One of the most well-known portions of Here is New York is White’s description of his location in the Algonquin Hotel. White details a string of events and describes their relative closeness to the Algonquin. The excerpt reads like a list of inside jokes for the born-and-raised New Yorkers who know their city through and through. One of my major goals for this project was to unpack this sentence and find information about the 10 places White describes in the abstract.
“I am twenty-two blocks from [1] where Rudolph Valentino lay in state, [2] eight blocks from where Nathan Hale was executed, [3] five blocks from the publisher’s office where Ernest Hemingway hit Max Eastman on the nose, [4] four miles from where Walt Whitman sat sweating out editorials for the Brooklyn Eagle, [5] thirty-four blocks from the street Willa Cather lived in when she came to New York to write books about Nebraska, [6] one block from where Marceline used to clown on the boards of the Hippodrome, [7] thirty-six blocks from the spot where the historian Joe Gould kicked a radio to pieces in full view of the public, [8] thirteen blocks from where Harry Thaw shot Stanford White, [9] five blocks from where I used to usher at the Metropolitan Opera and only [10] a hundred and twelve blocks from the spot where Clarence Day the Elder was washed of his sins in the Church of the Epiphany (I could continue this list indefinitely)…” (pgs. 20-21, numbers added)
Algonquin Hotel
Address: 59 West 44th Street
Though White does not mention the hotel by name, he says “I am sitting at the moment in a stifling hotel room in 90-degree heat, halfway down an air shaft, in midtown.” From pieces written about Here is New York, we know he’s at the Algonquin Hotel, pictured below in 1940.
Citation: Hiaasen, R. (2001, October 21). E.B. White’s words on New York prove prophetic 50 years later. The Baltimore Sun. Retrieved from http://articles.baltimoresun.com/2001-10-21/entertainment/0110210404_1_new-york-algonquin-hotel-white-wrote
Citation: Sperr, P. L. (1940). Manhattan: 44th Street (West) – 6th Avenue. Photographic views of New York City, 1870s–1970s. Milstein Division, New York Public Library, New York.
[1] “…where Rudolph Valentino lay in state…”
Address: 1970 Broadway (at West 66th Street)
Rudolph Valentino was a popular actor in the 1920s who died at the age of 31 in a New York hospital in 1926. The New York Times has a digital copy of his death certificate, which lists the undertaker as Frank E. Campbell and the address as 1970 Broadway. According to the Encyclopedia of World Biography, a riot broke out during Valentino’s funeral, and 100 people were injured. Though not referenced by name in Here is New York, Frank E. Campbell Funeral Chapel has been the “Hollywood undertaker” for decades, including hosting the funerals of John Lennon, Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, and, most recently, Philip Seymour Hoffman. Valentino’s actual name, Rudolfo Guglielmo, is listed on the certificate instead of his stage name.
The map below is part of the Bromley atlas of Manhattan from 1916 and shows the address of the Frank E. Campbell funeral home, 1970 Broadway. By using this map in the Map Warper, we can see that the address corresponds to the modern-day location of Lincoln Center. 
Citation: (1926, August 23). Death certificate of Rudolfo Guglielmo. In “Death on Paper,” New York Times, July 1, 2013. Retrieved from http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2013/07/02/health/20130702_deathcertificates.html
Citation: Bromley, W. S., & Bromley, G. W. (1916). Part of Section 4: Plate 89. In Atlas of the borough of Manhattan, city of New York. G.W. Bromley & Co. Retrieved from http://maps.nypl.org/warper/maps/7717#
Citation: “Rudolph Valentino.” Encyclopedia of World Biography. 2nd ed. Vol. 20. Detroit: Gale, 2004. 388-390. Gale Virtual Reference Library. Web. 14 June 2014.
[2] “…eight blocks from where Nathan Hale was executed…”
Address: Unknown
I did not include resources for the location of Nathan Hale’s execution. First, the location is disputed. According to the New-York Historical Society, Hale’s execution is commemorated at City Hall, but a letter within a British officer’s papers states that he was executed near modern-day 77th Street and 3rd Avenue. In addition to these two locations, it is also thought that Hale was executed near 66th Street and 3rd Avenue or near the Yale Club at 44th Street and Vanderbilt Avenue, according to the New York Times. None of these locations are eight blocks from the Algonquin Hotel, so my search continues for the execution site that White references.
Citation: Robinson, E. (2011). Why is the site of Nathan Hale’s execution commemorated both in City Hall Park and on the Upper East Side? Video. Retrieved from http://www.nyhistory.org/community/nathan-hale-execution
Citation: Kirby, D. (1997, November 23). Making it work: Nathan Hale was executed here … and here … and here. The New York Times. Retrieved from http://www.nytimes.com/1997/11/23/nyregion/making-it-work-nathan-hale-was-here-and-here-and-here.html
[3] “…five blocks from the publisher’s office where Ernest Hemingway hit Max Eastman on the nose…”
Address: 597 Fifth Avenue
Based on a New York Times article available online through their digital archive, it seems that Ernest Hemingway did indeed slap Max Eastman with a book in the offices of Charles Scribner’s Sons publishing company. According to the article, Hemingway was insulted by Eastman’s description of him in his most recent book, The Enjoyment of Laughter, and the two men found themselves together in an editor’s office while a copy of the book laid on the desk.
In another map from the Bromley atlas of 1920, the Charles Scribner’s Sons offices are clearly labeled. Since this atlas shows many addresses that are not specifically labeled with a company name, we can infer that Charles Scribner’s Sons publishing company was of a certain level of prominence at the time when the map was created.
Citation: (1937, August 14). Hemingway slaps Eastman in face. The New York Times. Retrieved from http://www.nytimes.com/books/99/07/04/specials/hemingway-slaps.html
Citation: Bromley, W. S., & Bromley, G. W. (1905-1913). Plate 35, Part of Section 5. In Atlas of the city of New York, borough of Manhattan. From actual surveys and official plans. G.W. Bromley & Co. Retrieved from http://digitalcollections.nypl.org/items/510d47e2-58a1-a3d9-e040-e00a18064a99
[4] “…where Walt Whitman sat sweating out editorials for the Brooklyn Eagle…”
Address: 28 Old Fulton Street (Brooklyn)
This is a plate from the William Perris fire insurance maps. In this 1855 map, the address for the Brooklyn Eagle offices can be seen. This map was published shortly after Whitman’s tenure at the Brooklyn Eagle; he served as editor from March 1846 until January 1848. This address was somewhat more difficult to find because the map is labeled simply with “Fulton Street,” instead of “Old Fulton.” This is likely because there is now a Fulton Street in Manhattan, and this street is in Brooklyn in the DUMBO neighborhood.
While at the Brooklyn Eagle, Whitman also published some poetry, an example of which can be seen in the historic newspaper clipping below. The beginning of this poem, entitled “The Play-ground” reads, “When painfully athwart my brain/Dark thoughts come crowding on,/And, sick of wordly hollowness,/My heart feels sad or lone—/Then out upon the green I walk,/Just ere the close of day,/And swift I ween the sight I view/Clears all my gloom away./For there I see young children—/The cheeriest things on earth—/I see them play—I hear their tones/Of loud and reckless mirth.”
Citation: Perris, W. (1855). Plate 5: Map bounded by East River, Main Street, York Street, James, Street, Market. In Atlases of New York City. Maps of the city of Brooklyn. Retrieved from http://maps.nypl.org/warper/maps/7237#Show_tab
Citation: Whitman, W. (1846, June 1). “The play-ground.” The Brooklyn Eagle. Retrieved from http://www.whitmanarchive.org/published/periodical/poems/per.00001
Citation: “Walt Whitman.” Retrieved from http://www.poets.org/poetsorg/poet/walt-whitman
[5] “…thirty-four blocks from the street Willa Cather lived in when she came to New York to write books about Nebraska…”
Address: 5 Bank Street
Willa Cather was a writer, journalist, and teacher, who moved to New York in 1906 to edit McClure’s magazine. Though Cather wrote many stories about urban settings, it wasn’t until she published a short story about immigrants in Nebraska that she was truly noticed in New York. The best map depicting her Bank Street address is a Perris fire insurance map published in 1854.
Citation: Perris, W. (1854). Plate 68: Map bounded by Bleecker Street, Hudson Street, Gansevoort Street, West 13th Street, Greenwich Avenue, West 12th Street, Seventh Avenue, Perry Street, Charles Street. In Maps of the city of New York, surveyed under directions of insurance companies of said city. New York: Perris & Browne/ Retrieved from http://maps.nypl.org/warper/maps/11704#Show_tab
Citation: (2001). “Cather, Wllla 1873-1947.” American Decades. Ed. Judith S. Baughman, et al. Vol. 2: 1910-1919. Detroit: Gale. Gale Virtual Reference Library. 13 June 2014.
[6] “…one block from where Marceline used to clown on the boards of the Hippodrome…”
Address: Sixth Avenue between 43rd and 44th streets
We spoke about the Hippodrome on the first day of class at the Map Division at New York Public Library. It’s a fascinating location where circus-like events took place. In this plate from a 1920 Bromley atlas, the Hippodrome is clearly labeled. It was important to find a map from a time period when the Hippodrome was in use because that area went on to become a hotel.
According to a postcard in NYPL’s collection from 1912, the Hippodrome was “the largest playhouse in the world…[with] a seating capacity of 5200.” The postcard does a good job depicting what the Hippodrome would have looked like from the outside, which gives a sense of how large and impressive it was.
A 1910 news article from the Pittsburgh Press provides an interesting biography of Marceline, who specifies during the interview that he is “not a clown really” because he does not wear typical white makeup or joke around, but rather performs acrobatics. The Pittsburgh Press did the story because Marceline and other performers traveled to the city as part of the New York Hippodrome Road Company.
Citation: Bromley, W. S., & Bromley, G. W. (1920). Plate 31, Part of Sections 4&5: Bounded by W. 47th Street, Fifth Avenue, W. 42nd Street and Seventh Avenue. In Atlas of the city of New York, borough of Manhattan. From actual surveys and official plans. Retrieved from http://maps.nypl.org/warper/maps/8905#
Citation: Finkelstein, H., & Son. (1912). The Hippodrome, New York City. Postcard, lithograph, colored. New York: American Art Publishing Co. Retrieved from http://digitalgallery.nypl.org/nypldigital/dgkeysearchdetail.cfm?trg=1&strucID=1017090&imageID=836155&total=52&num=0&word=hippodrome&s=1¬word=&d=&c=&f=&k=1&lWord=&lField=&sScope=&sLevel=&sLabel=&sort=&imgs=20&pos=4&e=r&cdonum=0&displayMore=yes
Citation: (1910, November 27). Marceline, famous Hippodrome clown, made his debut when seven years old. The Pittsburgh Press. Retrieved from http://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1144&dat=19101127&id=kP8aAAAAIBAJ&sjid=2kgEAAAAIBAJ&pg=5775,6604250
[7] “…thirty-six blocks from the spot where the historian Joe Gould kicked a radio to pieces in full view of the public…”
Address: Washington Square Park
This reference was a difficult one to find. According to the New York Times and the New Yorker, Joe Gould was a bohemian, eccentric personality known around Greenwich Village for his “professorial” demeanor, apparent intellect, and ongoing project “An Oral History of Our Time,” which he told people was a 9 million-word manuscript. According to Clifford Browder, a writer and New York City blogger, it was discovered that Gould’s marble composition books were filled with logs of his daily activities instead of excerpts of his so-called opus.
In a scholarly article about the origins of the term “oral history,” Patricia Fanning recounts the tale of Joe Gould and his eccentricities, including the “religious poem” he often quoted (In winter I’m a Buddhist/In summer I’m a nudist). Fanning mentions the episode White references in Here is New York and says Gould was known for smashing radios in Washington Square Park “as a protest against capitalism during the Depression.”
Though there were many maps that depict Washington Square Park, I found a 1927 pictorial map of New York City that included it. This map originally appeared in the New York Times Magazine. Considering the fanciful nature of Joe Gould’s story and his role in Greenwich Village life, it seemed appropriate to illustrate his part of White’s story with a less precise and more imaginative map.
Citation: Leopold, D. (2000, March 19). City lore; an oral history of Joe Gould. The New York Times. Retrieved from http://www.nytimes.com/2000/03/19/nyregion/city-lore-an-oral-history-of-joe-gould.html
Citation: Mitchell, J. (1964, September 19). Joe Gould’s secret. The New Yorker, p. 61. Retrieved from http://www.newyorker.com/archive/1964/09/19/1964_09_19_061_TNY_CARDS_000278251
Citation: Browder, C. (2014, May 25). Village eccentrics: Joe Gould and the Baroness. No Place for Normal: New York. Retrieved from http://cbrowder.blogspot.com/2014/05/128-village-eccentrics-joe-gould-and.html
Citation: Fanning, P. J. (2006). Cultural commentary: The many secrets of Joe Gould. Bridgewater Review, 25(2), 24-25. Retrieved from http://vc.bridgew.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1177&context=br_rev
Citation: (1927, July 31). A pictorial map of New York, necessarily incomplete, on which are displayed the cultural centres of the city. The New York Times Magazine.
[8] “…thirteen blocks from where Harry Thaw shot Stanford White…”
Address: 51 Madison Avenue (at East 27th Street)
The murder of Stanford White, which was famously a plot point in E.L. Doctorow’s Ragtime, occurred in the summer of 1906 at the Madison Square Garden during a rooftop performance. According to the New York Times, Harry K. Thaw wore a long overcoat that concealed his gun, approached White as he sat and observed the show, and shot him in the head. White was the architect of the original location of the Madison Square Garden, which was located at Madison Square Park. In the 1899 Sanborn Map Company fire insurance map seen below, Madison Square Garden is located on Madison Avenue between East 26th and East 27th streets. The Garden Theatre is labeled on the map on the southeast corner of 27th Street and Madison Avenue.
Below is a photo from the Museum of the City of New York that depicts a crowd at a rooftop performance in 1900. The photograph was taken by the Byron Company. Though this is a few years earlier than the 1906 murder, this gives an idea of how full the theater likely was when Stanford White was killed mid-performance.
Additionally, the photo below, which was taken in 1895 by A. Loeffler, shows Madison Square Garden from inside Madison Square Park.
Citation: (1906, June 26). Thaw murders Stanford White. The New York Times. Retrieved from http://query.nytimes.com/mem/archive-free/pdf?res=9D0DE7DA1E3EE733A25755C2A9609C946797D6CF&module=Search&mabReward=relbias%3Ar
Citation: Sanborn Map Company. (1899). Manhattan, V. 4, Double Page Plate No. 69. In Atlases of New York city. Insurance maps of New York. Manhattan Atlas 113, Vol. 4, 1899. Retrieved from http://maps.nypl.org/warper/maps/20927#
Citation: Byron Company. (1900). Roof Garden, Madison Square Garden Theatre. Gelatin silver print. Retrieved from http://collections.mcny.org/Collection/Roof-Garden,-Madison-Square-Garden-Theatre.-2F3XC54WL01.html
Loeffler, A. (1895). Madison Square Garden, N.Y. Loeffler, S.I.N.Y. Retrieved from http://digitalgallery.nypl.org/nypldigital/dgkeysearchdetail.cfm?trg=1&strucID=693669&imageID=805887&total=104&num=0&word=%22madison%20square%20garden%22&s=1¬word=&d=&c=&f=&k=1&lWord=&lField=&sScope=&sLevel=&sLabel=&imgs=20&pos=1&e=w
[9] “…five blocks from where I used to usher at the Metropolitan Opera…”
Address: 1411 Broadway
According to an article written by White in the June 25, 1949 issue of the New Yorker, he worked briefly as a matinee usher at the Metropolitan Opera on his lunch breaks from the advertising agency, Frank Seaman. The article, titled “Noontime of an Advertising Man” is a tribute to White’s colleague at the agency, Jay Chambers. White says Chambers used to sneak away almost daily to usher at the Met, though he was unsure if it was for creative fulfillment or money.
The Metropolitan Opera was founded in 1883 and its original location was on Broadway and 39th Street. In a 1905 Bromley atlas, the Met is clearly labeled. In this map, the New York Public Library and Bryant Park are also prominent.
Citation: White, E. B. (1949, June 25). Noontime of an advertising man. The New Yorker, pp. 25-26. Retrieved from http://archives.newyorker.com/?i=1949-06-25#folio=024
Citation: Bromley, G. W., & Bromley, W. S. (1905). Plate 26, Part of Sections 3,4 & 5. In Atlas of the city of New York, borough of Manhattan. From actual surveys and official plans. New York: G.W. Bromley & Co. Retrieved from http://maps.nypl.org/warper/maps/8850#
Citation: (2012). An introduction to the Metropolitan Opera. Retrieved from http://www.metopera.org/metopera/history/chapters.aspx
[10] “…a hundred and twelve blocks from the spot where Clarence Day the Elder was washed of his sins in the Church of the Epiphany…”
Address: Unknown
I was unable to pin down the final spatial reference in this sentence. Since the other references within this sentence span nearly 100 years, I was unsure of the time frame of the church and uncertain of the name reference. Though I found an author named Clarence Day, it was unclear if it was the right person in this context. I’m hoping to look through more maps to see if the Church of the Epiphany, which sounds like it would be located in Harlem based on the description, is anywhere to be found on maps from the early 1900s.
Here is E.B. White's New York 