Knickerbocker Greys

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 out of trouble, since they had taken to hanging out at candy stores 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 original uniform's knee-length pants that were known as "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 an all-male organization, the Greys first accepted girls in 1986.[4][5]

• John D Rockefeller III
• Nelson Rockefeller
• Cornelius Vanderbilt III
• Douglas Fairbanks Jr.
• John Lindsay
• Robert Chambers, the "Preppy Killer"[4]
• Cortlandt F. Bishop (1870-1935), aviator, balloonist, autoist, book collector, and traveler
• Edmund Maurice Burke Roche, British Conservative Party politician
• Hugh D. Auchincloss, American stockbroker and lawyer
• Henry Sloane Coffin (1877- 1954), president of the Union Theological Seminary, Moderator of the Presbyterian Church in the United States of America
• William Sloane Coffin Sr., businessman
• Austen Fox Riggs, psychiatrist and pioneering researcher in stress response
• Robert W. Goelet, financier and real estate developer in New York City
• William Bayard Cutting Jr., American diplomat.[6][7]

The program is open to boys and girls ages 7 to 16. Today, the Knickerbocker Greys meet on Tuesday afternoons from 4:45 - 6pm during the school year at the Park Avenue Armory, where the cadets learn traditional marching and drill routines.[8] Other activities include field trips, community events, American history lessons, group dinners, and parent functions. As cadets master the military Drill and Ceremony, they pass on their skills to the younger cadets. The Greys appear in public events in New York, such as acting as color guards for several historical societies and civic events, marching in the Veteran's Day and Flag Day Parades, taking part in George Washington's Inauguration Re-enactment, 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 whenever possible.

• Knickerbocker Greys website
• Manhattan’s Littlest Soldiers New York Times article