An early “tenant” of the Field Building, Townsend Harris High School occupied the top three floors of 17 Lex from 1930 to 1942. The school was named for one of the founders of the Free Academy, a merchant and politician who engineered the 1858 Treaty of Edo (or Harris Treaty), which first opened Japan to foreign trade.
CUNY’s seminal preparatory high school, Harris High evolved out of the Free Academy’s “sub-freshman,” or preparatory, year. Following the creation of New York City’s public high school system, the one-year course was expanded into an accelerated three-year program in the early 20th century. Originally situated on City College’s St. Nicholas Heights campus, the highly selective school was relocated to the newly built City College School of Business and Civic Administration on 23rd Street and Lexington Avenue when its uptown site became too crowded. Herman Wouk, Adam Clayton Powell, and Jonas Salk are just a few of the institution’s eminent graduates. George Weissman (’39, LLD [Hon.] ’82), namesake of the Weissman School of Arts and Sciences, is also an alum.
Mayor LaGuardia closed the school in 1942, due—it is believed—to political pressures caused by the proliferation of specialized high schools. Townsend Harris High School was refounded in Queens in 1984, thanks largely to the efforts of its original alumni. Since 1995 it has occupied a building on the Queens College campus and has consistently ranked in the Top 100 public high schools in the U.S. (currently #33 according to the U.S. News & World Report).
– Marina Zogbi
Thank you to BCAM reader and former Baruch staffer Shirley Gershberg, who responded to our feature The Field Building at 17 Lex Gets a Makeover by filling us in on Townsend Harris High School’s 17 Lex days.