Last former Black-only schoolhouse in Manhattan becomes a landmark

Former “Colored School No. 4” – the last known surviving former Black-only segregated schoolhouse in Manhattan – is now a landmark.

The New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission voted unanimously on Tuesday in favor of designating the three-story building at 128 West 17th St. in Chelsea for protection. The city will also invest $6 million to rehabilitate the building, Mayor Eric Adams announced.

The building, which was built around 1850, became a Black-only primary and grammar school 10 years later, serving children ages 5 to 14. Notable Black leaders in music, education and management walked through its halls. But the 19th century schoolhouse also serves as an important reminder of the era of mandatory segregation, commissioners said.

“This designation would tell the story of significant achievements of African Americans and serve as a reminder of the systemic racism and segregation that so many have endured,” said Commission Chair Sarah Carroll.

“I think it’s very important that we don’t always just honor the unalloyed, perfect past but recognize the complexity of the past,” added Commissioner Michael Goldblum.

Principal Sarah J.S. Garnet was one of the city’s first Black female public school principals.

And students included violinist and composer Walter F. Craig; Susan Elizabeth Frazier, the first Black teacher in the city assigned to an integrated public school; and James H. Williams, the leader of the “Red Cap” porters at Grand Central Terminal.

One of the school’s teachers, J. Imogen Howard, became the manager of the World’s Columbian Exposition of 1893, the first world’s fair held in Chicago.

“It also shows us how education afforded crucial opportunities and skills to Black students as they struggled against the discrimination and inequities that were part of their daily lives,” said commission researcher Marianne Hurley.

The building garnered dozens of supporters, including historians, elected officials, block associations…