On October 25, 1902, the Real Estate Record & Guide reported that George Doctor would erect a 54-foot wide, six-story apartment building at 16 Morningside Avenue. "John Hauser...is the architect," noted the article.
Called The Pauline, the structure was completed within a year. Hauser's dignified, Renaissance Revival design included a two-story rusticated stone base and four stories of sand-colored brick trimmed in stone. Above the brawny Ionic pilasters that flanked the entrance were paired Corinthian examples at the second floor. They supported a monumental broken pediment above an arched opening. The windows of the upper floors were decorated with Renaissance style pediments, splayed lintels, and garlanded keystones.
An advertisement for The Pauline on September 6, 1903, boasted an elevator and "all the latest modern improvements." Potential tenants could chose apartments of either six or seven rooms with a bath. Rents ranged from $55 to $75--about $225 per month for the most expensive in 2024 terms.
Among the first residents were Hannibal Hamlin Garland and his wife, the former Zulime Taft. Garland, who went professionally by his middle name, was a novelist, short story writer and poet. The couple had married in 1899 and would have two daughters, Mary Isabel and Constance Hamlin. Mary was born on July 15, 1903, the year her parents moved into The Pauline. Constance arrived four years later.
Hamlin Garland, The Writer: A Monthly Magazine, October 1891 (copyright expired)
Born in Wisconsin in 1860, Hamlin Garland was a well-known writer. Among his works were the highly popular Main-Travelled Roads, Prairie Folks, and the novel Jason Edwards. In 1898, he published his biography of Ulysses S. Grant, and the following year his The Trail of the Gold Seekers was released.
Zulime Taft Garland, known affectionately as Tetie, was an artist (and the sister of famed Chicago sculptor Lorado Taft). The Garlands spent part of their summers in the homestead where Garland was born near West Salem, Wisconsin. He had purchased the farm in 1894.
Zulime Taft Garland and her infant daughter Mary Isabel in 1903 (the year they moved in). from the collection of the State Historical Society of Wisconsin.
Joseph Hart Boudrow and his wife, the former Carrie De Mar, were also early tenants. Joseph Hart (he dropped his surname professionally) had begun his stage career as a teenager working with minstrel troupes. He married Carrie, an actress, in 1894. The couple had worked together for several years and would appear together in two silent films, The Boys Think They Have One on Foxy Grandpa and Foxy Grandpa and Polly in a Little Hilarity.
Joseph Hart and Carrie De Mar, from the collection of the New York Public Library
Emil Fischer was, according to the New York Herald, "one of the greatest bassos this country ever heard." He debuted in America in the 1880s. The newspaper said, "his success was instant and his subsequent triumphs too numerous for mention." On New Year's Day 1906, while a house guest of residents of The Pauline, the 65-year-old paid a visit to the home of millionaire Philip Lewisohn. The New York Herald reported, "He was stepping lightly to a staircase when the treacherous rug over the polished floor sent him sliding to the topmost stair. He could not catch himself. With considerable force he fell several steps before he could grasp a support."
An 1889 cabinet cart depicted Emil Fischer in his role as Wotan in Das Rheingold.
The opera star broke his ankle. The newspaper said he "displayed rare courage while being removed in great pain to the home of friends with whom he is staying at No. 16 Morningside avenue."
Living here by 1909 were Edward Kapp, his wife and their 15-year-old son, Martin. The New York Evening Telegram described Kapp as, "fifty years old, a manufacturer of skirts, who is reputed to have been wealthy."
According to a servant, on the morning of January 7, 1910, Kapp left the apartment at around 8:00 "after kissing his wife good bye. He appeared then to be in good spirits." At 1:15, Kapp went to the office of Albert Sittner at 101 Fifth Avenue. Sittner was not in, and Kapp requested the key to the lavatory from the office boy. The New York Times reported, "It was handed to him, and two minutes later the report of a revolver shot was heard." When the door of the lavatory was opened, Kapp was found lying dead on the floor.
The New York Evening Telegram reported, "The pistol shot was heard by the young women in the shop and caused great excitement among them. Several of the girls became hysterical when it was learned that a suicide had occurred in the adjoining room."
A fascinating resident was Martha Foote Crow, here by 1919. Born in 1854, she was educated at Syracuse University (where she was a founding member of Alpha Phi Sorority). She earned a Ph.B. in 1876, a Ph.M. in 1878, and her Ph.D. in English Literature in 1886. She was the widow of archaeologist John M. Crow, who died of tuberculosis in 1891.
Martha Foote Crow, from Northwestern University: A History, 1855-1905 (copyright expired).
Before John Crow's death, Martha had been preceptress of Iowa College. During her time there, she conducted an international survey of women's higher education. She became assistant professor of English literature at the University of Chicago after her husband's death. Martha Foote Crow would play a significant part in the development of women's higher education in America.
In 1919, The Alpha Phi Quarterly noted, "Sister Martha Foote Crow, 16 Morningside Avenue, New York City...is writing a book on Frances Willard Will." Among her many other works were The World Above; Harriet Beecher Store, a Biography; and The American Country Girl. She was still living here when she died on New Year's Day, 1924 in Chicago.
Living here in 1956 was James "Nat" Nathaniel. The 33-year-old was arrested early in the morning on August 29 "for assaulting 29-year-old Alice Jackson" with a knife, according to The New York Age. The article said, "The knifing took place in the Vets, an after hours spot."
Earl Grant, who made his living as a welder, lived here in 1966. In September that year, he and another welder, James Norwood, were the center of NAACP civil rights demonstrations against the Pan American Airways. The State Commission for Human Rights cited "probable cause to credit the allegations" that the men were the victims of "alleged discrimination in the hiring of Negro welders."
Once the home of well-to-do families who employed at least one servant, by the 1970s 16 Morningside Avenue had been divided into one-room furnished apartments. Among the tenants in 1974 was 27-year-old James Gadson. At 5:00 on the afternoon of August 9 that year, his body was discovered in his apartment. The New York Times reported, "he had been stabbed in the chest."
A renovation completed in 2007, resulted in two apartments per floor. After 121 years, John Hauser's handsome design is outwardly little changed.
many thanks to reader Lawrence Levens for suggesting this post
photographs by the author
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