The New York Academy of Medicine - 1216 Fifth Avenue

 

photograph by Beyond My Ken

As early as 1809, Valentine Mott was recognized internationally as a skilled surgeon.  The doctor successfully performed surgeries that were previously considered impossible.  (The fact that Mott was ambidextrous and could operate with either hand no doubt contributed to his success.)  

On December 8, 1846, Mott and two other influential physicians, Alexander H. Stevens and Isaac Wood, invited the city doctors to a meeting at the Lyceum of Natural History on December 11.  Its goal was to form an association that would, among other objectives, according to The New York Times later, "to furnish a meeting place for physicians where they could freely exchange opinions and compare experiences, so the most advanced ideas of medical men and scientists could get currency and criticism."

The result was the New York Academy of Medicine, founded the following month, on January 6, 1847.  The New York Academy of Medicine initially focused on improving public health, like lobbying for better conditions within the tenement districts.  In 1866, it was influential in the forming of the Metropolitan Board of Health, the precursor of today's Department of Health.

The Academy moved into this structure in 1890.  King's Photographic Views of New York City, 1893 (copyright expired)

By the World War I years, the New York Academy of Medicine had outgrown its headquarters on West 43rd Street.  The association temporarily rented additional space on West 44th Street, directly behind the existing structure.

In 1925, the southeast corner of Fifth Avenue and 103rd Street was acquired and the architectural firm of York & Sawyer commissioned to design a commodious new home for the Academy.  At a time when architectural tastes were moving toward streamlined Art Deco designs, York & Sawyer looked to 11th century Lombardy structures for its inspiration.  

On reporting on the cornerstone laying on October 31, 1925, The New York Times remarked that the cost of the building had been provided by "the half-million dollars and more which the Academy has raised among its own members and friends, the Carnegie Corporation [which] has given $1,550,000 for the new building, and the Rockefeller Foundation $1,250,000 for the endowment of the Academy in order that it may enter upon new activities, including the service of a full-time director, the development of the library service and the maintenance of a bureau of clinical service."

The New York Academy of Medicine building was dedicated on November 18, 1926.  York & Sawyer's overall Lombardian Romanesque design was splashed with elements of Byzantine.  Clad in limestone and sandstone, its tripartite design of the main section included balconies at the third floor.  The bronze-doored entrance sat within an arch of clustered engaged columns, its tympanum filled with bas reliefs of Hygieia, goddess of health, and Asclepius, god of medicine.  The dog figures atop the outermost columns symbolize protection from death and illness, according to the Medical Journal and Record on December 1, 1926.

The Latin inscription above the doorway is one of several inscribed on the facade by Classical authors like Hippocrates, Juvenal, Cicero, Seneca the Younger and Virgil.  photograph by Beyond My Ken

The midsection, above a stone bandcourse, was distinguished by large arched openings at the third floor.  These allowed natural light into the library.  It and the two accompanying reading rooms, accommodated 180 persons.  The Academy's president, Dr. Samuel A. Brown, said, "the academy library occupies the same position regarding medical literature that the Public Library occupies in general literature."  The New York Times added, "It is also rich in rare works on the history of medicine, collections of paintings, documents, surgical instruments and models of original instruments which are of great value."

The openings of the single-story top section sat within handsome arcades on both elevations, and an arched corbel table ran below the cornice.  A three-story wing east of the main building included the auditorium and the library offices.

photograph by Wurts Bros., 1926, from the collection of the New York Public Library.

As the building neared completion, on October 10, 1926, The New York Times said, "Chief among the reasons for the present change are the needs of the library, which has grown from small beginnings into the third greatest medical library in the world."  The library held more than 143,000 books and more than 100,000 pamphlets.  "Proper housing of this material was one of the reasons for the erection of new quarters."

The other floors held "offices, lecture halls and headquarters of medical societies," according to The New York Times.  York & Sawyer had designed the structure, according to the article, so that "additional floors may be added, when needed."  That feature would prove useful in coming decades.

Lectures and addresses--some controversial--were a mainstay in the building.  One of the first was the address by Dr. Nicholas Murray Butler, President of Columbia University, who spoke on "The Physician: the Larger View."  He predicted, "There will be a revolution in medical education, I feel quite certain."  But his envision may have raised a few medical eyebrows in the audience.  Saying that many persons "had become interested in mysticism, orientalism and various forms of faith cure," he suggested these fields would become part of mainstream medical science.

On March 1, 1927, the Academy staged the first exhibition in the country of artworks done by physicians.  The more than 575 works, including sculptures, wood carvings, etchings, and oil and watercolor paintings, were done by 75 doctors, some of whom were well-known in their fields.  Five days later, The New York Times reported that the Physicians' Art Exhibition, planned for two weeks, had already been extended because of public interest.

Complex carved limestone capitals incorporated Medieval faces and varieties of floral species.  photograph by Nylandmarks

The library was augmented in May 1928 by the acquisition of Dr. E. C. Streeter's personal library.  He had amassed the collection, which contained some of the earliest printed works on medicine, over two decades.  Among the rare books, 130 were printed prior to 1501.  The Academy paid $185,000 for the library--about $3.3 million in 2025.  Providing the funds was a collaborative effort.  Individual millionaires like Harry P. Whitney, Clarence A. Mackay, Edward S. Harness, Jeremiah Milbank, and Harry H. Flagler, for instance, contributed.  Fellows of the Academy provided $10,000 and the Rockefeller Foundation donated $85,000.

A two-week study of aging was conducted here beginning in August 1928.  The New York Times reported, "For the first time in the history of medical education in this country, a single subject--the problem of aging and old age--is to be the centre of interest for several thousand physicians who will attend a 'graduate fortnight.'"

One outcome of the sessions was a paper, "Alcohol and Old Age," by Dr. Samuel W. Lambert, President of the New York Academy of Medicine.  Read at a symposium on the problem of aging and old age on October 4 (during the height of Prohibition), it touted the, "beneficial effect of alcohol in old age, as well as the good to be derived from its use by man even before senescence," reported by The New York Times.  As well as urging the moderate use of whisky, wine and beer "as a great value to the aged," Lambert "attacked the Federal restrictions on the prescription of alcohol."

The issues addressed by the Academy, naturally, reflected the social and environmental changes.   Dr. Alvan L. Barach spoke at the Academy on May 14, 1964, for instance, about the city's air pollution.  "Sulphur dioxide and sulphuric acid, he said, were 'the main hazard in air pollution,'" reported The Times.

photograph by Ajay Suresh

The New York Academy of Medicine continues to advocate for public health reform.  Its striking 1926 building has become a major center for health education.  The group's membership of more than 3,000 fellows now includes not only physicians, but nurses, health care administrators and other health professionals.

The Museum of the City of New York - 1220 Fifth Avenue

 

photo by Beyond My Ken

Born in Scotland in 1862, Henry Collins Brown arrived in New York City in 1871.  With an unexpected interest in the city's history, he began accumulating articles and other information about New York City as a teenager.  In 1913, he wrote one of his many books to come, Book of Old New-York, and in 1916 revived the 19th century Valentine's Manual of New York (tweaking the name to Valentine's Manual of Old New York).  He additionally wrote articles on New York City history and architecture for The Sun.  

Around 1920, Brown began lobbying support for a city museum.  In 1923, he assembled a board of directors and incorporated the Museum of the City of New York.  The Parks Commission loaned Gracie Mansion for its use.  On April 30, 1924, the New York Evening Post reported, "the old mansion, which is to be known as the Museum of the City of New York, will eventually be fitted up in authentic furniture of the early days of New York, and contributions are being received from descendants of the original Gracies and other settlers of that period."  The Museum published a monthly bulletin, The New York Gazette, the name of William Bradford's newspaper founded around 1725.

The New York Gazette, 1925 (copyright expired)

Brown's residency at the museum he envisioned and, essentially, created was turbulent and short-lived.  In 1926, he was removed.  The following year, a competition among five architects was held for designs for a permanent home for the museum.  The city had provided the Fifth Avenue blockfront from 103rd to 104th Streets with the caveat that the museum would raise $2 million by June 1, 1928 for construction and continued maintenance.

On April 15, 1928, The Brooklyn Eagle reported that Joseph H. Freedlander had won the competition.  Among the guidelines had been that the building "must not cost more than $900,000," said the article.

The Museum released Freedlander's accepted rendering in 1928.  Brooklyn Eagle, May 17, 1928 

The New York Times, on April 8, 1928, described the plans as, "a U type structure of Colonial design with a formal Colonial garden located between the wings, facing Central Park.  On the north and south sides of the garden will be arcades suitable for outdoor exhibits of Colonial doorways and other works, and in the west ends of the structure there will be niches for statues of De Witt Clinton and Peter Stuyvesant."

A future addition to the rear, said the article, would complete "the H type layout [and] will double the capacity of the building and will include a rear courtyard."  Freedlander told reporters that the future extensions were designed that they "may be erected without tearing down or remodeling any part of the main section."

The New York Times mentioned, "There will be a special carriage entrance for visitors on the 103d Street side of the building.  This feature of the plans provides space for a ladies' retiring room, a smoking room and space for museum receptions."

The advent of the Great Depression was likely a factor in Freedlander's original design being tweaked.  The three arched entrances on Fifth Avenue were replaced with a sweeping staircase, for instance.  The construction cost $1.5 million, according to The Sullivan [Missouri] News on February 5, 1931.  As the building rose, the newspaper described, "The building...is in Georgian Colonial style and the same style prevails throughout the interior.  In the entrance hall is a circular staircase of solid marble construction without steel support."

The brick and marble structure was dedicated on January 11, 1932.  The Brooklyn Eagle called it, "rich and impressive," and said, "It is a handsome building of a lavishness in material and detail not paralleled elsewhere among recent buildings."  The critic, however, was unsure about Freedman's choice of architectural style.  "The advisability of using a definite period for a museum which endeavors to be undated, that does not stress any particular period, is open to question."

photograph by Wurts Bros. 1932, from the collection of the Museum of the City of New York 

In addition to the paintings, maritime collection, and thousands of New York-related relics, period rooms (called "alcoves") were installed.  On May 16, 1935, The Nassau Daily Review reported on the newly opened Cherry Street Alcove.  The article said the "delightful alcove" was "furnished correctly with furniture and appointments dating from the year 1760 to the year 1770." 

When John D. Rockefeller, Jr. demolished his father's former mansion at 4 West 54th Street in 1938 to make way for the Museum of Modern Art, two of its rooms and their original furniture were installed here.  The following year, the Dutch Alcove opened.  On November 28, 1939, The New York Times wrote, "The latest addition is a foreroom or living room of a New York Dutch house, with heavy beamed ceiling, Dutch door, casement window, and wide floor boards."

In 1938, The New York Times remarked that the museum's annual attendance topped 200,000 and the building was already no longer sufficient.  Nevertheless, the expansion to the rear, most likely because of the ongoing Depression, was deferred.

Just over a decade after the building was dedicated, the bronze statues of Alexander Hamilton and De Witt Clinton, sculpted by Alexander Wienman, were placed within the marble niches outside.  Mayor Fiorello La Guardia was the chief speaker at the unveiling on January 13, 1941.

The New York Times, January 14, 1941

By the turn of the century, the museum's collection had outgrown the building.  In 2000, the Board of Directors voted to relocate the museum to the former Tweed Courthouse.  Mayor Mike Bloomberg, however, upset those plans by designating the former courthouse as the headquarters of the Board of Education.

On November 6, 2005, Christopher Gray began an article in The New York Times saying, "The on-again off-again expansion project of the Museum 0f the City of New York is on again--and this time it seems to be for certain."  The article said that construction "to build into its wide backyard, as was originally planned," would commence the next month.  Simultaneously, work to renovate and modernize the interiors of the original building began.  (The interior renovations would take a decade to complete.)  Designed by James Stewart Polshek & Associates, the two-story addition was dedicated in February 2008.

Two years later, "as part of the ongoing expansion and modernization" of the museum, as reported by Antiques and The Arts Weekly on April 7, 2009, the two Rockefeller rooms were deinstalled and donated to two institutions--the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts and The Metropolitan Museum of Art.

photograph by Beyond My Ken

Joseph J. Freedlander's dignified Georgian structure was designated an individual New York City landmark on January 24, 1967.  In its designation report, the Commission disagreed with The Brooklyn Eagle's 1932 assessment, saying, "the Late Georgian Style, employed for the Museum, is appropriate for a building whose contents depict the history of New York City, the first seat of the Capitol of the United States, when the English Georgian Style was still dominant in this City.