View allAll Photos Tagged Strive
Day 310 of 365 (Wednesday) - Today has been one of those days for getting things done. Supermarket shopping, buying clothes for my son who hates trying things on, getting started on the Easter homework... With the busyness of the day the photo was in danger of being another thing that had to be "done". The light was fading and despite my daughter wanting to do some cutting out she immediately agreed to help me by heading outside, with the dregs of bubble mix and the hope for a good photo. Her generosity of spirit really struck me.
We hadn't managed any great bubble shots, but she asked if she could take some photos of me, and was so enthused at the results she achieved, and it was good fun being on the other side of the camera for a change! I wanted to have another try at getting a great bubble shot though and she happily obliged by swapping roles again. After a few unsuccessful blows she declared that I was better at blowing bubbles, and she was better at photography, which led to this smile, and my only shot of her not trying to blow bubbles. It reminds me of the fun, importance and value of swapping roles and of not trying so hard.
The Postcard
A postally unused Valentine's Phototype postcard that was published and printed in Great Britain.
On the back of the card the publishers have printed:
'Let us all strive without
failing in faith or in duty'.
The quotation is from a speech by Winston Churchill that was broadcast by the BBC on the 14th. July 1940. The speech calls to arms men from every country to fight Nazism, and runs as follows:
'This is no war of chieftains or of princes,
of dynasties or national ambition; it is a war
of peoples and of causes.
There are vast numbers, not only in this
island but in every land, who will render
faithful service in this war but whose names
will never be known, whose deeds will never
be recorded.
This is a war of the Unknown Warriors; but
let all strive without failing in faith or in duty,
and the dark curse of Hitler will be lifted from
our age.'
Valentine also give some information about Cheapside:
'Cheapside - A typical London
street showing a steady stream
of traffic.
The church spire on the right is
that of Bow, of Bow Bells fame.
The home of the true London
Cockney.'
Cheapside
Cheapside is a street in the City of London, the historic and modern financial centre of London, which forms part of the London to Fishguard road. It links St. Martin's Le Grand with Poultry.
Near its eastern end at Bank Junction, where it becomes Poultry, is Mansion House, the Bank of England, and Bank Station. To the west is St. Paul's Cathedral, St Paul's station and Square.
In the Middle Ages, it was known as Westcheap, as opposed to Eastcheap, another street in the City, near London Bridge.
The contemporary Cheapside is widely known as the location of a range of retail and food outlets and offices, as well as the City's only major shopping centre, One New Change.
Cheapside is a common English street name, meaning "market place", from Old English ceapan, "to buy." There was originally no connection to the modern meaning of cheap ("low price"), although by the 18th. century this association may have begun to be inferred.
Cheapside is the former site of one of the principal produce markets of London. Many of the streets feeding into the main thoroughfare are named after the produce that was once sold in those areas of the market, including Honey Lane, Milk Street, Bread Street and Poultry.
In medieval times, the royal processional route from the Tower of London to the Palace of Westminster included Cheapside. During state occasions such as the first entry of Margaret of France (second wife of King Edward I), into London in September 1299, the conduits of Cheapside flowed with wine.
During the reign of Edward III in the 14th. century, tournaments were held in adjacent fields. The dangers were, however, not limited to the participants: a wooden stand built to accommodate Queen Philippa and her companions collapsed during a tournament to celebrate the birth of the Black Prince in 1330. No one died, but the King was greatly displeased, and the stand's builders would have been put to death but for the Queen's intercession.
On the day preceding her coronation, in January 1559, Elizabeth I passed through a number of London streets in a pre-coronation procession and was entertained by a number of pageants, including one in Cheapside.
Meat was brought in to Cheapside from Smithfield market, just outside Newgate. After the great Church of St. Michael-le-Querne, the top end of the street broadened into a dual carriageway known as the Shambles (referring to an open-air slaughterhouse and meat market), with butcher shops on both sides and a dividing central area also containing butchers.
Further down, on the right, was Goldsmiths Row, an area of commodity dealers. From the 14th. century to the Great Fire, the eastern end of Cheapside was the location of the Great Conduit.
Cheapside Literary Connections
Geoffrey Chaucer grew up around Cheapside, and there are a scattering of references to the thoroughfare and its environs throughout his work. The first chapter of Peter Ackroyd's Brief Lives series on Chaucer also colourfully describes the street at that time.
Cheapside was the birthplace of John Milton and Robert Herrick. It was for a long time one of the most important streets in London. It is also the site of the 'Bow Bells', which played a part in the tale of Dick Whittington.
William Shakespeare used Cheapside as the setting for several bawdy scenes in Henry IV, Part I. A reference to it is also made in Henry VI, Part II, in a speech by the rebel Jack Cade:
"All the realm shall be in common; and
in Cheapside shall my palfrey go to grass".
Thomas Middleton's play A Chaste Maid in Cheapside (1613) both satirises and celebrates the citizens of the neighbourhood during the Renaissance, when the street hosted the city's goldsmiths.
William Wordsworth, in his 1797 poem The Reverie of Poor Susan, imagines a naturalistic Cheapside of past:
"And a river flows on through
the vale of Cheapside."
Jane Austen, in her 1813 novel Pride and Prejudice, characterises Cheapside as a London neighbourhood
frowned upon by the landed elite:
"I think I have heard you say that their
uncle is an attorney in Meryton."
"Yes; and they have another, who lives
somewhere near Cheapside."
"That is capital," added her sister, and
they both laughed heartily.
"If they had uncles enough to fill all
Cheapside," cried Bingley, "it would not
make them one jot less agreeable."
"But it must very materially lessen their
chance of marrying men of any
consideration in the world," replied Darcy.
Charles Dickens Jr. wrote in his 1879 book Dickens's Dictionary of London:
"Cheapside remains now what it was five centuries
ago, the greatest thoroughfare in the City of London.
Other localities have had their day, have risen, become
fashionable, and have sunk into obscurity and neglect,
but Cheapside has maintained its place, and may boast
of being the busiest thoroughfare in the world, with the
sole exception perhaps of London-bridge."
Hugh Lofting's book Doctor Dolittle, published in 1951, names a quarrelsome London sparrow with a Cockney accent Cheapside. He lives most of the year in St. Edmund's left ear in St. Paul's Cathedral, and is invited to the African country of Fantippo to deliver mail to cities because the other birds are not able to navigate city streets.
Cheapside is also depicted in Rosemary Sutcliff's 1951 children's historical novel The Armourer's House, along with other parts of Tudor London.
In a more contemporary treatment, the Cheapside of the Middle Ages was referenced in a derogatory sense in the 2001 movie A Knight's Tale as being the poor, unhealthy and low-class birthplace and home of the unlikely hero.
Nineteenth century Cheapside is presented as the home of Mary "Jacky" Faber in Bloody Jack by L. A. Meyer.
Additionally, Cheapside is depicted as a major setting in the bestselling novel by Maria McCann, As Meat Loves Salt, a historical feature set against the English Civil War.
William Gibson's mystery novel The Peripheral depicts a 22nd.-century Cheapside converted to a Victorian-era cosplay zone where only 19th. century costume is allowed.
Contemporary Cheapside
Cheapside today is a street of offices and retail outlets. It can no longer be described as "the busiest thoroughfare in the world," and although busy, is instead simply one of many routes connecting the East End and the City of London with the West End.
Cheapside was extensively damaged during The Blitz in late 1940 and particularly during the Second Great Fire of London. Much of the rebuilding following these raids occurred during the 1950's and 1960's, and included a number of unsympathetic contemporary attempts at recreating the centuries-old architecture that had been destroyed.
In recent years many of these buildings have themselves been demolished as a programme of regeneration takes place along Cheapside from Paternoster Square to Poultry.
Cheapside formed part of the marathon course of the 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games. The women's Olympic marathon took place on the 5th. August and the men's Olympic marathon took place on the 12th. August. The four Paralympic marathons were held on the 9th. September.
With spring arriving, it would be rude not to take advantage and grab a few shots from the garden.
Facebook: <a href="https://www.facebook.com/StuartLeche.C9Photography" rel="nofollow">Stuart Leche - C9 Photography</a>
Website: <a href="http://www.stuartleche.photography" rel="nofollow">www.stuartleche.photography</a>
Instagram: <a href="#//www.instagram.com/stuart_leche_c9_photography" rel="nofollow"> stuart_leche_c9_photography </a>
All images copyright © Stuart Leche and may not be used or reproduced without prior permission.
his video was made for people who Strive for something everyday of there life. But we as humans beings don't give thanks to are creator for the things he does in are life Seen and unseen. This video ask the question "What are you striving for in the Realm that we call Earth? Do you believe in heaven or hell? Do you worship Satan or Christ are Lord god, and Savior? Is there anything to the life? Question yourself after this video and ask yourself "What or Who I'm I Striving For?"
This photo strives to achieve many things:
* My daily self-portrait.
* A hat photo for FGR. I very rarely wear a hat, and this one is to honor the Houston Dynamos who will win the Western Conference Championship over the lame Kansas City "Wizards". Phhhbbbt!
* Show the gorgeous flowers I sent Jamie from proflowers.com. I cannot recommend this site highly enough. Superb.
* And mostly, showing that I am working on a book.
No, not the sort of book that requires writing (as is a passion, disclosed here). I am creating a book using Blurb of my year in self-portraits. It will be an art book, with minimal words and all my photos in high-quality. Based on how far I have gotten thus far, I reckon the book will be over a hundred pages. Why not? It took a year to make it! Also, its the Christmas present for my parents (after I take the scissors to some of the photos).
There's lots more in this photo, so check the notes.
This is my three hundred fifty sixth self portrait for 365 Days.
10 November 2007 - 10 days left
430EX used on-camera, bounced upper left against the wall and ceiling.
St. Nicholas Historic District, Harlem, Manhattan, New York City, New York, United States
The St. Nicholas Historic District, consisting of four rows of houses built by David H. King, Jr., appears much the same as it did when it was built, more than 70 years ago, in 1891. Both then and now, it has been a source of pride not only to its own residents, but to all the people living in its vicinity.
These houses are a fine example of Nineteenth Century urban design, influenced by English antecedents. The sense of forethought and consideration in land development seen here is much sought after today, and often today's results arc not as successful. A high degree of architectural continuity is maintained, while taking into consideration even such problems as house service.
This problem is successfully resolved by the use of a main cross alley extending through the block, from avenue to avenue, with two shorter transverse alleys between the streets.
The District, designed by three of the most prominent architectural firms of the day, was one of the most prestigious sections of Harlem and is still considered as such. The fact that these houses have been well maintained through the years is most unusual in New York City. Obviously its reputation as a fashionable area has contributed to the residents' desire to preserve their homes and to their tremendous sense or pride in them.
Harlem Background
In 1658 Peter Stuyvesant named this area we now know as Harlem, Nieuw Haarlem. Up to the middle of the Nineteenth Century this part of Manhattan remained very much the same as it had been in the Seventeenth Century. Farms, and some large estates, comprise most of the land holdings. Many of the most prominent colonial families: the Delanceys, Beekmans, Bleeckers, Rikers, Coldens and Hamiltons had estates in Harlem.
The St. Nicholas Historic District lies within the estate of Cadwallader D. Colden, an early Mayor of New York, whose grandfather was a colonial governor.
In Lloyd Morris' book "Incredible New York" there is an illustration of Commodore Vanderbilt racing horses on Harlem Lane (now Eighth Avenue) near 137th Street. The Harlem Lane of that day extended up to 168th Street. Morris also notes that when General Grant visited the City at the end of the Civil War, one of his first requests was to be taken out to Harlem Lane.
In 1831, the Harlem Railroad was chartered, and by 1837 it was extended to Harlem changing it from a rural to a suburban community—one of New York's first suburbs. By 1981, the elevated rapid transit lines extended up to 129th Street, and by 1884 to 145th Street. Thus, Harlem had become a vary desirable and fashionable neighborhood by the 'eighties'.
During the last quarter of the Nineteenth Century, with a rise of Harlem as a "convenient" residential suburb, there was great land speculation and a construction fever such as had rarely been seen in New York. It was in this climate of speculative activity that the D. H. King houses were built.
Early History
The property was purchased by D.H. King and in 1891 commissioned the architectural firms of Bruce Price, James Brown Lord, Clarence S. Luce and McKim, Mead & White to design four rows of houses. King was a member of the Knickerbocker Trust and was a well-known builder (Times Building, 1889; Madison Square Garden, 1890; Equitable Building, 1872; base of the Statue of Liberty, 1886).
A period of Victorian gentility had led to the creation of the houses which comprise the District. They represented what was possibly the apex of that disastrous spurt of over-investing which occurred at the end of the Nineteenth Century. It is reported that in a society whose working class families paid an average of $10-18 monthly for rent, rents for these dwellings started at just below $60 and ranged somewhere between $900 and $1700 a year.
King wished to erect high-quality housing for well-to-do buyers, who wished to make a sound, profitable investment. Almost prophetic of the principles of today's Landmarks Preservation Commission, he wanted to be able to assure a purchaser that no nuisances could spring up near these buildings and that one need have no fear of a stable, factory, tenement or over-shadowing hotel rising beside his home.
"The interests of each property owner are carefully protected by stipulations against the building of additions or altering any house...." (see agreement of December, 1890, Liber 463, par. 2338 in Hall of Records, between King and Board of Health).
Recent History
The building fever that had overtaken Harlem investors came to an abrupt end with the panic of 1904. A wave of selling followed, and owners sold buildings at losses ranging from one-third to two-thirds of their original cost. Many of these buildings had never been inhabited.
Negro realtors, such as Philip A. Payton and John M. Royall, persuaded many property owners to sell or rant their houses to Negroes who wished to move to Harlem. The northward movement of Negro families from the South and immigration from the West Indies were the catalysts which caused the move to uptown Manhattan.
The houses and apartments were by far the best available to Negro families at that time. It is stated in Gilbert Osofsky's "Harlem: The Making of a Ghetto" that Harlem's "name was a symbol of elegance and distinction.... its streets and avenues were broad, well-paved, clean and tree-lined.... its homes were spacious, with the best of modem facilities...."
Finally, by 1919; the D. H. King houses were made available to Negroes and were already being acquired by well established professionals, a few of whom are still living there today. Many of Harlem's most prominent doctors have lived there. L. T. Wright, Surgical Director of Harlem Hospital from 1938-52, lived at 218 West 139th Street.
He was an eminent brain surgeon, and was the only Negro member of the American College of Surgeons at one time. P. M. Hurray, of 200 West 138th Street, was the Dean and Professor of Surgery at Howard University (1917-1913) and was one of the first Negroes to be appointed to the staff of a private hospital.
Paul Collins, also of 200 West 138th Street, was a staff member in the Eye Clinic of Harlem Hospital.
In February, 1920, a front page article in the "New York Age" described the move to 260 West 139th Street of William Pickens, a former Dean and Vice-President of Morgan College, Baltimore, Maryland, and an Associate Field Secretary of the NAACP.
Several famous entertainers have also lived in the St. Nicholas Historic District. W. C. Handy, internationally known and considered the father of popular jazz, lived at 232 West 139th Street. Hubie Blake, the musician, lived at 236 West 13 8th Street. Floumay Miller, of 200 West 139th Street, and Noble Sissle, of 264 West 139th Street, were members of the "Shuffle Along Company", extremely successful, which played to a wide range of audiences.
In 1933, Abram Hill, one of the collaborators on the play, "Anna Lucasta", and a founder of the American Negro Theatre, wrote a play about the Historic District, called "On Striver's Row". Popular use of the name "Striver's Row" developed in the 1920's and 30's and indicated the great desirability of living in this two-block area.
Comments on the District
Montgomery Schuyler, in the "Architectural Record" of April-June 1899, praised the King project for "the employment of three architects of the first rank to compete with each other, net on paper, but in actual brick and mortar.... in the most extensive building operation that has been carried out on the West Side."
His only criticism was that "they have supplied but a small fraction of the demand that exists for such dwellings."
style, by respecting each others conventions, by keeping to a uniform cornice line, the architects achieved an unusual unity rarely seen in this City. For this reason the...rows which make up this Historic District arc probably the finest of their kind in any of the five boroughs."
And the Rev. John J. Hicks, pastor of St. Mark's Methodist Church and chairman of the West 139th Street Block Association, testified, "This area should be preserved in our City because it will aid us in keeping capable citizens and adequate indigenous leadership within the community. The present weakness in the inner city is that we have flights to the hinterlands that siphon off respectable and capable citizens and leave the community bereft of neighborhood leadership and respect."
ARCHITECTURE IMPORTANCE
The D. H. King Houses, though the rows vary in design and detail, were planned in order to create a unified, distinct "neighborhood within a neighborhood." The use of uniform block fronts of equal heights provides a strong cohesive element, while individuality of approach prevents the area from succumbing to monotony. The basic simplicity and elegance of the houses supports this dominating sense of quiet refinement.
The unobstructed view of the buildings of New York's City College, high on the heights overlooking St. Nicholas Park, contributes to a feeling of openness surrounding the St. Nicholas Historic District. Builder D. H. King wanted the residents of his houses to benefit from their location on land which was "high, healthful and accessible, swept by the westerly breezes from the Hudson."
The planning of ornamental, wrought-iron gateways for access is likened by Montgomery Schuyler to the cutting of the Gordian Knot of house service. The gateways (two per street, and one each at the avenue ends of the block) were at once decorative .and functional. Ostensibly designed to act as entrances to serve the houses at the rear, they also led to attractive hidden accessways for private use by the residents. Circular flower beds and fountains were planned for the intersections of these interior "cross-streets". Agreements were made between King .and the various buyers concerning the privileges of ownership and use of these "streets" at the rear.
The comprehensiveness of King's undertaking involved more than an interest in the sale-ability of his properties. The very scale of the project and the resources available to him, the financing and retaining the services of three well-known architectural firms permitted King to concern himself, to a great degree, with the everyday needs of residents within the area as a whole. The air of exclusiveness that resulted is still highly valued today.
Rows in the District South Side of 139th Street
The houses designed by Janes Brown Lord, on the south side of West 138th Street, are without pretension and are relatively modest in design and detail. They derive from the Georgian tradition and are constructed of red brick with brownstone trim, in exceedingly good taste.
This row is composed of twenty-five houses, and is broken into three major groups, separated by two handsome wrought-iron gateways. Being the shortest block-front of the four, it stops east of Eighth Avenue at 250 West 136th Street. Lord also designed, at the east end, the four adjoining row houses facing Seventh Avenue. Lord's three-story houses, with basement, are the widest houses in the Historic District. The entrances to adjoining houses are adjacent to each other. Of interest, is the use of a common stoop, serving both entrances, with beautiful wrought-iron railings The illusion of a single, wider more elegant house facade is thus created, in lieu of the compartmented effect of narrow houses side by side.
There is a restrained use of detail within the row. This raw house concept evinces an over-all concern with the unity of the facade, which is treated as a. single mass, and the uniformity of the detail serves to create a pleasing rhythm, carrying the eye along the street and maintaining visual interest. The Jajr.es Brown Lord row is reminiscent of the Eighteenth Century English development of the palace facade and in its comprehensiveness reminds us of John Weeds' work in the City of Bath, England.
North Side of 138th Street & South Side of 139th Street
The block located between West 138th Street and West 139th Street and Seventh and Eighth Avenues was the work of architects Bruce Price and Clarence S. Luce. This block was designed in the Georgian style of the Eclectic period. Here, there is a greater reliance on detail than in the Lord houses, and the profusion of decorative elements, and their numerous variations, are most attractive. The use of buff colored brick with Indiana limestone detail acts as a contrast both to the Lord houses to the south, and to the McKim, Mead and White houses to the north.
This complete block of houses, executed in a uniform style of architecture, consists of thirty-five houses along each street. On Eighth Avenue, two apartment houses close the end with entrances on the cross streets.
On Seventh Avenue, there are two groups of five story houses on cither side of the inner accessway. The houses on these two block fronts are narrower than those at the south side of 138th Street, averaging about seventeen feet in width, except for the end houses, Which, ore twenty feet wide.
Although the stoops arc adjacent to each other, serving the adjoining houses, one senses here that they arc distinct, as they run up straight from the street, separated by handrails. The basic street elevation consists of a flush masonry basement, whose entrance is under the front stoop of each house, and three stories of handsome buff colored brick, undefined by any horizontal string course. Instead, the uniformity of the brick work provides a uniform ground to set off decorative motifs. The window sizes vary, and there are several different window treatments.
The first story windows and the narrow ones at the second story have terra cotta splayed lintels with elongated keystones. The wider second story window has a cornice-like lintel above with a semi-circular panel above that. The two third story windows are narrow and have simple lintels with keystones.
The second story of the houses on either side of the handsome iron gateways display an interesting pseudo-Palladian window treatment in terra cotta. Here, a triply divided window is separated by handsome Ionic columns supporting, above its garlanded horizontal lintel, an arch-form above the columns. This arch has alternate voussoirs elongated with a blind tympanum with wreath design within. The triple square-headed windows on the floor above these complement the arched window, at the second story.
An element of movement is added to the row by projecting forward some of the facades of the houses, which are adjacent to each other. This difference in alignment also adds interest and apparent depth to the row. The doorway is slightly recessed and its round arched head has an elongated, console-like keystone the arch springs from Greek-fret motif impost blocks similar to those used for some of the third story windows.
Delicate wrought-iron balconies extend from the base of the full-length first story windows, and similar wrought-iron work is to be found at the top platforms of the stoops and used as handrails for the steps.
A delicate garland pattern is employed in the fascia of the cornice, signalizing the windows below it. A horizontal moulding at the base of the fascia displays a tiny, continuous swag motif. These decorative elements unify the individual, attached buildings as does the overhanging cornice surmounted by a handsome stone balustrade topping the whole.
Distinctive stone quoins delineate the corners of the houses whore breaks in the wall occur.
The diversity of window treatment and the decorative motifs of the cornice ere at-; an interesting variation against the over-all pattern of the windows and doors.
North Side of 139th Street
Finally, there are the houses designed by McKim, Mead and White, situated on the north side of West 139th Street. They represent basically the Italian Renaissance style, which this firm was among the first to absorb, modify, and then transform into that distinctive product of American architecture which we so readily associate with them.
Thirty-two houses, approximately nineteen feet wide, contrast wall with the other houses by their generally darker tone. They are built of handsome dark brown mottled brick. The over-all design of this exceptionally handsome row of houses reminds one of a Sixteenth Century Italian palace. The center house of the block, 233 West 139th Street, acts as a central feature of the raw. Its elegant first floor English Basement, entered at ground floor, is deeply rusticated and is similar to that of all the houses in this row, except that in place of the simple rectangular doorway of the other houses, there is an attractive arcade effect, seen through two rectangular openings on cither side of a round arched doorway. A deeply recessed porch lies behind this arcade, with the doorway set to one side. On Eighth Avenue there is an apartment house, and there are five row houses on Seventh Avenue. The ground floors of the buildings on the avenues have been extensively altered to serve as store fronts.
Most of the residences on the north side of 13 9th Street have a single platform step, with simple railings leading to the entrance doors.
The window arrangement of these houses is very unusual. The first story, in each case, is handsomely rusticated, with simple elongated keystones over each of the two windows and the door, which is set off unsymmetrically to one side. The rest of the facade is of brick, separated by a delicate string course at the third floor sill level. The second story displays two,, narrow side windows on either side of a largo central window, from which an iron railed balcony extends, supported by stone brackets (consoles). Above this central window is a medallion with a floral rosette. The medallion acts as a focal print for this window grouping and punctuates the row of houses at regular intervals. The medallion was widely used in Italian Renaissance architecture; an early example was to be found on Brunelleschi's Foundling Hospital, in Florence, 1445 A.D.). The upper portion ofvthe front elevation contains the third and fourth stories exhibiting an unusual wide-eyed appearance with the two windows at each floor set well apart.
The fourth story windows have simple lintels with keystones. The frames of the other windows above the basement are surmounted by small-scale, distinct cornices.
The four houses on either side of the gateways (Nos. 217, 219, 247 and 249 West 139th Street' vary the second story window treatment. Here a round-arched pediment is used, instead of the usual medallion, producing a handsome note of emphasis en these terminal houses. An attractive cornice with modillions crowns the row of houses and unifies the whole composition. The variation in window treatment lends interest and to some extent signalizes the individual units, while brick quoins on the end buildings emphasize the corners and the breaks in the main wall.
- From the 1967 NYCLPC Historic Distric Designation Report
Its hard to "Bee" successful but I do value the time spent with my family today at a local Nature Reserve in some more glorious sunshine!
King Model Houses
Renaissance Revival Row Houses (1891–93)
Archiect: Bruce Price and Clarence S. Luce
263–71 W. 138th St.
Strivers Row
Harlem, New York
In 1890, builder and real estate developer David H. King Jr. (1849–1916) purchased land along 138th and 139th streets in Harlem on which he would construct his King Model Houses. King had recently constructed the pedestal of the Statue of Liberty and would soon build the Washington Memorial Arch in Washington Square Park. Describing his housing project for the middle class, King declared, “the homes of New Yorkers [should] be sunny, tasteful, convenient, and commodious even if their occupants are not millionaires.”
To vary the look of each block, King hired three different architectural firms to construct 146 row houses and three apartment buildings. Unusual for New York, King included service alleys behind the rows of houses as well as cross alleys to break the monotony of the house fronts.
The architects retained by King were prominent in their day. James Brown Lord (1858–1902), who designed the houses on the south side of 138th St., also designed the old Delmonico’s Restaurant (1891) at Beaver and Williams streets in the Financial District and the Appellate Court on Madison Square (1902). Bruce Price (1845–1903) and Clarence S. Luce (1852–1924) designed the houses on the north side of 138th St and the south side of 139th St. Price would later design the Chateau Frontenac Hotel (1893) in Quebec City. The most famous architect associated with the project was Stanford White (1853–1906), who designed the houses on the north side of 139th St. White designed the Villard Houses (1884) on Madison Ave., the Cable Building at Broadway and Houston St. (1892), and the Washington Memorial Arch (1895).
Construction commenced in 1891, and the houses were completed in time for the Depression of 1893. The unexpected economic downturn led to only nine houses being sold by 1895. The mortgagee, the Equitable Life Assurance Co., took over the properties, selling thirty-one additional houses by 1905. The unsold houses were rented out.
From the 1890s to the 1910s, white middle-class professional and business people occupied the King Model Houses. Typically, five to ten people lived in each house with one or two servants. Acknowledging the changing demographics of the neighborhood, Equitable sold its remaining properties to black middle- class buyers in 1919 and 1920.
In the 1920s, most houses were occupied by a single family. Some eventually took in lodgers to defray costs, especially in the 1930s. By the 1930s, the two blocks had been dubbed “Strivers’ Row”. Originally meant as a insult, the name was embraced by residents in recognition of the fact that those who lived here were striving to better themselves. Today, the houses on these blocks are among the most desirable in Harlem.
© Matthew X. Kiernan
NYBAI13-5147
King Model Houses
Renaissance Revival Row Houses (1891–93)
Architect: Bruce Price and Clarence S. Luce
253–59 W. 138th St.
Strivers Row
Harlem, New York
In 1890, builder and real estate developer David H. King Jr. (1849–1916) purchased land along 138th and 139th streets in Harlem on which he would construct his King Model Houses. King had recently constructed the pedestal of the Statue of Liberty and would soon build the Washington Memorial Arch in Washington Square Park. Describing his housing project for the middle class, King declared, “the homes of New Yorkers [should] be sunny, tasteful, convenient, and commodious even if their occupants are not millionaires.”
To vary the look of each block, King hired three different architectural firms to construct 146 row houses and three apartment buildings. Unusual for New York, King included service alleys behind the rows of houses as well as cross alleys to break the monotony of the house fronts.
The architects retained by King were prominent in their day. James Brown Lord (1858–1902), who designed the houses on the south side of 138th St., also designed the old Delmonico’s Restaurant (1891) at Beaver and Williams streets in the Financial District and the Appellate Court on Madison Square (1902). Bruce Price (1845–1903) and Clarence S. Luce (1852–1924) designed the houses on the north side of 138th St and the south side of 139th St. Price would later design the Chateau Frontenac Hotel (1893) in Quebec City. The most famous architect associated with the project was Stanford White (1853–1906), who designed the houses on the north side of 139th St. White designed the Villard Houses (1884) on Madison Ave., the Cable Building at Broadway and Houston St. (1892), and the Washington Memorial Arch (1895).
Construction commenced in 1891, and the houses were completed in time for the Depression of 1893. The unexpected economic downturn led to only nine houses being sold by 1895. The mortgagee, the Equitable Life Assurance Co., took over the properties, selling thirty-one additional houses by 1905. The unsold houses were rented out.
From the 1890s to the 1910s, white middle-class professional and business people occupied the King Model Houses. Typically, five to ten people lived in each house with one or two servants. Acknowledging the changing demographics of the neighborhood, Equitable sold its remaining properties to black middle- class buyers in 1919 and 1920.
In the 1920s, most houses were occupied by a single family. Some eventually took in lodgers to defray costs, especially in the 1930s. By the 1930s, the two blocks had been dubbed “Strivers’ Row”. Originally meant as a insult, the name was embraced by residents in recognition of the fact that those who lived here were striving to better themselves. Today, the houses on these blocks are among the most desirable in Harlem.
No. 257 was home to Harry Pace (1884–1943) from 1921 until 1925. He founded Pace-Handy music publishers and Black Swan Records (1921–22). Their offices were at 289 Seventh Ave. nearby. Pace later owned the largest black-owned business in the north: Northeastern Life Insurance of Newark, N.J.
© Matthew X. Kiernan
NYBAI06-8080
Mind heart and the City documents downtown Asheville's most recent iteration of gentrification as it strives to maintain the diversity of its bohemian mountain culture. The images reveal a people and culture experiencing a paradigm shift as it transitions into the new millennium. The show will be a mix of approximately 50 black and white and color silver gelatin prints captured completely on film shot over a ten year period. Although the use of film is not the main focus the project, my intent was to rediscover the 20th century humanist approach to street photography via the utilization of old manual film cameras to explore and document city life. There will be two books, Mind heart and the City and The Last Memory that will accompany the exhibition. The exhibit will feature photographs from both books. The video on youtube features images from the upcoming show and accompanying books. The show will run from April 6 to April 27, 2018 at the Emporium Center Gallery, 100 S. Gay Street, Knoxville, TN 37902. An opening reception will be held on Friday, April 6, 2018.
For more information, visit knoxalliance.com or joelongobardiphotography.com/exhibits.
Visit the Facebook group at Mind heart and the City.
"Quickening" is written and sung by Madelyn Lavender. Percussion for "Quickening" by River Guerguerian. For more music, visit madelynlavender.com
All images © Joe Longobardi. All Rights Reserved.
joelongobardiphotography.com/books
Designer: Qian Daxin (钱大昕)
1964, September
Resolutely strive to become a revolutionary successor who is both cultured and martial, both red and expert - The needs of the motherland are our aspirations!
Juexin ba ziji duanlian chengwei neng wen neng wu you hong you zhuan de geming jiebanren - Zuguo de xuyao jiushi women de zhiyuan! (决心把自己锻炼成为能文能武又红又专的革命接班人-祖国的需要就是我们的志愿！)
Call nr.: PC-1964-l-001 (Private collection)
More? See: chineseposters.net
Harlem, Manhattan, New York City, New York, United States
The St. Nicholas Historic District, consisting of four rows of houses built by David H. King, Jr., appears much the same as it did when it was built, more than 70 years ago, in 1891. Both then and now, it has been a source of pride not only to its own residents, but to all the people living in its vicinity.
These houses are a fine example of Nineteenth Century urban design, influenced by English antecedents. The sense of forethought and consideration in land development seen here is much sought after today, and often today's results arc not as successful. A high degree of architectural continuity is maintained, while taking into consideration even such problems as house service.
This problem is successfully resolved by the use of a main cross alley extending through the block, from avenue to avenue, with two shorter transverse alleys between the streets.
The District, designed by three of the most prominent architectural firms of the day, was one of the most prestigious sections of Harlem and is still considered as such. The fact that these houses have been well maintained through the years is most unusual in New York City. Obviously its reputation as a fashionable area has contributed to the residents' desire to preserve their homes and to their tremendous sense or pride in them.
Harlem Background
In 1658 Peter Stuyvesant named this area we now know as Harlem, Nieuw Haarlem. Up to the middle of the Nineteenth Century this part of Manhattan remained very much the same as it had been in the Seventeenth Century. Farms, and some large estates, comprise most of the land holdings. Many of the most prominent colonial families: the Delanceys, Beekmans, Bleeckers, Rikers, Coldens and Hamiltons had estates in Harlem.
The St. Nicholas Historic District lies within the estate of Cadwallader D. Colden, an early Mayor of New York, whose grandfather was a colonial governor.
In Lloyd Morris' book "Incredible New York" there is an illustration of Commodore Vanderbilt racing horses on Harlem Lane near 137th Street. The Harlem Lane of that day extended up to 168th Street. Morris also notes that when General Grant visited the City at the end of the Civil War, one of his first requests was to be taken out to Harlem Lane.
In 1831, the Harlem Railroad was chartered, and by 1837 it was extended to Harlem changing it from a rural to a suburban community—one of New York's first suburbs. By 1981, the elevated rapid transit lines extended up to 129th Street, and by 1884 to 145th Street. Thus, Harlem had become a vary desirable and fashionable neighborhood by the 'eighties'.
During the last quarter of the Nineteenth Century, with a rise of Harlem as a "convenient" residential suburb, there was great land speculation and a construction fever such as had rarely been seen in New York. It was in this climate of speculative activity that the D. H. King houses were built.
Early History
The property was purchased by D.H. King and in 1891 commissioned the architectural firms of Bruce Price, James Brown Lord, Clarence S. Luce and McKim, Mead & White to design four rows of houses. King was a member of the Knickerbocker Trust and was a well-known builder .
A period of Victorian gentility had led to the creation of the houses which comprise the District. They represented what was possibly the apex of that disastrous spurt of over-investing which occurred at the end of the Nineteenth Century. It is reported that in a society whose working class families paid an average of $10-18 monthly for rent, rents for these dwellings started at just below $60 and ranged somewhere between $900 and $1700 a year.
King wished to erect high-quality housing for well-to-do buyers, who wished to make a sound, profitable investment. Almost prophetic of the principles of today's Landmarks Preservation Commission, he wanted to be able to assure a purchaser that no nuisances could spring up near these buildings and that one need have no fear of a stable, factory, tenement or over-shadowing hotel rising beside his home.
"The interests of each property owner are carefully protected by stipulations against the building of additions or altering any house...." .
Recent History
The building fever that had overtaken Harlem investors came to an abrupt end with the panic of 1904. A wave of selling followed, and owners sold buildings at losses ranging from one-third to two-thirds of their original cost. Many of these buildings had never been inhabited.
Negro realtors, such as Philip A. Payton and John M. Royall, persuaded many property owners to sell or rant their houses to Negroes who wished to move to Harlem. The northward movement of Negro families from the South and immigration from the West Indies were the catalysts which caused the move to uptown Manhattan.
The houses and apartments were by far the best available to Negro families at that time. It is stated in Gilbert Osofsky's "Harlem: The Making of a Ghetto" that Harlem's "name was a symbol of elegance and distinction.... its streets and avenues were broad, well-paved, clean and tree-lined.... its homes were spacious, with the best of modem facilities...."
Finally, by 1919; the D. H. King houses were made available to Negroes and were already being acquired by well established professionals, a few of whom are still living there today. Many of Harlem's most prominent doctors have lived there. L. T. Wright, Surgical Director of Harlem Hospital from 1938-52, lived at 218 West 139th Street.
He was an eminent brain surgeon, and was the only Negro member of the American College of Surgeons at one time. P. M. Hurray, of 200 West 138th Street, was the Dean and Professor of Surgery at Howard University and was one of the first Negroes to be appointed to the staff of a private hospital.
Paul Collins, also of 200 West 138th Street, was a staff member in the Eye Clinic of Harlem Hospital.
In February, 1920, a front page article in the "New York Age" described the move to 260 West 139th Street of William Pickens, a former Dean and Vice-President of Morgan College, Baltimore, Maryland, and an Associate Field Secretary of the NAACP.
Several famous entertainers have also lived in the St. Nicholas Historic District. W. C. Handy, internationally known and considered the father of popular jazz, lived at 232 West 139th Street. Hubie Blake, the musician, lived at 236 West 13 8th Street. Floumay Miller, of 200 West 139th Street, and Noble Sissle, of 264 West 139th Street, were members of the "Shuffle Along Company", extremely successful, which played to a wide range of audiences.
In 1933, Abram Hill, one of the collaborators on the play, "Anna Lucasta", and a founder of the American Negro Theatre, wrote a play about the Historic District, called "On Striver's Row". Popular use of the name "Striver's Row" developed in the 1920's and 30's and indicated the great desirability of living in this two-block area.
Comments on the District
Montgomery Schuyler, in the "Architectural Record" of April-June 1899, praised the King project for "the employment of three architects of the first rank to compete with each other, net on paper, but in actual brick and mortar.... in the most extensive building operation that has been carried out on the West Side."
His only criticism was that "they have supplied but a small fraction of the demand that exists for such dwellings."
style, by respecting each others conventions, by keeping to a uniform cornice line, the architects achieved an unusual unity rarely seen in this City. For this reason the...rows which make up this Historic District arc probably the finest of their kind in any of the five boroughs."
And the Rev. John J. Hicks, pastor of St. Mark's Methodist Church and chairman of the West 139th Street Block Association, testified, "This area should be preserved in our City because it will aid us in keeping capable citizens and adequate indigenous leadership within the community. The present weakness in the inner city is that we have flights to the hinterlands that siphon off respectable and capable citizens and leave the community bereft of neighborhood leadership and respect."
ARCHITECTURE IMPORTANCE
The D. H. King Houses, though the rows vary in design and detail, were planned in order to create a unified, distinct "neighborhood within a neighborhood." The use of uniform block fronts of equal heights provides a strong cohesive element, while individuality of approach prevents the area from succumbing to monotony. The basic simplicity and elegance of the houses supports this dominating sense of quiet refinement.
The unobstructed view of the buildings of New York's City College, high on the heights overlooking St. Nicholas Park, contributes to a feeling of openness surrounding the St. Nicholas Historic District. Builder D. H. King wanted the residents of his houses to benefit from their location on land which was "high, healthful and accessible, swept by the westerly breezes from the Hudson."
The planning of ornamental, wrought-iron gateways for access is likened by Montgomery Schuyler to the cutting of the Gordian Knot of house service. The gateways were at once decorative .and functional. Ostensibly designed to act as entrances to serve the houses at the rear, they also led to attractive hidden accessways for private use by the residents. Circular flower beds and fountains were planned for the intersections of these interior "cross-streets". Agreements were made between King .and the various buyers concerning the privileges of ownership and use of these "streets" at the rear.
The comprehensiveness of King's undertaking involved more than an interest in the sale-ability of his properties. The very scale of the project and the resources available to him, the financing and retaining the services of three well-known architectural firms permitted King to concern himself, to a great degree, with the everyday needs of residents within the area as a whole. The air of exclusiveness that resulted is still highly valued today.
Rows in the District South Side of 139th Street
The houses designed by Janes Brown Lord, on the south side of West 138th Street, are without pretension and are relatively modest in design and detail. They derive from the Georgian tradition and are constructed of red brick with brownstone trim, in exceedingly good taste.
This row is composed of twenty-five houses, and is broken into three major groups, separated by two handsome wrought-iron gateways. Being the shortest block-front of the four, it stops east of Eighth Avenue at 250 West 136th Street. Lord also designed, at the east end, the four adjoining row houses facing Seventh Avenue. Lord's three-story houses, with basement, are the widest houses in the Historic District. The entrances to adjoining houses are adjacent to each other. Of interest, is the use of a common stoop, serving both entrances, with beautiful wrought-iron railings The illusion of a single, wider more elegant house facade is thus created, in lieu of the compartmented effect of narrow houses side by side.
There is a restrained use of detail within the row. This raw house concept evinces an over-all concern with the unity of the facade, which is treated as a. single mass, and the uniformity of the detail serves to create a pleasing rhythm, carrying the eye along the street and maintaining visual interest. The Jajr.es Brown Lord row is reminiscent of the Eighteenth Century English development of the palace facade and in its comprehensiveness reminds us of John Weeds' work in the City of Bath, England.
North Side of 138th Street & South Side of 139th Street
The block located between West 138th Street and West 139th Street and Seventh and Eighth Avenues was the work of architects Bruce Price and Clarence S. Luce. This block was designed in the Georgian style of the Eclectic period. Here, there is a greater reliance on detail than in the Lord houses, and the profusion of decorative elements, and their numerous variations, are most attractive. The use of buff colored brick with Indiana limestone detail acts as a contrast both to the Lord houses to the south, and to the McKim, Mead and White houses to the north.
This complete block of houses, executed in a uniform style of architecture, consists of thirty-five houses along each street. On Eighth Avenue, two apartment houses close the end with entrances on the cross streets.
On Seventh Avenue, there are two groups of five story houses on cither side of the inner accessway. The houses on these two block fronts are narrower than those at the south side of 138th Street, averaging about seventeen feet in width, except for the end houses, Which, ore twenty feet wide.
Although the stoops arc adjacent to each other, serving the adjoining houses, one senses here that they arc distinct, as they run up straight from the street, separated by handrails. The basic street elevation consists of a flush masonry basement, whose entrance is under the front stoop of each house, and three stories of handsome buff colored brick, undefined by any horizontal string course. Instead, the uniformity of the brick work provides a uniform ground to set off decorative motifs. The window sizes vary, and there are several different window treatments.
The first story windows and the narrow ones at the second story have terra cotta splayed lintels with elongated keystones. The wider second story window has a cornice-like lintel above with a semi-circular panel above that. The two third story windows are narrow and have simple lintels with keystones.
The second story of the houses on either side of the handsome iron gateways display an interesting pseudo-Palladian window treatment in terra cotta. Here, a triply divided window is separated by handsome Ionic columns supporting, above its garlanded horizontal lintel, an arch-form above the columns. This arch has alternate voussoirs elongated with a blind tympanum with wreath design within. The triple square-headed windows on the floor above these complement the arched window, at the second story.
An element of movement is added to the row by projecting forward some of the facades of the houses, which are adjacent to each other. This difference in alignment also adds interest and apparent depth to the row. The doorway is slightly recessed and its round arched head has an elongated, console-like keystone the arch springs from Greek-fret motif impost blocks similar to those used for some of the third story windows.
Delicate wrought-iron balconies extend from the base of the full-length first story windows, and similar wrought-iron work is to be found at the top platforms of the stoops and used as handrails for the steps.
A delicate garland pattern is employed in the fascia of the cornice, signalizing the windows below it. A horizontal moulding at the base of the fascia displays a tiny, continuous swag motif. These decorative elements unify the individual, attached buildings as does the overhanging cornice surmounted by a handsome stone balustrade topping the whole.
Distinctive stone quoins delineate the corners of the houses whore breaks in the wall occur.
The diversity of window treatment and the decorative motifs of the cornice ere at-; an interesting variation against the over-all pattern of the windows and doors.
North Side of 139th Street
Finally, there are the houses designed by McKim, Mead and White, situated on the north side of West 139th Street. They represent basically the Italian Renaissance style, which this firm was among the first to absorb, modify, and then transform into that distinctive product of American architecture which we so readily associate with them.
Thirty-two houses, approximately nineteen feet wide, contrast wall with the other houses by their generally darker tone. They are built of handsome dark brown mottled brick. The over-all design of this exceptionally handsome row of houses reminds one of a Sixteenth Century Italian palace. The center house of the block, 233 West 139th Street, acts as a central feature of the raw. Its elegant first floor English Basement, entered at ground floor, is deeply rusticated and is similar to that of all the houses in this row, except that in place of the simple rectangular doorway of the other houses, there is an attractive arcade effect, seen through two rectangular openings on cither side of a round arched doorway. A deeply recessed porch lies behind this arcade, with the doorway set to one side. On Eighth Avenue there is an apartment house, and there are five row houses on Seventh Avenue. The ground floors of the buildings on the avenues have been extensively altered to serve as store fronts.
Most of the residences on the north side of 13 9th Street have a single platform step, with simple railings leading to the entrance doors.
The window arrangement of these houses is very unusual. The first story, in each case, is handsomely rusticated, with simple elongated keystones over each of the two windows and the door, which is set off unsymmetrically to one side. The rest of the facade is of brick, separated by a delicate string course at the third floor sill level. The second story displays two,, narrow side windows on either side of a largo central window, from which an iron railed balcony extends, supported by stone brackets . Above this central window is a medallion with a floral rosette. The medallion acts as a focal print for this window grouping and punctuates the row of houses at regular intervals. The medallion was widely used in Italian Renaissance architecture; an early example was to be found on Brunelleschi's Foundling Hospital, in Florence, 1445 A.D.). The upper portion ofvthe front elevation contains the third and fourth stories exhibiting an unusual wide-eyed appearance with the two windows at each floor set well apart.
The fourth story windows have simple lintels with keystones. The frames of the other windows above the basement are surmounted by small-scale, distinct cornices.
The four houses on either side of the gateways (Nos. 217, 219, 247 and 249 West 139th Street' vary the second story window treatment. Here a round-arched pediment is used, instead of the usual medallion, producing a handsome note of emphasis en these terminal houses. An attractive cornice with modillions crowns the row of houses and unifies the whole composition. The variation in window treatment lends interest and to some extent signalizes the individual units, while brick quoins on the end buildings emphasize the corners and the breaks in the main wall.
- From the 1967 NYCLPC Historic Distric Designation Report
Has your school seen Striving For Freedom? This interactive program about the abolition of slavery in New York State is suitable for 4th through 7th graders and is offered free of charge thanks to a grant from Con Edison.
Jay Heritage Center
210 Boston Post Road
Rye, NY 10580
(914) 698-9275
Email: jayheritagecenter@gmail.com
Follow and like us on:
Twitter @jayheritage
Facebook www.facebook.com/jayheritagecenter
Pinterest www.pinterest.com/jaycenter
Be the best you can be!
Embodying the vibrant QZ Man lifestyle, this dynamic look is designed to accentuate the masculine lines of your body.
For ease of movement, good fit and comfort select your T-shirt from a cornucopia of colour.
Be the best you can be!
Embodying the vibrant QZ Man lifestyle, this dynamic look is designed to accentuate the masculine lines of your body.
For ease of movement, good fit and comfort select your T-shirt from a cornucopia of colour.
Striving for clarity and perspicuousness in the final crack at a highly detailed HDR of Duffy square/Times Square, New York
Designer: Zhang Biwu (张碧梧)
Ca. 1951
Strive hard to produce with mutual help and mutual love
Huzhu hu ai nuli shengchan (互助互爱努力生产)
Call nr.: PC-1951-010 (Private collection)
More? See: chineseposters.net//themes/marriage-law
'Tis not too late to seek a newer world. Push off, and sitting well in order smite The sounding furrows; for ...my purpose holds To sail beyond the sunset, and the baths Of all the western stars, until I die. It may be that the gulfs will wash us down: It may be we shall touch the Happy Isles, And see the great Achilles, whom we knew. Though much is taken, much abides; and though We are not now that strength which in old days Moved earth and heaven; that which we are, we are; One equal temper of heroic hearts, Made weak by time and fate, but strong in will To strive, to seek, to find, and not to yield
King Model Houses
Renaissance Revival Row Houses (1891–93)
Architect: Bruce Price and Clarence S. Luce
211–13 W. 138th St.
Strivers Row
Harlem, New York
In 1890, builder and real estate developer David H. King Jr. (1849–1916) purchased land along 138th and 139th streets in Harlem on which he would construct his King Model Houses. King had recently constructed the pedestal of the Statue of Liberty and would soon build the Washington Memorial Arch in Washington Square Park. Describing his housing project for the middle class, King declared, “the homes of New Yorkers [should] be sunny, tasteful, convenient, and commodious even if their occupants are not millionaires.”
To vary the look of each block, King hired three different architectural firms to construct 146 row houses and three apartment buildings. Unusual for New York, King included service alleys behind the rows of houses as well as cross alleys to break the monotony of the house fronts.
The architects retained by King were prominent in their day. James Brown Lord (1858–1902), who designed the houses on the south side of 138th St., also designed the old Delmonico’s Restaurant (1891) at Beaver and Williams streets in the Financial District and the Appellate Court on Madison Square (1902). Bruce Price (1845–1903) and Clarence S. Luce (1852–1924) designed the houses on the north side of 138th St and the south side of 139th St. Price would later design the Chateau Frontenac Hotel (1893) in Quebec City. The most famous architect associated with the project was Stanford White (1853–1906), who designed the houses on the north side of 139th St. White designed the Villard Houses (1884) on Madison Ave., the Cable Building at Broadway and Houston St. (1892), and the Washington Memorial Arch (1895).
Construction commenced in 1891, and the houses were completed in time for the Depression of 1893. The unexpected economic downturn led to only nine houses being sold by 1895. The mortgagee, the Equitable Life Assurance Co., took over the properties, selling thirty-one additional houses by 1905. The unsold houses were rented out.
From the 1890s to the 1910s, white middle-class professional and business people occupied the King Model Houses. Typically, five to ten people lived in each house with one or two servants. Acknowledging the changing demographics of the neighborhood, Equitable sold its remaining properties to black middle- class buyers in 1919 and 1920.
In the 1920s, most houses were occupied by a single family. Some eventually took in lodgers to defray costs, especially in the 1930s. By the 1930s, the two blocks had been dubbed “Strivers’ Row”. Originally meant as a insult, the name was embraced by residents in recognition of the fact that those who lived here were striving to better themselves. Today, the houses on these blocks are among the most desirable in Harlem.
© Matthew X. Kiernan
NYBAI06-8082
Striver's Row, St. Nicholas Historic District, Harlem, Manhattan, New York City, New York, United States
The St. Nicholas Historic District, consisting of four rows of houses built by David H. King, Jr., appears much the same as it did when it was built, more than 70 years ago, in 1891. Both then and now, it has been a source of pride not only to its own residents, but to all the people living in its vicinity.
These houses are a fine example of Nineteenth Century urban design, influenced by English antecedents. The sense of forethought and consideration in land development seen here is much sought after today, and often today's results arc not as successful. A high degree of architectural continuity is maintained, while taking into consideration even such problems as house service.
This problem is successfully resolved by the use of a main cross alley extending through the block, from avenue to avenue, with two shorter transverse alleys between the streets.
The District, designed by three of the most prominent architectural firms of the day, was one of the most prestigious sections of Harlem and is still considered as such. The fact that these houses have been well maintained through the years is most unusual in New York City. Obviously its reputation as a fashionable area has contributed to the residents' desire to preserve their homes and to their tremendous sense or pride in them.
Harlem Background
In 1658 Peter Stuyvesant named this area we now know as Harlem, Nieuw Haarlem. Up to the middle of the Nineteenth Century this part of Manhattan remained very much the same as it had been in the Seventeenth Century. Farms, and some large estates, comprise most of the land holdings. Many of the most prominent colonial families: the Delanceys, Beekmans, Bleeckers, Rikers, Coldens and Hamiltons had estates in Harlem.
The St. Nicholas Historic District lies within the estate of Cadwallader D. Colden, an early Mayor of New York, whose grandfather was a colonial governor.
In Lloyd Morris' book "Incredible New York" there is an illustration of Commodore Vanderbilt racing horses on Harlem Lane (now Eighth Avenue) near 137th Street. The Harlem Lane of that day extended up to 168th Street. Morris also notes that when General Grant visited the City at the end of the Civil War, one of his first requests was to be taken out to Harlem Lane.
In 1831, the Harlem Railroad was chartered, and by 1837 it was extended to Harlem changing it from a rural to a suburban community—one of New York's first suburbs. By 1981, the elevated rapid transit lines extended up to 129th Street, and by 1884 to 145th Street. Thus, Harlem had become a vary desirable and fashionable neighborhood by the 'eighties'.
During the last quarter of the Nineteenth Century, with a rise of Harlem as a "convenient" residential suburb, there was great land speculation and a construction fever such as had rarely been seen in New York. It was in this climate of speculative activity that the D. H. King houses were built.
Early History
The property was purchased by D.H. King and in 1891 commissioned the architectural firms of Bruce Price, James Brown Lord, Clarence S. Luce and McKim, Mead & White to design four rows of houses. King was a member of the Knickerbocker Trust and was a well-known builder (Times Building, 1889; Madison Square Garden, 1890; Equitable Building, 1872; base of the Statue of Liberty, 1886).
A period of Victorian gentility had led to the creation of the houses which comprise the District. They represented what was possibly the apex of that disastrous spurt of over-investing which occurred at the end of the Nineteenth Century. It is reported that in a society whose working class families paid an average of $10-18 monthly for rent, rents for these dwellings started at just below $60 and ranged somewhere between $900 and $1700 a year.
King wished to erect high-quality housing for well-to-do buyers, who wished to make a sound, profitable investment. Almost prophetic of the principles of today's Landmarks Preservation Commission, he wanted to be able to assure a purchaser that no nuisances could spring up near these buildings and that one need have no fear of a stable, factory, tenement or over-shadowing hotel rising beside his home.
"The interests of each property owner are carefully protected by stipulations against the building of additions or altering any house...." (see agreement of December, 1890, Liber 463, par. 2338 in Hall of Records, between King and Board of Health).
Recent History
The building fever that had overtaken Harlem investors came to an abrupt end with the panic of 1904. A wave of selling followed, and owners sold buildings at losses ranging from one-third to two-thirds of their original cost. Many of these buildings had never been inhabited.
Negro realtors, such as Philip A. Payton and John M. Royall, persuaded many property owners to sell or rant their houses to Negroes who wished to move to Harlem. The northward movement of Negro families from the South and immigration from the West Indies were the catalysts which caused the move to uptown Manhattan.
The houses and apartments were by far the best available to Negro families at that time. It is stated in Gilbert Osofsky's "Harlem: The Making of a Ghetto" that Harlem's "name was a symbol of elegance and distinction.... its streets and avenues were broad, well-paved, clean and tree-lined.... its homes were spacious, with the best of modem facilities...."
Finally, by 1919; the D. H. King houses were made available to Negroes and were already being acquired by well established professionals, a few of whom are still living there today. Many of Harlem's most prominent doctors have lived there. L. T. Wright, Surgical Director of Harlem Hospital from 1938-52, lived at 218 West 139th Street.
He was an eminent brain surgeon, and was the only Negro member of the American College of Surgeons at one time. P. M. Hurray, of 200 West 138th Street, was the Dean and Professor of Surgery at Howard University (1917-1913) and was one of the first Negroes to be appointed to the staff of a private hospital.
Paul Collins, also of 200 West 138th Street, was a staff member in the Eye Clinic of Harlem Hospital.
In February, 1920, a front page article in the "New York Age" described the move to 260 West 139th Street of William Pickens, a former Dean and Vice-President of Morgan College, Baltimore, Maryland, and an Associate Field Secretary of the NAACP.
Several famous entertainers have also lived in the St. Nicholas Historic District. W. C. Handy, internationally known and considered the father of popular jazz, lived at 232 West 139th Street. Hubie Blake, the musician, lived at 236 West 13 8th Street. Floumay Miller, of 200 West 139th Street, and Noble Sissle, of 264 West 139th Street, were members of the "Shuffle Along Company", extremely successful, which played to a wide range of audiences.
In 1933, Abram Hill, one of the collaborators on the play, "Anna Lucasta", and a founder of the American Negro Theatre, wrote a play about the Historic District, called "On Striver's Row". Popular use of the name "Striver's Row" developed in the 1920's and 30's and indicated the great desirability of living in this two-block area.
Comments on the District
Montgomery Schuyler, in the "Architectural Record" of April-June 1899, praised the King project for "the employment of three architects of the first rank to compete with each other, net on paper, but in actual brick and mortar.... in the most extensive building operation that has been carried out on the West Side."
His only criticism was that "they have supplied but a small fraction of the demand that exists for such dwellings."
style, by respecting each others conventions, by keeping to a uniform cornice line, the architects achieved an unusual unity rarely seen in this City. For this reason the...rows which make up this Historic District arc probably the finest of their kind in any of the five boroughs."
And the Rev. John J. Hicks, pastor of St. Mark's Methodist Church and chairman of the West 139th Street Block Association, testified, "This area should be preserved in our City because it will aid us in keeping capable citizens and adequate indigenous leadership within the community. The present weakness in the inner city is that we have flights to the hinterlands that siphon off respectable and capable citizens and leave the community bereft of neighborhood leadership and respect."
ARCHITECTURE IMPORTANCE
The D. H. King Houses, though the rows vary in design and detail, were planned in order to create a unified, distinct "neighborhood within a neighborhood." The use of uniform block fronts of equal heights provides a strong cohesive element, while individuality of approach prevents the area from succumbing to monotony. The basic simplicity and elegance of the houses supports this dominating sense of quiet refinement.
The unobstructed view of the buildings of New York's City College, high on the heights overlooking St. Nicholas Park, contributes to a feeling of openness surrounding the St. Nicholas Historic District. Builder D. H. King wanted the residents of his houses to benefit from their location on land which was "high, healthful and accessible, swept by the westerly breezes from the Hudson."
The planning of ornamental, wrought-iron gateways for access is likened by Montgomery Schuyler to the cutting of the Gordian Knot of house service. The gateways (two per street, and one each at the avenue ends of the block) were at once decorative .and functional. Ostensibly designed to act as entrances to serve the houses at the rear, they also led to attractive hidden accessways for private use by the residents. Circular flower beds and fountains were planned for the intersections of these interior "cross-streets". Agreements were made between King .and the various buyers concerning the privileges of ownership and use of these "streets" at the rear.
The comprehensiveness of King's undertaking involved more than an interest in the sale-ability of his properties. The very scale of the project and the resources available to him, the financing and retaining the services of three well-known architectural firms permitted King to concern himself, to a great degree, with the everyday needs of residents within the area as a whole. The air of exclusiveness that resulted is still highly valued today.
Rows in the District South Side of 139th Street
The houses designed by Janes Brown Lord, on the south side of West 138th Street, are without pretension and are relatively modest in design and detail. They derive from the Georgian tradition and are constructed of red brick with brownstone trim, in exceedingly good taste.
This row is composed of twenty-five houses, and is broken into three major groups, separated by two handsome wrought-iron gateways. Being the shortest block-front of the four, it stops east of Eighth Avenue at 250 West 136th Street. Lord also designed, at the east end, the four adjoining row houses facing Seventh Avenue. Lord's three-story houses, with basement, are the widest houses in the Historic District. The entrances to adjoining houses are adjacent to each other. Of interest, is the use of a common stoop, serving both entrances, with beautiful wrought-iron railings The illusion of a single, wider more elegant house facade is thus created, in lieu of the compartmented effect of narrow houses side by side.
There is a restrained use of detail within the row. This raw house concept evinces an over-all concern with the unity of the facade, which is treated as a. single mass, and the uniformity of the detail serves to create a pleasing rhythm, carrying the eye along the street and maintaining visual interest. The Jajr.es Brown Lord row is reminiscent of the Eighteenth Century English development of the palace facade and in its comprehensiveness reminds us of John Weeds' work in the City of Bath, England.
North Side of 138th Street & South Side of 139th Street
The block located between West 138th Street and West 139th Street and Seventh and Eighth Avenues was the work of architects Bruce Price and Clarence S. Luce. This block was designed in the Georgian style of the Eclectic period. Here, there is a greater reliance on detail than in the Lord houses, and the profusion of decorative elements, and their numerous variations, are most attractive. The use of buff colored brick with Indiana limestone detail acts as a contrast both to the Lord houses to the south, and to the McKim, Mead and White houses to the north.
This complete block of houses, executed in a uniform style of architecture, consists of thirty-five houses along each street. On Eighth Avenue, two apartment houses close the end with entrances on the cross streets.
On Seventh Avenue, there are two groups of five story houses on cither side of the inner accessway. The houses on these two block fronts are narrower than those at the south side of 138th Street, averaging about seventeen feet in width, except for the end houses, Which, ore twenty feet wide.
Although the stoops arc adjacent to each other, serving the adjoining houses, one senses here that they arc distinct, as they run up straight from the street, separated by handrails. The basic street elevation consists of a flush masonry basement, whose entrance is under the front stoop of each house, and three stories of handsome buff colored brick, undefined by any horizontal string course. Instead, the uniformity of the brick work provides a uniform ground to set off decorative motifs. The window sizes vary, and there are several different window treatments.
The first story windows and the narrow ones at the second story have terra cotta splayed lintels with elongated keystones. The wider second story window has a cornice-like lintel above with a semi-circular panel above that. The two third story windows are narrow and have simple lintels with keystones.
The second story of the houses on either side of the handsome iron gateways display an interesting pseudo-Palladian window treatment in terra cotta. Here, a triply divided window is separated by handsome Ionic columns supporting, above its garlanded horizontal lintel, an arch-form above the columns. This arch has alternate voussoirs elongated with a blind tympanum with wreath design within. The triple square-headed windows on the floor above these complement the arched window, at the second story.
An element of movement is added to the row by projecting forward some of the facades of the houses, which are adjacent to each other. This difference in alignment also adds interest and apparent depth to the row. The doorway is slightly recessed and its round arched head has an elongated, console-like keystone the arch springs from Greek-fret motif impost blocks similar to those used for some of the third story windows.
Delicate wrought-iron balconies extend from the base of the full-length first story windows, and similar wrought-iron work is to be found at the top platforms of the stoops and used as handrails for the steps.
A delicate garland pattern is employed in the fascia of the cornice, signalizing the windows below it. A horizontal moulding at the base of the fascia displays a tiny, continuous swag motif. These decorative elements unify the individual, attached buildings as does the overhanging cornice surmounted by a handsome stone balustrade topping the whole.
Distinctive stone quoins delineate the corners of the houses whore breaks in the wall occur.
The diversity of window treatment and the decorative motifs of the cornice ere at-; an interesting variation against the over-all pattern of the windows and doors.
North Side of 139th Street
Finally, there are the houses designed by McKim, Mead and White, situated on the north side of West 139th Street. They represent basically the Italian Renaissance style, which this firm was among the first to absorb, modify, and then transform into that distinctive product of American architecture which we so readily associate with them.
Thirty-two houses, approximately nineteen feet wide, contrast wall with the other houses by their generally darker tone. They are built of handsome dark brown mottled brick. The over-all design of this exceptionally handsome row of houses reminds one of a Sixteenth Century Italian palace. The center house of the block, 233 West 139th Street, acts as a central feature of the raw. Its elegant first floor English Basement, entered at ground floor, is deeply rusticated and is similar to that of all the houses in this row, except that in place of the simple rectangular doorway of the other houses, there is an attractive arcade effect, seen through two rectangular openings on cither side of a round arched doorway. A deeply recessed porch lies behind this arcade, with the doorway set to one side. On Eighth Avenue there is an apartment house, and there are five row houses on Seventh Avenue. The ground floors of the buildings on the avenues have been extensively altered to serve as store fronts.
Most of the residences on the north side of 13 9th Street have a single platform step, with simple railings leading to the entrance doors.
The window arrangement of these houses is very unusual. The first story, in each case, is handsomely rusticated, with simple elongated keystones over each of the two windows and the door, which is set off unsymmetrically to one side. The rest of the facade is of brick, separated by a delicate string course at the third floor sill level. The second story displays two,, narrow side windows on either side of a largo central window, from which an iron railed balcony extends, supported by stone brackets (consoles). Above this central window is a medallion with a floral rosette. The medallion acts as a focal print for this window grouping and punctuates the row of houses at regular intervals. The medallion was widely used in Italian Renaissance architecture; an early example was to be found on Brunelleschi's Foundling Hospital, in Florence, 1445 A.D.). The upper portion ofvthe front elevation contains the third and fourth stories exhibiting an unusual wide-eyed appearance with the two windows at each floor set well apart.
The fourth story windows have simple lintels with keystones. The frames of the other windows above the basement are surmounted by small-scale, distinct cornices.
The four houses on either side of the gateways (Nos. 217, 219, 247 and 249 West 139th Street' vary the second story window treatment. Here a round-arched pediment is used, instead of the usual medallion, producing a handsome note of emphasis en these terminal houses. An attractive cornice with modillions crowns the row of houses and unifies the whole composition. The variation in window treatment lends interest and to some extent signalizes the individual units, while brick quoins on the end buildings emphasize the corners and the breaks in the main wall.
- From the 1967 NYCLPC Historic Distric Designation Report
The 2017 Weekend at the Asylum which is likely the largest and longest running Steampunk Festival in the World. It is held in the historic uphill district of Lincoln, Lincolnshire.
Since 2009, the festival (or convivial in Steampunk parlance) has been held each year in Lincoln and currently stretches over multiple venues in the historic cathedral quarter of Lincoln town, Lincoln Castle and Bishop Grosseteste University. It is run as a not-for-profit event organised by the Victorian Steampunk Society.
For four glorious days the historic streets of Lincoln are thronged with thousands of splendidly dressed steampunks enjoying a festival which strives to combine art, literature, music, fashion, comedy and simple good fun.
The event contains programmes of features and entertainment, such as the Empire Ball, Majors Review (The Major's Soiree) and the National Tea Duelling final, along with lots of live music and comedy and the largest steampunk market in the World, the Bazaar Eclectica.
Information Source:
for a living.
A boatman exhausted from trying to get the boat into the water from the shore.
Taken at Sirajganj on a visit to my site where i have to design a museum! A few more visits to this place and i think I'll have thoughts of settling down over there. The people are that nice and the surrounding the river front that beautiful. =]
Strivers' Row was a speculative townhouse development in Harlem that later became home to several influential African Americans. This block was designed by Stanford White of McKim, Mead and White, and famous residents included musicians Fletcher Henderson and W. C. Handy. Where Handy first heard the blues: www.flickr.com/photos/josepha/5424914959/.
With each and every post, we strive here at Creative Tempest to bring you only the best artists from around the world. This post comes to you all the way from Los Angeles, CA, with our artist being none other than Tomasz Opasinski. Born in Poland, in 1975, Tomasz has his bachelor’s degree in computer graphics in print and advertising, certified as an Adobe expert, and is currently working as a digital artist and creative consultant for various prestigious advertising agencies in LA. Tomasz has an incredibly impressive work resume that includes work in literally hundreds of movies, video games, TV shows, and television networks. What we love about the work of Tomasz Opasinski is how original and unique all his designs are. Looking at his work makes us ponder the depth and complexity of his mind, clearly there must be countless algorithms and innumerable image configurations taking place that all sum up to one thing: design genius! This is why his work is put on display for the entire world to see. And for this we’re happy to post such creative talent and vision here on Creative Tempest and hope you will share the same appreciation for great artwork that we do. Find out more at www.creativetempest.com
A new $250,000, 18-month pilot program is being launched by the Ministry of Children and Family Development and the YWCA Metro Vancouver to help youth who are transitioning out of government care to gain the life and work skills they need to become independent.
Learn more: www.newsroom.gov.bc.ca/2014/02/strive-will-help-former-an...
You don't have to win, but you do have to try.
— Brett Jordan
5200 x 5200 pixel image designed to work as wallpaper on most iOS devices.
Typefaces: Bon Bon, Columbia Titling
Merchandise available: www.redbubble.com/shop/ap/35628324
With each and every post, we strive here at Creative Tempest to bring you only the best artists from around the world. This post comes to you all the way from Los Angeles, CA, with our artist being none other than Tomasz Opasinski. Born in Poland, in 1975, Tomasz has his bachelor’s degree in computer graphics in print and advertising, certified as an Adobe expert, and is currently working as a digital artist and creative consultant for various prestigious advertising agencies in LA. Tomasz has an incredibly impressive work resume that includes work in literally hundreds of movies, video games, TV shows, and television networks. What we love about the work of Tomasz Opasinski is how original and unique all his designs are. Looking at his work makes us ponder the depth and complexity of his mind, clearly there must be countless algorithms and innumerable image configurations taking place that all sum up to one thing: design genius! This is why his work is put on display for the entire world to see. And for this we’re happy to post such creative talent and vision here on Creative Tempest and hope you will share the same appreciation for great artwork that we do. Find out more at www.creativetempest.com
(Staff Photos by Rob Mattson/Amherst College, Office of Communications) Amherst Men's Lacrosse players make their way along the 16-mile trail run that will take them from the "Notch" Visitor's Center to over 1,000 feet in elevation atop Bare Mountain, traversing the Holyoke Range on the Metacomet-Monadnock Trail, about 30 minutes past the summit house visitor center, and all the way back down, in Amherst, Mass., Friday afternoon, October 24, 2014. The men's lacrosse team is not running for fun. Instead, they are running for a worthwhile cause, Students Bridging the Information Gap (SBIG), an organization that builds libraries and provides technological resources for underprivileged orphanages in Ghana. Of the 50 scholar athletes participating in the event, more than 20 LAX players will negotiate the entire 16 mile course (the others are presently in class, and will join in the run at various markers along the way).
To view a copy of the Men's Lacrosse, visit www.amherst.edu/system/files/media/SBIG%2520Final%2520201..., or continue reading...
According to the Men's Lacrosse press release:
"This fall, the 50 members of the Amherst Men’s lacrosse team will run up and down the “Seven Sisters,” a mountain range
spanning more than 15 miles, consisting of 14 peaks and more than 4000 ft of vertical climb of rocky terrain, along the Holyoke
Range in western Massachusetts to help raise money and awareness for Students Bridging The Information Gap (SBIG), a
nonprofit organization providing technological and infrastructure resources for students in Ghana. Specifically, our “Sprint for
SBIG” will help SBIG inspire the humanitarian efforts of our extended family and friends network, for students in Africa, helping
to fund learning labs, libraries and educational opportunities for schools and orphanages.
Students Bridging the Information Gap, is a Summit, NJ based 501-(c)(3) charity founded by Matthew Killian ’17, a member of
the Amherst Lacrosse team, along with his family and friends. SBIG’s primary focus is providing computer labs and libraries
along with age-appropriate reading material to less fortunate students and orphans in Africa. Specifically, SBIG utilizes a
detailed Needs Assessment to evaluate the physical plant/infrastructure, access to water and electricity, characteristics of the
students and staff, and reputation of the organization. SBIG’s mission of bringing learning focused aid to the less fortunate in
Africa has inspired the members of the Amherst Lacrosse program to strive to help better the world. We are grateful for our own
education, and hope our efforts pay off. SBIG’s goals are worth passionately pursuing. Education; after all, is forever.
Since its formation in 2008, SBIG and their local team of professionals and volunteers in Ghana have completed four computer
labs and libraries serving over 2,100 children at the Baptist School Complex and Orphanage (2008), Good Shepherd Orphanage
(2009), New Life International Children’s Home (2010), and In My Father’s House (2011). SBIG’s process of global community
engagement is cost-effective and community oriented. With limited overhead (utilizing all volunteer staffing in the U.S), SBIG is
able to efficiently deliver learning-focused aid directly to benefit students. Additionally, SBIG has formed meaningful
relationships with a team of local professionals and volunteers and now has a strong local African presence to help implement
their initiatives.
With a local focus, a community investment, and a global vision, SBIG has inspired a very personal commitment within the
Amherst Lacrosse family. Starting in 2008, the Killian family and other volunteers have traveled to Ghana to help oversee the
building of computer labs and libraries and to deliver donated books. To see just how influential SBIG and their service trips are,
you can copy and paste the following link into your internet browser: www.youtube.com/watch?v=afa1qZNODhU
Amherst lacrosse has shown a commitment to helping create a better local and global community. We passionately pursue the
process of becoming great men, and with that commitment we turn our attention toward transcendent causes. In addition to
ongoing local community engagement projects, our “Climb for Cole” in 2011 helped raise almost $15,000 in support of United
Cerebral Palsy. In 2012 we “Hiked for Helen” raising more than $25,000 for research towards a rare form of pediatric cancer, and
in 2013 we challenged ourselves with our “Student Sponsor Summit” raising more than $40,000 for the educational benefit of atrisk
children in NYC. As a team we are excited to undertake the “Sprint for SBIG” and reach outside our immediate surroundings
to help those who are less fortunate pursue a better life by helping to provide critical educational resources.
One hundred percent of each donation we collect will go directly to Student’s Bridging the Information Gap. As a 501 (c)(3)
organization, all donations to SBIG will be tax-deductable.
To donate online, please visit: www.sbigonline.org and click donate.
To mail a check, please make it out to “Students Bridging The Information Gap.” Checks can be sent directly to:
Jon Thompson
Head Men’s Lacrosse Coach
P.O Box 5000
Amherst, MA 01002"
A new $250,000, 18-month pilot program is being launched by the Ministry of Children and Family Development and the YWCA Metro Vancouver to help youth who are transitioning out of government care to gain the life and work skills they need to become independent.
Learn more: www.newsroom.gov.bc.ca/2014/02/strive-will-help-former-an...