BFS "head" count. Heads of school, that is...

Stuart Smith, 1968 to 1978

Since 1867, BFS has had 19 heads of school, not including interim heads. Over the years, the title of our school's highest administrative role has evolved from principal to headmaster to today's head of school. The history of each administration is unique, fascinating and lengthy, so today I'll only give the list of BFS heads of school and a few facts I find interesting, including the fact that only nine of the nineteen BFS heads of school were Quakers. 

A rare find, 19th Century student remembers his BFS days

Found tucked away in the archives several years ago is this item written by Henry Morris Haviland, recalling his student days at BFS from 1872 to 1876.  Such items are quite a find for our school, especially since Mr. Haviland explained the locations of the classrooms in the lower level of the Brooklyn Meeting House. Our school was smaller in those early days and the entire school was conducted in the Brooklyn Meeting House, of course. I love his nickname "Hash," but I think I love even more the phrase once heard regularly in our school, "Go to the Social Union room." 

Henry M. Haviland's Reminiscences of Friends School

1867 to 1886 and Our First Expansion - Part 2 of Our Buildings, Our History

Look at the right of this ca. 1893 photo of the Germania Club to see the Brooklyn Meeting House at the far right. Look closely to see the snow on what seems to be the rooftop of our school's 1886 building  just east of the Meeting House.

In light of the great news of the most recent expansion of BFS, a new home for the Upper School, it's a good time to return to my series on the history of our school's buildings. My first entry in the series covered the first building to house BFS, the Brooklyn Meeting House, built in 1857 and extended to the school's first year, the 1867-1868 school year. Today, we take a look at the years 1868 to 1886 to understand our school's first physical expansion. The photo on the right shows what I believe is the 1886 building, the very first expansion of BFS.

The words of then-principal Susan P. Peckham to the Trustees of the Schools of New York Monthly Meeting: "Our enlarged and improved accommodations are a source of much gratification to the teachers and scholars and I believe they will prove of the greatest importance as a means of making the school more healthy, more orderly and more prosperous. The scholars certainly appear happy, industrious and well-behaved; the manner in which they have begun the work of the year is most satisfactory."

Why was a new building necessary? The school's early years were successful and Brooklyn was growing. The school needed more space for students and more space would help our excellent educational program both keep and grow with the changing times - much the same as our reasons for expanding today.

History, Weiss Style - 40 years ago...

Welcome back to a new year at Brooklyn Friends School! For those who may not have attended opening days at BFS this year, Head of School Larry Weiss pointed out that it has been 40 years since he first came to BFS, at the start of the 1973-74 school year. Our former student newspaper The Life actually published the article below about Larry in its November, 1973 edition.

The first BFS buildings, and our first neighbors

Original photo from the 1923-24 BFS School Catalogue

My earlier post on the first architect of BFS, William Bunker Tubby, sparked so much research that I've decided to write of the physical expansion of BFS over several posts. Today is an overview of the very first home of Brooklyn Friends School, 110 Schermerhorn, with some details about the area and our early neighbors.

William Bunker Tubby - the first architect of BFS

Many know that Brooklyn Friends School began in the "social room" of Brooklyn Monthly Meeting at 110 Schermerhorn Street in 1867. Lesser known is the fact that our school gradually expanded, from 1877 to 1925, to the adjacent lots at 112, 114, and 116 Schermerhorn.

William Bunker Tubby
BFS alum and its first official architect

The New York Times published a lovely article on Sunday about William Bunker Tubby, the architect of the 1902-1973 home of BFS, 112-116 Schermerhorn. Our former "Main Building" on Schermerhorn was erected in 1902 and it is probable that Mr. Tubby also was called in for the building's 1920 and 1925 additions as he continued working almost until his death in 1944. A single building, 112-116 Schermerhorn looks almost seamless today.