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WHO WE ARE
The General Society of Mechanics and Tradesmen of the City of New York was founded as a guild in 1785 - prior to the signing of the Constitution of the United States - at a time when the population of the City numbered less than 25,000 inhabitants. In 1820, the General Society founded a day school to provide tuition-free education to the children of its members. In this sense, the Society operated the first free school in the City of New York. (It was not until 1850 that New York City would have its own public school system.)
In 1858, after the New York City public school system had been sufficiently developed and daytime instruction became widely available, the General Society converted the school into a Mechanics' Institute to instead provide training to those whose work obligations prevented their pursuit of a technical education. A Mechanics' Institute is an educational institution established to provide adult education, particularly in technical subjects, to working people. The New Mechanics' Institute's focus was revised to provide "privately-endowed free evening instruction to respectable young men and women to improve themselves in their daily vocations," and to assist those who were obliged to become wage earners before completing their desired education.
At the turn of the last century, Mechanics' Institute relocated it instructional facilities to 20 West 44th Street. Originally designed by Lamb and Rich and constructed as the Berkeley School for Boys, the building was acquired by The General Society in 1899. Member and steel magnate Andrew Carnegie generously provided the funds to significantly expand the building in 1903. In order to accommodate more students, two wings were added to the rear and three new upper stories replaced an original fourth-floor gymnasium. The expansion was designed by Ralph S. Townsend and blends monumental Beaux Arts classicism with Renaissance elements.
The building exterior is composed of Indiana limestone, yellow Roman brick, and terra-cotta. A partial reproduction of the Parthenon frieze, taken from casts at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, underscores the importance of the front entrance.
Since that time, over 14,700 students have graduated from the Institute. In fact, many of the school's alumni, such as Andrew H. Dykes of Dykes Lumber, Harry S. Weller of the L.J. Wing Manufacturing Co., and Andrew G. Hagstrom, of the Hagstrom Map Company, have become renowned and respected members of industry and society. Today, with expanded facilities and curricula, the School has six lecture classrooms, six drafting classrooms, and three computer labs, offering instruction in over fifty courses to meet the demands of the industries we serve.
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