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1418 · WB14083 — New York: Collins and Co. / W. Treadwell 1814-1821. Ephemera. Very Good. A small collection 8 folding pamphlets and a loosely stitched booklet relating to the Free School Society of New York launched in 1805 to provide a primary education to children who either could not attend school during the week whose parents were too poor to afford the private schools run by individual teachers and/or whose parents were not affiliated with the religious charity schools that comprised the bulk of New York City's educational system. Begun on donations and as a subscription-based service the schools did not establish a secure footing until about 1814 right when this collection starts and their growth continued in the subsequent decades as this collection shows. It includes: consecutive Annual Reports from 1814-1821 the ninth to the sixteenth annual folding pamphlets printed where specified by Collins and Co. or Samuel Wood & Sons listing locations teacher and trustee names the progress of the curriculum and a treasurer's report. Sold with "By-Laws of the Free School Society of New-York as Revised and Adopted by the Trustees 12th Month December 1818" printed by W. Treadwell 1819. Three loosely-stitched gatherings pp. 24 unopened and untrimmed in plain wraps. Wrinkled along the edges but nice wide margins and text is unscathed. <br/><br/>"In early nineteenth-century New York City free primary education was largely the province of church-run charity schools. For families of means there was also the option of private schools maintained by individual teachers. While these two poles covered most of the city’s children some worried that certain poor youngsters were falling through the cracks. Thus in 1805 a group of residents led by Mayor DeWitt Clinton formed the New York Free School Society to establish schools open to all at no charge. The Society aimed both to educate and “to inculcate the sublime truths of religion and morality contained in the Holy Scriptures” in an ecumenical way. The New York legislature incorporated the group but did not provide funding so the Society depended on subscriptions by individual members. Mayor Clinton provided an inaugural gift of $200 but most donations did not exceed $25. In this way the society raised $6501 in its initial year and opened its first Free School. Gifts from Colonel Henry Rutgers a member of the State Board of Regents allowed a second school to open. In exchange for educating the children of the city almshouse the group was given another building and money for its repair. By 1814 the combination of private philanthropy and public cooperation sustained almost 800 students in free schools established by the society and the growth continued in subsequent decades" from Philanthropy Roundtable. Collins and Co. / W. Treadwell unknown