• Skip to secondary menu
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to secondary sidebar

New York Almanack

History, Natural History & the Arts

  • Email
  • RSS
  • Adirondacks & NNY
  • Capital-Saratoga
  • Mohawk Valley
  • Hudson Valley & Catskills
  • NYC & Long Island
  • Western NY
  • History
  • Nature & Environment
  • Arts & Culture
  • Outdoor Recreation
  • Food & Farms
  • Subscribe
  • Support
  • Submit
  • About
  • New Books
  • Events
  • Podcasts

Esopus: Wiltwyck School For Boys Lecture

April 7, 2016 by Editorial Staff 9 Comments

eleanor roosevelt and maria gudewitsch visit Wiltwyck SchoolThe Klyne Esopus Museum Will Present “The Wiltwyck School for Boys: Reclaiming Human Lives,” a lecture by Eve P. Smith, on April 16, at 4 pm at the Esopus Town Hall, in Ulster County, NY.

Smith will discuss the history and legacy of the Wiltwyck School for Boys in Esopus. The School was co-founded and championed by First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt in 1942.

According to Smith, “The Wiltwyck School for Boys was established as a direct response to the dire need for homes for young African American boys who were neglected or potentially delinquent, due to increased migration form the South beginning in the 1920’s. Racial discrimination meant that available services were increasingly insufficient.”

Eleanor Roosevelt wrote in a 1945 fund raising letter: “The children of Wiltwyck School need your help. In their short lives they have experienced more tragedy than most adults experience during a lifetime. They are victims of all the hostilities and maladjutstments New York City’s slums can foster… We hope that you will join with us in this work of reclaiming human lives.”

A special guest, New York State Archivist Thomas Ruller, will attend the lecture.

Eve Smith is the NYS Archives Larry J. Hackman Research Residency recipient. The lecture is co-sponsoed by The Klyne Esopus Historical Society Museam and the NYS Archives Partnership Trust.

This event will be held Saturday, April 16, at 4 pm at the Esopus Town Hall, 284 Broadway in Port Ewen. A reception and light refreshments will follow the lecture, which is free and open to the public.

The Klyne Esopus Museum will re-open in June with its new exhibit on “Hunting and Fishing in Esopus.” For further information about the Muesem, visit their website.

Photo: Eleanor Roosevelt and Maria Gudewitsch visit with boys at the Wiltwyck School in Esopus.

Print Friendly, PDF & Email

Filed Under: History, New Exhibits Tagged With: Education, Eleanor Roosevelt, Esopus Historical Society, Ulster County

About Editorial Staff

Stories written under the Editorial Staff byline are drawn from press releases and other notices. Submit your news to New York Almanack here.

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. James Grice says

    January 17, 2021 at 5:53 AM

    Sad to hear that wilt Wyck school for boys has closed. What a great blessing the school was for me and so many others, Now at age 70 I am thankful being there saved and changed my life, oh what blessing.

    Reply
  2. Rico Viray says

    March 1, 2021 at 8:38 AM

    Mr Grice,

    My wife and I visited the property this weekend and would love to hear your stories about your experience there.

    Kind regards,

    Rico

    Reply
    • Derrick miller says

      July 16, 2022 at 6:37 PM

      My name is Derrickmiller, I was at the Wiltwyck for boys from Pearl Harbor day which was December 7, 1967, till May 29, 1969, became a ward of the court because of my juvenile delinquency and no parental supervision, the boys school changed my life tremendously, growing up in Harlem I would’ve never learned the things that I’ve learned there that made me the man I am today, I was the president of the student body in 1969 before I went into foster care May 29, 1969.

      Reply
  3. Pedro Rodriguez says

    March 31, 2021 at 4:45 PM

    I was at Wiltwyck school for boys . From 12-22-69 to 6-22-78

    Reply
    • Michael Henry says

      May 6, 2022 at 5:44 AM

      I was at the school from 1968, to 1978. Then I went to a group home with other guys from the school. We probably crossed paths.

      Reply
    • Michael f Henry says

      April 23, 2023 at 2:48 AM

      Hey did you go to a group home? In ossining?

      Reply
  4. Emmett Foster says

    April 19, 2021 at 2:30 PM

    My name is Emmett Cox/Foster
    I was at Wiltwyck transfered to the Floyd Paterson house in
    July 1964 I was 13 yrs old went
    On the Johnny Carson show played the bass steel drums.

    Reply
  5. Yvonne Bryant says

    June 1, 2022 at 7:53 PM

    I would greatly appreciate if anyone can tell me if they know the Puerto Rican little boy with curly hair who is looking directly at Mrs. Roosevelt’s hands and is practically resting his head on Mrs. Roosevelt’s shoulder? It just so happens that I recognize the little boy. It was many years ago I would say around 1954 that I first met this little boy. The child is all grown up now and would be around 77 years old. If you are that person, please contact me. I would love to hear from you. My email address is: yvonnebryant65@gmail.com.

    Reply
    • Bryce Newton says

      August 29, 2022 at 2:55 PM

      I don’t know the name of the boy you’re referring to in the picture but I’ve surmised from photos which can be found on-line, that the kid on the right in the picture is the late and noted author and speaker Claude Brown. Based on his his acclaimed and top selling memoir “Manchild in the Promised Land” which includes an accounting of his stay at the facility and a visit by the former first lady Eleanor Roosevelt, I calculated him to have been at the school from about 1948-1950.

      Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Primary Sidebar

Help Support The Almanack

Subscribe to New York Almanack

Subscribe! Follow the New York Almanack each day via E-mail, RSS, Twitter or Facebook updates.

Recent Comments

  • Ed Zahniser on Poetry – ‘Wir Haben Wegener Gefunden Tod Im Eis’
  • Linda El Bey on The Civil Rights Act of 1964 and NYC’s Minority Plumbers
  • Will on A New History of the Wallkill Central Schools
  • Jim Osekowsky on Working the Bugs Out of Firewood
  • Pamela Carlucci on The Rise and Fall of NY’s Taylor Wine Company
  • Lynne Westra on NY’s Frank Myers Of The 54th Massachusetts: Correcting The Historical Record
  • Catherine Berkley on The Shooting of Adirondack Guide Alex White
  • Michael A Mazza on French Canadian Rev War Veteran Antoine Paulin’s Grave Being Marked in Champlain
  • peter Waggitt on Raines Law, Loopholes and Prohibition
  • Anthony St Phillips on War of 1812: Carrying the Great Rope

Recent New York Books

Without Concealment, Without Compromise
Washington’s Marines
Major General Israel Putnam hero of the American Revolution
v is for victory
The Motorcycle Industry in New York State
Unfriendly to Liberty
weeds of the northeast
Putting Out the Planetary Fire: An Introduction to Climate Action and Advocacy
Seneca Ray Stoddard An Intimate Portrait of an Adirondack Legend
rebels at sea

Secondary Sidebar

Mohawk Valley Trading Company Honey, Honey Comb, Buckwheat Honey, Beeswax Candles, Maple Syrup, Maple Sugar
preservation league