Jane Addams High School - Bronx NY

: Jane Addams High School, 1930s

Project type: Education and Health, Parks and Recreation, Playgrounds, Schools

Agency: Public Works Administration (PWA), Federal Emergency Relief Administration (FERA), Public Works Funding, Work Relief Programs

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Description

Jane Addams High School, located in the southern Bronx, was constructed during the 1930s with federal Public Works Administration funds. It opened in 1937. The project was PWA Docket No. NY 1178. The school closed in 2012, and the building now houses two smaller charter schools.

In 1935, the Department of Parks had also opened a new playground on the site with federal funds, most likely FERA and possibly CWA funds. It is unclear whether that playground became part of the school’s recreational facilities, or whether it was demolished in order to build the school.

: Jane Addams high school image from Google Map

Jane Addams high school image from Google Map
© All Rights Reserved

Jane Addams high school image from Google Map

: Aerial view of Jane Addams high school from Google Map

Aerial view of Jane Addams high school from Google Map
© All Rights Reserved

Aerial view of Jane Addams high school from Google Map

: Jane Addams High School, 1930s
National Archives and Records Administration, Neg. P-521

Jane Addams High School, 1930s
Photo: WPA Photo Public Domain

Jane Addams High School, 1930s

: Jane Addams High School: Auditorium Entrance, 1930s
National Archives Record Group 135-SAR: Prints: Photographs rejected for use in the Photographic Report to the President: “Survey of the Architecture of Completed Projects of the PWA, 1939”; Box 14: New York State; Folder 1: Schools. Scanned and processed by Evan Kalish, July 2014.

Jane Addams High School: Auditorium Entrance, 1930s
Photo: Alfred Cook Public Domain

Jane Addams High School: Auditorium Entrance, 1930s

: Jane Addams High School: Auditorium, 1930s
National Archives Record Group 135-SAR: Prints: Photographs rejected for use in the Photographic Report to the President: “Survey of the Architecture of Completed Projects of the PWA, 1939”; Box 14: New York State; Folder 1: Schools. Scanned and processed by Evan Kalish, July 2014.

Jane Addams High School: Auditorium, 1930s
Photo: Alfred Cook Public Domain

Jane Addams High School: Auditorium, 1930s

Source notes

National Archives Record Group 135-SAR:
Prints: Photographs rejected for use in the Photographic Report to the President: “Survey of the Architecture of Completed Projects of the PWA, 1939”
Box 14: New York State, Folder 1: Schools

New York City Parks Department New Deal Projects 1934-43

Department of Parks, Press Release, February 28, 1935

Contracts Voted for 3 New Schools - Two Buildings in Brooklyn and One in Richmond Are to Cost $2,263.782 - Federal Aid Accepted, New York Times, 3 Feb 1936.

PWA Grants $565,544 for School in Bronx, New York Times, 8 Jan 1936.

Officials to Start Bronx High School, New York Times, 1 Mar 1936.

School Improvement Scenarios for Jane Addams High School for Academics and Careers, NYC Dept of Education website, undated but probably around 2010.

City Targets Jane Addams High for Closing, WNYC website, 8 Dec 2011.

Project originally submitted by Evan Kalish on July 28, 2014.
Additional contributions by Frank da Cruz.

We welcome contributions of additional information on any New Deal project site.

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