Trinity School

Winthrop helps a 300-year old independent school use its history and archives to build institutional loyalty

Founded in 1709 as a charity school of the missionary arm of the Church of England, Trinity School survived lean years throughtout the 19th and 20th centuries to become one of New York City's - indeed, one of the nation's- preeminent independent educational insitutions.  How it did so is the subject of Charity and Merit: Trinity School at 300, commissioned as part of the School's 300th anniversary celebrations.  

Scrupulously researched and gracefully written with illustrations drawn from the School's archives, the book tells of the growth of both the school and the city that surrounds it.  The story highlights different styles of leadership, changes in the school's constituencies, adaptations to the evolving needs of America's youth, and the place of elite education in a democratic society.  Yet for all this, the book makes clear that the mission of Trinity School - hard work and moral excellence- has remained essentially the same for more than three centuries. Today, Charity and Merit is used to orient board members, to reinforce insitutional loyalty among alumni, and to develop and maintain ties with donors.  

For over a decade Winthrop Archivists have managed Trinity's administrative, pedagogical, social, and spirtitual documentation, past and present.  A digital repository preserves the School's born digital and digitized assets, and we continue to encourage institutional advancement and outreach through presentations at alumi events, publications, and requests from the international Trinity community.  Curated, themed exhibits forge connections between past and present, creating a story the current faculty, students, and administration and alumni, can connect with.  Our faculty oral history program captures unique stories and perspectives of long-term faculty.