Townsend Harris (1804-1878), while serving as President of the New York City Board of Education in 1846, was instrumental in obtaining the legislation which founded The Free Academy, later CCNY, in 1847. The rear of the plate is labeled “Townsend Harris Hall.”
Original Use: The College’s preparatory high school was located here between 1907 and 1930.
Current Use: The building is now the home of the Sophie Davis School of Biomedical Education.
www.ccny.cuny.edu/library