September in Our Archives
September marks the start of school and the return of busy work routines, as life picks up a more regular rhythm after summer’s pause. It’s no surprise that this busy month is also well-represented in our archives, including those of consisting of historic images, neighborhood histories and oral histories. Part of our extensive collection of online resources, these collections focus on Greenwich Village, the East Village and NoHo, but often tell the story of the entire city. Today, we will look at just some of our vast archives through the lens of Septembers past.
Starting in the 19th Century…
On September 21st, 1893 William Vogel & Son opened their new store in the Cable Building – at the corner of Houston and Broadway.
The Cable Building was designed in the Beaux-Arts Style by renowned architecture firm McKim, Meade & White, for the Broadway & Seventh Avenue Railroad Company (later the Metropolitan Traction Company). In its lower floors it housed the machinery needed to propel the Broadway cable car system, with commercial space above. As shown in the ad above, clothiers William, Vogel & Son were some of the first tenants.
This image is in our Historic Image Archive from our Landmarks Application Collection. This features images taken from Certificate of Appropriateness applications to the Landmarks Preservation Commission (LPC) for sites located within the area covered by Village Preservation.
In the 1960s…
The then newly-established Landmarks Preservation Commission was gearing up to designate the City’s first landmarks in 1965. Included in the Evelyn Haynes Collection in our Neighborhood/Preservation History Archive are two pamphlets from the Commission for the earliest proposed landmarks. On September 21st, 1965, the commission heard the proposed designation of sites around the city, including Colonnade Row, the Salmagundi Club, and the Astor Library in our neighborhoods. These sites were all designated at a commission meeting in October of 1965, also included in the collection.
In 1990…
In September of 1990, Village Preservation, then known as the Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation, released an issue of our Anthemion Newsletter. This issue included information on a Fall Waterfront Exhibit, organized jointly by the Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation and the Municipal Arts Society.
This is from the Greenwich Village Trust/Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation Collection in our Neighborhood/Preservation History Archive. This collection contains the earliest printed newsletters of Village Preservation after its founding in the 1980s and through the 1990s. These newsletters focus on a range of issues, including efforts to landmark sections of the Greenwich Village waterfront, archaeological digs at Sheridan Square, a new Jefferson Market Garden fence, and the early efforts to protect and pursue landmark designation for the Meatpacking District.
And 1994…
On September 29th, 1994 drag Queen Girlina was performing at boy bar at 15 St. Marks Place. Included in the Jillian Jonas Collection — Downtown Drag + Performance in the 1990s Part II of our Historic Image Archive, these images were taken by Jonas, who was then the house photographer at the boy bar on St. Mark’s Place.
To see more, check out our Historic Image Archive and Neighborhood/Preservation History archive. We also have an ever-increasing number of maps, oral histories and more, that can be explored on our resources webpage. Also click here to see a a selection of items from our archives from the month of August.