History, Natural History & the Arts
Reconstructing the biography of a building is a way of obtaining information about the activities and beliefs of previous generations of inhabitants. The approach differs from archaeological research.
In a “building biography,” the structure is seen as the frame around which a family, group or institution is investigated in order to gain an insight into socio-economic or cultural conditions of a certain period. [Read more…] about Bill the Butcher: A Nativist ‘Know Nothing’ Movement Martyr
On April 6, 1917, President Woodrow Wilson declared America’s entrance into the First World War and initiated a nation-wide drive to strengthen the armed forces. It was decided that the commemorations of Patriots’ Day on April 19 should coincide with a “Wake up America Day” of recruitment. Every city hosted its own parties and spectacles.
In New York City, festivities were organized with decorated floats, patriotic banners and a grand vaudeville at Carnegie Hall starring Will Rogers, Ethel Barrymore, and others. James Montgomery Flagg designed the posters announcing the event. Fifth Avenue hosted a parade, whilst Army and Navy planes dropped pamphlets encouraging the crowd to summon the “Spirit of 1776.” [Read more…] about The First World War & New York City
The first annual exhibition of the Society of Independent Artists opened at Manhattan’s Grand Central Palace on the evening of April 10, 1917. Thousands of guests gathered to celebrate what was to be the largest art show ever held in New York. The momentous occasion took place in an atmosphere of growing political tension as it coincided with America’s entry into the First World War.
In spite of these circumstances, there was a single figure who attracted widespread attention. Known by his adopted name of Arthur Cravan, he had been invited to deliver a lecture on “The Independent Artists in France and America.” His outrageous behavior shocked New York’s artistic elite. [Read more…] about Poet-Boxer Arthur Cravan: The Man Who Shocked Greenwich Village
Over time, there have been numerous taverns and pubs in England that carried the name of Hole-in-the-Wall. It has been suggested that the name is a biblical reference to Ezekiel 8:7: “And he brought me to the door of the court; and when I looked, behold a hole in the wall.”
There is, in other words, an access to every secret which no man can seal off – there is “a crack in everything.” [Read more…] about Roguery & Mythmaking: Criminal Biographies From Claude Duval to Herbert Asbury
Joe Jacobs was born in 1896 to Hungarian Jewish immigrants. He grew up in the neighborhood of Hell’s Kitchen, Midtown Manhattan, then a bastion of poor Irish Americans, where his father ran a tailor shop.
For many young males living in that tough setting, boxing was both a badge of identity and a means of survival. Every immigrant neighborhood had its own champions and heroes. Boxing was a flag of ethnic pride, attracting a large and loyal local following. [Read more…] about The Odd Couple: Yussel the Muscle & Maximilian Schmeling
On July 23, 1788, a colorful “Federal Procession” of nearly 5,000 citizens marched through Lower Manhattan in celebration of the ratification of the Constitution. The Order of the Procession was divided in ten divisions representing various trades and professions. One of those involved in the manifestation was a young Federalist and lexicographer by the name of Noah Webster.
Noah was a member of the Philological Society of New York. Founded in March 1788 for the purpose of “improving the American Tongue,” the Society was eager to take part in the event. Solemnly dressed in black, the philologists paraded in the Ninth Division with lawyers, college students and merchants. [Read more…] about Noah Webster’s Dictionary for Independence
What Thomas Carlyle in 1829 called the Age of Machinery – later renamed the Industrial Revolution – radically altered conventional modes of being and marked a turning point in man’s relationship with his environment. New production systems delivered an abundance of goods for consumption, but in the process natural resources were depleted, water and soil polluted, whilst fumes contaminated the air. [Read more…] about Asher Durand’s Painted Puzzle of Progress
Having spent three weeks in Boston where he enjoyed an enthusiastic reception, Charles Dickens arrived on February 12, 1842, in South Street, Lower Manhattan, on the packet New York from New Haven. The city depressed him.
In his travelogue American Notes, he contrasted sun-filled Broadway with the filth of The Five Points. In the district’s narrow alleys the visitor was confronted with all that is “loathsome, drooping, and decayed.” Dickens described New York as a city of sunshine and gloom. [Read more…] about Gaslight Foster: Old New York Storyteller & Social Geographer
What has gone down in history as the Peekskill Riot was an attack in 1949 by a horde of white supremacists on African-Americans attending a Civil Rights benefit concert in Peekskill, Westchester County, NY. The show, scheduled for August 27th, was headlined by bass-baritone Paul Robeson, the left-wing campaigner and advocate of racial equality.
Just before the singer’s arrival in Peekskill, concertgoers were brutally attacked by some three hundred troublemakers, many of them carrying baseball bats. As the local police did not intervene, thirteen people were wounded in the mayhem. The concert was cancelled and postponed until September 4th. With local labor unions providing security, the event proceeded that night before an audience of 20,000 people. Robeson was joined on stage by folk singers Pete Seeger, Hope Foye and others. [Read more…] about Harlem’s ‘French’ Hero: The Multi-Talented Eugene Bullard
The modern era has produced a number of great speeches that have withstood the test of time. Amongst them are Winston Churchill’s “Fight on the Beaches” (June 1940), John F. Kennedy’s “Ich bin ein Berliner”(June 1963) and Martin Luther King’s “I Have a Dream” (August 1963), but the speech that may have had the biggest impact in the history of political thought was Abe Lincoln’s “Gettysburg Address” (November 1860). [Read more…] about Sigmund Freud, Adirondack High Peaks and American Colitis