ABSTRACT
Free blacks in New York City early evidenced a keen interest in the education of their children. The first organized attempt to found an institution dedicated specifically to the education of black youth was initiated by the New York Society for Promoting the Manumission of Slaves, which established the African Free School in 1787. The organization, known as “The New York Society for the Promotion of Education Among Colored Children,” was founded in July 1846. It aimed among other things at greater access for blacks to the various educational institutions of the city. Although the Society for the Promotion of Education Among Colored Children made notable achievements in improving the overall level of black education, its work was eclipsed somewhat when the Colored Free Schools of the Public School Society were taken over by the Board of Education in 1855. Education, though vital to the elevation of any people, represented merely one facet in their continuing struggle for social improvement.
