Table Of ContentSponsoring Committee: Professor Alonzo F. IJyers, Chairman;
Professor Louise M. Rosenblatt and Professor John Carr Duff.
THE CONTROL OF FREE HIGHER EDUCATION
IN NEW YORK CITY
ABRAHAM S. GOODHARTZ
Submitted in partial fulfillment of the
requirements for the degree of Doctor of
Philosophy in the School of Education of
New York University s
«o««pt«
ysr
1951
The student hereby guarantees that no part of the dissertation
or document which he has submitted for publication haB been hereto
fore published and (orw) copyrighted in the United States of America,
except in the case of passages quoted from other published sourcesj
that he is the sole author and proprietor of said dissertation or
document; that the dissertation or document contains no matter
which, if published, will be libelous or otherwise injurious, or
infringe in any way the copyright of any other party; and that he
will defend, indemnify and hold harmless New ^ork University against
all suits and proceedings which may be brought and against all
claims which may be made against Mew York University by reason of
the publication of said dissertation or document.
SIGNED
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
This investigator is indebted to a number of people
who in the course of this study readily offered invaluable
aid. My sincere thanks go to Professor Louise M. Rosenblatt
who helped shape my thinking in the planning of the study;
to Professor John Carr Duff who at a late date graciously
accepted sponsorship of the investigation; and, especially,
to Professor Alonzo P. Myers who provided the original
stimulation and patiently guided the investigation through
all its stages.
To President Harry D. G-ideonse of Brooklyn College
the -writer is grateful for his continuing interest in the
investigation and the readiness with which, despite a crowded
life, he took the time to discuss and make suggestions regard
ing the study. The inadequacies of the writer make it impos
sible to express the real debt owed to Dean William R. G-aede
of Brooklyn College who in innumerable ways provided the
encouragement and fortitude to a spirit that sometimes flagged.
The author extends his appreciation to Mr. Murray
Horowitz of the Brooklyn College Department of History for his
criticism of the chapter on the historical setting; to
Mr. Samuel Katz, Bursar at Brooklyn College, who read the
chapter on financing the colleges and offered enlightening
suggestions based on his many years of experience in city
fiscal matters; and to Mr. Samuel Pearlman of the Brooklyn
College Personnel Department for his thoughtful criticism.
The good work in the typing of the manuscript is
evidence of the devoted effort of Mrs. Gertrude Johnson.
Finally, the author wishes to acknowledge his grati
tude to his wife, Zena, for her persistent encouragement and
seemingly endless patience.
PREFACE
This study is an outgrowth of a number of closely
related situations in my own experience. First, as an under
graduate, I was myself the beneficiary of the generous offer
ings of the New York City municipal college system. Secondly,
more than sixteen years of my professional life have been
spent in the service of the system, both as a teacher and an
administrator. Thirdly, my interest in the history, admini
stration, and structure of higher education in general has
prompted me to seek a deeper insight into the immediate prob
lems with which I daily grapple. All of these factors, it
would seem, have inevitably led me to an investigation of the
control of the tax-supported colleges over a period of more
than a century.
The future control of free higher education in New
York City carries with it implications that extend beyond the
city. The emerging State University of New York, s. belated
phenomenon in this state, together with the financial diffi
culties in which the city now finds itself, bespeaks a shift
in the support of the municipal colleges which may well change
the pattern of development that the four city colleges have
hitherto revealed. V.Tiile no one can speak with the voice of a
prophet where history is concerned, it is, nevertheless, pos
sible to suggest future lines of development. To do this, one
must approach the problem with understanding based on factual
evidence. Even then, of course, history has been known to
deceive the seer and what may have appeared as gems from the
mouth of the prophet were nothin^ but ashes. Since no special
wisdom has been granted me, I have, where predictions are con
cerned, been guided by a sense of- modesty. But the picture of
the past and present status of control of the city's colleges
has been drawn with surer strokes. The analysis and interpre
tation of this data, it is hoped, rests on firmer ground.
Throughout the investigation a constant effort was
made to confine myself to the boundaries originally set for
the study. In only one instance have I deviated from this
rule. As I proceeded in my research and began to digest the
mass of material at hand, I soon came to realize that the
creation of the system of colleges in New York City was a part
of a larger movement in the political, social, and cultural
ferment of the period. To ignore this would be tantamount to
rooting my study in mid-air. It was incumbent on me, I felt,
iii
to relate, if only sketchily, the rise of a college system in
New York City to the other relevant forces of the period.
Apart from this deviation, I have vigorously resisted the
temptation to enter into the alleys and by-paths that seemed
endlessly to open before me, but sought rather to remain on
what I considered the broad highway leading to my announced
objective. In this way, I dare hope, I have achieved a more
compact and crystallized treatment of the subject.
iv
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Preface....................................... iii
I. Introduction............................ 1
II. The Setting for Free Higher Education
in New York City........................ 16
III. The Boards of Trustees of the College
of the City of New York (1847-1926).... 39
IV. The 3oards of Trustees of Hunter
College (1870-1926)..................... 73
V. Establishment of the 3oard of Higher
Education and Consolidation of the
System (1925-1949)...................... 99
VI. Financing the System.....................135
VII. Summary and Conclusions..................161
Bibliography 175
CHAPTER I
INTRODUCTION
The Problem
The purpose of this study is to trace the development
of the control, by its boards of trustees, of the system of
free municipal colleges in the City of New York from the rise
of the Free Academy in 1847 to 1949, with a view toward deter
mining the nature and problems of this control and their im
plications for the future of the municipal colleges.
The study involves five phases of the main problem.
The investigation and interpretation of these phases consti
tute the major objective of this study. The five phases or
sub-problems follow:
1. A presentation of the historical development of
the control of free higher education by the boards of trustees
of the Free Academy and, later, of the Normal College to their
present status as the Board of Higher Education of the four
municipal colleges comprising the system of free higher edu
cation.
2. A study of the functioning of these boards of con
trol in advancing free higher education.
3. A description and an analysis of the administra
tive and educational structure of the system of municipal col-
2
leges established by the boards during their century of ex
istence to determine what, if any, principles guided them in
their plans.
4. An examination of the methods and problems of
financing the system during this period.
5. An examination of the possible alternatives con
fronting the municipal colleges in New York City with refer
ence to their future development and, especially, to their
control.
Several terms appearing in the study require defini
tion as follows:
1. The term control refers in this study to the ex
ercise of responsibility by a board of trustees in the matter
of financial, administrative, and educational policy.
2. A board of trustees is defined as "(1) a group of
persons responsible for the direction of the educational af
fairs of an administrative unit or of an educational institu
tion; usually composed of laymen who select or approve the
selection of the professional staff, pass on policies, and
take the ultimate responsibility for financing the work of an
institution; (2) the titular holders of property for an insti
tution." 1
3. The term system is defined as all the colleges
operated by a given central administrative authority.
4. A municipal college is one which is controlled
ultimately by a local municipality through a board of trustees
1. C. V. Good, Dictionary of Education, p. 48.
3
and in which all or the preponderant part of the operational
funds are derived from city or local taxes to which may be
added funds from student fees.
5. The term free higher education is used in this
study to refer to the non-existence of tuition fees for fully
matriculated students; it does not imply the non-existence of
laboratory fees, student activities fees or any such auxil
iary charges.
This study attempts to cover the entire period of the
establishment and development of the free municipal colleges
in New York City. The colleges considered are The City Col
lege, Hunter College, Brooklyn College, and Queens College.
The first of these Institutions was initially established in
1847 as the Free Academy; Hunter College, originally the
Normal College, became a part of the system in 1870; Brooklyn
College followed in 1930 as an independent but integral part
of the system of free higher education after a brief history
as the Brooklyn Center of The City College and of Hunter Col
lege; finally, Queens College was established in 1937.
A chronological survey was not the primary objective
of this investigation. Such a survey of events dealing with
certain phases of the historical development of at least The
City College and Hunter College has already been written. ^
1. R. H. Eckelberry, The History of the Municipal University
in the United States.
S. Willis Rudy, The College of the City of New York:
A History 1847-1947.
This student has focused his attention, rather, on all the
municipal colleges in New York City as a system of higher
education and has concentrated his efforts on an examination
and interpretation of the relationship of the boards of trus
tees (and, later, the Board of Higher Education) to the insti
tutions under their control.
The Significance of the Study
In the case of the free liber til arts colleges in New
York City it would seem, from this investigator's familiarity
with the situation, that a new phase in their development is
about to unfold, as indicated by two recent and seemingly sig
nificant events. In the first place, the strides made in the
last five years in New York State culminating in the establish
ment of a state university leave little doubt that certain
effects will be felt in the administration and control of the
municipal colleges. Premonitions of this tendency are clearly
indicated, for example, in the favorable consideration which
the Committee on hedical Education Centers of the State Uni
versity of New York, ^ has directed to the idea of establish
ing a medical center around Brooklyn College, elevated to
university status, with an existing medical college and hospi
tal facilities attached to it. In the second ple.ce, the state
subsidies accorded to New York City since 1948, for the first
time in the history of the municipal colleges, for the purpose
of teacher education seem to reveal a new interest by the state
in municipal higher education. These developments are not
1. Report of the Committee on hedical Education Centers. Alba
ny, N. Y.: State University of Hew York, June 16, 1949.
