Early History
Plans to construct Samuel J. Tilden High School were filed in 1927. The construction of the school was estimated to cost between $2,500,000 and $3,000,000 and would feature specialized facilities including a swimming pool, rifle range, auditorium with a capacity of more than 1300, library, and science laboratories. While the school was eventually constructed on Tilden Avenue and East 57th Street, residents in Brownsville, the Coney Island Chamber of Commerce, and Borough President James J. Bryne initially opposed the site because of poor transportation options around the location.
Shortly after the Board of Education decided on the location of Samuel J. Tilden High School, a formal recommendation was made to change the name of not-yet-built school to Edward B. Shallow High School. This recommendation followed the death of Edward B. Shallow, the Superintendent of the Board of Education who initially recommended a high school be named after New York State Governor, Samuel J. Tilden.
Tilden High School opened on February 3, 1929. It cost $2,500,000 to construct. It was built to serve 3,969 students.
In 1935, a field and stadium were designed and constructed with Works Progress Administration labor and appropriations. Several years later, the WPA would make another addition to the Samuel J. Tilden High School, this time in the form of a mural for the auditorium. The project took nearly two years to complete, as muralist Abraham Lishinsky, working with his colleague Irving A. Block, designed and painted a 2,400-square-foot (220 m2) mural depicting “Major Influences in Civilization” for the auditorium. Among the six assistants they employed over time was the artist Abram "Al" Lerner.
By the 1940s, Tilden H.S., initially criticized for its difficult-to-reach location, was overcrowded. At one point 5,700 students attended. In order to limit the crowding, S.J. Tilden administrators split the school day offering one session from 7:50am to 1:04pm and another from 1:11pm to 5:45pm.
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