By the last decade of the 19th century, the concept of industrial schools--in which underprivileged youths were trained in manual skills for boys and domestic skills for girls--was well established. In March 1892, architects Fowler & Hough filed plans for a three-story "brick and stone building" to replace the two houses at 225 and 227 East 80th Street. The cost was projected at $20,000 (or about $711,000 in 2025 terms).
Fowler & Hough was tasked with designing a multi-functional structure. It would be shared by the Phillips Chapel of the Phillips Presbyterian Church and the American Female Guardian Society. The society would operated its Industrial School 7 in the lower portion, training children as young as kindergarten age; and its Home for the Friendless in the upper section.
Completed in 1893, the Romanesque Revival-style structure was faced in beige brick. Striation of the first floor was created by bands of salmon colored brick that matched the pinkish terra cotta frames of the windows and the striking hood over the double-doored entrance. Sitting upon sturdy brackets, the inside of the hood was decorated with deep coffers. They were echoed in the deep frames of the windows on this level.
The second floor was sandwiched between terra cotta bands. A single arched window sat above the entrance, and paired openings appeared over the first floor windows. These were separated by fluted, terra cotta Corinthian columns and capped by denticulated eyebrows with stylized palmettes. A bracketed corniced capped the understated third floor.
The children who were housed by the American Female Guardian Society and Home for the Friendless were often desperate. On July 2, 1895, for instance, The Evening Post reported on the arraignment of Herman Reich, "the man accused of murdering the woman he lived with." The article said Riech's "little six-year-old daughter, now without natural protection," was "committed to the care of the American Female Guardian Society" by the magistrate.
Among the financial supporters of the society was Helen Miller Gould, daughter of multimillionaire Jay Gould. On May 4, 1895, in celebration of marriage of her sister, Anna, Helen funded parties in several of the society's locations (there were twelve by the turn of the century). The following day, The New York Times reported, "Children of the Home Industrial School, No. 7, at 225 East Eightieth Street, about 350 in number, enjoyed a beautiful dinner at noon yesterday, through the bounty of Miss Gould."
In reporting on the kindergarten graduation of Industrial School 7 on June 29, 1900, the New-York Tribune called the facility "almost the 'banner' school of the series of twelve, and the exercises showed a remarkable brightness on the part of the pupils." The five-year-old graduates "showed good training, even if some of the youthful elocutionists did forget a line or two." In March and April that year, lectures for women were presented: "Care and Repair of Clothing," and "Food and Cooking for Health and Economy." The mission also conducted a Girls' Club.
By now, the Phillips Mission was called the East 80th St. Mission, a branch of the Madison Avenue Presbyterian Church. In addition to children, it offered courses for mothers. In 1903 it conducted "The Mother as Housekeeper," "The Mother as Trained Nurse," and "Common Diseases and How to Avoid them."
On February 6, 1918, The Sun reported that the American Female Guardian Society and House for the Friendless had sold the property to the New York City Baptist Mission Society. The article explained the group "will use it for a church and other settlement work for the Hungarian Baptist congregation."
The Regional Conference of Baptist Ministers was held here in September 1919. Among the issues the clergymen debated was the proposal of a strike. The Rev. George Chalmers Richmond was markedly opposed to the notion. He told his colleagues, according to the New-York Tribune on September 23, "A strike of clergymen would be 'all tomfoolery.'" The article said, "He suggested a minimum salary of $1,500 for unmarried clergymen and a minimum of $2,500, with quarters, for married pastors." (His proposed salary for married ministers would translate to $45,300 today.)
In 1920, the Rev. Dr. Nickolas Dulitz, pastor of the Hungarian Baptist Church, initiated a "servant girl club" where female domestics could "spend their leisure hours," as reported by The New York Times on March 22. The Hungarian Girls' Club, which was on the third floor, was "equipped by women in Baptist churches of the city." Dulitz told the newspaper, "he thought this was a well-directed step toward solving the servant problem." By 1926, the Hungarian Girls' Club had morphed into the First Hungarian Baptist Church Home for Hungarian Working Girls, where domestics and shop girls could live inexpensively.
Hungary was experiencing political and military upheaval in 1920. A counterrevolution, sometimes called the "white terror," led to imprisonment, executions--as many as 5,000-- and torture of Jews, leftist intellectuals, socialists and communists. On May 2, The New York Times reported, "The American Red Cross is co-operating with the American Relief Committee for Hungarian Sufferers in the shipment of clothing to Budapest." The article mentioned, "If a donor cannot supply a whole case of gifts, he should send his contributions to the Rev. Michael Dudley of the Hungarian Baptist Church, 225 East Eightieth Street."
In many ways, the services offered by the Hungarian Baptist Church echoed those of the American Female Guardian Society. The 1922 Directory of Social Agencies said it, "Conducts preaching services, a sewing school, clubs and classes for boys and girls, women's meetings. English classes and a Home for Hungarian working girls."
In response to the strife in their homeland, the church hosted Hungary Night on February 27, 1922. The Baptist reported,
To the scores of Baptists who assembled in the church, there was given for the first time a vivid and definite picture of Hungary, the land of the Magyars; the land of a troubled history that had striven so long for freedom; the land of women whose clever fingers know their way through intricate mazes of fine needlework; the land of art and music; and the land today of struggle and hunger and sorrow.
In 1928, John Chaky was hired as the building's janitor and his wife, Rose, as housekeeper. Rose oversaw the maintenance of the Home for Hungarian Working Girls. According to Elizabeth Matuskovits, the wife of pastor Rev. Joseph Matuskovits, "Mrs. Chaky took care of and cleaned 18 rooms daily in our girls' home." The couple and their three children lived in the building.
On February 18, 1932, Rose Chaky underwent what The New York Times described as "a serious operation" at Lenox Hill Hospital. Two days later, she plunged from window of her 11th floor room of the hospital, dying instantly.
In March 1957, title to the 80th Street property was transferred from the New York Baptist City Society to the Hungarian Baptist Church. In 1969, it shared its meeting hall with the recently founded India Christian Assembly. The group would remain about two years.
The Hungarian Baptist Church still occupies the building after more than a century. Its arresting Romanesque architecture is a captivating presence on the block.
many thanks to historian Anthony Bellov for suggesting this post
photographs by the author