Tuesday afternoon, June 12, 1923, was bright and sunny, yet comfortable, and a large number of interested people gathered at the site of new buildings on Pelham Parkway of The New York Institute for the Education of the Blind for the laying of the corner-stone. About 100 students and staff were transported from the school at Ninth Ave and Thirty-fourth Street by buses for the ceremony. Inside the cornerstone is a copper box time capsule with photographs, documents and newspapers.
McKim, Mead, and White was the premier architectural firm in the eastern United States at the turn of the twentieth century and they designed the school buildings. They designed countless outstanding buildings such as the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Columbia University and the White House.
Most of our buildings look the same as they did in 1923. Schermerhorn Hall has had the most changes with the additions of the gymnasium and auditorium wings. Perhaps the most dramatic change to the building was the removal of the Pelham Parkway staircase and the addition of the side stairs and ramp.
NYI began construction of a new campus in the Bronx in 1923. The original school was on 9th Avenue & 34sth Street in Manhattan. McKim, Mead and White were the architects. #ThrowbackThursday #TBT #TBThursday #architects @architects #architecture #Bronx https://t.co/d8Cm6ZezlP pic.twitter.com/j2yUjntyZh
— NYISE (@nyise999) November 30, 2017