New York Almanack

History, Natural History & the Arts

Central Park

Before Central Park: Farms, Businesses, Churches, Wars and Burial Grounds

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before central parkBefore Central Park became a model for city parks worldwide, the land was the site of farms, businesses, churches, wars, and burial grounds – and home to many different kinds of New Yorkers.

In her book Before Central Park, historian emerita of the Central Park Conservancy Sara Cedar Miller chronicles two and half centuries of history, she tells the stories of a secret Revolutionary War meeting of George Washington and his generals, the Dutch taverns in Harlem, the personalities of Seneca Village, the unique Bloomingdale Black community of landowners, and the farm of James Amory now the Mall, Bethesda Terrace, and Sheep Meadow and more. [Read more…] about Before Central Park: Farms, Businesses, Churches, Wars and Burial Grounds

Italian Heroes In New York: What Purpose Did Statues Serve?

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Bust of Italian Patriot Giuseppe MazziniNationalism of the nineteenth century represents very different values to those of our era. With the present rise of frenzied flag-waving and militant xenophobia, it is hard to understand the cult status achieved by foreign revolutionary figures such as Lafayette, who was honored as the “French Hero of the American Revolution.”

In 1878 a bust of Giuseppe Mazzini was unveiled in New York City‘s Central Park. A decade later, on the sixth anniversary of his death, Giuseppe Garibaldi was memorialized with a bronze statue in Washington Square Park. Why were these relatively unknown Italian insurgents given such a prestigious presence in New York? [Read more…] about Italian Heroes In New York: What Purpose Did Statues Serve?

George Waring’s Men In White

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Col George R Waring in 1883George Waring was born in Pound Ridge, New York, the son of George E. Waring Sr., a wealthy stove manufacturer. Trained in agricultural chemistry, he began to lecture on agricultural science. In 1855, he took charge of Horace Greeley‘s farm at Chappaqua, New York. [Read more…] about George Waring’s Men In White

Seneca Village: Razed To Build Central Park

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In the 1820s, bootblack and cartman Andrew Williams bought land in the primarily African American community of Seneca Village, which once thrived on land that is now part of Central Park, from West 83rd Street to West 89th Street. [Read more…] about Seneca Village: Razed To Build Central Park

Central Park Women’s Rights Statue Unveiling Date Set

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Rendering of the statue to be built in New Yorks Central ParkMonumental Women has set a date for the unveiling of the Women’s Rights Pioneers Monument on the Mall in the City of New York’s Central Park. The statue is the first statue depicting a real woman in the Park’s 167-year History.

The original statue of women’s rights pioneers Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony was redesigned to include Sojourner Truth after criticism that the original design excluded the contributions of people of color. It’s being sculpted by Meredith Bergmann. [Read more…] about Central Park Women’s Rights Statue Unveiling Date Set

Viewpoint: Rethink The Planned Central Park Suffrage Statue

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Frances Ellen Watkins HarperIn May 1866, Frances Ellen Watkins Harper, a leading African American poet, lecturer and civil right activist, addressed the Eleventh National Women’s Rights Convention in New York City. Other speakers included white suffragists Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Susan B. Anthony, and Lucretia Mott.

Frances Ellen Watkins Harper was born to free parents in Baltimore during slavery days. She became a teacher, writer, speaker at abolitionist rallies, and worked with the Philadelphia branch of the Underground Railroad. She was a co-founder and vice president of the National Association of Colored Women and a member of the American Women’s Suffrage Association. [Read more…] about Viewpoint: Rethink The Planned Central Park Suffrage Statue