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Veszprém is a town that loves music. What is important to us is not only the professionals, the big names and the mass events, but we also strive to make music an everyday part of our life. We motivate amateurs and hobby musicians, because music builds communities and gives our inhabitants experiences to remember. We are happy to think about the bands that have grown up here, the Street Music Festival, VeszprémFest, and the Auer Violin Festival. We are proud to say that all stars who have once performed here like to return to us thanks to the open and music-loving audience.
Due to this openness we have a school in Veszprém where 400 children are learning folk dance. There are three parallel classical music concert series to a full house, and every weekend we provide concerts and electronic music events to 100-1200 young people. Another result is that, relative to its size, Veszprém is a leading city in organising live music events.
We do not emphasize one single style or event but would like to focus on music itself as a tool of communication among people and communities. Participation is what actually counts, because we believe that music can make life better at individual and collective levels.
This is why we would like to create social areas for playing music, motivate learning to perform music, and bring inspiring events to the town. All in all we would like to simultaneously strengthen and widen basis (and also, if a pyramid has a wider base, its top can reach higher). At the same time, music and culture are both highly beneficial to the financial state of the town and tourism, and this fits the aims of ECoC 2023 Veszprém perfectly.
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.
Zimbabwean businessman Strive Masiyiwa delivers remarks alongside Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken and Assistant Secretary for African Affairs Molly Phee at the U.S.-Africa Leaders Summit Foreign Ministers Dinner at the Department of State on December 14, 2022. [State Department photo by Freddie Everett/ Public Domain]
Crossing the Ohio River from North Wheeling to just above Martins Ferry, Ohio.
The terminal railroad bridge was started in 1889. In August, 1891, the first "Wheeling and Lake Erie" train crossed the bridge and entered the city.
The Wheeling Bridge & Terminal Company was organized in 1882 as the Wheeling and Harrisburg Railway Company. In 1888 it received a subsidy of $ 300,000 and began construction.
In September 1890 the terminal bridge which crossed the Ohio River from north Wheeling, W.Va. to above Martins Ferry, OH was completed and opened.
This was an important achievement which marked the end of forty years of striving, giving Wheeling a direct outlet to the west without depending on the Bellaire bridge or the Steubenville bridge.
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.
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
HISTORIC AVATAR DECLARATION DAY - 20th October, 1940
The year 1940 was very significant. Satyanarayana Raju - Sathyam, Raju, Sathya, as he was affectionately called by his play mates, classmates, villagers, members of his family and even his teachers revealed his identity, his reality in three phases The first one was in 8th March 1940; the second one on May 23rd and the final Declaration on 20th October, the same year, which brought a total change in the entire town of Uravakonda. Sathya from that day onwards gave up his studies – declared that he was Sai Baba and that his devotees are calling him and that he would carry on his task and left the house and family.
On the twentieth day of October, 1940, Sathya started for school as usual at Uravakonda. The Excise Inspector of the place, Sri Anjaneyulu, who was very much attached to the young Baba, accompanied Him as far as the school gate and reluctantly went home. He seemed to see a superb halo around the face of Baba that day, and he could not take his eyes away from that enchantment. Within a few minutes Baba also turned back to the house. Standing on the outer doorstep, He cast aside the books He was carrying and called out, "I am no longer your Sathya. I am Sai." The sister-in-law came from the kitchen and peeped out; she was almost blinded by the splendour of the halo which she saw around Sai Baba's Head! She closed her eyes and shrieked. Baba addressed her, "I am going. I don't belong to you; Maya (illusion) has gone; My devotees are calling Me; I have My Work. I cannot stay any longer." So saying, He turned and left in spite of her pleadings. The brother hurried home on hearing of this, but Sai Baba only told him, "Give up all your efforts to 'cure' Me. I am Sai. I do not consider Myself related to you." Neighbour Sri Narayana Sastri heard the noise; he listened and realized that it was something serious. He ran in. Seeing the splendour of the halo, he fell at Sai Baba's Feet. He too heard the historic declaration: "Maya has left; I am going; My Work is waiting."
Seshama Raju was non-plussed. He could hardly collect his wits to meet the new situation. A boy, just fourteen, talking of devotees, work, illusion, and the philosophy of "belonging"! He could think of only one plan. Sathya was entrusted to him by his parents, and it was therefore his task to inform them and keep Sathya in the house until they came to Uravakonda for Him.
But Sathya would not step into the house again. He moved out into the garden of Sri Anjaneyulu's bungalow and sat on a rock in the midst of the trees. People came into the garden from all directions bringing flowers and fruits. The very first song which He taught the astonished mass of humanity was an invitation to surrender to the Feet of the Guru who had so mercifully appeared. It also contained a lesson that Baba has always emphasized since then that Bhajan or reverential adoration must be a mental upsurge, not an oral exercise. It ran thus:
Manasa Bhajare Guru Charanam,
Dustara Bhava Sagara Taranam
Guru Maharaj Guru Jai Jai
Sai Natha Sad Guru Jai Jai
"Meditate in thy mind on the Feet of the Guru.
This can take you across the difficult sea of existence in birth after birth." (Sathyam Sivam Sundaram Part I)
I held the hand of Narayana Raju, the then Municipal Commissioner of Bellary and asked, “What is this?” He said, “It is my hand.” I took out the pen from his pocket and asked, “What is this?” “It is my pen”, he said. “You say, it is my hand, my pen, my body, my mind, my senses, etc. The word ‘my’ indicates that you are different from all this. Then who are you? I asked him. Then everyone started thinking, “Yes, what Raju says is correct. We say, this mine and that is mine, but we do not know who we are.” Everybody was silent. They accepted that they did not know their true identity. I told them that I had come down in human form only to make people realise their true identity.
It is the eye that sees and the mind that thinks. (Showing the ring and handkerchief. On what basis can you say that it is a handkerchief? You say, my mind is the basis for all this. What is mind? Whom does it belong to? You do not know. What you think you know, in reality, you do not know, that is your true Self. Make efforts to realise it.
From that day (20th October 1940) onwards, many seekers of Truth started visiting Me. They used to say,”Raju, What You are saying is correct. But how are we to realise our true identity?” People quote from scriptures and talk high philosophy but do not know their real meaning. “You say, this is my ring, my body, my handkerchief, so on and so forth. Then who are you?” I questioned them. They had no answer. Then I started explaining thus: “There are two important aspects that you have to consider, one is Drishyam (seen) and the other is Drastha (seer). Yad Drishyam Thannasyam (all that is seen is bound to perish). So, whatever you is only an illusion. You are Drashta that is your true identity.”
The English lecturer, H.S. Ramana was a noble person. His house was on the way to My school. He used to sit in the front verandah of his house. As soon as he saw Me, he used to call 'Raju!’, take Me into his house and offer Me coffee and snacks. But, I was not interested in these worldly things. Earlier I used to address him as 'Sir’. But, from that day onwards, the worldly relationship of teacher-student had ceased between us. I used to tell him that all that was seen by the eye is merely Drishyam, which was perishable and that one day one had to go beyond and search for the Drastha. From that day onwards wherever I went and whomever I met, I used to teach these higher principles.
The, one day Ramana called Seshama Raju and told him. ”Seshama Raju! Do not trouble yourself much in trying to understand the behaviour of Sathyam. This boy is delving deeper and deeper into the mysteries of life. It is not possible for anybody to fathom His true nature. Let us wait for some time and see”, saying thus, he took Me into his house and offered snacks, coffee, meals, etc., with great love. Poor man! He did not realise that I was never interested in those worldly maters. I did not touch any of those food stuffs. In My view, they were all worldly things which underwent constant change. They were never permanent. I explained to him, “you brought this Upma for Me. How real is this stuff? Only till one consumes it. What happens o it after eating? Nobody can see its shape thereafter. It just disappears. You are all considering these unreal worldly things as real.” Thus, I started teaching them higher Vedantic concepts. H.S.Ramana was astonished at MY knowledge of these higher principles. Till then, he was addressing Me as Raju! Raju!” But, from then on he started addressing Me as ‘Guruji’! Holding My feet, he pleaded with Me “Guruji! Please come to my house.” Those who were witnessing the scene were amazed that this elderly gentleman was holding the feet of this young boy, his student. Then Ramana declared in front of all those people, “Not only me; a day will come when the entire world will fall at His Feet.” The people gathered there on that occasion were all powerful, holding high positions in society. There was a neighbour by name Ramnarayana Sastri, who was an astrologer. He was called in and appraised of all those higher truths of life which I was explaining to them. Sri Sastri was amazed at My knowledge of Vedantic concepts at such a young age and shed tears of joy. One or two drops of tears fell at MY feet. From then onwards, everybody in Uravakonda started addressing Me as Sathya Sai Baba. I told them that I had come only for the purpose of revealing this truth. Unable to comprehend the full truth about My revelations, some of them questioned Me, “How can You declare Yourself to be Sai Baba?’ I just took some flowers in My hand and threw them on the floor. Lo and behold! The flowers arranged themselves as Sathya Sai Baba in Telugu letters. On witnessing this miracle, they were wonderstruck and dumbfounded! Then, everybody started chanting in chorus “Sathya Sai Baba Ki Jai”, “Sathya Sai Baba Ki jai”!
I emphatically told them that this was a name which they themselves had ascribed to Me and, in fact, I had no name at all! I declared thus on the occasion thus:
Know that I am Sai in reality,
Cast off your worldly relationships.
Give up your efforts to restrain Me,
The worldly attachments can no longer bind me,
None, however great he may be, can hold Me. (Telugu Poem)
I got up and started walking away. In the meanwhile, all those assembled there including Ramana and Sastri tried to follow Mw, but to strive for self- introspection and mental transformation. Since I am not the body, none can hold Me. Therefore, I advised them to follow My ideals. Only then can they realise My true nature.
In this vast expanse of the universe, right from the minutest atom to the mightiest, everything is permeated by the Atmic reality. It appears as minutest of the minute and mightiest of the mighty. In fact, the principles of microcosm and macrocosm is the fundamental reality which You have to enquire into. That is why Ramana Maharshi used to say, “Enquire, who you really are?’
You are not a single entity.
You are. In fact, three in one,
The one you think you are, (body)
The one others think you are (mind) and
The one you really are (Atma).
The Atma is known as conscience and the body which consists of the senses is called conscious. The Chaitanya (consciousness) which is present in all, transcends the senses. There is yet another principle that is beyond consciousness. It is called Super consciousness.
In the earlier days, not many people knew who Sai Baba was. He was considered a Muslim saint. When I first returned to Puttaparthi declaring Myself as Sai Baba, people thought that I had taken a Muslim name. But, no one can bind Me to a particular religion like Hinduism or Islam.
The Vaishnavites say that the Lord Vishnu is the greatest
While the Saivaites declare that Lord Siva is the greatest of all. Ganapatyas (the worshippers of Ganapati) declare that Ganapati is the greatest.
The educated say Goddess Sarada is the greatest.
Shaaktas (worshippers of Shakti) proclaim that Goddess Shakthi is the greatest.
My devotees say I am the greatest. Some others say all are one.
People may speak on the basis of their feelings but in truth,
There is only one GOD and that the rest are names. (Telugu Poem)
Different people may ascribe different names to the Atmic Reality and try to define it in different ways. But The underlying Atma Tattwa is one and the same. This truth has to be explained to the people in an understandable language. You can see that thee some houses beyond. In the front portion of the house, you will find a verandah; then a living room and then kitchen. Thereafter, you will find a bathroom and a toilet. Thus, there are different names for different utilities. How did they acquire these names? It is only because they are so divided by walls, for different purposes. But, the truth is they are all parts of the same house. Similarly, different people have different relationships with people like mother, brother, etc. From where did you acquire these relationships? Everything is your making. Remove these barriers. What remains is a vast expanse of oneness. One person refers to Divinity as Atma, another refers it as Brahman and the third one calls it as Vishnu. These are only names ascribed by human beings in the nameless, formless, attributeless Divinty. The Brahma Tattwa is one that has no names ascribed to it.
Where did this Brahma come from? The Atmic consciousness that permeates every living being is referred as Brahman. When it is individualised, it is called conscience. It is also referred to as Jiva. When the Atma Tattwa is encased in a body, it becomes an individual. The individual, the Atma and consciousness – ALL THE THREE ARE ONE AND THE SAME. People think they are different because they are given different names. Remove the names. There is only one Atma Tattwa in every individual. It has no form. It assumes different forms by joining different individuals. Supposing you name this object (showing handkerchief) as Atma. It is a handkerchief in common parlance. But, when you look at it from a spiritual angle, it is an object. I call it a thread. Again, after some time I refer to it as cotton; whether we call it as hand kerchief or thread or cotton, it refers to only one object. Only different names are given to the object. Take for instance the names of Rama and Krishna. Rama was not born with particular name. He was christened Rama only after His birth. Similarly, the name of Krishna. Since He was an embodiment of bliss, He was referred to as Krishna. Akarshana sakkti Iti Krishna( because He attracts, He is Krishna). But, His real nature is Ananda. He is Ananda Swarupa (embodiment of bliss) The same principle has taken different names. This one single principle Ananda is:
Brahmanandam, Parama Sukhadam, Kevalam Jnanamurtim,
Dwandwateetam, Gagana Sadrisham, Tattwamasyadi Lakshyam,
Ekam, Nityam, Vimalam, Achalam, Sarvadhee Sakshibhutam,
Bhavateetam Trigunarahitim
(God is the embodiment of Supreme bliss, He is wisdom absolute, the One without a second, beyond the pair of opposites, expansive and pervasive like the sky, the goal indicated by the Mahavakya Tattwamasi, the eternal, pure, unchanging, the witness of all functions of the intellect, beyond al mental conditions and the three Gunas of Sathwa, Rajas, and Thamas).
Divinity has no attributes. How can one give a name to it? Since it is not possible to assign any particular name to this principle, they named it as Atma. This Atma Tattwa is permeating every individual. It has no specific form. Explaining thus, I told those people that it is only for making them realise this principle that I have come. Then, Seshama Raju put a big question. He was a Telugu Pandit. Whatever question he put, had a certain value. He questioned, “Who are You?’ I answered. “Since you are calling Me as Sathya, I am Sathya. Since you are referring to Me as your brother, I am your brother, Since you call Me as a student, I am a student. By whatever name and form you refer to Me, I assume that name and form. In fact, no one is able to realise the truth, No one has any relationship whatsoever with Me. Call Me by any name, I will answer. If you call Me “Sai”, I will answer. If you call Me, “Baba”, I will respond. By whatever name you call Me, it is the same for Me. All these names are only names ascribed to Me. I have, in fact, come to make you realise thus truth” (DD 20th & 21st October 2003 p 7/12)
Bhagawan Baba Assures us: "Call Me whenever you need Me; I shall be with you". All belong to Me and I belong to all. My only wealth is love. Do not entertain any doubt or weakness. I am ready to give whatever you require. Be courageous. Why fear when I am here? "
With spring arriving, it would be rude not to take advantage and grab a few shots from the garden.
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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?"
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
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
Harry Wills House
King Model Houses
Renaissance Revival Row House (1891–93)
Architect: Stanford White for McKim, Mead & White
245 W. 139th St.
Strivers Row
Harlem, New York
Prizefighter Harry Wills (1889–1958), known as “The Black Panther,” lived here from 1922 to 1930. Jack Johnson's reign as the first black world heavyweight champion from 1908 until 1915 was marred by race riots, racism and the search for the "Great White Hope" to defeat him. Subsequently, fight promoters were loath to allow another African-American to contend for the championship. In the 1920s, promoters refused to sanction a fight between Wills and reigning champion Jack Dempsey. Wills fought from 1911 until 1932 and three times won the World Colored Heavyweight Championship (1914, 1916, 1918).
Though Wills moved from Strivers Row at the beginning of the 1930s, he remained in Harlem and became a successful real estate developer.
© Matthew X. Kiernan
NYBAI13-5154
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
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!
Digital Room Studios mission statement:
We bring imagination to life.
Through creative lighting and editing, Digital Room Studios strives to create the most fun and imaginative images. We go above and beyond to provide our clients with spectacular images. We collaborate with our clients to provide a product that will melt their faces with awesomeness.
two packs, one 1200w/s speedo pack inside and one 400 w/s pack outside. One gridded light on the chair and one reflected away at the back wall to provide a low illumination for the room. One light with wide reflector outside for a backlight.
Shot is a small composite. One photo of the lights and a second of Zombieland on the TV
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.
This is the Mystery Maze, where you wander through a maze striving to get to the three towers and the secret hidden magic sword in the stone. At each of these destinations you can make a bit of a racket by banging a gong or ringing a bell or whatever, and you also get to stamp your hand with one of the letters of the word “MAZE”.
Well, it looked more mysterious at night....
We did a bunch of other stuff here at Clifton Hill: We rode on five different virtual reality rides (i.e., movie theaters with moving seats that also spray you with water and/or snow).
Two of them, “Dino Island 2: Escape from Dino Island” and “Stan Lee's 7th Portal 3D Simulation Experience”, were in 4D; i.e., you wore 3D glasses while being shaken around and sprayed with water. There was another one where you got into a little ersatz amphibious vehicle, which simulated taking you over Niagara Falls, getting accidentally lost in the rapids, sucked into the Whirlpool, and then being rescued by the Maid of the Mist (the sacrificial Indian virgin, not the boat filled with bright blue tourists). The other two VR rides we did were at Ripley's Moving Theater. One of them was some crazy simulated fun-house ride, only where it runs amok and ends up being sort of a crazy roller coaster. The other Ripley ride was reality-based, as opposed to all the others, which were all computer animated. On this one, you rode a roller coaster, dune buggies, and snowmobiles. I have to say that these moving seats do an excellent job of recreating the feel of a real roller coaster. The only part that isn't completely convincing is the large free-fall drops. I was very disappointed by the quality of the film at Ripley's, however. They claimed that it was 70mm, but it was rather fuzzy and the film looked as if it had been in continuous use since 1953.
We did a few other things while here in Clifton Hill. I bought a ticket for the WWF Piledriver, which is a twenty story tall tower on top of the WWF store. There is a ring of seats on a moving disk that encircles the tower. You sit in one of the seats with your feet dangling over the edge, and when the operator says “See you later!” the disk, with you on it, shoots up at a phenomenal clip, and then drops back down in nearly free-fall, and then shoots back up again. It then takes you to the very top of the tower and lets you sit there for a fairly long while, looking down at the pedestrians and giving you a great view of the falls, and then eventually, it drops you back down to the bottom again. The first time I rode it, I was sure I was going to die, but, as it turned out, one ticket let you ride it as many times as you wanted, so I rode it four times.
We also went to the Hershey's store, where I bought a Hershey's Kiss-shaped chocolate fondue pot, a Hershey coffee mug, a ridiculously huge chocolate cookie that took me three days to eat, and a chocolate shake, which was really no different than the kind you'd get at Wendy's, only it cost $5.
Alexander also was not sated by his four rides the previous night on the Spiderman ride, so he and Laurie did it again today. Alas, the day passes from yesterday were no longer good, so we had to pay again.
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
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The Korean Cultural Centre (UK) Exhibition for June 2011: Baeja, the Beauty of Korea, organised by Arumjigi Culture Keepers Foundation (hereafter, ‘Arumjigi’).
Arumjigi is a non-profit organization located in Seoul, Korea. It strives to preserve and present the delights of Korea’s Cultural Heritage.
Baeja, the Beauty of Korea is its first overseas exhibition. The exhibition reveals the beauty of Korea’s traditional clothing, reviving them with a modern twist. Baeja refers to the sleeveless vest of simple design from the hanbok, each exquisitely made in various colours and materials. It has long showed the elegance of Korea clothing expressed with unstrained individuality.
The exhibition presents three forms of beaja: traditional baeja by master artisans, Ms. JIN Tae Ok’s modernized works based on tradition and the modern baeja by young designers who have reinterpreted this tradition.
Participating Artists
Traditional baeja : KU Nam Ok, YOO Sun Hee, LEE Hong Soon, JANG Jung Youn, JUNG Mal Sook
Modern baeja : JIN Tae Ok, KO Kate Yunju, KIM Jae Hwan, PARK Hwan Sung, LEE Chung Chung, Sean LEE, CHOI JI Hyung, CHOI Jin Woo, HEO Hwan
Shoes : SUH Kyung Hee
Displayed by SUE Young Hee
Hosted by Arumjigi Culture Keepers Foundation
Supported by Kumho Asiana, Korean Cultural Centre UK, Korea Craft & Design Foundation, Arts Council Korea
Impressions from the 2015 OutDoor Fair in Friedrichshafen, Germany. Read my Day by Day account of the event at hikinginfinland.com
Passion, Authenticity, Innovation, Growth and Excellence. We strive to "Do It Better". Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate Gary Greene. A full service real estate company serving the Greater Houston Texas communities including Galveston. We can move you FROM anywhere TO anywhere!
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.
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 NYC, New York, with our artist being none other than Joe Jusko. What makes this artist so special is that it’s a safe assumption to say that the majority of people alive today have seen his artwork! His work includes paintings and illustrations for characters such as Hawk Man, The Green Lantern, Conan the Barbarian, The Punisher, Lara Croft, and Captain America just to name a few. Producing his first cover at the age of 17 for Heavy Metal Magazine in 1977, Joe Jusko is a comic book artist who has worked for all the major comic book companies including Marvel, DC, Crusade, Innovation, Harris, Wildstorm, Top Cow, and Byron Preiss. Graduating that year as well from the New York High School of Art & Design (the only high school in the country that offers a curriculum geared towards commercial art) he received the DC Comics Award of Excellence in Cartooning. In 2007 Joe Jusko was inducted into the prestigious Society of Illustrators and received the Certificate of Merit from them for his more recent work in ‘Tomb Raider’ (based off the popular PlayStation videogame). We’re happy to post such 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
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
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...
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...
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/.
You don't have to win, but you do have to try.
— Brett Jordan
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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
Have you ever experienced the feeling of fulfilling a dream, which you have been pursuing for a long time? I am talking about striving for a dream.
It’s about believing in yourself regardless of what people may say.
It’s about being aware of your own limits and pushing them to the maximum.
It’s about courage and faith, as there is no guarantee at the outset that you will eventually get what you will fight for.
It’s about taking risks without being risky.
It’s about proactivity and discipline.
It is the most powerful feeling that has ever run through my body.
I can proudly say that I am among very very few students from two different Spanish universities that have been selected to do an internship in Jakarta starting Wednesday next week. A Spanish bank called Bankinter and its people will be supporting me during my stint in Jakarta as they have been doing so far in a 4-months-long course on innovation and leadership that I recently took. Thanks to my hard work in it and the unconditional support from my family, friends and Bankinter, I got what I strove for.
A few weeks ago I received a phone call from Bankinter:
“Would you work in Jakarta?”.
“Yes” I said. “Of course”.
Once I hung the phone I couldn’t help but crying like a baby. Suddenly my dream was no longer a dream.
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Springfield College was founded in 1885 and strives to educate each student in spirit, mind and body. The Springfield College is considered to be the birthplace of basketball, which was invented on campus in 1891.
Strive for excellence, not perfection.
— H. Jackson Brown Jr.
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