234 West 131st Street, ca. 1932.

407 West 130th Street, unknown date.

The High School of Music & Art, April 3, 1926. The High School of Music & Art for Gifted Children opened for the spring term of 1936, in a William H. Gompert-designed school building at 135th Street and Convent Avenue. Built in 1924 for the New York Training School for Teachers and the associated New York Model School (where the training teachers taught), by the mid-1930s, the hilltop Collegiate Gothic structure housed P.S. 193 and an annex of the Wadleigh High School for Girls. The New York Times reported that the initial Music & Art enrollment of 215 “specially gifted students” would receive instruction “not only to develop their abilities in fine arts or music but to pursue courses leading either to the academic high school diploma for college entrance or the general high school diploma.” Piano instruction was also compulsory. Music & Art opened during the administration of Mayor Fiorello La Guardia, himself an enthusiastic patron of the performing arts. In his remarks at the school’s dedication ceremony, La Guardia predicted that “in five years this will be one of the outstanding high schools in the country.” Over 70 years later, the Mayor’s prediction has been validated by the lengthy list of notable alumcross every discipline of the arts. The “castle on the hill” campus was home to Music & Art from 1936 to 1984, when the school merged with the High School of Performing Arts upon moving into a new campus at Lincoln Center. The new facility was named the Fiorello H. La Guardia High School for Music & Art and Performing Arts. Today, over 2,700 students are enrolled at La Guardia, each with a studio or performing arts concentration. Gompert’s building is today part of the City College south campus, and includes the A. Philip Randolph Campus High School.

Interior of Hamilton Grange, date unknown.

Adolph Lewisohn Stadium, during a formal reception for Italian legation when Italy entered World War I., ca. 1915. The Lewisohn Stadium was an amphitheater and athletic facility built where City College's North Academic Center presently stands. Designed by Arnold W. Brunner, the arena opened in 1915 and was the site of City College's athletic events and commencement ceremonies from its inception to 1973, when it was demolished. The structure could not have been built without the financial support of philanthropist Adolph Lewisohn, who donated the money for construction. It was through his contribution that the school was able to construct a great open space that not only served the student body but the public. The stadium was a destination for elaborate theatrical events, summer concerts, including the production of The Trojan Women at the dedication ceremony. In 1973, the structure was demolished to make way for the $125 million North Academic Center.

240 West 131st Street, ca. 1932.

Hamilton Gate on Convent Avenue, undated postcard. Four concrete and metal arched gates, rendered in a neo-Gothic style, created four entrances to the North Campus Quadrangle of City College. Mirroring the original neo-Gothic buildings of the campus (the building seen here is Shepard Hall), the gates were all named for famous men, Hudson, Washington, Stuyvesant, and Hamilton. This gate at the northern edge of Convent Avenue was named for Alexander Hamilton who lived nearby at the start of the 19th century.

Interior view of the original front door of Hamilton Grange, date unknown. During the home's time at 287 Convent Avenue (1889-2008), this original door was facing the side of the church next door.

He told her she could “guess and guess again,” but that he would let her in on his “scheme” when they next saw each other. Now that Alexander Hamilton has been restored as one of the most talked-about New Yorkers, reminders of his footsteps through the city are cropping up all over the grid. He's also a featured personality in New York at its Core, where visitors will have the opportunity to “meet” him through an innovative interactive storyline that highlights his founding of the Bank of New York, a central aspect of the city’s recovery after the devastation of the Revolutionary War and British occupation.

The Constitution of the United States of America establishes the laws and governmental structure of the United States. It was first drafted by James Madison and explains which rights are reserved to the national and state governments. The Constitution was ratified in 1787, four years after the official ending of the Revolutionary War. In the years between the Treaty of Paris, which ended the war, and the Constitutional Convention, the United States was governed by a document titled Articles of Confederation. This document gave more power to the various states instead of a single national government. This made important decisions regarding trade, taxation, and defense, very hard to make. Many people recognized the serious situation the new nation found itself in and met in Philadelphia to create a new guiding document. After intense debate, they produced the US Constitution, which still forms the basis of our government. In fact, the US Constitution is the oldest constitution still in use today. While not perfect, this document laid out the fundamental rights that all Americans enjoy today. These different locations throughout New York help to highlight some of the powers and rules laid out in our founding document. NYS Social Studies Scope and Sequence Standards 7.4 & 11.2 For Teachers: US Constitution Lesson Plan

A. Philip Randolph Campus High School, Manhattan Established in 1979, the A. Philip Randolph Campus High School (H.S. 540) occupies the former High School of Music & Art, located on West 135th Street in Harlem. Designed by William H. Gompert and built between 1924 and 1926 in Collegiate Gothic style, the L-shaped building is clad in limestone and mottled buff-to-brown ironspot brick features distinctive square towers. Designated as a New York City Landmark in 1977, the school is named in honor of Asa Philip Randolph, founder of the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters, who is considered to be the greatest African-American labor leader in American history.

College of the City of New York: The Main Building, 1911. Described in the LPC designation report as being shaped from above as a stubby anchor, Shepard Hall (originally known as Main Hall) is the largest of the buildings on the City College of New York North Campus. Built in a lavish neo-Gothic style with terra cotta quoins and a seven-story tower, Shepard Hall is the "cathedral" of this campus. Designed, along with most of the other university buildings nearby, by George B. Post between 1903 and 1907, it was the particular project a former graduate Edward Morse Shepard. Shepard would oversee the design and decoration of the enormous room within the Main Building called the Great Hall, which could accommodate more than 1000 people.

Drawing of Hamilton Grange, pre-1889. Hamilton's home has only been in its new (and likely final) location in St. Nicholas Park since 2008– not long enough for photographs to be in the collections of NYC archives. For a series of historic photos, make sure to visit the pins for 287 Convent Avenue and 143rd Street between Convent and Hamilton Place. This drawing of the home in its original location (approximately West 143rd Street between Convent Avenue and Hamilton Place) is very similar to how the building looks today. In its final move the original entrance was restored.

St. Nicholas Avenue Presbyterian Church is a Gothic Revival church built between 1904-1905. Its congregation was originally known as the Lenox Presbyterian Church, which occupied a Romanesque structure constructed in 1892. Upon moving, the church changed its name to reflect its new location. The congregation merged with the North Presbyterian Church and moved to 529 West 155th Street in 1927. The building now houses the St. James Presbyterian Church, a historically black church known for its music. In 1964, the Harlem School of the Arts was established in the basement of this building. Its founder was Dorothy Maynor, the wife of Reverend Shelby Rooks and a talented soprano soloist. Her husband was the pastor of the church until 1976. The school is now located in the building directly behind the church.

Townsend - Harris Hall, City College, ca. 1910.

New York Training School for Teachers, 1926. Known as the "Castle on the Hill," the school building seen here was built in an "abstracted contemporary Collegiate Gothic style," according to the Landmarks Preservation Commission. Designed by William H. Gompert, Architect and Superintendent of School Buildings for the Board of Education and constructed in 1924-1926, the building originally housed the New York Training School for Teachers. In this buildings teachers were educated and allowed to "practice" teaching. It became the New York Teachers Training College for a few years, but was closed in 1933 when, during the Depression the city had a surplus of 5000 teachers waiting for appointments. Next, the building became Public School 193 briefly before becoming the High School of Music and Art, which it remained for nearly 50 years. Created by Mayor LaGuardia in 1936, it is considered to be the first public high school in the country to have a specialized study of art and music. The school merged with the High School for Performing Arts in 1984 and moved to Lincoln Center. Today the building is occupied by the A. Philip Randolph Campus High School, a public school where screened applicants offered a place in one of three academic academies within. An educational collaboration between the Board of Education and CCNY, the school was established in 1979 and moved into this building in 1983.