Annual Meeting and Awards Ceremony

FALL 2018

WWW.VICSOCNY.ORG the new york metropolitan chapter of the victorian society in america

Dazzling and varied stained-glass windows at the general public (speaker, venue, and catering costs total Church of the Incarnation, on lower Madison Avenue, $650 per lecture); walking tours; bus tours to Newark, provided the backdrop for the 51st Annual Business Trenton, Bethlehem, and Oyster Bay; brunch at the Meeting and Awards Ceremony of the Victorian Soci- Oscar Wilde Bar; a lecture at the landmark Estonia ety New York on May 30, 2018. The church’s windows House (1899, Thomas A. Gray) on terra cotta by Susan were designed by luminary artists including John La Tunick, in support of the Margot Gayle Fund; and Farge, Henry Holiday, Tiffany Studios, William Morris a tour of a private Aesthetic Movement collection & Company, Clayton & Bell, Guthrie & Davis, Cottin & graciously hosted by Eric Holzenberg and Henry Raine Company, and Heaton, Butler & Bayne. Rev. J. Douglas at their Bronx home. Ousley, the rector, welcomed the annual meeting’s The president praised the Chapter’s energetic return to his church after over a decade. VSNY’s presi- preservation efforts led by Preservation Committee dent and treasurer gave reports and the organization co-chairs George Calderaro and Russell Needham. The elected directors, handed out awards and grants, and VSNY collaborated with other preservation groups At VSNY’s annual meeting, hosted a lively reception. to achieve an individual landmark designation for board leaders, members, Outgoing Chapter President Hilda Regier recounted 827-831 Broadway, twin Civil War-era “marble honorees, and guests enjoyed the history of the Society and the Chapter since incor- palaces” designed by Griffith Thomas and built in spring light through stained- poration in 1966 and 1970, respectively, as well as the 1866-1867 for tobacco heir Pierre Lorillard III. The glass windows at the Church of year’s activities. In fall 2017 through spring 2018, VSNY partly cast-iron buildings are also significant for their the Incarnation. published informative newsletters, and it organized associations with the Abstract Expressionist artists (photo by James Russiello) eight scholarly lectures with receptions, free to the Willem de Kooning, Elaine de Kooning, Paul Jenkins, Larry Poons, Jules Olitski, and Herbert Ferber, and curator William S. Rubin. These influential figures lived and worked there during the pivotal post- World War II era, as New York City became the center of the art world. Following the site’s designation, VSNY and other groups testified at hearings and were successful in reducing the scale of an approved rooftop tower development. Other collaborative efforts included a call for creating a historic district protecting

CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 from left: Andrew Dolkart, Amanda Davis, Jay Shockley, and Ken Lustbader, who lectured on New York’s LGBT historic sites; Kathleen Morris describing Sir Lawrence Alma-Tadema’s musical instruments, furniture, and artworks at Church of the Holy Trinity, Yorkville; attendees at a tour of Aesthetic Movement objects and books at the home of Eric Holzenberg and Henry Raine (photos: James Russiello)

Tin Pan Alley on West 28th Street, Manhattan. and designed by C.B.J. Snyder, the legendary raised by the Margot Gayle Fund Program. In October 2017, VSNY supported a “Save Tin superintendent of buildings in NYC from Major expenses were for the annual meeting, Pan Alley Day,” which featured walking tours, 1891-1922. The LPC denied the request, but the tours, and Victorian Summer School Scholar- musical performances, and a display of sheet Chapter has vowed to revisit the issue and ship Grants. The VSNY provides the second music—the event was covered by local media. monitor the building, which is occupied by largest amount of funds for these scholarships The VSNY appealed to the Parks Department two public schools. Similar efforts to get the after the Alumni Association, which is also to properly maintain an individual landmark Kaskel & Kaskel Building (1903, Charles L. considered a chapter of the national VSA. Staten Island house that landscape architect Berg) at 316 Fifth Avenue designated were not The advertised election of directors and offi- Frederick Law Olmsted purchased in 1847 successful, and it was demolished to make way cers was unanimously approved and included and lived in for the next 11 years. The house for a forty-story condominium tower. Vivian Davis, Alice Dickinson, Afsy has been allowed to become derelict since Outgoing Treasurer Frampton Tolbert Kafei, David Mulkins, Caroline O’Connell, the Parks Department purchased it in 2006. reported that the Chapter had ended 2017 in Cameron Robertson, and Nicole Smith as VSNY spearheaded a request for evaluation for the red, but that was due to many donations new directors, and the re-election of Kathleen individual landmark designation for 161 Sixth being received after the first of the year. The Bennett, Franklin Headley, John Graham Avenue, Manhattan, a four-story block-wide largest sources of income were membership (corresponding secretary), Jessica Baldwin Beaux Arts Classical style school, built in 1905 dues and tours fees, followed by the amount (president), and Alexis Mucha (treasurer).

AWARDS An exhibition award went to The New-York material, For Art’s Sake: The Aesthetic Movement Snyder. VSNY is campaigning to protect Historical Society for Hotbed, which featured in Print & Beyond. Snyder schools throughout the city, and the immersive installations and more than 100 The New Media Award went to frequent organization heartily applauds efforts to artifacts and images that explored the vibrant Chapter award-winner Bard Graduate preserve, restore and adaptively reuse these political and bohemian artistic scene of early- Center: Decorative Arts, Design History, beautiful buildings, which were built in an 20th-century Greenwich Village. Joanna Scutts, Material Culture, in recognition of the era of government commitment to enno- one of the N-YHS curators, along with art digitalization of its spring 2017 Focus Project, bling design for educational facilities. Maria director Kira Hwang and exhibition designer New York Crystal Palace 1853. Rev. Thomas Malpica of United American Land LLC Melinda Zoephel, accepted the award. Declan Ahern, the former pastor of Saint Augus- and architect Page Ayres Cowley accepted Kiely, now director of special collections and tine RC Church, Park Slope, and church an award for extensive rehabilitation at 321 exhibitions at the New York Public Library, board member William A. Cahill accepted and 323 Canal Street, two 1821 diminutive accepted an exhibition award on behalf of the Grassroots Award for roof and associated houses with storefronts added in the mid-19th his previous employer, The Morgan Library restoration work at the Parfitt Brothers- century. The American painter and inventor & Museum, for Henry James and American designed transitional English-Gothic style 1888 Samuel F.B. Morse lived at 321 Canal Street in Painting, for which he served as co-curator church, which has recently been designated 1828. In accepting the award, Ms. Cowley espe- with the novelist Colm Tóibín. The exhibi- an individual landmark. cially thanked board member John Graham tion brought together paintings, sculpture Outgoing Awards Committee Chair Alta for his lead efforts with this project before and writings by James and his contempo- Indelman presented two Preservation/Resto- he retired from the Landmarks Preservation raries, providing a rich exploration of the ration Awards. Bruce Nelligan of Nelligan Commission. connections between the visual arts and White Architects accepted a prize for Timothy Bent, senior editor at Oxford literature. Eric Holzenberg, the director of The work at P.S. 158 Manhattan, also known University Press, accepted the Book Award Grolier Club, accepted the Museum Cata- as the Bayard Taylor School. The Beaux on behalf of author Mike Wallace for Greater logue Award for a show that starred his own Arts style school building in Yorkville was Gotham, A History of New York City from 1898 to stunning collection of Aesthetic Movement designed in 1897 with a 1905 addition by C.B.J. 1919, which is the sequel to the Pulitzer Prize 2 Paul Manafort's Brownstone winning Gotham: A History of New York City to On a leafy side street in the Carroll Gardens 1898. Wallace’s sequel focuses on the period of section of Brooklyn, a handsome yet unpreten- growth and dramatic change spanning from tious mid-block brownstone keeps drawing the city’s municipal consolidation through crowds. The circa-1860s Italianate row house, just after World War I. The volume’s range at 377 Union Street, between Smith and Hoyt, of topics includes muckrakers, ethnically has belonged to the disgraced political opera- diverse radicals, Jim Crow segregated housing, tive Paul Manafort. Over the last 150 years, skyscrapers, garbage, child labor, department the building, along with its nearly identical stores, prostitution, birth control, feminists, neighbor at 375 Union Street, has attracted and Tin Pan Alley. curiosity seekers before while engulfed in Indelman, who is also outgoing chair of the public scandal. Margot Gayle Fund Grant, presented three Manafort bought the property in 2012, awards. Victoria Munro, executive director for about $3 million, and started investing of the Alice Austen House, accepted a $500 heavily in renovations and additions—the grant for a digital screen that will display the intended inhabitants were his daughter Staten Island house museum’s letter collec- Jessica and her husband, Jeffrey Yohai (the tion. The award represents continuity in couple has since divorced). The interior had VSNY’s history; starting in the 1960s, Margot retained creamy marble mantles, parquet Gayle herself had helped save the Alice floors and etched glass pocket doors, and Paul Manafort’s padlocked brownstone, 377 Union Austen House—parts of which date to the 17th it was also equipped with a Jacuzzi. Finan- Street, Brooklyn (photo by Eve M. Kahn) century—from demolition. cial shenanigans enabled Manafort to hang Helen Day and Santiago Preciado from onto this patch of Brooklyn while falling arrested for falsely claiming to be a physi- The Friends of Maple Grove Cemetery millions of dollars into debt. (Reporters cian. “Woman Held as Quack,” the newspaper accepted a $500 grant for costumes, props, and researchers for publications and blogs headlines crowed. Ruccione paid a $500 fine and storage racks. The Friends host public including the New York Times, 377union.com and left town to practice chiropractic else- events throughout the year at the cemetery, and pardonmeforasking.blogspot.com have where, and the “newly decorated” house was which was established in 1875 in Kew Gardens, investigated the murky paperwork trail of his soon advertised for sale “at a sacrifice.” Queens. Most of the programs are free, and various real estate deals.) The block’s most notorious pre-Manafort many focus on the culture and music of the In the last year or so, as Manafort’s crimes resident, however, was Marvin T. Rodman, Victorian period. Scores of Victorian costumes, have been exposed, pranksters and artists who moved into 375 Union around 1870. some of them made by Friends members, have left short-lived marks on the site. A He was an executive at the Brooklyn Trust enhance the programs and bring history to life. plaque was hung on the fence, declaring the Company bank as well as a government offi- Jean Standish from the Bowery Alliance brownstone a city landmark, “The House That cial. In 1873, Rodman was arrested for helping of Neighbors accepted a $1,000 grant to fund Brought Down A President.” A handmade crooked Brooklyn politicians pocket thousands translation costs of Chinese texts for the bi- poster with a Russian flag was plastered on the of dollars each time they transferred funds lingual book version of Windows on the Bowery. fence, reading “Paul Manafort Lives Here!!” from the government’s revenue coffers into Since the program’s unveiling in 2016, the 64 in colorful lettering meant to look vaguely the city’s Brooklyn Trust bank account. When Windows on the Bowery historic signage posters Cyrillic. A Halloween pumpkin, carved with an the scandal broke, reporters and investigators have been widely praised for their dynamic outline of Robert Mueller’s face, was displayed thronged Rodman’s home and interviewed texts, images and design. Most of the posters on the sidewalk. A box labeled “American him and his family and neighbors. The Brooklyn focus on Victorian-era life on the Bowery and Fascism,” which contained a pin emblazoned Daily Eagle reported on August 29, 1873, that have been displayed in street level windows. “God Bless America,” was buried on the lawn— no one could quite pinpoint “what became The project represents an unprecedented act when the box was discovered, the police ended of the money” that Rodman had stolen. He of rediscovery and rehabilitation for the city’s up cordoning off the area for an afternoon, to had no obvious vices or expensive habits; the oldest thoroughfare. Development has been make sure the prank was not a bomb. brownstone’s contents were deemed “elegant obliterating the Bowery’s historic streetscape Past occupants of the house had endured but not extravagant.” Rodman claimed that his at a ferocious pace, so it is urgent to raise their own shares of troubles. In 1865, one Brooklyn Trust actions were “simply clerical,” awareness of the area’s historical, cultural, William Murphy living there ran ads forbid- that he was just following orders. He testified and architectural significance. The bilingual ding anyone from “harboring or in any against his superiors in exchange for immu- English-Chinese book about the Windows on manner trusting” his runaway wife Mary. nity, and he soon put his “newly and nicely the Bowery posters will be available to historians, He warned that he would “pay no debts furnished” house on the market. He eventually the media, the general public, libraries, and contracted by her,” since she “has left my bed fled with his family to Milan, Ohio, where he archives worldwide. The Chinese translation and board without cause.” In 1924, the brown- seems to have attracted little attention. will foster outreach to the large community of stone housed a young chiropractor calling A recent visit to Union Street revealed Asian immigrants and visitors who live, work, herself Dr. Julia Ruccione. After she handed Manafort’s brownstone empty behind its or shop on the Bowery and in the surrounding out a prescription for pleurisy medication to neighborhood. James Russiello an undercover policewoman, Ruccione was CONTINUED ON PAGE 7 3 lectures The Victorian Society New York sponsors a it. Th e lecturer, Matt hew Algeo, is the author of Gri� y History of the Bowery (St. Martin’s Press), will series of free lectures at the Bard Graduate Th e President Is a Sick Man: Wherein the Supposedly explain. Th e era’s prudery just increased the urge Center: Decorative Arts, Design History, Mate- Virtuous Grover Cleveland Survives a Secret Surgery at to experience sex and weirdness—all commodities rial Culture, at 38 West 86TH Street, between Central Park West and Columbus Avenue in Sea and Vilifi es the Courageous Newspaperman Who then were readily available on the Bowery. Th is is Manhattan. No reservations are required for Dared Expose the Truth (Chicago Review Press, 2011). where the action was, in the form of freak shows, the events, which begin at 6:45 p.m. Pre- Algeo will discuss an extraordinary but almost minstrel shows, gay bars (“fairy resorts”), concert lecture receptions start at 6 p.m. unknown chapter in American history: Grover saloons with back rooms devoted to fi ght contests Cleveland’s secret cancer surgery and the brazen and the waitresses doubling as prostitutes, THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 6 political cover-up that followed. anatomical museums that featured human fetuses EAST IN EDEN: WILLIAM NIBLO and examples of diseased human body parts AND HIS PLEASURE GARDEN OF YORE TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 6 pickled in formaldehyde, scams off ering cures for William Niblo, an Irish immigrant to New York TREADING THE BORDERS: IMMIGRATION syphilis (which was then untreatable). Th e Bowery City at the end of the 18th century, rose from his AND THE VICTORIAN STAGE was at its most spirited on Saturday nights, when initial position in the hostelry and tavern busi- ‘Treading the boards’ is a colloquial theatrical uptown swells headed there for a night of slum- ness in Lower Manhatt an to found an immensely expression that refers to the wooden planks of the ming. But watch out, because you might get your popular “coff ee house.” He then opened an stage upon which performers ply their trade. Dr. drink drugged (a “mickey fi nn”), your pocket enormous pleasure garden, in the London tradi- Matt hew Witt mann, the curator of the Harvard picked. Or even murdered. tion, at the northern limits of the populated city Th eatre Collection at Houghton Library, will use the in 1828. It initially served mostly as an outdoor turn of that phrase to highlight a simple but signifi - CO-SPONSORED LECTURE WITH ROYAL place of leisurely entertainment and recreation cant point—much of the richness and vitality of the OAK FOUNDATION: for middle class New Yorkers, who eschewed the performing arts in America derives from creative THURSDAY, OCTOBER 11, 6:15 PM city’s few crowded and noisy public parks. Niblo’s talent originating elsewhere. Th is was particularly THE GENERAL SOCIETY LIBRARY, 20 WEST Garden expanded and improved many times over true in the 19th century, as successively larger waves 44TH STREET, MANHATTAN its 66-year existence, always under the name of its of immigrants evoked contradictory sentiments FROM DICKENS TO DOWNTON: founder. Niblo’s name and good will were known all even as they continually reshaped American society. VICTORIAN AND EDWARDIAN FOOD over the United States, and his stages were sought Th is unsett led dynamic was refl ected on the stage aft er by performers of every ilk for opera, circus as the British performers and conventions that The lecture will off er a journey through British th acrobatics, equestrian displays, and grand private dominated the early history of the American theater food and dining traditions from the mid-19 th celebrations. Th e story of this devout Episcopalian’s gave way to a broader cast of characters and infl u- century through the early 20 century. Begin- rise in New York through the 19th century, with ences. From Irish comedians to Italian dancers and ning with a look at food references in the work his wife Martha King Niblo at his side, forms a even Chinese giants, the Victorian stage featured of Charles Dickens, which helped establish some remarkable chapter in the story of public, genteel, a fascinating mix of performers who invariably of Britain’s most cherished culinary traditions, urban entertainment in Victorian times. Th e served to enrich American culture. Dr. Witt mann’s the talk will continue to explore the world of lecturer, Benjamin Feldman, is the author of East in presentation draws upon materials in the Harvard great town and country houses known to lovers Eden: William Niblo and His Pleasure Garden of Yore Th eatre Collection to tell the stories of some of the of Downton Abbey and Upstairs Downstairs. Th is (published by the Green-Wood Historic Fund in more noteworthy immigrant actors, artists, and talk will take a look at dining tables both upstairs association with New York Wanderer Press, 2014). entertainers who came to the United States from and downstairs, as well as inside and outside around the globe. Dr. Witt mann was previously a the house, including properties run by Britain’s THURSDAY, OCTOBER 4 curator at the American Numismatic Society and a National Trust such as Petworth House and THE SECRET SURGERY ON GROVER curatorial fellow at the Bard Graduate Center, where Standen House. Carl Raymond, food historian, CLEVELAND: CANCER AND POLITICS he curated the exhibition Circus and the City and writer, and lecturer, will give an illustrated tour IN THE GILDED AGE co-edited the volume Th e American Circus. of some of the classic dishes of the Victorian On July 1, 1893, President Grover Cleveland and Edwardian periods. He will also discuss vanished. He boarded a friend’s yacht, sailed into THURSDAY, DECEMBER 6 their background and how they were prepared the calm blue waters of Long Island Sound, and FREAK SHOWS, DIME MUSEUMS, AND and served. He will explain cultural and social disappeared. He would not be heard from again for ANTHONY COMSTOCK: THE VICTORIAN trends and infl uences that aff ected eating and fi ve days. What happened during those fi ve days, AGE ALONG THE BOWERY entertaining, from the Industrial Revolution to and in the days and weeks that followed, was so Victorian times were all about the suppression the beginning of World War I. For tickets: royal- incredible that, even when the truth was fi nally of anything salacious, as Alice Sparberg Alexiou, oak.org ($30 Royal Oak and Victorian Society revealed, many Americans simply would not believe author of the new book, Devil’s Mile: Th e Rich, members; $40 non-members) 4 left to right: Alice Sparberg Alexiou’s new book on the Bowery’s bountiful 19th-century opportunities to sin; the newly restored 1884 home in East Hampton of the artists Th omas Moran and Mary Nimmo Moran (photo: Courtesy of the East Hampton Historical Society); Benjamin Feldman’s study of the pioneering showman William Niblo (image: Courtesy of Th e Collection of Tom Burne� ); President Grover Cleveland, who managed to conceal major illness (photo: Library of Congress); the Italian-born ballet dancer Maria Bonfanti (1845-1921), performing around 1866 in a musical romantic comedy, Th e Black Crook tours SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 29, 8 AM SATURDAY, OCTOBER 27, 10:45 AM. Founded in New York City GLIMPSES OF THE HISTORIC HAMPTONS COMFORTABLY EXPLORE in 1966, the Victorian A chartered bus will take us to a private home in WOODLAWN CEMETERY Society in America is Southampton. It boasts one of the best collections Join us for a trolley tour of Th e Woodlawn Ceme- dedicated to fostering the of 19th-century Aesthetic Movement paintings, tery, a 400-acre destination in the northern part appreciation and pres- ceramics and furnishings in the area and is rarely of the Bronx. Designed by James C. Sidney in the ervation of our nation’s open to the public. From there we go to East rural style on rolling hills, the nonsectarian ceme- TH Hampton for lunch. In the aft ernoon, we will have tery opened in 1863. Th e ceremonial burial there of 19 -century heritage as a guided tour of the Th omas and Mary Nimmo Admiral David Farragut in 1870 spurred interest in well as that of the early Moran Studio, which opened to the public on July the cemetery, and it became the fi nal resting place 20th-century (1837–1917). 3 aft er a fi ve-year, $4.5-millon restoration. Th e of many well-known fi gures. Herman Melville, The Victorian Society New fi rst artists’ studio in East Hampton, it was built Th omas Nast, Nelly Bly and F. W. Woolworth are York (VSNY), the oldest of in 1884 for Th omas Moran (1837-1926) and Mary among those interred there. It has one of the most numerous chapters now Nimmo Moran (1842-1899). He is renowned for his impressive collections of mausoleums in New York, fl ourishing throughout the paintings of the American West including those perhaps in the nation. Designers of its monuments USA, is an independent of the Grand Canyon, Yosemite, and Yellowstone. include James Renwick, Stanford White, John nonprofi t organization She was a landscape artist and etcher. Works by Russell Pope, Carrère and Hastings, Cass Gilbert, affi liated with the both are displayed in the studio along with some Louis Comfort Tiff any and John La Farge. On our national Society. original furnishings. In the aft ernoon we will also tour we will see the graves of entrepreneurs and visit the Home Sweet Home Museum. Th is Colonial wealthy socialites of the Victorian era. A highlight era house has been maintained as a shrine to John of the tour will be a chance to enter the Belmont Membership contribu- Howard Payne (1791-1852) since 1927. An actor, Mausoleum where Alva Vanderbilt Belmont and tions at any level help to playwright and dramatist, Payne wrote the lyrics her husband Oliver, a one-term congressman, are provide the foundation for the song that was a 19th-century favorite for an entombed. Designed by Richard Morris Hunt, its for all that we do—from 1823 opera, Clari. exterior is a replica of the Chapel of Saint-Hubert our lecture series, walking FEES: $150 FOR VICTORIAN SOCIETY NEW at Chateau d’Amboise in France. Th e cemetery was tours and excursions, to YORK MEMBERS, $180 FOR NONMEMBERS designated a National Historic Landmark in 2011. our grant and awards FEES: $30 FOR VICTORIAN SOCIETY NEW programs honoring worthy YORK MEMBERS, $40 FOR NONMEMBERS preservation projects in New York. Members also SATURDAY, DECEMBER 1 help provide scholarships SAVE THE DATE FOR HOLIDAY TOUR, to the Victorian Society in DETAILS TO BE ANNOUNCED SOON America Summer Schools for advanced study. Donations to the Margot Gayle Fund make possible monetary grants for preservation and conservation of Victorian material culture in our region. ARGOT GAYLE FU M ND DEADLINE

Margot Gayle Fund grant applications are due on Valentine’s Day, February 14, 2019.

A grant application form can be found on The Victorian Society New York website (vicsocny.org). The Margot Gayle Fund provides monetary grants for preservation or conservation of Victorian era material culture.

5 New Board Members Elected

vivian davis has been in afsy kafei is a program broccoli rabe with extra garlic. Th ough he loves the museum fi eld for over associate at World Monu- Victorian architecture and design, his greatest ten years, working as an ments Fund, working to interest is in race, class, and ethnicity during the interpreter for the National empower communities era, and how culturally diverse groups interacted Park Service at Federal through the conservation of and expressed themselves on the street, in politics, Hall National Memorial cultural heritage. She holds and in music and the performing arts. in Manhatt an and Van a master of science degree in Cortlandt House Museum in historic preservation from caroline o’connell Th e Bronx. She joined Th e Pratt Institute in Brooklyn, works at Cooper Hewitt , Vivian Davis Bronx County Historical Afsy Kafel N.Y., and a degree in art Smithsonian Design Society as education coordinator in 2016, focusing history from the University of Central Florida in Museum as a curatorial on creating programs for students of all ages. She Orlando. Following college graduation, she spent a assistant. Her work is has also been heavily involved with the World War year in Paris where she made up her mind that, as focused on the 19th century, I and Women’s Suff rage centennials’ program- she had long suspected, historic preservation was and she is interested in ming in New York and New Jersey. She has given her calling. Once sett led in New York, she worked the history of collecting, multiple lectures on the Preparedness Movement for preservation groups such as Landmark West!, trans-Atlantic provenance of 1915-1917, Camp Hewitt ’s Emergency Service Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preserva- Caroline O’Connell and patronage, and inter- Corps of 1916, and Van Cortlandt Park during World tion, and Art Deco Society as an educator, teaching sections between English, French and American War I. She has a bachelor’s degree in American young minds about the architecture, history, and architecture. At the moment, she is leaping into studies from Ramapo College in Mahwah, N.J., importance of preservation in New York City. the 21St century in preparing for an exhibition on and a teacher’s certifi cation in social studies from Afsy is fascinated by the history of immigra- contemporary design and its relationship to the William Paterson University in Wayne, N.J. She is tion of the Victorian era, and how those shift s natural world opening in 2019. She is originally currently pursuing her master’s degree in Amer- have shaped our cities’ social and cultural senses. from Toledo, Ohio, and credits her interest in the ican history at Adams State University, focusing She reports that she is “so ecstatic” to join the Victorian era to the Gilded Age buildings that on the National Guard mobilization camp at Van long-standing Victorian Society New York, and to anchor many a Midwestern city. Caroline holds a Cortlandt Park during World War I. Vivian joined leave her small mark on a big group. She’s looking master’s in “Decorative Arts, Design History and the Victorian Society New York’s board due to her forward to working again with young minds, Material Culture” from Bard Graduate Center and strong interest in immigration and architecture of teaching about the importance of Victorian-era a bachelor’s degree in art history from Williams the period and is looking forward to bringing more history and architecture, and never forgett ing her College. She is particularly interested in the att ention to Th e Bronx’s rich Victorian history. She most important learning tip, “Always look up!” development of American taste, and her focal is an avid historical reenactor whose passion is to Afsy was born in Quito, Ecuador, moved to points include secular stained glass, silver, the bring history to life through interpretation and Florida in the late 1990s, and has resided in New decoration of civic buildings, and collections of material culture. Other hobbies include collecting York since 2013. She lives in Greenpoint, Brooklyn, drawings and prints. Caroline recently returned vintage clothing and backpacking, she reports, “but and loves walks around her neighborhood, from the Att ingham Summer School and is slowly not backpacking while wearing vintage clothing!” traveling (whether nearby or far away), reading readjusting to urban living at home in Brooklyn historic fi ction and memoirs, and listening to where she resides with her husband and dog. She alice dickinson is mystery podcasts. is honored to join VSNY’s board. curator of collections at the New York Yacht Club david mulkins is cameron robertson, (NYYC), where she oversees co-founder and president a planner and historic the fi ne and decorative arts of the Bowery Alliance preservation specialist at housed within the organiza- of Neighbors (boweryal- AKRF, Inc., received her B.S. tion’s midtown Manhatt an liance.org), which works in civil engineering from clubhouse (designed by to preserve, protect, and George Washington Univer- Warren & Wetmore, 1901) celebrate the city’s oldest sity and a dual M.S. in Alice Dickinson and Newport, R.I., house street. He taught history urban planning and historic (Cram, Goodhue and Ferguson, 1906). Before (he has a master’s degree preservation from Columbia coming to New York, Alice was the decorative arts David Mulkins in the subject from Hunter Cameron Robertson University. Originally from fellow at Th e Preservation Society of Newport College) and cinema studies (master’s degree, Dallas, Texas, Cameron has been living on the County, where she researched and wrote about the NYU) at the High School of Art and Design for East Coast for the past ten years. Before att ending collection of Hunter House (ca. 1748). She previ- 25 years, and has lived just off the Bowery for Columbia, Cameron worked as a project engineer ously worked at the New Orleans Museum of Art, 35 years. He has presented fi lms and illustrated for the City of Erie, Pennsylvania, and helped to where her experience included the role of curator lectures at the Tenement Museum, New York design and implement the city’s fi rst dog park. for MASS PRODUCED: Technology in Nineteenth- Public Library, Cooper Union, Film Forum, While living in Erie, Cameron discovered her love Century English Design. Her current project focuses Anthology Film Archives, and Bowery Poetry Club. of history and volunteered at Preservation Erie. on a group of magnifi cent silver trophies given by He is project director, editor, and contributing Th e group is dedicated to preserving the natural Ogden Goelet for NYYC races between 1882 and writer for Windows on the Bowery, an historic landscape and built environment that gives north- 1897. Th e exhibition, Spectacular Silver: Yachting’s signage project. west Pennsylvania a unique sense of identity and Goelet Cups, opens in Newport at the Redwood David was born in Norfolk, Virginia. He has place—including smokestacks, rail lines, and last, Library & Athenaeum in June 2019. Alice holds been happily married for 17 years to Louise Mill- but not least, Erie’s gorgeous Victorian mansions on master’s degrees from the Winterthur Program in mann, an artist and teacher. He loves swimming, West Sixth Street. Cameron was fi rst introduced to American Material Culture and Tulane University. bicycling, travel, fi lms, literature, 1920s jazz, and the Victorian Society New York while in graduate 6 CONTINUED FROM PAGE 3 school at Columbia, and she loved that the chapter art history and philosophy. Her fi rst job in the newly restored façade. (Th e block is well found ways to reach out to the community through arts was at Ringwood Manor, the summer home preserved, although it lies just outside the free lecture series and by hosting a number of tours of the Cooper-Hewitt family, in Ringwood State borders of the Carroll Gardens historic throughout the year. Cameron hopes to expand Park, N.J. Th is job introduced her to the history district.) A padlock and chain were clamped the society’s education sector and to help spread of 19th-century America, as well as the art of onto the handles of 377 Union’s entry doors, knowledge and awareness about New York City studying lives and stories through researching which are framed by carved wooden Corin- and the region’s unique architectural history. When objects. She later worked at the Owens-Th omas thian pilasters. Th e spear-topped metal Cameron is not at work, you can fi nd her on spon- House in Savannah, Georgia, and the Grover taneous day adventures around the city, cooking Cleveland Birthplace in Caldwell, N.J. fence’s gate was padlocked, too. Waterlogged, TexMex cuisine, reading, or going on long walks in She earned a master’s degree at Christie’s unopened mail was strewn on the paved entry her Brooklyn neighborhood. Education, in their “Art and the Art Market: path. Weeds sprouted from the front lawn. Modern and Contemporary Art” program. Her No window shades had been pulled down, Nicole Smith was thesis focused on the portrayal of women by the allowing glimpses of the parlor fl oor. A raised by two freelance famed American illustrator Charles Dana Gibson. ladder was posted near some boxes and a musicians in the small Her post-graduate work has included working as Victorian-style ceiling light fi xture, with th town of West Milford, N.J. a cataloger in the 20 -Century and Contemporary brass fi tt ings and a simple hemispherical She spent her childhood Art department at Phillips auction house and as a glass globe. Th e fi xture seemed akin to the poring over any books she researcher at the Noguchi Museum for the Isamu “elegant but not extravagant” possessions could get her hands on and Noguchi Catalogue Raisonné. She is currently a that the tarnished banker Marvin Rodman assisting her mother with generalist appraiser focusing on fi ne art at Gurr planning travel itineraries Johns, Inc., where she completes appraisals for had left behind, when he abandoned Union to visit her father, who was Nicole Smith estate tax, fi nancial planning, insurance, damage/ Street and headed West. Eve M. Kahn oft en abroad touring with Th e Rolling Stones. Her loss, and donation purposes. interest in art and history was largely birthed out She joined the Victorian Society New York’s of those exotic international rock ‘n’ roll adven- board out of her fascination with the Victorian tures, and she quickly became a self-described era of American history. She explains, “I am “humanities junkie” with “an insatiable hunger to excited to be a part of an organization with always keep traveling and learning.” such a fantastic legacy, and I hope that my She earned her undergraduate degree in history involvement will help bring greater attention to at the University of Scranton, with minors in our collective heritage.”

A pumpkin carved with Robert Mueller’s face was posed in front of the brownstone’s faux landmark plaque. (photo by Amy Finkel)

Join the VICTORIAN SOCIETY NEW YORK today! ❍ $30 YOUNG VICTORIANS* *Members age 35 and younger, please provide a copy of your valid ID. Additional Special Contribution(s): VSA SUMMER SCHOOL Scholarships $ MARGOT GAYLE FUND $ ❍ $40 INDIVIDUAL* *Seniors and full-time students Please make checks payable to: Metropolitan Chapter, VSA receive a $10 discount at this Mail this form with check to: VSNY, 232 East 11th Street, New York, NY, 10003 level. Please provide a copy of your valid ID. ❍ $ 6 0 D U A L* Name(s) Please print *Seniors receive a $10 discount at this level. ❍ $75 CONTRIBUTOR Address Apartment ❍ $150 PATRON ❍ $250 SUSTAINER City State Zip Code ❍ $500 PRESIDENT’S CIRCLE Please visit www.vicsocny.org for Phone Email a complete list of beneﬁ ts and to learn about Daniel D. Badger Circle memberships. Check Number Total Enclosed: $ 7 232 East 11th Street New York, NY 10003

Remembering a Scholar and Early Board Member stewart roebling manville, an early ambitious tour he arranged, he recalled in member of the Victorian Society in America and 2017, “was an overnight weekend to the Lake a prominent music historian and curator, died Mohonk Mountain House, which included tea March 16 at the age of 91. with the Newburgh (N.Y.) Historical Society Manville joined the Victorian Society in 1967, and placement of a wreath on the grave of A.J. within the fi rst year aft er it was established. Downing.” A lifelong resident of White Plains, N.Y., he Manville’s parents, the lawyer Leo Stewart traveled to the group’s early meetings in the Manville and the musician and historian Marga- Greenwich Village home of Margot Gayle and ret Roebling Manville, raised him in a 1910s pre- to the Chelsea apartment of Sylvia Newman. He fab bungalow that became his lifelong home. soon became a board member. Aft er the Victo- Early in his career, Stewart Manville worked as rian Society in America went national in 1969 an opera house stage director, edited encyclo- and moved its headquarters to Philadelphia, he pedias and published studies of Manville family remained part of the group that continued as history. He served for decades as the archivist the board of the NewYork chapter. and curator of the Grainger house, about a mile He organized numerous group tours to sites from the Manville home; Percy Grainger (1882- in the region with connections to the Victorian 1961), the Australian-born composer, conductor era, including Lyndhurst in Tarrytown and the and pianist, had there lived for the second half Percy Grainger House in White Plains. Th e most of his life. In 1962, Percy’s widow, the Swedish-born poet and artist Ella Grainger (1889-1979), hired Manville to help her sort through her husband’s estate and promote his musical legacy. Manville married her in 1972, without telling anyone at fi rst. “Our idea was that she should go on being known as Mrs. Grainger,” he told the New York Times in 2004. Th e Manvilles maintained the Grainger house and its collections, which include Percy’s pianos, concert programs, and com- position draft s, and the couple gave tours to the public. Th e property, which belongs to the International Percy Grainger Society, remains publicly accessible. Hilda Regier top: Stewart Roebling Manville; left: Percy Grainger Home and Studio; right: Manville and his future bride Ella Grainger, photo from the Philadelphia Inquirer, Nov. 8, 1970