October 1935. Young residents of Amite City, Louisiana. View full size. 35mm nitrate negative by Ben Shahn for the Farm Security Administration.
October 1935. Natchez, Mississippi. “Two women walking along the street.” 35mm negative by Ben Shahn for the Resettlement Administration. View full size.
Summer 1938. Hamburger stand at the Buckeye Lake amusement park near Columbus. View full size. 35mm nitrate negative by Ben Shahn, who goes on to describe the place: “Buckeye Lake is the weekend and summer months resort for all of central Ohio. Its patrons are clerks, Columbus politicians, laborers, businessmen, droves of high school and college students. The rich occupy one side of the lake, the rest rent cottages on the other side. It has an evil reputation and an evil smell. It has furnished Columbus and the neighboring small towns and cities with dancing, cottaging, swimming, etc. for several generations. This is the most unsavory place the photographer ran across in Ohio.” But how are the hot dogs?
October 1935. “Poverty on the march.” Wife and child of destitute Ozark family in Arkansas. 35mm nitrate negative by Ben Shahn. View full size.
Summer 1938. Drugstore window in Newark, Ohio. View full size. Photograph (35mm nitrate negative) by Ben Shahn, Farm Security Administration.
1937. “Mrs. Mary McLean, Skyline Farms, Alabama.” 35mm nitrate negative by Ben Shahn for the Farm Security Administration. View full size.
Interior of tenant farmer home. Little Rock, Arkansas. October 1935. The “round thing” is an old-fashioned convex mirror. View full size. Photo by Ben Shahn.
Summer 1938. “Street Scene in Circleville, Ohio. Because of its non-industrial surroundings, retains much of old-time flavor.” Reflected in the glass we can see Ben Shahn snapping this picture with his Leica pointed sideways. View full size. 35mm nitrate negative by Ben Shahn for the Farm Security Administration.
PHOTO OF THE DAY
THE ISLAND NOBODY KNOWS PUBLISHED IN 1969 SHOWING THE FUTURISTIC VIEWS OF THE ISLAND THEN CALLED WELFARE ISLAND
Text by Judith Berdy
IMAGES AND TEXT SHORPY HISTORIC AMERICAN PHOTO ARCHIVE 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 Dottie Jeffries
MAYA LEVANON-PHOTOS TIK TOK & INSTAGRAM
All image are copyrighted (c) Roosevelt Island Historical Society unless otherwise indicated
ADNY x AP – Lighting Installation, Photo by Jason DeCrow/AP Images for Alliance for Downtown New York
This month you can craft a song with glowing dominos at Fosun Plaza! In partnership with Quartier des Spectacles International, Montreal-based design studio Ingrid Ingrid presents Domino Effect, an immersive take on the game of dominos that allows visitors to engage with life-size, musical domino pieces. The installation consists of 120 tumbling pieces, each with its own color and range of sounds, distributed across 12 stations. Each set of dominos features different instruments such as percussion, marimba, balafon, flute, and even vocals. Colorful and bright, the dominos glow like lanterns in rectangular form, bringing warmth to the cold city. They stand sturdy, built specifically to endure icy weather and winds, but with a simple push, they are awakened with light and fall, creating a classic “domino effect.” The playful exhibition encourages pedestrians to leave their cozy homes and spend some time outdoors. Domino Effect will be on view through March 6 at Fosun Plaza in front of 28 Liberty St. in Lower Manhattan.
Courtesy of Art Production Fund, Photo by Daniel Greer
New York-based artist Melissa Joseph presents her first art exhibition at Rockefeller Center through the Art in Focus program. Raised in an Indian/American household, Joseph’s art mirrors her cultural heritage. She uses textile art to weave together a heartfelt narrative about the importance of POC representation and underrepresented voices in marginalized communities. The exhibition on view at the Rink Level of 45 Rockefeller Plaza will feature a 125-foot display of curated works by Joseph. The pieces featured include needle-felted wool emblazoned with imagery of intimate aspects of the artist’s life displayed along the walls like a series of family portraits. Joseph’s presentation can be viewed at 10 Rockefeller Plaza, 30 Rockefeller Plaza, 50 Rockefeller Plaza, and Radio Park.
Joseph will also host a free Art Sundae children’s workshop at Rockefeller Center where participants can create their own art alongside the artist and have their work included in a window installation. Joseph’s Art In Focus will be on view through April 19.
Courtesy of Morahan Arts and Media, Photo by Noemie Trusty
Mesmerizing projections will cover anchorages of the Manhattan Bridge this winter as the Dumbo Improvement District launches an outdoor video art exhibition titled The Dumbo Projection Project. This series will feature works by different artists from January to April projected in three different locations: the anchorages at Adams Street and Pearl Street, and along the BQE in Susan Smith Mckinney Steward Park, Thursdays to Saturdays from dusk to 10pm. Volume One features four different projections, each with its own unique theme.
In Speculative Geologies & Speculative Geologies (Triptych) by Jason Urban and Leslie Mutcher show 400 individual 3d models of made-up rocks and minerals created from the melding of nature and technology. In Sound of Deep Waters, Josh Miller and Angela Fraleigh translate viewer text messages into floral imagery. Mz.Icar Collective pays homage to the local youth and wise elders of DUMBO in The Protectors. Finishing out Volume One is Ocean with Spirit Patterns, a trance-like video by Grant Cutler.
Photo Courtesy of David Plakke Media
The latest installation at Penn Station brings forth New York-based artist Rico Gatson’s Untitled (Collective Light Transfer). Geometric shapes in a colorful bright palette decorate Amtrak concourse, bringing a pulsing energy to the bland space. The vibrant acrylic compositions cover the high pillars and walls for travelers to view as they move through the station (the patterns represent the rhythm of people as they hustle through the city). Gatson’s artistic inspirations derive from African, Native, and Indigenous cultures as well as spirituality, translating into abstract mathematical imagery. Amtrak Vice President Jina Sanone says Untitled (Collective Light Transfer) “weaves light, color, and culture together to surprise and delight customers and station visitors.” The installation is on view through the summer in the upper-level rotunda between the 8th Avenue Amtrak departure concourse and the 7th Avenue NJ Transit.
Two new digital works by artists Eirini Linardaki and Zach Horn animate the screens at Grand Central Madison. Greek-born and New York-based, Linardaki presents a piece that serves as a culmination of experiences she has gone through on her travels in different cities. Diaphanous Pareidolia, is a five-screen digital animated artwork clad in multi-patterned landscapes, buildings, and commuters on the subway. Itdepicts the energy of the city and its panoramic views, taking the viewer on a nomadic journey through Long Island City to Upstate New York.
Horn’s serene hand-painted waves undulate methodically in Rockaway, a tribute to his family’s connection to the Queens neighborhood. Horn’s style of work is heartfelt and personal with hints of nostalgia. Glowing in blue and indigo hues, Rockaway is a visual reminder of memories made throughout the generations of Horn’s family. Both artworks are presented as part of the MTA Arts & Design Digital Arts Program and are displayed across five LED screens near the 47th Street entrance to Grand Central Madison.
Don’t be alarmed if you catch a glimpse of a sloth, alligator, pelican, or some other wild animal at JFK Airport this month. It’s likely a hologram. As part of Terminal 4 operator JFKIAT‘s T4 Arts & Culture program, T4 has partnered with the Wildlife Conservation Society and the Bronx Zoo to create a series of holographic stations where travelers can learn about wildlife and T4 sustainability efforts from Bronx Zoo Director Jim Breheny.
T4 has also introduced a hand-painted mural representing the vibrant history of Queens by local artist Zeehan Wazed, a photography exhibit powered by the Cradle of Aviation Museum, and a photography series featuring shots captured by T4 employees.
PHOTO OF THE DAY
VINTAGE PHOTO BY EUGENE DE SELIGNAC, OFFICIAL BRIDGE PHOTOGRAPHER OF NEWLY CONSTRUCTED QUEENSBORO BRIDGE. SEE POLICE OFFICER ON FAR SIDE. SEE SPIRAL STAIRCASE LEADING PEDESTRIANS FROM ONE SIDE OF THE ALL PEDESTIAN UPPER LEVEL TO THE OTHER.
CREDITS
Text by Judith Berdy
IMAGES AND TEXT UNTAPPED NEW YORK
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 Dottie Jeffries
MAYA LEVANON-PHOTOS TIK TOK & INSTAGRAM
All image are copyrighted (c) Roosevelt Island Historical Society unless otherwise indicated
Last week I had the opportunity to visit the archives at New York Medical College. (NYMC) NYMC has had a long affilitation with the Homeopathic Hospital on Wards’s Island which later relocated to Blackwell’s Island was re-named Metropolitan Hospital. It was located to the site of the former lunatic asylum, opening in 1895. The Met was on the island until1955, when it relocated to East 97th Street, where it remains today.
The archives were mostly collected by Dr. Jay Tartell who has had an interest and extensive collection of materials from the 1700’s on. Dr. Tartell has donated much of his collection to the NYMC and recently hung art and there are display cases of his collections. His collections include medical instruments history and William Cullen Bryant,
The archives include yearbooks and annuals from Metropolitan Hospital School of Nursing, which were held at the hospital until the library closed. Luckily some of the collection was preserved but much I assume was discarded.
This is the original check to pay James Blackwell for the purchase of the Island by the City of New York for $13,900- in 1828. This was half the payment.
The hallway and halls are full of historic artifacts and memorabilia from the many collections.
Nic Webb stand in front a a wonderful display of Metropolitan Hospital images just installed in one of the study rooms, (no libraries, just cubicles for laptops is the look of modern medical schools)
Many oil painting also donated by Dr. Tartell decorate the stairways.
New York Medical College Proudly Displays Donated Portrait of William Cullen Bryant
Historical Portrait of NYMC Founder and Longtime President of the Board of Trustees Adorns Medical Education Center
New York Medical College (NYMC) co-founder and revolutionary, William Cullen Bryant, is back at the College–in oil painting form. The portrait of the long, gray-bearded founding father is hung prominently in the Blanche and Albert Willner, M.D. ’43 Atrium and Lobby in the Medical Education Center, where hundreds of students pass each day and can now be inspired by the man who laid the College’s foundation. Jay D. Tartell, M.D. ‘82, gifted the College “Portrait of William Cullen Bryant,” which was painted by Ferdinand Danton Sr., in 1877.
“William Cullen Bryant’s often forgotten contributions to the ascent of America and the vitality of New York need to be understood and remembered today,” said Dr. Tartell in a statement. “Bryant’s role in the founding of NYMC is of obvious interest to the College community. But his role as a ‘Renaissance Man,’ advancing our country on multiple fronts – including science, art, politics, literature, world awareness and moral principles – can serve as an even greater inspiration to our students.”
The archives at at the NYMC campus in Valhalla, NY., adjoining the Westchester County Medical Center. NYMC is now part of Truro College and has a long history of being part of Grasslands Hospital and Flower Fifth Hospital.
Nicolas Webb has just acquired a medical instrument collection that he is busy researching and cataloging . The work of an archivist never ends. Thanks for a great visit to see our history.
PHOTO OF THE DAY
ED LITCHER AND GLORIA GOT IT RIGHT (SEE ABOVE)
CREDIT
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 Dottie Jeffries
MAYA LEVANON-PHOTOS TIK TOK & INSTAGRAM
All image are copyrighted (c) Roosevelt Island Historical Society unless otherwise indicated
Blackwell’s Almanac: Valentine’s Day: From Religion to Romance Old New York: Part XI— NYC Post WW II (1945–1960) I Scream, You Scream, We All Scream for… Häagen-Dazs
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 Deborah Dorff All image are copyrighted (c) Roosevelt Island Historical Society unless otherwise indicated
FUNDING PROVIDED BY ROOSEVELT ISLAND OPERATING CORPORATION PUBLIC PURPOSE GRANTS CITY COUNCIL REPRESENTATIVE BEN KALLOS DISCRETIONARY FUNDING THRU DYCD
The Municipal Archives photograph collections are renowned and widely valued for their comprehensiveness. For example, the tax photograph series includes pictures of every house and building in all five Boroughs circa 1939 and 1985. As useful as they are, however, they depict only building exteriors. Pictures of building interiors are less well represented in the collections. There are interior views in New York Police Department crime scene and Housing Preservation and Development collections for example, but they are relatively few in number.
Savoy Ballroom, 598-614 Lenox Avenue, Manhattan, Entrance, July 2, 1952. Photographer: Rutter Studio. Condemnation photograph collection. NYC Municipal Archives.
This week, For the Record takes a look at some remarkable pictures in an unprocessed collection, the “Condemnation Photograph Files.” They consist of excellent quality exterior and interior pictures of all types of buildings—apartments, stores, factories, restaurants, theatres, garages, tenements, taverns, warehouses, filling stations—in short, the entire urban landscape of mid-century New York. They even include the legendary Savoy Ballroom in Harlem.
NBC Television (International) Theatre, Entrance, Columbus Circle, May 4, 1953. Photographer: Rutter Studio. Condemnation photograph collection. NYC Municipal Archives.
NBC Television (International) Theatre, General View of Theatre from stage, February 24, 1953. Photographer: Rutter Studio. Condemnation photograph collection. NYC Municipal Archives.
Hertzberg & Son, 2300 Fifth Avenue and West 140th Street, July 14, 1952. Photographer: Rutter Studio. Condemnation photograph collection. NYC Municipal Archives.
Further examination of the collection revealed some rather noteworthy pictures. Given that property owners would be compensated not just for the building structure, but also for the value of equipment and fixtures inside the building, it makes sense that there are many interior scenes. In some instances, the pictures include people—shoppers in a store, patrons at the bar, and factory workers at desks and operating machinery.
Another feature of the pictures is their quality. They were taken by professional photographers and consist of well-composed large-format 8×10-inch black and white prints. Each image is captioned with a location and date. The Rutter Studio took almost all of the sample pictures in this article. The Rutter Studio is familiar to City archivists because the Borough President of Brooklyn contracted with them in the 1910s and ’20s to document construction of the Coney Island Boardwalk and other public works in the Borough; many have been digitized and are available in the gallery.
Hertzberg & Son, 2300 Fifth Avenue and West 140th Street, Private Office, Main Floor, July 14, 1952. Photographer: Rutter Studio. Condemnation photograph collection. NYC Municipal Archives.
Sinclair Refining Co., NE corner Broadway and 225th Street, General View of Station, November 1, 1948. Photographer: Rutter Studio. Condemnation photograph collection. NYC Municipal Archives.
Of particular interest in the Condemnation series are pictures of the legendary Savoy Ballroom in Harlem. There are not people in the pictures (apparently the photographer worked during closing hours) but they do include the ballroom, bar area, murals, cloakrooms, etc. It is also interesting that the pictures date from 1952 and the building was not demolished until 1958/59. Whether this speaks to the time frame of the condemnation proceeding, or to protests against demolition of the Harlem landmark, will require further research. The Ballroom made way for the Delano Housing Complex, renamed the Savoy Park Apartments in 2017.
Further research will also be necessary to answer other questions about the condemnation process; e.g. what entity commissioned the pictures? The Court, the City, or the law firms representing the owners? Did the people in the pictures know the building was slated for demolition? Further research in MA collections might reveal answers. In the meantime, here is a selection from the series.
Sinclair Refining Co., NE corner Broadway & 225th Street, Office, November 1, 1948. Photographer: Rutter Studio. Condemnation photograph collection. NYC Municipal Archives.
Savoy Ballroom, 598-614 Lenox Avenue, Manhattan, Entrance Lobby, July 2, 1952. Photographer: Rutter Studio. Condemnation photograph collection. NYC Municipal Archives.
Savoy Ballroom, 598-614 Lenox Avenue, Manhattan, Easterly side of Ballroom, July 2, 1952. Photographer: Rutter Studio. Condemnation photograph collection. NYC Municipal Archives.
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 Dottie Jeffries
MAYA LEVANON-PHOTOS TIK TOK & INSTAGRAM
All image are copyrighted (c) Roosevelt Island Historical Society unless otherwise indicated
Included in this Issue: The Schetlin Story Conclusion Part IV • A Recollection of Family Life on Balckwell’s/ Welfare Island Eleanor Schetlin 2002 PART IV • The Florence Nightingale Pledge • Eleanor Schetlin at the Central Nurses Residence 1956-1963 • Eleanor, The Last Schetlin on the Island, Leaves the Island • Eleanor and the Roosevelt Island Historical Society • Background Report
Leisure time at the lighthouse
Artists rendering of CNR facing north.
Tennis courts that later became our second community gardens.
View of CNR and central laundry building in foreground
View looking north from Storehouse Elevator building
View from terrace at CNR with Chapel of the Afflicted in the distance.
Cement Batching Plant at East River Drive at 61 to 62 Street
Eleanor and Judy at the time of her presentation at the RIHS in 2000.
Reading Eleanor’s story for the first time in years reminds me of the importance of paper archives and photographs. There is something about looking thru notebooks, binders, scrapbooks that brings the story to life. Eleanor visited our island again in 2006. We held a reunion at the newly opened Octagon apartments. Bruce Becker, the developer was a wonderful host to the women who studied and worked in the building. I have photos of that event but they are in the RIHS office in the Octagon.
I hope you have enjoyed this series. Please send me your comments.
I look up at my bookshelf and want to acknowledge some of the reference materials and books I have used to write the 30 FROM OUR ARCHIVES articles:
NEW YORK RISES – EUGENE DE SELIGNAC NYC Municipal Archives
ARTHUR TRESS FANTASTIC VOYAGES Arthur Tress
SERT- JOSE LUIS SERT J.P. Rovera
NEW YORK 1960 Robert A.M. Stern
AMERICAN NOTES Charles Dickens
I KNEW THEM IN PRISON Mary Belle Harris
MYSTERIOUS MANSIONS Mary Dickerson Donahey
STONE AND STEEL Bascove
PITIGLIANI Letitzia Pitigliani
This list is only published books. Our archives have over 200 binders of individual subjects from Almshouses to Zoolander. Feel free to contact us for any information you need. If we don’t have it, we can point you in the right direction to find it.
Judith Berdy
CREDITS
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 Dottie Jeffries
MAYA LEVANON-PHOTOS TIK TOK & INSTAGRAM
All image are copyrighted (c) Roosevelt Island Historical Society unless otherwise indicated
A RECOLLECTION OF FAMILY LIFE ON BLACKWELL’S / WELFARE ISLAND ELEANOR SCHETLIN 2002 PART III
1912-1931
The Schetlins at the City Home The River Ice Fairyland Surrounded by the River
70 YEARS AGO. WHO IS ON THE PHOTO?
CREDITS
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 Dottie Jeffries
MAYA LEVANON-PHOTOS TIK TOK & INSTAGRAM
All image are copyrighted (c) Roosevelt Island Historical Society unless otherwise indicated
A RECOLLECTION OF FAMILY LIFE ON BLACKWELL’S / WELFARE ISLAND ELEANOR SCHETLIN 2002 PART II 1920’s -1930’s
Cottage Row,The Blackwell Mansion, The Quarry, The Farm Traveling by the Bridge Some Institutions on the Island
Trolley turned around and then back over the Queensboro Bridge.
The last fare was about 15 cents a ride
Cut stones from the quarry waiting to become building walls. Quarry was where 465 Main Street is located.
The Almshouse/City Home building all were located near the Chapel of the Good Shepherd.
The other way to get to Welfare Island. The Thomas. M.Mulry steamer left from East 78 St. and the East River to the dock by Metropolitan Hospital.
CREDITS
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 Dottie Jeffries
MAYA LEVANON-PHOTOS TIK TOK & INSTAGRAM
All image are copyrighted (c) Roosevelt Island Historical Society unless otherwise indicated
A RECOLLECTION OF FAMILY LIFE ON BLACKWELL’S / WELFARE ISLAND PART 1 Eleanor SCHETLIN 2002
EDITORIAL Yesterday we started our biography of Eleanor Schetlln. Today, you can read her historical story of her family and her life on the island. This story is 45 pages long, the most written, to my knowledge of any person who was a resident here. Eleanor kept in communication with me for many years and we have preserved her e-mails and all the materials she forwarded to the RIHS. This 3 inch thick notebook is a treasure trove of information, stories, legends, myths, tales and remembrances. Hope you enjoy the series.
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 Dottie Jeffries
MAYA LEVANON-PHOTOS TIK TOK & INSTAGRAM
All image are copyrighted (c) Roosevelt Island Historical Society unless otherwise indicated
THE CARS ENDED UP AT THE KINGSTON TROLLEY MUSEUM. ONE CAR, #601 WAS SITTING IN THE OPEN, ABANDONED, LOOTED AND DETERIORATING UNTIL ABOUT 10 YEARS AGO. THE MUSEUM HAD NO INTEREST OR FUNDS TO RESTORE IT. EVENTUALLY IT WAS USED FOR SALVAGE AND ONLY THE MEMORIES REMAIN.
CREDITS
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
MAYA LEVANON-PHOTOS TIK TOK & INSTAGRAM
All image are copyrighted (c) Roosevelt Island Historical Society unless otherwise indicated
