institutions....
s — grades 9 through 12 – along with one middle school – grades 6 through 8 – which will expand to become a combined middle and high school.
The building was formerly Bayard Rustin High School for the Humanities, a comprehensive school which is in the process of being phased out.
History
The building – which is actually two buildings, one on 18th Street and the other on 19th Street, connected in the middle – was constructed in 1930 as Textile High School, a vocational high school for the textile trades, complete with a textile mill in the basement; the school yearbook was titled The Loom. It was later renamed Straubenmuller Textile High School, then re-named Charles Evans Hughes High School after Governor of New YorkGovernor of New York
The Governor of the State of New York is the chief executive of the State of New York. The governor is the head of the executive branch of New York's state government and the commander-in-chief of the state's military and naval forces. The officeholder is afforded the courtesy title of His/Her...
and U.S. Supreme Court
Supreme Court of the United States
The Supreme Court of the United States is the highest court in the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all state and federal courts, and original jurisdiction over a small range of cases...
Chief Justice
Chief Justice of the United States
The Chief Justice of the United States is the head of the United States federal court system and the chief judge of the Supreme Court of the United States. The Chief Justice is one of nine Supreme Court justices; the other eight are the Associate Justices of the Supreme Court of the United States...
Charles Evans Hughes
Charles Evans Hughes
Charles Evans Hughes, Sr. was an American statesman, lawyer and Republican politician from New York. He served as the 36th Governor of New York , Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States , United States Secretary of State , a judge on the Court of International Justice , and...
.
In 1952, the Senate Internal Security Subcommittee, which investigated Communist
Communism
Communism is a social, political and economic ideology that aims at the establishment of a classless, moneyless, revolutionary and stateless socialist society structured upon common ownership of the means of production...
influence in schools, accused two-thirds of New York City teachers of being "card-carrying Communists." Irving Adler, Mathematics
Mathematics
Mathematics is the study of quantity, space, structure, and change. Mathematicians seek out patterns and formulate new conjectures. Mathematicians resolve the truth or falsity of conjectures by mathematical proofs, which are arguments sufficient to convince other mathematicians of their validity...
Department chair at Straubenmuller and executive member of the Teachers Union, was subpoena
Subpoena
A subpoena is a writ by a government agency, most often a court, that has authority to compel testimony by a witness or production of evidence under a penalty for failure. There are two common types of subpoena:...
ed by the subcommittee but refused to cooperate, invoking his rights under the Fifth Amendment
Fifth Amendment to the United States Constitution
The Fifth Amendment to the United States Constitution, which is part of the Bill of Rights, protects against abuse of government authority in a legal procedure. Its guarantees stem from English common law which traces back to the Magna Carta in 1215...
. He was fired. Adler later admitted being a member of the Communist Party USA
Communist Party USA
The Communist Party USA is a Marxist political party in the United States, established in 1919. It has a long, complex history that is closely related to the histories of similar communist parties worldwide and the U.S. labor movement....
.
In the wake of disciplinary problems so bad that teachers picketed the school, it was shut down in 1981, and reopened in 1983 as the High School for the Humanities with a revamped curriculum focusing on English
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
and the humanities
Humanities
The humanities are academic disciplines that study the human condition, using methods that are primarily analytical, critical, or speculative, as distinguished from the mainly empirical approaches of the natural sciences....
. It was later renamed the Bayard Rustin High School for the Humanities after civil rights
Civil rights
Civil and political rights are a class of rights that protect individuals' freedom from unwarranted infringement by governments and private organizations, and ensure one's ability to participate in the civil and political life of the state without discrimination or repression.Civil rights include...
activist Bayard Rustin
Bayard Rustin
Bayard Rustin was an American leader in social movements for civil rights, socialism, pacifism and non-violence, and gay rights.In the pacifist Fellowship of Reconciliation , Rustin practiced nonviolence...
.
In January 2009, following publicized difficulties, including safety issues, a Regents Test
Regents Examinations
Regents High School examinations, sometimes shortened to the Regents, are mandatory in New York State through the New York State Education Department, designed and administered under the authority of the Board of Regents of the University of the State of New York...
scandal – in which the school's administration falsified test scores to push up the school's average – and a continuing low graduation rate, the Department of Education announced that the school would not accept any ninth-graders in the fall of 2009, and that it would close after its last students graduate in 2012.
Repurposing
By 2005, the school building had already begun to host other, smaller public school entitiesSmall schools movement
The small schools movement, also known as the Small Schools Initiative, in the United States of America holds that many high schools are too large and should be reorganized into smaller, autonomous schools of no more than 400 students, and optimally under 200. Many private schools of under 200...
in addition to the comprehensive high school. During the transition period from 2009-2012, while the old high school is being phased out, the school building is hosting a number of schools. In the 2010-2011 school year, there were seven schools in the facility:
- Bayard Rustin High School (grades 11 & 12 only, will close after 2011-2012 school year)
- Hudson High School of Learning Technologies (M437)
- Humanities Preparatory Academy (M605)
- James Baldwin School (M313)
- Landmark High School (M419)
- Manhattan Business Academy (M392)
- Quest to Learn (M422)
With the exception of Quest to Learn (Q2L), all of the smaller schools are high schools. Q2L, which moved into the building just before the 2010-2011 school year, currently has only two grades, 6 and 7, but plans to add a new grade each year until it is a combined middle and high school.
Physical facilities
The original upper floors were well-appointed, with marbleMarble
Marble is a metamorphic rock composed of recrystallized carbonate minerals, most commonly calcite or dolomite.Geologists use the term "marble" to refer to metamorphosed limestone; however stonemasons use the term more broadly to encompass unmetamorphosed limestone.Marble is commonly used for...
-lined hallways, stained glass
Stained glass
The term stained glass can refer to coloured glass as a material or to works produced from it. Throughout its thousand-year history, the term has been applied almost exclusively to the windows of churches and other significant buildings...
windows, and wood-paneled offices. In 1934–35, the Work Projects Administration's Federal Arts Project decorated the schools with murals, some created by artist Jacques Van Aalten; but muralist Jean Charlot
Jean Charlot
Louis Henri Jean Charlot was a French painter and illustrator, active in Mexico and the United States. Charlot was born in Paris. His father, Henri, owned an import-export business and was a Russian-born émigré, albeit one who supported the Bolshevik cause. His mother Anna was herself an artist...
was also called in to oversee the work of art students (already in progress) titled The Art Contribution to Civilization of All Nations and Countries. He himself painted a central niche, which he named Head, Crowned with Laurels; this latter was overpainted after the completion of the mural, and Charlot listed the mural as "destroyed" in catalogs of his work. It was restored by the Adopt-A-Mural Program, with mural restoration completed in 1995. It is now an interior architectural landmark. In 1999 a theatrical lighting system and rigging
Fly system
A fly system, flying system or theatrical rigging system, is a system of lines , blocks , counterweights and related devices within a theatre that enable a stage crew to quickly, quietly and safely fly components such as curtains, lights, scenery, stage effects and, sometimes, people...
renovation for the school auditorium
Auditorium
An auditorium is a room built to enable an audience to hear and watch performances at venues such as theatres. For movie theaters, the number of auditoriums is expressed as the number of screens.- Etymology :...
was completed with the help of PENCIL, Public Education Needs Civic Involvement in Learning.
The building also features a swimming pool, which is expected to be refurbished and returned to service as of the 2010–2011 academic year.
Notable alumni of the comprehensive high school
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- actor - Remy CharlipRemy CharlipAbraham Remy' Charlip is an American artist, writer, choreographer, theatre director, designer and teacher.-Career:He studied art at Straubenmuller Textile High School in Manhattan and fine arts at Cooper Union in New York, graduating in 1949.In the 1960s Charlip created a unique form of...
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instructor - John IsaacsJohn IsaacsJohn Isaacs was an early African-American professional basketball player. Born in Panama but raised in New York City, he was a member of the New York Renaissance, the Washington Bears, and various other teams....
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