Education

The earliest New York State law for “the encouragement of schools” was passed in April 1795, when the village of Troy was only six years old.

Village schools and a Lancasterian School were both in place in Troy by 1816 when Troy became a city. A day school for adults was established as early as 1823 on the second floor of the North Market, near Grand Division Street. When the Washington Market, located on 2nd Street near Division Street, was built in 1841, the school moved to the upper floor.

Tuition was charged, but financial assistance was provided through subscriptions and through the Troy Female Benevolent Society. According to the report of the Troy Board of Education in 1860, the schoolroom was 35x50 feet and seated 100 students. An average of 50-84 students were enrolled at the school. A second school was organized in the late 1830s at the Liberty Street Presbyterian church.

To assist with the costs of that school, Alexander Thuey, a Black carpenter, provided board for a Black teacher and William E. Rich augmented the teacher’s salary if tuition costs proved inadequate. Thuey and others were instrumental as leaders in the community but it was William E. Rich who lobbied for integrated schools.

As a barber to many of Troy’s influential leaders, William E. Rich (1795-1881) was able to secure financial and moral support for the school. He was a proponent of desegregation in the schools, a cause for which he worked tirelessly for many years. In 1866, a new school for elementary aged Black children opened with a great fanfare on State Street east of 5th avenue.

It was named the William E. Rich School in honor of the many great contributions that he made. Despite the honor, Rich was not pleased that the school was still segregated. The William E. Rich school remained a segregated public school until 1873, when the school was closed due to deteriorating building conditions. The students were integrated into the other public ward schools throughout the city.