The Gorgeous Schools of Charles B J Snyder

In this talk, Cynthia LaValle and Mike Janoska will present a look at New York City public schools designed and built during the end of the 19th and the beginning of the 20th centuries. This subject was thoroughly researched and presented by award-winning author, Jean Arrington, in her monograph, From Factories to Palaces Architect Charles B. J. Snyder and the New York City Public Schools, published by Fordham University Press in June of 2022. After a career as a tenured English professor at Peace College and bringing up her family in Raleigh, NC, it was time for Jean to follow a dream of relocating to NYC, a city that had always stirred her imagination. While looking for part-time employment that first summer, she developed a passion for the magnificent turn-of-the-century buildings that still serve thousands of New York’s public school students. After a number of research years, traveling the city, and visiting all the existing school buildings, meeting many interesting people, learning about architecture, and also about the history of education in NYC, she was faced with a life altering difficulty. Unfortunately, in 2018 Jean was diagnosed with Multiple Systems Atrophy (MSA). In 2019, when Jean no longer had the physical ability to carry on with the book, Jean along with Cindy LaValle, Snyder’s great grand-daughter, created a project team that saw the book through to completion. During the review process in January 2022, Jean sadly perished. She left knowing that her book would be published, and word would get out allowing others the opportunity to enjoy this remarkable man’s achievements. As Superintendent of School Buildings from 1891 to 1922, architect Charles B. J. Snyder elevated the standards of school architecture. Unprecedented immigration and Progressive Era changes in educational philosophy led to his fresh approach to design and architecture, which forever altered the look and feel of twentieth-century classrooms and school buildings. Students rich or poor, immigrant or native New Yorker, went from learning in factory-like schools to attending classes in schools with architectural designs and enhancements that to many made them seem like palaces.