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The Knickerbocker Greys is a youth cadet corps located in Manhattan. Founded in 1881, it is the oldest after school activity in the United States. [1]
The Knickerbocker Greys was founded by Mrs. Augusta Lawler Stacey Curtis, the wife of Dr. Edward Curtis, a noted New York City physician who served on the staff of the Surgeon General of the Union Army, and assisted in the autopsy on the body of President Abraham Lincoln. She started the corps as a way to keep her boys busy after school. At the time, there were no after-school activities or organized sports. [2]
With a group of mothers, Mrs. Curtis asked Lieutenant Adolph W. Callison of the 22nd Regiment to be a Drill Master, and found a location at the 12th Regiment New York National Guard Armory. They chose a uniform similar to that of an English organization, consisting of a gray jacket, knickerbockers, and round cap, which were all trimmed with black braid. The group's name was derived from the common nickname for early Dutch settlers of New York who wore knee-length pants known as knickerbockers. This style was adopted as the original uniform. See "knickerbockers”, and the color of the dress uniform, “Cadet Grey”. [3]
In the winter 1886-1887 the 12th Regiment moved into their new armory, so the Greys obtained permission to drill in the armory of the 71st Regiment then at Broadway and 35th Street. They followed the Regiment first to Broadway and 45th Street and later to their armory at Park Avenue and 34th Street. During the construction of this armory on Park Avenue, the Greys used various halls about the city for one season. In 1902 the 71st Regiment Armory burned down and the Knickerbocker Greys were invited to drill in the 7th Regiment Armory (now known as the Park Avenue Armory) at Park Avenue and East 67th Street through the courtesy of Colonel Daniel Appleton. [3]
Over the years, many of New York's prominent families enrolled their sons in the Greys. Originally for boys ages 8-16, the Greys first accepted girls in 1986. [4] [5]
The program is open to boys and girls ages 7 to 16, and meet on Tuesday afternoons from 4:45 - 6pm during the school year. The Greys meet at the Park Avenue Armory at East 67th Street, where they learn traditional marching, practice color guards, practice public speaking and learn about history. [8]
Other activities include field trips to NY Historical Society, historical sites, parades, inaugurations, community events, Veterans events and CPR lessons.
As cadets master new skills, they pass on their knowledge to the younger cadets. The Greys appear in public events in New York, performing color guards for historical and civic events, marching in the Veteran's Day and Flag Day Parades, taking part in George Washington's Inauguration reenactment, and wreath laying at The Soldier's and Sailor's Monument on Memorial Day. [9] The Greys is a 501(c)(3) charitable organization and offers financial assistance to families in need.
In March 2022, the Park Avenue Armory Conservancy, a tenant in the Armory, moved to evict the Greys from their basement headquarters of over 120 years (800 square foot space). The case is pending before Justice Jeanine Johnson in NY Commercial Civil Court NY Commercial Court Docket [10]
Alexander Joy Cartwright Jr. was a founding member of the New York Knickerbockers Base Ball Club in the 1840s. Although he was an inductee of the Baseball Hall of Fame and he was sometimes referred to as a "father of baseball", the importance of his role in the development of the game has been disputed.
The Upper East Side, sometimes abbreviated UES, is a neighborhood in the borough of Manhattan in New York City, bounded approximately by 96th Street to the north, the East River to the east, 59th Street to the south, and Central Park and Fifth Avenue to the west. The area incorporates several smaller neighborhoods, including Lenox Hill, Carnegie Hill, and Yorkville. Once known as the Silk Stocking District, it has long been the most affluent neighborhood in New York City.
Knickerbocker or Knickerbockers may also refer to:
The New York Knickerbockers were one of the first organized baseball teams which played under a set of rules similar to the game today. Founded as the "Knickerbocker Base Ball Club" by Alexander Cartwright in 1845, the team remained active until the early 1870s.
Knickerbockers are a form of baggy-kneed breeches, particularly popular in the early 20th-century United States. Golfers' plus twos and plus fours are similar.
The Park Avenue Armory, also known as the 7th Regiment Armory, is a historic National Guard armory building at 643 Park Avenue in the Upper East Side neighborhood of Manhattan in New York City. Designed in the Gothic Revival style by Charles Clinton for the 7th New York Militia Regiment, the Park Avenue Armory was completed in 1880, with two expansions in the early 20th century. The building and its interior are New York City designated landmarks, and the structure was made a National Historic Landmark in 1986. Since 2006, it has been the home of the Park Avenue Armory Conservancy, which leased the building for 99 years from the New York state government. The 53rd Digital Liaison Detachment of the New York Army National Guard, the Veterans of the 7th Regiment, the Knickerbocker Greys cadet corps, and the Lenox Hill Neighborhood House also occupy parts of the armory.
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The Kingsbridge Armory, also known as the Eighth Regiment Armory, is a decommissioned armory at Jerome Avenue and West Kingsbridge Road in the Kingsbridge Heights neighborhood of the Bronx in New York City. It was built in the 1910s, from a design by the firm of then-state architect Lewis Pilcher to house the New York National Guard's Eighth Coast Defense Command, a regiment-sized unit which relocated from Manhattan in 1917. It is possibly the largest armory in the world.
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The Fort Washington Avenue Armory, also known as the Fort Washington Armory, The Armory, and the 22nd Regiment Armory, is a historic 5,000-seat arena and armory building located at 216 Fort Washington Avenue, between West 168th and 169th Streets, in the Washington Heights neighborhood of Manhattan, New York City. It is a brick Classical Revival building with Romanesque Revival elements, such as the entrance arch, and is currently home to the non-profit Armory Foundation, National Track and Field Hall of Fame, Nike Track and Field Center, and other organizations including the Police Athletic League of New York City.
The 211th Military Police Battalion is a unit of the Massachusetts Army National Guard. Its Headquarters and Headquarters Detachment is descended from the First Corps of Cadets, initially formed in 1741. It is one of several National Guard units with colonial roots. Its motto is Monstrat Viam – "It Points the Way." While it has served in five wars, the sub-unit's primary contribution to Massachusetts and to the United States was as an officer-producing institution for new regiments from the Revolutionary War through World War II.
Tachau and Vought was an American architectural firm active in the mid-twentieth-century New York City that specialized in mental hygiene hospitals. It was established in 1919 as the successor to the architectural firm of Pilcher and Tachau by William G. Tachau and Vought. By 1946, Vought had left. Eliot Butler Willauer was a principal from around 1945 until 1946. The firm moved from 109 Lexington Avenue to 102 East 30th Street around 1923.
The Squadron A Armory is a former United States Army armory and was the home base of Squadron A. It took up the whole block between Madison Avenue and Park Avenue, between 94th and 95th Street. It was therefore also known as the Madison Avenue Armory. A surviving part of the building is listed on the National Register of Historic Places as Madison Avenue Facade of the Squadron A Armory and is a New York City landmark.
The First Corps of Cadets of Massachusetts formed in 1741. Its motto is Monstrat Viam - "It Points the Way." While it has served in several wars, the sub-unit's primary contribution to Massachusetts and to the United States was as an officer-producing institution for new regiments from the Revolutionary War through World War II.
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The 14th Regiment Armory, also known as the Eighth Avenue Armory and the Park Slope Armory, is a historic National Guard armory building located on Eighth Avenue between 14th and 15th Streets in the South Slope neighborhood of Brooklyn, New York City, United States. The building is a brick and stone castle-like structure, and designed to be reminiscent of medieval military structures in Europe. It was built in 1891–95 and was designed in the Late Victorian style by William A. Mundell.
