Erasmus Hall High School

Erasmus Hall High School was a four-year public high school located at 899–925 Flatbush Avenue between Church and Snyder Avenues in the Flatbush neighborhood of the New York City borough of Brooklyn. It was founded in 1786 as Erasmus Hall Academy, a private institution of higher learning named for the scholar Desiderius Erasmus, known as Erasmus of Rotterdam, a Dutch Renaissance humanist and Catholic Christian theologian. The school was the first secondary school chartered by the New York State Regents. The clapboard-sided, Georgian-Federal-style building, constructed on land donated by the Flatbush Reformed Dutch Church, was turned over to the public school system in 1896.

Around the start of the 20th century, Brooklyn experienced a rapidly growing population, and the original small school was enlarged with the addition of several wings and the purchase of several nearby buildings. In 1904, the Board of Education began a new building campaign to meet the needs of the burgeoning student population. The Superintendent of School Buildings, architect C. B. J. Snyder, designed a series of buildings to be constructed as needed, around an open quadrangle, while continuing to use the old building in the center of the courtyard. The original Academy building, which still stands in the courtyard of the current school, served the students of Erasmus Hall in three different centuries. Now a designated New York City Landmark and listed in the National Register of Historic Places, the building is a museum exhibiting the school's history.<ref name=nrhpdoc>Template:Cite report (Template:NationalArchivesNote)</ref>

Due to poor academic scores, the city closed Erasmus Hall High School in 1994, turning the building into Erasmus Hall Educational Campus and using it as the location for five separate small schools.

History

Erasmus Hall Academy

Erasmus Hall Academy was founded as a private school by Reverend John H. Livingston and Senator John Vanderbilt in 1786 and became the first secondary school chartered by the New York State Board of Regents.<ref>Taylor, B. Kimberly. "Erasmus Hall High School and Academy of the Arts" in Jackson, Kenneth R. (ed.) The Encyclopedia of New York City (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1995) p.382</ref> Land was donated by the Flatbush Dutch Reformed Church for the building and contributions were collected for “an institution of higher learning,” from leading citizens such as Aaron Burr, Alexander Hamilton, Peter Lefferts and Robert Livingston.

The wood-framed, clapboard-sided, Georgian and Federal style school building,<ref name=aia /> two and one-half stories tall with hipped roof, was opened in 1787 with 26 students. Through the years, various wings were added to the academy building and later removed.

Erasmus Hall Academy began accepting female students in 1801, and in 1803 it incorporated the village school of Flatbush. The village evolved into a city, and started a public school system that competed with Erasmus for its student body. As a result, there was a steady decline in its enrollment until in 1896 enrollment was reduced to 150 boys and girls, up from the 105 boys who were registered in the school in 1795.<ref>Chronicles, 1906–1937, Pages 18–19.</ref> The board of trustees decided to donate the academy to the public school system with the following resolution by the board of trustees:

That the Board of Trustees offer the grounds of the Academy to the Board of Education of the City of Brooklyn upon the following conditions, viz: In consideration of the gift of the land the Board of Education are to erect and maintain upon said land a High School Building of the same character and grade as other High School Buildings in the City of Brooklyn.<ref>Chronicles, 1906, Page 21.</ref>

Erasmus Hall High School

The main tower

Following the agreement with the Erasmus Hall Board of Trustees, the Board of Education of the City of Brooklyn requested proposals for a design for a new school building. Twenty architects responded with plans, several of which were published in contemporary architectural periodicals.<ref>These included a French-inspired design for a tall, H-plan building topped by a mansard and cupola, by F. P. Dinkelberg, published in American Architect and Building News (February 5, 1898) and two more elaborate plans for extensive campuses, one by Mowbry & Uffinger and the other by J. G. Glover and H.C. Carrel, both published in Architecture and Building (October 8, 1898) and (April 23, 1898). According to minutes of the New York City school board on April 4, 1899, (301) plans for a new high school drawn by David W. Wilson and Jacob Thinnes, Jr. had been approved by the Brooklyn Board of Education, but the architects who had submitted plans had not been paid and were threatening to sue. The school board quickly authorized $200 to be paid to each designer.</ref>

It soon became clear that none of these plans could be erected for less than a million dollars, and since that was considered too expensive, the project was dropped.<ref>Snyder, C.B.J. Snyder. "Annual Report of the Superintendent of School Buildings, 1906", p.299</ref> The Brooklyn Board of Education did however, approve "temporary additions" to the school to accommodate the growing population and purchased additional property to allow more room to build a new school.<ref>For the decision to build additions to the existing building, see Minutes of the School Board of the Borough of Brooklyn, 1898 (June 21, 1898) 418. Plans for the addition were created by C.B.J. Snyder. Regarding the purchase of the property, see Minutes of the School Board of the Borough of Brooklyn, 1899, (March 7, 1899 and September 5, 1899) Pages 279–80 and Page 750, respectively.</ref>

With the consolidation of the City of New York in 1898, the highly varied needs of schools in all the boroughs came under the purview of the New York City school board. This board had to cope with a sizable number of independently administered school districts, each with its own curricula, grade divisions, educational policies, and standards, and weld them all into a single, uniform educational system. At the same time, New York City was experiencing a huge influx of immigrants (increasing the school registers between 1900 and 1904 by 132,000 pupils),<ref>New York City School Buildings, 1806–1956 (New York: Board of Education, 1956) 28.</ref> and the schools were expected to help Americanize these new students. New high schools were needed in all the boroughs and the Board of Education authorized large new buildings for Morris High School in the Bronx, DeWitt Clinton High School in The Bronx, Curtis High School in Staten Island, Flushing High School in Queens, and Erasmus Hall High School in Brooklyn.<ref>Morris High School is located in the Morris High School Historic District and Curtis and Flushing High Schools are designated New York City Landmarks.</ref>

In the interim, however, before a new building for Erasmus Hall could be constructed, the Board of Education purchased more land along Bedford Avenue near the existing building, and established classrooms in the expansion buildings that were already on the lot.<ref>Chronicles, 1906–1937, p.39</ref> They also used classrooms in other schools,<ref>Journal of the Board of Education, (1904-05-11) p.819</ref> such as P.S. 977,<ref>Stated in the source material, but a number totally out of the normal range of Public School numbers</ref> and held half-day classes.<ref>Chronicles, 1906, p.150</ref>

The modern high school was designed in the Collegiate Gothic style that Snyder used on many of his buildings.

On August 17, 1904, the New York City School Board's Committee on Buildings presented its plans for a new campus for Erasmus Hall High School. It was designed to be constructed around the existing, centrally located buildings, so that classes could continue to be held there until the new buildings were ready. The plan called for a full quadrangle of buildings along the perimeter of the large lot. It was constructed during four periods: 1905-1906, 1909-1911, 1924-1925, and 1939-1940, with the two later buildings supervised by William H. Gompert and Eric Kebbon, respectively. Its buff brick facades have limestone and terra cotta trim and feature central entrance towers with Oriel windows and crenellated parapets, Tudor-arched entrances, label moldings, and large window groupings. The style of Erasmus Hall evolved over the years so that the most recent buildings are simpler, with less ornamentation, but retain the general characteristics of the earlier ones, giving a sense of unity to the entire composition. The first buildings would be constructed along Flatbush Avenue, with others added over time, as the need became clear and funds became available.<ref>Charles B.J. Snyder, “Annual Report, 1906,” 299.</ref>

Phase One

Snyder explained his plans for the first phase as follows:

... A careful study of the matter convinced me that after all it was a good thing for the future of the school that the present one could not be disturbed, for therein lay the suggestion for a design unique in high schools of the country... A quadrangle enclosed by buildings devoted to various departments of school work.

The buildings, therefore, have been designed as a screen across the end of the quadrangle, shutting out the noise and confusion of Flatbush Avenue traffic, the only entrance being through the large arch under the tower, which is placed on the axis of the longer dimension of the plot.<ref>Snyder was explaining his practical solution to the problems posed by the fact that the neighborhood around the school was changing from residential to commercial use.</ref>

This, as designed, would be called a chapel were it part of a college, but if we may not aspire to this, yet I have thought that it might be known as 'the Hall.' As such the endeavor has been to design a harmonious, impressive room, in a style permeated with history and romance; a place which, of all others, will stand out clearly in the loving memory of the student in after years for his alma mater. Its walls, columns and arches should bear the trophies won in athletic and scholastic contests, there to be preserved and handed down as part of the glorious history of the school.<ref>One of Snyder's first priorities was for an adequate assembly hall.</ref><ref>He regretted that a gymnasium could not be included in the first part of the building, but he had “the expectation that a proper gymnasium building will be erected in the near future as one of the new group...”. He also admitted that, at that time,</ref>

There have been no designs made for this elevation (Bedford Avenue), but the aim has been to have a central tower on the same axis as that on Flatbush Avenue, through the archway in the base of which will be afforded a view of the 'quad' with its greensward, trees, shrubs and vines. What the ultimate design of the various buildings going to make up the group may be, it is, of course, impossible to say, but in designing and planning that portion which you now see approaching completion, I have always intended that the whole should be a graphic illustration of the various phases of the so-called Gothic movement, from the Round Arch to the Flamboyant and on through its later transitional stage.<ref>Letter, Charles B.J. Snyder to Mr. E.W. Herter; NYC Board of Education; 1904.</ref>

The Committee on Buildings described the first section, estimated to cost not more than $300,000, this way:

It consists of an entrance tower which will be the center of what will afterwards be the completed front on Flatbush avenue; to the left of the tower and connected therewith has been placed the building in the rear portion of which will be the auditorium, classrooms, library, etc. The building will be three and four stories in height.

The basement will contain the gymnasium, placed beneath the auditorium, lecture rooms, baths, toilet room, etc., the boiler or power room being placed beneath the driveway of the tower, one of the turrets of which is utilized for a smoke flue.

The first floor will contain the offices of the principal of the school, two classrooms and the auditorium.

The second story will contain a library Template:Convert square with a gallery facing the second story of the tower, the balance of the floor being apportioned to the gallery of the auditorium, four classrooms, teacher's rooms, toilets, etc.

The third floor will contain four classrooms, demonstration room, balance room, chemical laboratory, and lecture room.

The fourth story, which is over a portion of the building, will contain four classrooms. The completed scheme of which this is only a part contemplates the erection of a building on the northerly side of the tower for additional classrooms and laboratories, etc., as may be needed in the future.

The cornerstone for the new building was laid in January 1905 and work was begun immediately, resulting in seating for an additional 600 students. The construction contract was initially supposed to run until October 1905, but revisions required by the school board for laboratories and classrooms necessitated changes in the electrical and sanitation plans and delayed the work. The building was opened to students in September 1906.<ref>Journal of the Board of Education, (January 25, 1905) p.81; (July 10, 1905) pp.1374-5; (September 13, 1905) p.1587; (September 26, 1906) p.1554.</ref>

In 1906, the committee purchased a real estate lot that was 57' 10" X 138' 9" X 359' 3" X 7' 3" X 493' 6" “adjoining Erasmus Hall High School... to permit carrying out of the scheme for a building commanding a quadrangle, and will be built upon as soon as the school is in need of additional accommodations.<ref>Charles B.J. Snyder; 1906; Annual Report; p.366</ref>

Phase Two

Although the first section of the new building brought the total students accommodated in 1906 to 1,750, by 1907 Erasmus Hall was again overcrowded, requiring the use of an annex at P.S. 42.

In his annual report, the Superintendent of Schools declared that,

The largest growth in high schools is found in Brooklyn. This growth arises not only from the natural increase in the number of pupils entering from the Brooklyn elementary schools, but also from the number of pupils entering from the Manhattan elementary schools ...The consequence is that the Brooklyn high schools are all crowded to excess.<ref>Annual Report of Superintendent of Schools Maxwell, 1907, p.77</ref>

Concerned citizens of the area wrote to the Board of Education emphasizing:

... the fact that the new building contains only twelve classrooms, accommodating only 420 pupils, whereas there are fifty-two classes, comprising 1,591 pupils, occupying classrooms in the old frame school building and cottages, all of which are utterly unfit for use.<ref>Chronicles 1906–1937, p.40</ref>

The Superintendent's Annual Report for 1910 reported that 3,114 pupils were enrolled at Erasmus Hall High School and that they were accommodated in four different annex buildings in addition to the main one.<ref>Annual Report of the NYC Board of Education, 1910, 114. The annexes were located at P.S. 152, P. S. 104, P.S. 153, and P.S. 101.</ref>

In 1909, the Board of Education approved Snyder's plans for the next section of the school. This group of three buildings, including one to the north of the tower facing Flatbush Avenue, and two extending east along the northern side of the lot, comprised 31 classrooms, laboratories, study hall, music, drawing, physics, lecture and shop rooms.<ref>Journal of the Board of Education (January 27, 1909) 96, 157; (July 13, 1910) 1245.</ref> When this Church Avenue addition opened in September 1911, there was room for 1,451 more students in the main school.<ref>Annual Report of the Board of Education, 1911, 126.</ref>

Phase Three

The ever-growing school population continued to present challenges to the school board. In his report of May 21, 1924 on construction and maintenance, the Superintendent of Schools discussed "the stupendous building program now being carried on by the Board of Education..."<ref>Annual Report of the Superintendent of Schools, 1924, pp. 2146-7</ref> The reason for this situation was given as a backlog of not enough building over several years, as well as an increase in high school population in New York City from 20,948 students in 1904, to 109,370 in 1924. These large numbers were attributed to many factors, including the passage and enforcement of a compulsory education law and the appreciation by more parents of the advantages of higher education to their children. In April 1924, the Board of Education approved the Bedford Avenue addition to Erasmus Hall High School. Snyder had left his position with the Board of Education shortly before construction of this section, but an elevation drawing in the collection of the Art Commission, by C. B. J. Snyder shows the building essentially as built. William Gompert had been appointed in his place and supervised the construction. Although somewhat simpler than his earlier buildings, the Bedford building has a central tower with an arched passageway into the courtyard, on axis with the tower on Flatbush Avenue.<ref>Journal of the Board of Education, 1924 (April 4, 1924) p.769</ref> The building contained many new classrooms, gymnasia and a large swimming pool along the courtyard and was opened on February 2, 1902.<ref>Journal of the Board of Education, 1925 (February 11, 1925) p.236</ref>

A statue of Erasmus, cast from the 1622 original in Rotterdam by Hendrick de Keyser and donated by Richard Young, an alumnus of the school, was installed in the school's courtyard.<ref>"Erasmus Hall High School, Designation Report LP-2130". June 24, 2003. Landmarks Preservation Commission. City of New York. Written and researched by Virginia Kurshan. p. 2. Available at website of the Commission, "LPC Designation Reports – Brooklyn". nyc.gov. Retrieved 2018-10-05.</ref> Dedicated in 1931, the base is engraved with the words:

Desiderius Erasmus, the maintainer and restorer of the sciences and polite literature, the greatest man of his century, the excellent citizen who, through his immortal writings, acquired an everlasting fame.

Phase Four

Lobbying began in 1929 for the construction of the final section, the building on the south side of the lot connecting the Bedford Avenue building with the auditorium near Flatbush Avenue. Money was not appropriated for this until 1937, and it was finally built in 1939–40.<ref>Chronicles, 1906–1937, p.42; and Journal of the Board of Education, 1939 (March 22, 1939) pp.511–4.</ref> Under the supervision of the school system's then chief architect, Eric Kebbon, the five-story building was an even more simplified version of Snyder's earlier work. It contained many classrooms, art and homemaking rooms, a girls' gym and a large library, and could accommodate 1,566 additional pupils. The new section opened in September 1940. To construct this building, the original frame school house had to be moved and its several wings demolished. Work on the old structure was begun by the Works Progress Administration, but was halted due to the outbreak of World War II. After the war, the relocation and restoration of the old building was completed and it was used for administrative offices.

In 1987, in celebration of the school's bicentennial, limited archaeological excavations were conducted under the auspices of Brooklyn College. The archaeologists discovered that intact deposits from the 18th and 19th centuries associated with the development of the school are still in place.<ref>Journal of the Board of Education, 1940 (June 29, 1940) p.943, and (August 28, 1940) p.1426. See also, Chronicles 1937–87, pp.13–7 In 1987, further restoration work was done and the building was converted into a museum of school history. See H. Arthur Bankoff and Frederick A. Winter, Erasmus Hall High School; of the Trial Excavations Conducted by the Brooklyn College Summer Archaeological Field School (Brooklyn, Brooklyn College, 1987) unpublished report in the files of the Landmarks Preservation Commission.</ref>

Closure and current status

In 1994, after years of poor academic scores, the huge Erasmus Hall High School was divided internally into five smaller high schools, each concentrating on a different academic area.<ref>“High School Cell Division,” New York Times (1994-03-26).</ref> The five schools have separate administrations and faculties, and hold classes in different sections of the large building. However, they use the common lunchroom, gymnasium, library and auditorium at separate times during the day. This division created no changes on the exterior of the building.

As of 2010, separate high schools now operate on the Erasmus Hall Educational Campus:<ref name="nycdoe1">Template:Cite webTemplate:Dead link</ref>

• Academy for College Preparation and Career Exploration: A College Board School (K382)
• Academy of Hospitality and Tourism (K408)
• High School for Service & Learning at Erasmus (K539)
• High School for Youth and Community Development at Erasmus (K537)
• Science, Technology and Research Early College High School/Middle School at Erasmus (K543)

Restorations

In 2011, the columns that supported the building were found to have structural problems, and that year, the building received a restoration. In 2017, Eric Adams, then Brooklyn Borough President, pledged $650,000 of the capital budget for exterior restoration. A 2019 report states that "the building still needs more love".<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Notable alumni

Erasmus Hall has had a number of famous and accomplished alumni (and some who are mistakenly believed to have attended, such as Barbara Stanwyck). Some of the better known, including (class year, or birth and death dates), are listed below.

Pre-20th century

• John M. Berrien (1793); Attorney General of the United States and Senator.
• George Hall; first mayor of Brooklyn.
• John W. Hunter (1824); New York State Senator, Congressman, and mayor of Brooklyn.
• Morris Smith Miller (1794); Congressman and First Judge of Oneida County.
• George M. Troup (1792); Governor of Georgia.

20th century

Florence Bolan

Neil Diamond

Bobby Fischer

Eric Kandel

Beverly Sills

Ira N. Levine

Barbra Streisand

Mae West

• Rebecca Alpert (born 1950), professor of Jewish American religious history who was one of the first congregational women rabbis
• Mary Anderson, silent film actress
• Irving Anker (1911–2000), educator and administrator
• Herbert Aptheker (1915–2003), Marxist historian, Communist and political activist
• Bob Arum, boxing promoter.<ref>Berkow, Ira. "ARUM IS PROVEN RINGMASTER", The New York Times, April 7, 1987. Accessed December 3, 2007. "Why not? After five months since the signing for the fight, the man who came from Brooklyn, who went to Erasmus Hall High School, New York University and Harvard Law School, and who worked as a taxation expert on Wall Street, for the District Attorney's office in New York City, in the Justice Department during the Kennedy and Johnson Administrations, and who until 1965 had no interest in boxing – in two guys clubbing each other over the head – was about to make a profit for himself of somewhere between $3 million and $6 million."</ref>
• David Attie, photographer, who later shot portraits of fellow Erasmus Hall alumnus Bobby Fischer
• Tony Balsamo (1931), Major League Baseball pitcher for the Chicago Cubs
• Joseph Barbera (1928), artist; cartoonist; co-founder of Hanna-Barbera<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
• Sylvan Barnet (1926–2016), literary critic and Shakespearean scholar
• Jeff Barry (Joel Adelberg) (1955), songwriter/producer; Songwriters Hall of Fame member
• Louis Begley (born 1933), Polish-born American novelist
• Randy E. Bennett, educational researcher
• Barbara Berman (born 1938), represented New Jersey's 6th legislative district for a single term<ref>Manual of the Legislature of New Jersey, Volume 198, Part 2, p. 221. J.A. Fitzgerald., 1979. Accessed August 11, 2022. "Mrs. Berman was born in Brooklyn April 30, 1938. She attended Erasmus High School in Brooklyn and was graduated from Brooklyn College, cum laude, in 1959."</ref>
• Karen Bernod, singer
• Miriam Bienstock (1923–2015), record company executive
• Morton Birnbaum (1926–2005), lawyer and physician
• Julius Blank (1925–2011), semiconductor pioneer
• Florence Bolan, U.S. Secret Service special agent
• Clara Bow, silent film actress<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
• Oscar Brand (1920–2016), Canadian-born American folk singer-songwriter and author
• Alvin Bronstein (1928–2015), lawyer, founder and Director Emeritus of the National Prison Project of the American Civil Liberties Union Foundation
• Carol Bruce, actress and singer
• Phillip Brutus, Florida politician
• Artie Butler, music arranger and songwriter
• Miriam Goldman Cedarbaum, Senior Judge of the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York
• Theodore Caplow (1920–2015), sociologist, author, founder of the Department of Sociology at the University of Virginia
• Jeff Chandler (Ira Grossel) (1935), actor
• Andrew Cheshire (1981), artist/musician
• Hy Cohen, Major League Baseball player
• Karl P. Cohen (1913–2012), physical chemist who became a mathematical physicist
• Steven M. Cohen (born 1950), sociologist
• Al Cohn, tenor saxophonist
• Betty Comden (1933), playwright, Broadway musical songwriter with Adolph Green<ref>Berkvist, Robert. "Betty Comden, Half of Lyrics Team Behind Musicals of Grace and Wit, Dies at 89", The New York Times, November 24, 2006. Accessed October 22, 2009. "She attended Erasmus Hall High School and studied drama at New York University, graduating in 1938."</ref>
• Jane Cowl (Jane Bailey) (1902), actress, playwright<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
• Billy Cunningham (1961), player and coach, Philadelphia '76ers basketball team<ref name="NYPost" />
• Jon Cypher (1949), actor (Hill Street Blues)
• Jim Cymbala pastor at Brooklyn Tabernacle
• Howard David (1962), sportscaster
• George Dargo (1953), professor at New England Law Boston
• Al Davis (Template:Circa), Oakland Raiders owner, Pro Football Hall of Fame member<ref name="NYT2001" />
• Clive Davis (1949), Grammy Award winning record producer; Chairman & CEO BMG North America; founder of Arista Records<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
• Neil Diamond (attended Erasmus from 1954 to '56), singer/songwriter<ref name="NYT2001" />
• Will Downing (1981), singer
• Mort Drucker (born 1929), caricaturist and comics artist
• Norm Drucker, professional basketball official<ref name="NYPost" />
• Genevieve Earle (1885–1956), first woman elected to the New York City Council, in 1937
• Bobby Fischer (dropped out in 1960), chess champion<ref name="NYPost" />
• Jim Florio (1964), former Governor of New Jersey<ref name="NYT2001" />
• Joseph C. H. Flynn, lawyer, politician, and magistrate
• Arthur Frommer, travel writer who founded the Frommer's travel guides<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
• Robert Peter Gale (1962), physician, biomedical scientist and author
• Dave Getz (1957), drummer Big Brother and the Holding Company
• Theresa Goell, archaeologist
• Jeffrey P. Gold, MD, cardiac surgeon and chancellor, University of Nebraska Medical Center
• Jonah Goldman, major league baseball player<ref name="thebaseballcube1">Template:Cite web</ref>
• Deborah Grabien (c. 1971), novelist/essayist; musician and songwriter
• Earl G. Graves (1952), publisher of Black Enterprise magazine
• Clement Greenberg (1909–1994), essayist
• William Lindsay Gresham (1909–1962), novelist and non-fiction author
• Arno Gruen, psychoanalyst, psychologist and writer
• Susan Hayward (Edythe Marrenner), (1935), Oscar-winning actress
• Eleanor Holm (1932), Olympic swimmer
• Alice Sterling Honig (1929–2023), child psychologist
• Mikhail Horowitz (born 1950), poet, parodist, satirist, social commentator, author and editor
• Moe Howard (Moses Harry Horwitz) (dropped out after two months, 1915), member of the Three Stooges comedy team
• Waite Hoyt, Baseball Hall of Fame pitcher for the New York Yankees and long-time broadcaster for the Cincinnati Reds<ref name="NYPost" />
• Stanley Edgar Hyman (Template:Circa), literary critic; husband of Shirley Jackson
• Marty Ingels, comedian; husband of Shirley Jones
• Ned Irish (1924), organizer of first Madison Square Garden basketball tournament (1934); founder of the New York Knicks; president, Madison Square Garden; member of the Basketball Hall of Fame<ref name="NYPost" />
• Brian Jackson, pianist, flautist and songwriter who wrote and performed with Gil Scott Heron and the Midnight Band throughout the 1970s
• Suzanne Kaaren (Sophie Kischnerman) (1912–2004), actress
• Roger Kahn (1945), sportswriter, author of several books including The Boys of Summer<ref name="NYPost" />
• Tom Kahn (1956), leader of the civil rights, social-democratic, and labor movements
• Eric Kandel (1944), winner of Nobel Prize for Medicine or Physiology, 2000<ref>Eric R. Kandel: The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 2000, Nobel Foundation. Accessed September 20, 2007. "In 1944, when I graduated from the Yeshiva of Flatbush elementary school, it did not as yet have a high school. I went instead to Erasmus Hall High School, a local public high school in Brooklyn that was then academically very strong."</ref>
• Lainie Kazan (Lainie Levine) (1956), actress and singer
• Dorothy Kilgallen (1930), newspaper journalist, television game show panelist and talk radio personality
• Elaine de Kooning (1918–1989), abstract expressionist and figurative expressionist painter
• Bernie Kopell (1953), actor
• Harold Kushner (1951), rabbi and author<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
• Arthur Laurents (1917–2011), playwright, stage director and screenwriter
• Daniel Lang, author and journalist
• Dr. Mabel Ping-Hua Lee (1896-1966); well-known figure in the women's suffrage movement, first Chinese woman in the United States to earn a PhD in Economics, established the First Chinese Baptist Church and the Chinese Community Center
• Samuel LeFrak (1936), real estate developer<ref name="NYT2001" />
• Larry Levan, DJ
• Ira N. Levine, author and professor of Chemistry at Brooklyn College
• Abraham Lilienfeld, epidemiologist and professor
• Sid Luckman (1935), football champion with the Chicago Bears; NFL quarterback and Pro Football Hall of Fame.<ref name="NYPost">"The Rumble: AN OFF-THE-BALL LOOK AT YOUR FAVORITE SPORTS CELEBRITIES" Template:Webarchive, New York Post, December 31, 2006. Accessed December 13, 2007. "The five Erasmus Hall of Fame legends include Raiders owner Al Davis, Bears quarterback Sid Luckman, Yankee pitching great Waite Hoyt, Billy Cunningham and Knicks founder Ned Irish. Other sports notables include Bulls/White Sox owner Jerry Reinsdorf, chess champion Bobby Fischer, ex-Browns head coach Sam Rutigliano, legendary NBA referee Norm Drucker and "Boys of Summer" author Roger Kahn. Erasmus also boasts Neil Diamond, Barbra Streisand, Mae West, Mickey Spillane and Beverly Sills."</ref>
• Bernard Malamud (1932), author and educator; Pulitzer Prize for The Magic Barrel, 1958 and The Fixer, 1967<ref name="NYT2001" />
• Daniel Mann (attended in 1920s, transferred before graduating), film and television director<ref>Honan, William H. "Daniel Mann, 79, the Director Of Successful Plays and Films", The New York Times, November 23, 1991. Accessed December 13, 2007. "Mr. Mann was born in Brooklyn, the youngest of five children of a lawyer named Samuel Chugermann. He attended Erasmus Hall High School, but quit after an argument with a physics teacher and completed his education at the Children's Professional School."</ref>
• Kedar Massenburg (1981), former CEO/President of Motown Records
• Barbara McClintock (1919), winner of Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine, 1983<ref name="NYT2001" />
• Joseph McGoldrick (1901–1978), NYC Comptroller and NY State Residential Rent Control Commissioner, lawyer, and professor
• Aline MacMahon, actress
• Don McMahon, Major League Baseball player<ref name="thebaseballcube1" />
• James Meissner (1914), World War I Flying Ace
• Stephanie Mills, (1975), actress/singer
• Doug Moe, (1956), long time player and coach, ABA and NBA<ref name="NYPost" />
• Don Most (1970), actor
• Mark D. Naison (born 1946), historian<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
• Jay Neugeboren (born 1938), novelist, essayist, and short story writer
• Matthew Nimetz (born 1939), diplomat
• Bob Olin (Template:Circa), boxer and world light heavyweight champion
• William E. Paul (1936–2015), immunologist
• Lee Pockriss (1924–2011), songwriter
• Emil Praeger (1892–1973), civil engineer<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
• Gilbert Price (1960), singer/actor, protege of Langston Hughes<ref name="GilbertPrice">Template:Cite news</ref>
• Marky Ramone (Marc Steven Bell), drummer of seminal New York punk band The Ramones
• Michael Rapaport, TV actor, attended Erasmus in the 1980s
• Eleanor Raskin (née Stein; born 1946), member of the Weatherman, adjunct instructor at Albany Law School
• Lynn Pressman Raymond (Template:Circa–2009), toy and game innovator who was president of the Pressman Toy Corporation<ref>Grimes, William. "Lynn Pressman Raymond, Toy Executive, Dies at 97", The New York Times, August 1, 2009. Accessed November 29, 2016. "The family moved to Brooklyn when she was a girl and she attended Erasmus Hall High School."</ref>
• Jerry Reinsdorf (1953), part-owner of the Chicago Bulls and Chicago White Sox<ref name="NYPost" />
• Wayne Rhoden, attended Erasmus in 1981; music producer, singer, songwriter, sound engineer and video editor/director professionally known as the artist Father Goose Music
• Mike Rosen (1960), Denver radio talk show host
• Robert Rosen (1970), author of the best-selling biography Nowhere Man: The Final Days of John Lennon
• Alvin Roth (1948), college basketball player<ref name="JIS">Template:Cite web</ref>
• Arlene Rothlein, postmodern dancer/choreographer and actress
• Lewis Rowland, neurologist, president of the American Neurological Association and the American Academy of Neurology
• Sam Rutigliano, former NFL head coach<ref name="NYPost" />
• Arthur M. Sackler, MD (1931), pharmaceutical executive and art collector
• Harry Saltzman (1915), US intelligence officer and film producer
• David Salzman (1961), American television producer and businessman
• Curtis Samuel (1996), NFL wide receiver
• Guy Sands-Pingot, (1974), U.S. Army brigadier general
• Harvey Schiller, sports executive
• Sheldon Segal (Template:Circa), contraceptive developer<ref>Grimes, William. "Sheldon J. Segal, Who Developed Contraceptives, Dies at 83", The New York Times, October 20, 2009. Accessed November 29, 2016. "Sheldon Jerome Segal was born and reared in Brooklyn and attended Erasmus Hall High School."</ref>
• Alan Shulman (attended between 1928 and 1929), composer and cellist
• Beverly Sills (Belle Miriam Silverman), coloratura opera singer, attended Erasmus in the mid-1940s and transferred before graduating.<ref name="NYT2001" /><ref>Tommasini, Anthony. "Beverly Sills, All-American Diva With Brooklyn Roots, Is Dead at 78", The New York Times, July 4, 2007. Accessed November 6, 2007. "But her father put an end to her child-star career when she was 12 so that she could concentrate on her education at Erasmus Hall High School in Brooklyn and the Professional Children's School in Manhattan."</ref>
• Robert Silverberg (1952), novelist
• Harold Snyder (1922–2008), businessperson who started Biocraft Laboratories
• Special Ed (Edward Archer), rapper who mentions Erasmus Hall on his album Youngest in Charge
• Melodee M. Spevack (1970), actress, writer, anime voice performer
• Mickey Spillane (Frank Morrison Spillane) (1936); author of detective and mystery fiction<ref name="NYT2001" />
• Bern Nadette Stanis (Bernadette Stanislaus) (1972), actress
• Barbra Streisand (Barbara Joan Streisand) (1959), actress, singer, director, producer<ref name="NYT2001">Boyer, David. "NEIGHBORHOOD REPORT: FLATBUSH; Grads Hail Erasmus as It Enters a Fourth Century", The New York Times, March 11, 2001. Accessed November 29, 2016.</ref>
• Paul Sylbert (1946), art director and set designer<ref>Grimes, William. "Paul Sylbert, Oscar-Winner Who Gave Movies Their Look, Dies at 88", The New York Times, November 25, 2016. Accessed November 29, 2016. "Paul Sylbert was born on April 16, 1928, in Brooklyn, and grew up in the Flatbush neighborhood.... After graduating from Erasmus Hall High School in 1946, he served in the same Army unit in Korea as his brother."</ref>
• Richard Sylbert (1946) Academy Award-winning art director and set designer, twin brother of Paul
• Constance Talmadge, silent movie star
• Norma Talmadge (1911), silent film actress<ref>Staff. "NORMA TALMADGE, FILM STAR, DEAD; Noted Actress of the Silent Screen, 1911–30—Made Her Movie Debut at 14 Appeared in Scores of Films Her First Picture Founded Own Concern", The New York Times, December 25, 1957. Accessed August 2, 2009. "At 13, while she was a student at Erasmus Hall High School in Brooklyn, Norma found that she could help a little by posing for colored slides that illustrated the songs plugged in the pits of the nickelodeons of 1910."</ref>
• Verree Teasdale (1903–1987), actress of stage and screen
• Adrianne Tolsch (Template:Circa), comedian<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
• Cheryl Toussaint (1970), athlete, Olympic gold medalist, 1972<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
• D. Train (James Williams) (1980), singer/songwriter
• Overton Tremper (1922), professional baseball player for the Brooklyn Dodgers<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
• Kenny Vance, musician, who calls out Erasmus Hall in the first line of "Looking for an Echo"
• Eli Wallach, (1932); actor<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
• A. J. Weberman, (1959); inventor of the words "garbology" and "Dylanology"
• Sonny Werblin (1910–1991), entertainment industry executive and sports impresario, owner of the New York Jets, chairman of Madison Square Garden
• Mae West (Mary Jane West) (1911); actress, comedian, playwright<ref name="NYPost" />
• Anne Elizabeth Wilson writer, poet, editor; pet cemetery owner
• Marian Winters (Template:Circa), actress.Template:Citation needed
• Paula Wolfert (1955), award-winning cookbook author and Mediterranean cuisines specialist

21st century

• Christian Izien (2018); professional football safety for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
• Matthew Jones (2018); college football offensive guard for the Ohio State Buckeyes<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
• Curtis Samuel (2013); professional football wide receiver for the Buffalo Bills of the National Football League

See also

• List of New York City Landmarks
• National Register of Historic Places listings in Kings County, New York

References

Notes Template:Reflist

Sources

• Landmarks Preservation Commission June 6, 2003
• Much of the information about the original school comes from the historical reviews compiled on significant anniversaries of the school for the three issues of The Chronicles of Erasmus Hall High School, 1906, 1906–1937, and 1937–1987 (New York: New York City Board of Education, 1906, 1937, 1987); National Register nomination form for Erasmus Hall Museum, prepared by Betty Ezequelle and Stephen Lash, 1973; and Marian Miller, “Erasmus Hall H.S. Boasts Proud History,'” Kings Courier (5/31/1976),101, and New York City Guide, (New York: Octagon Books, 1970, reprint of 1939 Federal Writers Publication), 493–4.

External links

• Alumni website
• Alumni website (archive)
• Harriet Oxman Papers at the New-York Historical Society.
• Erasmus Hall Records at the New-York Historical Society.