Thomas Jefferson High School

400 Pennsylvania Avenue | also 439 Sheffield Avenue | East New York | built 1930

Open on the map6 entries

The lot about 1940
About 1940. Via 1940s.nyc
The lot about 1985
About 1985. Via 80s.nyc

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.

  1. 1922

    Mayor Hylan breaks ground for Thomas Jefferson High School on Pennsylvania Avenue

    Thomas Jefferson High School at 400 Pennsylvania Avenue in East New York had its groundbreaking in 1922, with Mayor John F. Hylan officiating. Many people who grew up during the Depression and World War II and went on to prominence in the arts, literature and other fields later counted it as their alma mater.

    Source: Wikipedia

  2. 1924

    Poet Elias Lieberman becomes principal of Thomas Jefferson High School

    Elias Lieberman, an educator and poet who wrote the 1916 poem "I Am an American," was the school's principal between 1924 and 1940. Alumni of his time include the comedian Danny Kaye, who did not graduate, and the songwriter Jack Lawrence.

    Source: Wikipedia

  3. 1926

    Thomas Jefferson High School receives an M. P. Moller pipe organ

    Seven public high schools in New York received an M. P. Moller pipe organ in 1926, and Thomas Jefferson High School was among them. The instrument was removed and discarded in the 1990s.

    “Thomas Jefferson was one of seven public high schools in New York to receive a M. P. Moller pipe organ in 1926.”

    Source: Wikipedia

  4. 1991

    November 26

    A ninth-grader is shot dead in a crowded hallway at Thomas Jefferson High School

    On November 26, 1991, a 14-year-old boy who wanted to help his brother in a fistfight pulled out a gun and fired three shots in a crowded hallway. Darryl Sharpe, a 16-year-old ninth-grader and innocent bystander, was killed, and teacher Robert Anderson, who was approaching to intervene, was critically wounded. Education officials ranked it among the worst crimes the school system had seen. Jason Bentley, who fired the shots, was given three to nine years behind bars for second-degree manslaughter.

    Source: Wikipedia

  5. 1992

    February 26

    Two students are shot dead in a hallway an hour before Mayor Dinkins's scheduled tour

    Two fellow students were shot in a hallway of the school on February 26, 1992, by a 15-year-old classmate, an hour before Mayor David Dinkins was scheduled to tour it. The two who died were Ian Moore, 17, and Tyrone Sinkler, 16. The shooter, Kahlil Sumpter, was convicted of manslaughter, sentenced in 1993 to between 6 2/3 and 20 years in prison, and released on parole in 1998.

    Source: Wikipedia

  6. 2007

    The city closes Thomas Jefferson High School and splits it into small schools

    In 2007 the Department of Education closed Thomas Jefferson High School because of low graduation rates and divided it into several small schools. The building became the Thomas Jefferson Educational Campus, home to the World Academy for Total Community Health High School, the High School for Civil Rights, the Performing Arts and Technology High School and the FDNY High School for Fire and Life Safety.

    “In 2007, the New York City Department of Education closed the school and broke it into several small schools because of low graduation rates.”

    Source: Wikipedia

Further reading

Nearby

All 3 buildings with stories in East New York