The Legacy of Former "Colored" School No. 4

This illustrated talk by historian Eric K. Washington visits an unassuming building in Manhattan’s Chelsea neighborhood that, in shedding light on 19th-century Gotham’s forgotten past, has excited wide media attention. Hidden in plain sight on West 17th Street is the former “Colored” School No. 4, the last of a network of racial-caste public schoolhouses that once were relegated to New York’s African American teachers and students. Built in 1849-50, the city-owned building’s decades-long use spanned the eras of the Antebellum Period, the Civil War, Reconstruction and the Gilded Age. Washington spearheaded the collaborative community preservation effort that culminated in 2023 with both the NYC Landmarks Preservation Commission designating the curiously idle building a historic landmark and the city’s mayor pledging $6 million towards its rehabilitation. His talk will highlight many of the notable teachers, students and events once associated with this remarkably surviving Black heritage site.

Eric K. Washington is an independent historian and author, and was the preeminent advocate of Manhattan's (Former) Colored School No. 4, where one of the school’s pupils in the 1880s-90s was the protagonist of his book, . His book won the Herbert H. Lehman Prize for Distinguished Scholarship of New York History, the Guides Association of New York City’s GANYC Apple Award and a special recognition from the Municipal Art Society’s Brendan Gill Prize selection committee. Washington was awarded the Historic District Council’s 2023 Grassroots Preservation Award, and the Victorian Society of New York's 2022 Preservation Award. In March he is to receive the 2025 GANYC Lifetime Achievement Award.

In-person admission is $5/ person.

This page is to register for the in-person talk at VCHM.

Accessibility:

This in-person event will be held in the museum's educational space, which is accessed using stairs. A 360-degree tour of the museum is available in the wheelchair/ mobility device accessible Welcome Center.

Language:

This program will be delivered in English.

Getting here:

Public Transportation:

• Subway: #1 to 242nd Street Station, then walk north on Broadway to the tree-lined pedestrian path leading into the park.
• Bus: Bx9 to West 246th Street and Broadway, then walk into the park on the tree-lined pedestrian path leading into the park.
• BxM3 Express Bus to 246th Street and Broadway, then walk into the park on the tree-lined pedestrian path leading into the park.
• Metro-North Hudson River Line to Marble Hill Station, transfer to the Bx9 bus or #1 subway as above.
  

By Car:

VCHM is located at 246th & Broadway within Van Cortlandt Park.

Address for GPS: 6036 Broadway, Bronx, NY

Parking:
You can park in Van Cortlandt Park's free parking lot, which is a 5 minute walk on park trails from the museum () or you can pay for metered street-parking on Broadway (). Please be advised that there is no lighting on the path from the golf course parking lot to the museum.

Event Venue & Nearby Stays

The Van Cortlandt House Museum, 6036 Broadway, Van Cortlandt Park, The Bronx, United States