The Brooklyn Institute of Arts and Sciences

Founded in 1823. Incorporated in 1824 as the "Brooklyn Aprentices Library Association. In 1843, its name was changed to Brooklyn Institute. In 1890, the establishment of a new corporation under its present name.

Yeshiva College

Orthodox school of higher rabbinic learning, with which is organized the only college of liberal arts and science under Jewish auspices in America; situated in New York; organized in 1896 and incorporated in 1897. "Yeshiva" is a "terminus technicus." What the medieval Latin term " Universitas," has meant to Europe since the latter part of the 14th century., namely a community of teachers and scholars devoted to learning, "Yeshiva" has meant to Jewry since the 2nd cent. b.c.e. The Yeshiva, in its essence, is not a professional school for the training of rabbis and teachers, but an institution where Jewish culture and learning are preserved and advanced for their own sake. Out of the Yeshivoth of all ages have come our scholars, saints, and sages.

The Yeshiva Rabbi Isaac Elchanan, the first Yeshiva on this continent, marks the first attempt to transplant to America the time-honored method of intensive Talmudic study. It is authorized by the State of New York to confer the degrees of Rabbi, and Doctor of Hebrew Literature. Since its conception, the Yeshiva has aimed to further investigation and research in the different phases of Talmudic learning and to advance the cause of constructive Jewish scholarship. It has graduated over 140 rabbis who officiate in communities throughout the United States and Canada, as well as in England. From its teachers' training department which offers a four-year course of intensive Jewish study, the Yeshiva has sent forth 178 qualified young men to carry on the work of teaching in the Hebrew schools throughout the land.

In 1915 the present Rosh-Yeshiva and president of the faculty, Dr. Bernard Revel, was called to head the Yeshiva. In that year it absorbed the Eitz Chaim Talmudical Academy, organized in 1886, and organized an academic high school, so that those who were preparing to study in the advanced departments of the Yeshiva might have proper opportunity for the pursuit of their general studies as, in surroundings and an atmosphere harmonious with the spirit of the Yeshiva. Beginning work under Principal Dr. S. T. Hurwitz (d. 1921), the high school was in 1919 recognized and registered by the State Department of Education, and has established itself as an outstanding institution of secondary learning, being consistently among the five highest in the state in attainments on the state-wide Regents' examinations, and in percentage of state scholarships won by the graduates, as well as in the very high percentage (86 per cent.) of students who continue their studies in institutions of higher education, after the high school. The Talmudical Academy is the only complete high school under Jewish auspices in the land. In 1919 the Teachers' Institute, established by the Mizrachi three years earlier, became an integral department of the Yeshiva. Dr. P. Churgin is principal of the Teachers' Institute.

The great number of Yeshiva students who were continuing their advanced academic studies, under hardships and with excessive strain, at other institutions in the late afternoon and evenings, pressed home the advantages of establishing, as part of the Yeshiva a college of liberal arts and science, where the students of the Yeshiva, and ultimately other qualified young men, might pursue their academic studies in an atmosphere harmonizing the age-old truths and ideals of faith and culture with the fruits of modern knowledge. In 1927 the University of the State of New York amended the charter of the Yeshiva and authorized it to conduct courses leading to the degrees of Bachelor of Arts and Bachelor of Science; in 1928, the Yeshiva transferred its quarters to two and a half square blocks on the highest part of Manhattan Island, close to the academic center of the city. By design a small college, Yeshiva College endeavors to establish higher standards of scholarship and character; in addition to its full-time instructors it draws an associated faculty from among the faculties of nearby institutions of long and high academic standing.

The first college commencement was held in 1932, at which 19 students received the degree of B.A. In 1933 Yeshiva College was granted the right to confer the degrees of Doctor of Laws (LL.D.) and Doctor of Humane Letters (D.H.L.) "honoris causa." The first scientific publication of the college, the quarterly "Scripta Mathematica," under the editorship of Professor J. Ginsburg, has an editorial staff of scholars of America, Europe and Asia, and is already recognized as authoritative in its field. The Yeshiva encourages and aids in the establishment of junior Yeshivoth in the various Jewish centers of the country whose properly equipped graduates may come to continue their work in the parent institution. Through its hundreds of students, and the rabbis and teachers who carry its message and its influence wide, and through the entrance requirements it sets and the standards of work it maintains, the Yeshiva endeavors to advance the levels of instruction in the general field of Jewish education in this country.

Barnard College

A collegiate institution for women, situated in New York City, and affiliated with Columbia University (q.v.). Barnard College proper was organized in 1889, as an indirect result of efforts conducted for some years by Frederick Augustus Porter Barnard and others interested in the higher education of women to induce the trustees of Columbia to admit women to its courses upon equal terms with men. Upon the reiterated refusal of the trustees to go further in this direction than to grant the degrees of Columbia to women able to pass the requisite examinations, a movement was started in 1888 to establish a separate woman's college, which, however, should be affiliated with Columbia.

In 1889 the charter for such a college was granted. The arrangements then made with Columbia, providing for a varying amount of exchange instruction between the two institutions, proved unsatisfactory, as Barnard was enlarged, and on January 19, 1900, the connection between Columbia and Barnard was formally fixed as follows: The President of the University to be ex officio President of Barnard and a trustee of Barnard; the internal administration of Barnard to be conducted by its Dean, who is entitled also to a vote in the University Council: Barnard to retain its separate corporate existence and Board of Trustees, to provide for its own financial support, and to maintain complete separate undergraduate instruction; all Barnard degrees to be granted by, and in the name of Columbia; the University Library to be free to Barnard students, and a number of post-graduate courses in Columbia to be open to Barnard graduates.

Although as originally organized Barnard had no further financial resources than the promise of a number of persons to pay a small sum annually for four years, it has been able, through subsequent subscriptions, to meet all the expenses of a rapidly growing college. In 1889 there were 36 students; in the academic year 1891-92 there were 62, and in 1901-02 there were 431, representing an increase during the decade of over 700 per cent. The buildings include Milbank Hall, the gift of Mrs. A.A. Anderson; Fiske Hall, given by Mrs. Josiah M. Fiske, and Brinkerhoff Hall, built mainly by the gifts of Mrs. Van Wyck Brinkerhoff. In March, 1902, the endowment of the college was increased by $500,000, $250,000 being given by Mr. John D. Rockefeller and $250,000 being obtained through numerous other gifts. The present endowment of the college is $750,000, the value of the buildings and grounds is estimated at $700,000, while the total value of the property under the control of the college is $1,500,000. Gross income, $100,000. Miss Laura Drake Gill, A.M., was made dean in 1901.

Jewish Institute of Religion

Founded by Dr. Stephen S. Wise in 1922, for the purpose of preparing students for the Jewish ministry without being marked by any partisan stamp. Its faculty including some of the foremost Jewish scholars, is composed of men of different points of view and varied approaches to Jewish studies. Its classrooms and library are located in the Free Synagog House, New York. The Institute has (1933) some 60 graduates serving congregations and educational and social institutions throughout the land. Its 11th year began with a registration of 40 students.

The minimum term of study for regular students is four years. At the Institute is a graduate school, applicants for admission are required to have the degree of Bachelor of Arts or its equivalent from a college of recognized standing, in addition to a working knowledge of Hebrew. Students who have completed the course receive the degree of Master of Hebrew Literature and Rabbi. No tuition fees are charged but students are expected to maintain themselves during their course of study. Nine scholarships are available to especially qualified students. The Department of Field Activities assists students and graduates in obtaining places. The Jewish Institute Press has issued about a dozen volumes, its most ambitious work to date being the publication of the eight parts of the "Lexicon of the Greek Josephus" by St. John Thackeray which is being completed by Dr. Ralph Marcus, dean of the faculty. The administrative affairs of the Institute are managed by a Board of Trustees of which the Hon. Julian W. Mack is chairman.

Libraries and Museums

For many years the Astor Library, founded under the will of John Jacob Astor, who died in 1848, leaving $400,000 for the purpose, was the only free library of importance in the city. The Mercantile Library, which was founded in 1820, is a subscription library with more than 230,000 volumes. The Astor Library, in Lafayette Place, is entirely for reference, and is visited by about 125,000 readers every year. The Lenox Library (reference), at Fifth Avenue and Seventieth Street, the gift of the late James Lenox, was opened
to visitors in 1877. In 1895 the Astor and Lenox Libraries and the Tilden Trust fund were consolidated as the New York Public Library (q.v.). The number of volumes is now over 785,000. The new building for the Public Library, a vast structure of white marble, 366 feet long and 246 feet wide, is upon the site of the old reservoir at Fifth Avenue between Fortieth and Forty-second streets. Its estimated cost is about $5,000,000. It has shelving capacity for 1,250,000 volumes. The first circulating library dates from 1880. There are now sixteen circulating libraries and reading rooms, which form a part of the general system, the New York Public Library, the New York Free Circulating Library, and other libraries having been consolidated in 1901.

In the same year Andrew Carnegie offered the city $5,200,000 for the purpose of building branch libraries on condition that the city furnish sites. Some sixty libraries will be built under this gift. The first one was opened in January, 1903. The library of Columbia University contains about 325,000 volumes, of which 10,000 are in the reference room open to the public. The Cooper Union Library contains about 32,000 volumes, the chief feature of which is a complete set of patent office reports. Among the private libraries of importance are those of the Historical Society, the Geographical Society, and the New York Society Library. The last, founded in 1754, has about 100,000 volumes. There are also special collections of books belonging to the American Society of Civil Engineers, the New York Academy of Medicine, with 46,000 volumes, the New York Law Institute, having about the same number, and the Bar Association. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, the most important in this country, for which a superb series of buildings on the east side of Central Park is projected, and partly completed, is the outcome of a public meeting held in 1869.

Gifts came in so rapidly from citizens that the Legislature authorized the building of a fire-proof structure in Central Park at a cost of $500,000. This was formally opened in 1880. During the last twenty-five years a collection of art objects of every description, to the value of several million dollars, has been gathered, chiefly by gifts from public-spirited citizens. There are paintings, statuary, porcelains, ivories, tapestries, musical instruments, and Greek, Roman, and Egyptian antiquities. In 1902 a handsome entrance wing facing on Fifth Avenue was finished. The Rogers bequest of $6,000,000 will enable the Museum to make great progress. The Ameican Museum of Natural History, on Central Park West, contains vast collections of stuffed animals, birds, reptiles, fishes, shells, and fossils. The main lecture hall will seat 1000 persons. Museums of great interest are maintained also by the Historical Society, Columbia University, and the Lenox Library, the last named having a fine picture gallery.