Spence School
22 East 91st Street | also 20 East 91st Street | Carnegie Hill | built 1929
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The city photographed every building for its tax records around 1940 and again in the 1980s. NYC Municipal Archives.
Written with AI from the source each entry cites, then fact-checked.
- 1928
Louise Carnegie sells a lot beside her mansion to the Spence School
In 1928 Louise Carnegie, the widow of Andrew Carnegie, sold a lot next to her mansion on East 91st Street to the Spence School. The school moved into its new East 91st Street home the following year, 1929.
“Louise also sold an adjacent lot at 2 East 91st Street to the Spence School in 1928.”
Source: Wikipedia
- 1929
Carnegie's daughter hosts a tea to plan Spence's new $1 million building
In March 1929 Margaret Miller, Andrew Carnegie's daughter, hosted a tea at her mansion at 9 East 90th Street to discuss plans for the Spence School's new $1 million building. Her husband, Roswell Miller, was national chairman of the school's fund, and she sat on its executive committee.
Source: Daytonian in Manhattan
- 1929
Spence opens its John Russell Pope-designed flagship on East 91st Street
Spence's East 91st Street building dates to 1929 and was designed by John Russell Pope, who later designed the Jefferson monument in Washington. Its plan drew on a study of the school's educational needs by Dr. Agnes Rogers, from Bryn Mawr College. The school lists major renovations and expansions in 1988, 2013 and 2024, and the building now holds a 230-seat theater and a Drawing Room with class pictures of every alumna.
Source: spenceschool.org
- 1953
Spence ends its boarding option, leaving the East 91st Street campus day-only
By the school's own account, Spence has offered no boarding since 1953; it moved to East 91st Street in 1929. Founder Clara Spence led the school from 1892 until her death in 1923, Charlotte Sanford Baker took over in 1923, and Helen C. Miller became head in 1929, the year of the move. The school's Latin motto, which Clara Spence took from Seneca, says that we learn for life and not for school.
Source: spenceschool.org
- 1987
A three-story addition by FXCollaborative expands Spence's 91st Street campus
In 1987 the Spence School completed a renovation and expansion of its East 91st Street campus, including a new three-story building on the western side. When the school wanted to build on the lot in the 1990s, it put a new playground on the roof of that addition to meet the terms of a gift.
Source: Wikipedia
- 1994
Actress Kerry Washington graduates from Spence
Kerry Washington attended the Spence School from her pre-teen years until she graduated from high school in 1994. She went on to graduate Phi Beta Kappa from George Washington University in 1998 and later played Olivia Pope in the television drama Scandal, a role that earned her two Emmy nominations.
Source: Wikipedia
Further reading
- Spence SchoolWikipedia
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