International House

500 Riverside Drive | also 155 Claremont Avenue | Morningside Heights | built 1926

Open on the map11 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. 1909

    A greeting on the steps of Columbia's library leads Harry Edmonds to dream up I-House

    In 1909 YMCA official Harry Edmonds said good morning to a student from China on the steps of Columbia's library, and the student thanked him, saying nobody had spoken to him in the three weeks since he arrived in New York. Edmonds and his wife Florence began hosting international students for Sunday suppers. That led to International House, built with money from John D. Rockefeller Jr. and the family of Cleveland H. Dodge.

    Source: ihouse-nyc.org

  2. 1921

    Harry Edmonds tells Cleveland Dodge of Rockefeller's interest in building International House

    In 1921 Harry Edmonds told Cleveland H. Dodge that John D. Rockefeller Jr. was interested in building International House, and Dodge answered, 'Perfectly bully!' Dodge and Rockefeller then bought lots on Claremont Avenue and Riverside Drive. From 1921 to 1922 the architect Louis E. Jallade drafted plans for the building.

    Source: hallofhistory.ihouse-nyc.org

  3. 1922

    August 4

    Ground is broken for International House on a site that once held a riding school

    Work on International House began on August 4, 1922, on a site where a riding school had stood around 1915. Frederick Osborn and Abby Aldrich Rockefeller led the Building Committee, which examined every detail down to the color of the closet doors and the shape of the bathroom tiles. The exterior was nearly complete by October 20, 1923.

    Source: hallofhistory.ihouse-nyc.org

  4. 1923

    John D. Rockefeller Jr. gives I-House its motto at a Sunday Supper

    In 1923 John D. Rockefeller Jr. introduced the House's motto, 'That Brotherhood May Prevail,' in an address at a Sunday Supper. Harry and Florence Edmonds had been hosting international students at their home since about 1909, well before the House opened.

    Source: hallofhistory.ihouse-nyc.org

  5. 1924

    September 14

    International House opens with 525 bedrooms, a pool and a 1,000-seat meeting hall

    A New York Times report of September 14, 1924 described International House as finished after two years of work at a cost of $2.5 million. It had 525 bedrooms, a men's dormitory of 400 rooms facing Claremont Avenue, a 1,000-seat assembly hall modeled on a New England meeting house, a gymnasium and an outdoor pool. The Cosmopolitan Club, which had met on a cramped upper floor of a Broadway building, moved in.

    Source: ihouse-nyc.org

  6. 1925

    Arthur B. Davies paints seven mural panels for the Main Lounge, and the House later removes them

    In 1925 Abby Aldrich Rockefeller commissioned the artist Arthur B. Davies to paint seven large classical panels for the Main Lounge, two of them 13 by 10 feet and flanking the fireplace. By the late 1940s trustees noted the murals were unpopular with residents, and in the early 1950s they voted unanimously to remove them. An archival note from 1987 says only that they were supposedly sent to Utica.

    Source: ihouse-nyc.org

  7. 1925

    Magda Grilli and André Trocmé meet in the I-House cafeteria and soon get engaged

    Magda Grilli came from Italy in 1925, enrolled at the New York School of Social Work, and lived at I-House. André Trocmé, a French student at Union Theological Seminary, was a member of the House while tutoring John D. Rockefeller Jr.'s children. A Swiss friend introduced them in the cafeteria, and they soon became engaged. Later, in Le Chambon-sur-Lignon, France, the couple and villagers helped an estimated 5,000 refugees, most of them Jewish children, escape Nazi persecution.

    Source: ihouse-nyc.org

  8. 1926

    August 26

    A couple who met at International House marry and write back, "Thanks International House!"

    John J. Hader applied to the House in its first year, 1924, and Mathilde Christiansen, a Norwegian-born educator, arrived in early 1925. They met that January and married on August 26, 1926. Hader later sent the House a photograph with the note "Thanks International House!" Christiansen went on to become the first executive secretary of Consumers' Research.

    Source: ihouse-nyc.org

  9. 1949

    A promotional film features Eleanor Roosevelt, Ralph Bunche and George Marshall

    In 1949 International House made a promotional film narrated by actor Roscoe Lee Browne, class of 1949. It also features Burl Ives, class of 1939, Dr. Ralph Bunche, a former trustee, supporter Eleanor Roosevelt, and former chairman George Marshall. Past board chairs have included Presidents Eisenhower and Ford and Secretaries of State Stimson, Marshall and Kissinger.

    Source: ihouse-nyc.org

  10. 1999

    The Italianite building by Louis Jallade carries Rockefeller's motto and joins the National Register

    International House at 500 Riverside Drive was designed in the Italianite style by Louis E. Jallade with Marc Eidlitz and Sons, and finished in 1924. Its original entrance carries a motto by John D. Rockefeller Jr., "That Brotherhood May Prevail," and its piazza opens onto Sakura Park. The building joined the National Register of Historic Places in 1999.

    “…listed on the U.S. National Register of Historic Places as International House in 1999…”

    Source: Wikipedia

  11. 2020

    March

    Residents of the South Building get a week to leave as COVID-19 spreads

    In March 2020, after a staff member tested positive for COVID-19 and a resident reportedly died, International House told South Building residents to leave by March 27. Students said the House relied on contract wording calling them members rather than tenants, despite the state's 90-day eviction halt. Borough President Gale Brewer asked it to reconsider. The House said it would refund deposits, waive penalties and help residents find housing.

    Source: aljazeera.com

Further reading

Nearby

All 49 buildings with stories in Morningside Heights