President’s Day Roundup!
Happy President’s Day! Though the Village is only one neighborhood in our great, big country (though ask any resident and they will say the Village should be its own country!), it has some distinct connections to several few of our nation’s past presidents. To celebrate the day, we are doing a roundup of our presidential posts, highlighting the interesting history and anecdotes joining our neighborhood and the Executive branch.
There’s a building in the West Village on Charles Street that owes its existence to Teddy Roosevelt — read all about it here.
There are many streets, monuments, and statuary honoring our first president, George Washington throughout the Village: read about them here.
Read about how celebrations of George Washington’s birthday in the Village changed radically over time, especially as the ethnic makeup of the neighborhood changed, here.
Read about the history of the Washington Square Park Arch, erected in honor of the centennial of George Washington’s inauguration, here.
The assassination of President William McKinley has several very strong connections to the Village; in fact, both his assassin, and those who tried to stop his assassination, bear some interesting connections to our neighborhood. Read about that here.
In 1865, President Lincoln’s funeral procession went up Broadway through the Village — read about it here.
President Lincoln gave a speech in 1860 at Cooper Union calling for the end of slavery. Read about the impact of the speech here, and how this event and Lincoln’s legacy and in the Village helped establish the Memorial Day holiday here.
Did you know several prominent Villagers were at the forefront of the effort to impeach President Nixon? Read more about that here.
We also can’t forget about our Vice Presidents!
The Village has a connection to several U.S. Vice Presidents. Read more about which ones here.
Did you know Aaron Burr was a Villager? Read more about history’s most famous dueling Vice President here.
Eleanor Roosevelt, a former First Lady, was also a fixture of the most presidential part of the Village, Washington Square!
Former First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt was a longtime resident of Washington Square. Read more about this active and influential woman here and here.
And here’s a Village take on elections!
Read about some of the elections, both past and present, and some of their connections to the Village here.
BONUS: GVSHP Executive Director Andrew Berman recently wrote a piece for 6sqft about a Greenwich Village church that had a hand in deciding the presidential election of 1884. Read more about this interesting piece of election history here.
