Working in an archive, an archivist never knows what might turn up. This week when researching information for another blog post I was reading through a 1900 edition of Washington Irving’s The Knickerbocker History of New York, when I turned the page and nestled between the pages was a certificate for perfect attendance for Susie Wright at P.S. 38 in New York City. How it got there or why it was in this book is a mystery which will never be solved. However, we can conjecture that perhaps this was her book and she placed the certificate there later in life for safe-keeping, but no one can be certain.

Knickerbocker’s History of New York by Washington Irving, 1900.

Testimonial of Merit is Awarded to Susie Wright P.S. 38, March 1878

What secrets can this certificate reveal?  How can we go about finding more information? The first task is to identify what kinds of primary sources can be used for finding more information. The possible sources that might help in our quest include New York City directories, directories of the Board of Education, maps, photographs, and possibly contemporary periodical or newspaper articles.

To locate the directories I used our database Gateway to North America: People, Places and Organizations of 19th Century New York. I wanted to see where P.S. 38 was located and the Directory of the Board of Education of the City and County of New York, January, 1878, provided that information. I found that it was on the corner of 118th Street and Avenue A. Miss Helen E. Boyce had signed the certificate as the Principal of the school and she was listed in the directory with her home address which was 525 East 86th Street.

Miss. Helen E. Boyce, Principal of Primary School 38, corner of 118th street and Avenue A, Twelfth Ward. Courtesy of Directory of the Board of Education of the City and County of New York, 1878.

I checked the same directory for the year 1877 and Miss Boyce was listed. Unfortunately the database doesn’t have directories for 1874-1876 and the 1873 one is incomplete. I checked the 1870 volume and Miss Boyce was not there, concluding that she began her tenure at P.S. 38 between 1871 and 1877. She does show up in the 1879 volume but by 1881 she disappears. To find out more about Miss Boyce I checked Trow’s New York City Directory where her occupation and street address would be listed. In the 1880 volume she is listed as a teacher with a new street address, 227 East 116th Street, very close to the school. However, our story ends because the next year, 1881, she is no longer in the directory.

Now, can we find anything about our scholar, Susie Wright? That is more difficult and unfortunately I was unable to unlock anything about her. The route I took to try and find out information was to check the New York City directory for 1878 for Wrights but that is a very common name and many Wrights lived in the vicinity of the school, so that would take a search of census records and using Ancestry.com I did not yield any positive results.

What would other sources reveal? Using the New York Public Library Digital Gallery I had access to Sanborn Fire Insurance Atlases which began to be published in 1867 and showed in detail what was on every street in New York City. An 1885 image showed the school and the surrounding area. What we also discovered was that a year after Susie received her certificate, Avenue A became Pleasant Avenue. We also located some pictures of the street in 1920 which was a surprising find.

Map of Primary School 38, Pleasant Ave (Former Ave. A) and 118th street. Courtesy of NYPL: http://digitalcollections.nypl.org/items/510d47e2-09a6-a3d9-e040-e00a18064a99

Views of the block of P.S. 38 118th Street, between Pleasant Ave and the East River Drive (FDR Drive).
Image on Left: Students playing on the street of P.S. 38 (can be seen on the far right), Circa 1920s courtesy of NYPL: http://digitalcollections.nypl.org/items/510d47dd-171e-a3d9-e040-e00a18064a99
Image on Right: Contemporaneous image of 118th street. Courtesy of Google Maps.

Building on the left, former PS 38. Courtesy of Google Maps

Susie Wright would have been forgotten had it not been for this single sheet of paper and two inquisitive archivists.