New York Almanack

History, Natural History & the Arts

Jewish History

Real Estate, Philip Payton And The Rise of Black Harlem

by 1 Comment

Philip A Payton Jr circa 1914The Underground Railroad Coalition recently announced a major effort to celebrate the 200th anniversary of the New York State constitutional provision that ended slavery in the State on July 4, 1827.

The emancipation provision in the New York State Constitution of 1799 provided for the gradual elimination of slavery in New York, but it did not end the widespread legal race discrimination in the state. The most glaring example of this was the New York State Constitution of 1821, which eliminated property qualifications to vote for white men, but denied black men owning less than $250 worth of property the right to vote. [Read more…] about Real Estate, Philip Payton And The Rise of Black Harlem

Synagogues of Long Island (Podcast)

by Leave a Comment

long island history project logoBrad Kolodny started with some curiosity and an Instagram account but wound up with a coffee table book full of his images documenting synagogues from every corner of Nassau and Suffolk Counties.

He tracked the evolution of the architecture, from simple buildings to post-modern masterpieces, as well as the growth of the Jewish community on Long Island itself. The post-Second World War boom led to a boom in synagogues as well.

On this episode of the Long Island History Project podcast, we discuss the history of Long Island synagogues, the role they play in their communities, and what drives a man to document their storied histories. [Read more…] about Synagogues of Long Island (Podcast)

A Story from the Holocaust in Holland

by Leave a Comment

The Historians LogoThis week’s guest on The Historians Podcast is Marty Brounstein, author of Two Among the Righteous Few: A Story of Courage in the Holocaust. The book tells the story of Frans and Mien Wijnakker, two Dutch Christians who sheltered Dutch Jews in World War II. [Read more…] about A Story from the Holocaust in Holland

Manhattan’s Mill Street Synagogue: A Short History

by 7 Comments

Rev Gershom Mendes Seixas c 1784The Mill Street Synagogue, the first synagogue in North America, was constructed in 1730 and located on what today is 26 South William Street in Lower Manhattan. It was from this synagogue that two of the leading Jewish figures in eighteenth and early nineteenth century America, Gershom Mendes Seixas and later Mordecai Noah, influenced the Jewish community in the city of New York and beyond.

Although one of the most important sites in the history of the Jewish people in America, currently 26 South William Street is occupied by an Icon parking garage. It’s across the street from Dubliners restaurant and up the street from 85 Broad Street, the old Goldman Sachs building. In a city of perhaps more than 2 million Jewish residents, there is nothing that would inform a passersby or others of the importance of this place. [Read more…] about Manhattan’s Mill Street Synagogue: A Short History

The Case Against Peter Stuyvesant

by 22 Comments

Peter Stuyvesant statue in ManhattenThere is a Stuyvesant Square in Manhattan at 16th Street and 2nd Avenue with a statue of Peter Stuyvesant, the last Dutch governor of its New Amsterdam colony, a Stuyvesant High School, and a Stuyvesant Town residential development.

At least one group wants these places renamed and the statue removed. According to Nitsana Darshan-Leitner, the head of the Shurat HaDin-Israel Law Center “Peter Stuyvesant was an extreme racist who targeted Jews and other minorities including Catholics and energetically tried to prohibit them from settling in then New Amsterdam.” [Read more…] about The Case Against Peter Stuyvesant

Catskills Resorts: The Beginning of the End

by 36 Comments

NewRoxy1964Many of the 75 or so people at the recent 13th Annual Catskills History and Preservation Conference at the Liberty Museum & Arts Center were shocked to hear that the Sullivan County’s heralded resort industry has been in decline since 1965.

That’s not unusual. Most newcomers – and even some old timers who should know better – find it hard to believe that the county’s heyday was over by the mid-1960s. Many cite the existence of dozens of hotels in the 1970s as proof that it couldn’t possibly be so.

And yet these days most historians who have done any research at all agree that the Golden Age of Sullivan County’s tourism industry, which began around 1940, came to an end around 1965, and they cite a number of reasons for choosing that particular year. [Read more…] about Catskills Resorts: The Beginning of the End