Tuesday, November 8, 2022 – Heroes of wars were commemorated here and one was interred by the park
Today is a great day to add to your I Voted sticker collection. See you at PS 217 until 9 p.m. tonight
FROM THE ARCHIVES
TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 8, 2022
THE 828th EDITION
THE GRAVE NEXT
TO
MADISON SQUARE PARK
OF
GENERAL
WILLIAM JENKINS WORTH
EPHEMERAL NEW YORK
A little-known grave near Madison Square Park
Hiding between Shake Shack and Eataly just outside Madison Square Park is one of only two military grave sites in the city.
It contains the remains of William Jenkins Worth.
A celebrated general, Worth’s military career started with the War of 1812 and was cut short after the Mexican-American War, when he contracted cholera in San Antonio in 1849.
After his death, city leaders decided to honor him with a memorial in what was then an elite residential neighborhood.
While his body was temporarily interred in Green-Wood Cemetery, a 51-foot granite obelisk went up, listing names of crucial battle sites of his career.
A bronze relief of Worth on a horse fronts the obelisk, and military regalia decorate the cast-iron fence surrounding it.
It’s a grand monument—but it’s easy to miss as you cross that tricky intersection of 25th Street, Broadway, and Fifth Avenue (a pocket park called Worth Square).
It’s even easier to disregard the fact that Worth’s body lies under the obelisk. He was reburied here in 1857 during a processional involving 6,500 soldiers and a speech from Mayor Fernando Wood.
Where’s the other military gravesite in Manhattan? Grant’s Tomb, 100 blocks northwest. General Worth is also the namesake of Worth Street, and we have him to thank for Fort Worth, Texas, and Lake Worth, Florida.
RIHS Lecture: Benedict Arnold: Hero Betrayed
Date and Time Tuesday, November 15, 2022, 6:30 – 7:30 PM
Location Online via Zoom Roosevelt Island Library
REGISTER: https://www.nypl.org/events/programs/2022/11/15/rihs-lecture-benedict-arnold-hero-betrayed
Before he was a turncoat, he was an American hero. James K. Martin, Professor Emeritus at the University of Houston and author of Benedict Arnold, Revolutionary Hero: An American Warrior Reconsidered, reveals the strategic genius of Arnold, his essential contributions to the Revolutionary War, and his mistreatment at the hands of his superiors.
ABOUT JAMES KIRBY MARTIN As for me: Might say that I’ve had a long academic career, teaching almost 50 years at Rutgers in NJ and the Un. of Houston. Also held distinguished visiting appointments at The Citadel in SC and the U. S. Military Academy at West Point. Have published several books, including Benedict Arnold, Revolutionary Hero, on which the film is based. Also served as an executive producer of the film, which is available on Amazon Prime and other streaming networks. My most recent book is a novel, titled Surviving Dresden: A Story of Life, Death, and Redemption in World War II. Many other writing projects are underway. And I serve on the boards of trustees of the Fort Ticonderoga Association on Lake Champlain and the Fort Plain in the Mohawk Valley, and also serve as an historian adviser to the Oneida Indian Nation of NY. That should be plenty and please feel free to reduce this information if you like.
Tuesday Photo of the Day
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MONDAY PHOTO OF THE DAY
EAST GREENWAY PATH IN EAST RIVER
https://www.enr.com/articles/52005-manhattan-greenway-shapes-up-on-east-river
Gloria Herman got it right.
From Jay Jacobson:
While a bikeway to circumnavigate Manhattan island is a splendid idea, the incredible cost per foot of bikeway is an outrageous, insensitive, extravagance. The logic of ultimately providing paved surfaces over virtually all of the East River will be the ruin of the City of New York. I lament this wasteful extravagance, as much as I admire its imagination.
From: Judy Berdy
For the last 9 days I have been at Early Voting as PS 217. 997 voters took advantage of the fast, easy and efficient way to vote. If you missed that opportunity, we are at PS 217 today until 9 p.m. for you to vote!!
See you there!
Text by Judith Berdy
Thanks to Bobbie Slonevsky for her dedication to Blackwell’s Almanac and the RIHS
Thanks to Deborah Dorff for maintaining our website
Edited by Melanie Colter and Deborah Dorff
All image are copyrighted (c) Roosevelt Island Historical Society unless otherwise indicated
Sources
EPHEMERAL NEW YORK
FUNDING PROVIDED BY DISCRETIONARY FUNDS OF THE NYC CITY COUNCIL MEMBER JULIE MENIN & ROOSEVELT ISLAND OPERATING CORPORATION PUBLIC PURPOSE FUNDS.
Copyright © 2022 Roosevelt Island Historical Society, All rights reserved.Our mailing address is:
rooseveltislandhistory@gmail.com
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