Etz Chaim Yeshiva was founded in 1886 on the Lower East Side of Manhattan, New York City.
[2] In 1915, it merged with the Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Theological Seminary to form the Rabbinical College of America.
After the merger, the elementary grades of Etz Chaim were discontinued, and only the high school remained.
On September 15, 1886 the Chebra Machsika Ishiwas Eitz Chaim was incorporated in the City of New York by a group a laymen and Rabbis.
Purpose of the school, as described in the certificate of incorporation, was to instruct Jewish boys in the "Sacred Scriptures, the Talmud, and the Hebrew Language and Literature" as well as providing instruction in "reading, writing, and speaking the English Language.