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== Tilden HS during the War ==
== Tilden HS during the War ==


In 1942, Samuel J. Tilden HS was the first Brooklyn high school to hold a mass blood drive. <ref>"135 at Tilden to Donate Blood Friday," Brooklyn Eagle, May 17, 1942</ref> This was one of many ways that [[World War II]] affected students at Tilden. During the war, new home economics curricula were introduced to better prepare girls for the war effort. Girls took cooking classes in school that taught them how to cook more with less, as everyday ingredients were rationed and shipped off to the soldiers. There were no surpluses of food, and solders were the main priority at the time.<ref> “Boro School Pushes Basic Food Ideas,” Brooklyn Eagle, December 4, 1942</ref>
In 1942, Samuel J. Tilden HS was the first Brooklyn high school to hold a mass blood drive. <ref>"135 at Tilden to Donate Blood Friday," Brooklyn Eagle, May 17, 1942</ref> This was one of many ways that [[World War II]] affected students at Tilden. During the war, new home economics curricula were introduced to better prepare girls for the war effort. Girls took cooking classes in school that taught them how to cook more with less, as everyday ingredients were rationed and shipped off to the soldiers. There were no surpluses of food, and soldiers were the main priority at the time.<ref> “Boro School Pushes Basic Food Ideas,” Brooklyn Eagle, December 4, 1942</ref>


Other students supported the war by purchasing more than $15,000 in United States Savings Bonds and Stamps (see [[war bond]]) to help the government finance military operations during the war, leading the nation in money raised by students.<ref>“Tilden Pupils buy $15,000 Defense Stamps,” Brooklyn Eagle, January 6 1942</ref> Over 100 girls knit sweaters and scarves in conjunction with the British War Relief and American Red Cross. The Red Cross also agreed to send instructors to teach nursing and first aid methods, so that if the war lasted years, the girls would become nurses in aid of the soldiers.
Other students supported the war by purchasing more than $15,000 in United States Savings Bonds and Stamps (see [[war bond]]) to help the government finance military operations during the war, leading the nation in money raised by students.<ref>“Tilden Pupils buy $15,000 Defense Stamps,” Brooklyn Eagle, January 6 1942</ref> Over 100 girls knit sweaters and scarves in conjunction with the British War Relief and American Red Cross. The Red Cross also agreed to send instructors to teach nursing and first aid methods, so that if the war lasted years, the girls would become nurses in aid of the soldiers.

Revision as of 00:59, 27 June 2010

Tilden Avenue (north) side

Samuel J. Tilden High School, is a New York City public high school in Flatbush, Brooklyn. It is named for Samuel J. Tilden.

Samuel J. Tilden High School, Bayside High School, Abraham Lincoln High School, John Adams High School, and Grover Cleveland High School were all built during the Great Depression from one set of blueprints, in order to save money.

Early History

Plans to construct Samuel J. Tilden High School were filed in 1927. The school was estimated to cost between $2,500,000 and $3,000,000 and would feature specialized facilities including a swimming pool, rifle range, an auditorium with 1300+ capacity, library, and science laboratories. [1] While the school was eventually constructed on Tilden Avenue and E. 57th St, residents in Brownsville, the Coney Island Chamber of Commerce, and Boro President James J. Bryne initially opposed the site because of poor transportation options around the site. [2]

Shortly after resolving the location of Samuel J. Tilden High School, a formal recommendation was made to change the name of not yet built Samuel J. Tilden High School to Edward B. Shallow High School. This recommendation followed the death of Edward B. Shallow, the Superintendent of the Board of Education who initially recommended a high school be named after New York State Governor, Samuel J. Tilden. [3]

Tilden High School opened on February 3, 1929. It cost $2,500,000 to construct. It was built to serve 3,969 students. [4]

In 1935, a field and stadium were designed and constructed with Works Progress Administration labor and appropriations. [5] Several years later, the WPA would make another addition to the Samuel J. Tilden High School, this time in the form of a mural for the auditorium. The project took over 6 months, as muralists Abraham Lishinsky, Irving A. Block, and Abraham Lerner designed and painted a 2,400 square foot mural depicting “Major Influence in Civilization” for the auditorium.[6]

By the 1940s, Tilden H.S., initially criticized for its hard to reach location was over crowded by students, at one point reaching 5,700. In order to limit the crowding, S.J. Tilden administrators split the school day offering one session from 7:50am to 1:04pm and another from 1:11pm to 5:45pm. [7]

Tilden HS during the War

In 1942, Samuel J. Tilden HS was the first Brooklyn high school to hold a mass blood drive. [8] This was one of many ways that World War II affected students at Tilden. During the war, new home economics curricula were introduced to better prepare girls for the war effort. Girls took cooking classes in school that taught them how to cook more with less, as everyday ingredients were rationed and shipped off to the soldiers. There were no surpluses of food, and soldiers were the main priority at the time.[9]

Other students supported the war by purchasing more than $15,000 in United States Savings Bonds and Stamps (see war bond) to help the government finance military operations during the war, leading the nation in money raised by students.[10] Over 100 girls knit sweaters and scarves in conjunction with the British War Relief and American Red Cross. The Red Cross also agreed to send instructors to teach nursing and first aid methods, so that if the war lasted years, the girls would become nurses in aid of the soldiers.

Tilden and the Red Scare

During the 1940s and 1950s, individuals and organizations all over the United States were accused of affiliations with Socialists, Communists, and radicals. At Tilden High School, students and teachers were accused of radicalism. Even then principal Dr. Abraham Lefkowitz was accused of being a radical for distributing a statement to teachers and students that denounced complete free enterprise and called upon students to think critically about their role in America.[11]

Students were also affected by the Red Scare and were warned by administrators that affiliation with Communist affiliated clubs such as the [[American Youth for Democracy would negatively impact their careers.[12]

A former student claimed that both Mr. Eugene Jackson, a language teacher at Tilden, and Mr. Terry Rosenbaum had expressed sympathy toward student Red groups during testimony before the Senate Internal Security sub-committee. The former student alleged that an American Youth for Democracy unit at school was asking to obtain speakers for the unit’s meetings. Apparently, Mr. Jackson told them that he agreed with their point of view and thought it was very good.[13]

By the late 1940s, students had to pledge an oath of loyalty to the United States and State of New York in order to receive a diploma. The oath read as follows:

“I hereby declare my loyalty to the Constitution and Government of the United States and the State of New York and promise to support their laws.”[14]

Tilden High School and Integration

The racial tensions that swept the nation during the 1960s and 1970s were felt at Samuel J. Tilden High School as well. The school’s African American population was growing and the school’s demographics were changing and becoming more diverse. In 1962, of the 5,000 students that attended Tilden HS, 97.9% were “others”, the Board of Education’s term for non-blacks and non-Puerto Ricans. By 1971, of the 3,000 students at Tilden, 63.4% were others. Changing demographics and under-enrollment set the state for controversy around rezoning and plans for Samuel J. Tilden HS.[15]

Tensions came to a head during the rezoning hearings in March 1972, which aimed to assure integrated education for three high schools in Brooklyn, Samuel J. Tilden High School, Canarsie High School, and South Shore High School. Parents groups of each high school each had their own idea of a zoning plan that would preserve the racial and ethnic diversity of each school while maintaining a quality education for each student.[16]

In a flier prepared by students at Tilden HS, students outline their position regarding the rezoning: “We have no ethnic balance of 37% black and Puerto Rican and 63% others (majority whites). The addition of these option students, without an equally proportionate number of whites could lead to a shifting of this balance. If it shifts too much, an unfortunate chain of events takes place: white families flee the neighborhood, which is no integrated. Result: another segregated school, another segregated neighborhood.”[17].

In order to attract students, specialized honors programs were established with Samuel J. Tilden HS. Students from all over the city would be able to apply to the special programs. This marked a shift in New York City School Zoning, as a student’s school options were no longer only determined by geography.[18]

A Changing East Flatbush, A Changing Tilden

Tilden HS demographics continued to change into the 1980s as the surrounding neighborhood; East Flatbush saw increased immigration from the Caribbean and West Indies. Media coverage of Samuel J. Tilden also changed, with a focus on incidents of violence. This lead then principal Everett Kerner to state that the high school was getting a "bum rap”[19]

Athletics

When it opened in 1929, Principal John M. Loughran adopted the slogan, “athletics for all”[20]. Equipped with facilities, sports field, three gymnasiums, swimming pool, etc., Principal Loughran set to find the personnel and coaches that would establish Tilden High Blue and Greys as a sports great in New York City.

The sports program hit its first obstacle 1934 as the faculty moved to change the baseball and football teams from inter-school competitive programs to intra-murals in efforts to better distribute school budget while balancing school spirit.[21]

In 1935, a new stadium was constructed and designed by the WPA. This new facility and those inside the building were made available to adults in the community several years earlier during the evenings with separate times for men and women.[22]

Throughout the decades that followed, Tilden Blue and Grey won many PSAL titles in football, baseball, tennis, track, swimming, and fencing.

During the summer of 1987, teacher and Dean of students Joanne Belinksy became the 6th woman in history to run 3,000 miles across the country.[23]

Small schools

In 2006, the Department of Education declared Samuel J. Tilden High School to be a failed school [24]. In 2007 it became the Tilden Educational Complex, home to several new small schools. These include the Cultural Academy for the Arts & Sciences (CAAS), the Kurt Hahn Expeditionary Learning School, and It Takes A Village Academy (ITAVA). The new schools will grow until Samuel J. Tilden High School is phased out in June, 2010.[25]

Tilden in the movies

The movie Above The Rim was shot at Samuel J. Tilden. Exterior scenes for the movie Lords of Flatbush were shot at Tilden.

Notable alumni

  • Mitchell Jay Feigenbaum - Mathematical Physicist and discoverer of the Feigenbaum Constants
  • Sid Gordon -- Major league baseball 2-time all-star
  • Ossie Schectman -- NBA basketball player
  • Al Sharpton - Pentecostal minister, political activist, civil rights activist, and former candidate for the Democratic nomination for President of the United States in 2004.
  • Willie Randolph- Professional baseball player, 6 time all star and World Series Champion (New York Yankees), and former manager of the New York Mets
  • Neil Meron- Hollywood Producer
  • Amy Paulin - New York State Assemblywoman (D-88th District)
  • Owen Gill - NFL Indianapolis Colts
  • Ed Cota - Professional basketball player

References

  1. ^ Board of Education Approves Plans of Tilden High School," Brooklyn Eagle, Sept. 29 1927
  2. ^ “Board Reaffirms Tilden School Site, Deadlock Stands,” Brooklyn Eagle, April 12, 1927
  3. ^ “Fight to Rename S.J. Tilden School,” Brooklyn Eagle, May 8, 1927
  4. ^ "Plan Tilden H.S. Opening Feb. 3; Cost $2,500,000," Brooklyn Eagle, Dec. 21, 1929
  5. ^ "Tilden High School Gets Stadium to Cost $15,000," Brooklyn Eagle, Oct 14, 1935
  6. ^ “Tilden to Get Civilization in Large Mural,” Brooklyn Eagle, August 6, 1937
  7. ^ "As but one of 21 packed schools," Brooklyn Eagle, Nov. 18, 1941
  8. ^ "135 at Tilden to Donate Blood Friday," Brooklyn Eagle, May 17, 1942
  9. ^ “Boro School Pushes Basic Food Ideas,” Brooklyn Eagle, December 4, 1942
  10. ^ “Tilden Pupils buy $15,000 Defense Stamps,” Brooklyn Eagle, January 6 1942
  11. ^ "Teacher Denies Critics’ Charge of Radicalism," Brooklyn Eagle, Oct. 28 1945
  12. ^ "Shun Youth Group, Students Warned," Brooklyn Eagle, October 10, 1947
  13. ^ “Two Accused Teachers on Tilden Staff," Brooklyn Eagle, August 13 1952
  14. ^ "Youth Wins Diploma Despite Refusal of Loyalty Oath to U.S.," Brooklyn Eagle, Feb 4, 1948
  15. ^ “Tilden H.S. Reflects A changing Brooklyn," Leonard Buder, New York Times, March 19, 1972
  16. ^ "300 Demonstrators Back Tilden School Zone Plan," Leonard Buder, New York Times, March 14, 1972.
  17. ^ "PTAs Offer Rezone Alternative," John Belmonte, NY Daily News, March 9, 1972
  18. ^ "Brooklyn to get Special Schools," Leonard Buder, New York Times, March 26, 1972
  19. ^ "Principal defends Tilden High; says it got ‘bum rap,’” Jaren McCallister & Paul Meskil, Daily News, April 4, 1984
  20. ^ "Tilden High Plans for Big Spot in Sports," James. J Murphy, Feb. 5, 1930
  21. ^ “Football and Baseball at Tilden May Give Way to Intra-Murals" James J. Murchay, Jan. 1934
  22. ^ "Adults Attracted to New Athletic Center at Tilden," Brooklyn Eagle, Oct. 13, 1931
  23. ^ :Educator Hits the road – all 3,000 Miles of It," Bill Stuttig, Daily News, July 10, 1987
  24. ^ Village Voice 2007-04-03 Tilden High shutting its doors
  25. ^ http://tildenmemories.com/

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