From the outside, the Bayard Rustin “educational complex”on 18th Street between Eighth and Ninth Avenue looks like a fortress.
Built in 1930 as The Straubenmuller Textile High School, it’s an imposing structure that doesn’t appear to be very inviting.
Walk into the massive lobby, though, and you’ll notice something really imaginative only students and teachers get to see: two enormous, richly detailed stained glass windows.
Each window has different panels depicting students learning grammar, music, math, history, and other subjects even high school students at a technical school like this one were once expected to know.
There are also scenes from ancient Greek and Medieval legends. The phrase “Thou gavest thy good spirit to instruct them” runs along the bottom.
They’re not the only examples of art hiding in the building.
Painted on all four lobby walls are murals of great civilizations—including workers putting together steel beams high above the 1930s Manhattan skyline.
Painted by WPA muralist Jean Charlot, they’re a bit faded, and worth a look (better ask school security officers first though—they have their eye on you.)
Tags: Bayard Rustin High School, Chelsea High School, High School 18th Street NYC, High School for the Humanities NYC, stained glass windows New York City, Straubenmuller Textile High School, WPA murals New York City
Ephemeral New York 
January 18, 2013 at 2:04 am |
Amazing how the public schools back then were full of inspiring art and beauty — showing respect for the students and teachers who spent time there. I worked in a school with beautiful murals dating from about 1909. Today, nobody will fund the commons. Anything “public” is looked down upon by those who will pay historically low taxes on the millions they have. What will history make of us?
January 18, 2013 at 2:11 am |
Great observation. The city officials who oversaw the construction of schools a century ago could have cut corners, but they seemed to understand that the learning environment had to be uplifting and inspiring.
January 18, 2013 at 2:44 am |
[…] Stained glass beauty inside an 18th Street school « Ephemeral New York. […]
January 18, 2013 at 8:25 pm |
Nice photos. I shared it on the Stained Glass of America FB page. https://www.facebook.com/SGAA1
January 18, 2013 at 8:33 pm |
Thank you! Lovely page.
January 19, 2013 at 1:58 am |
I know that HS had another, earlier name. It was one of the first to be closed and re-orged.
January 19, 2013 at 1:59 am |
Yeah, it was Charles Evans Hughes HS way back when. Then it was Humanities, and now…whatever.
January 20, 2013 at 8:43 pm |
That last window is a great depiction of the 7 Liberal Arts, the traditional basis for education. Everything a free man needs to succeed!
February 16, 2013 at 1:23 am |
I’ve been in that school and seen these windows. I wanted to photograph them but can’t imagine the possibility of doing so given the security concerns. How were these photographs obtained? Did the security officers or the administration of the school give special permission? Who was the photographer?
February 16, 2013 at 1:27 am |
I took the photos. I walked into the lobby and asked the security guard if I could take a few shots, and she said yes.
February 10, 2014 at 1:16 pm |
I’m interested in the stained glass- do you have any information about on who the artists were? Do you know if it was a WPA Project?