The 1931 Madison Ave. Baptist Church / Roger Williams Hotel - 129-131 Madison Avenue

 

In the early 1920s, a new concept began sweeping metropolitan areas--the "skyscraper church."  Congregations from coast to coast were demolishing their old structures and erecting apartment or office buildings that incorporated a ground floor church space.  In theory, the congregation would reap tremendous income from the rental properties.  It was a notion that would catch the attention of the Madison Avenue Baptist Church at the southeast corner of Madison Avenue and 31st Street.

The 1855 Madison Avenue Baptist Church, from the collection of the New York Public Library

Organized in 1838 as the Rose Hill Church, in 1849 it changed its name to the Lexington Avenue Baptist Church.  Three years later it moved into a red brick structure at 154 Lexington Avenue.  Only six years later, in 1858, the congregation relocated into a Romanesque Revival-style structure at Madison Avenue and 31st Street.  The church was renamed the Madison Avenue Baptist Church.  

In 1929, with the Great Depression ravaging the country, the congregation faced a decision.  The trustees leased its property to the newly formed Madison Avenue-Thirty-first Street Corporation.  It demolished the vintage church and hired architects Jardine, Murdock & Wright to design a 15-story residential hotel on the site.  A restriction in the deed demanded that the new building would include a sanctuary for the Madison Avenue Baptist Church.  Rev. John Sanders Bone later explained it was the only way "to maintain itself in an area where it could have survived because of the terrific costs, and to provide a 'witness' in the business community in the heart of the city."

Perhaps as a nod to the former church structure, Jardine, Murdock & Wright designed the hotel-church in a 1930s take on Romanesque.  The sanctuary was located at the southern part of the property, with a three-story limestone face and an impressive arched entrance.  The stained glass windows from the demolished church, executed by Franz Xavier Zettler sometime after 1870, were salvaged and installed into the new sanctuary.

On October 12, 1931, The New York Times reported, "The new Madison Avenue Baptist Church, built into the lower floors of the Roger Williams apartment hotel...was formally opened yesterday morning."  The hotel was named for Roger Williams, who founded the First Baptist Church in America in 1638.

The entrance to the Roger Williams Hotel was on East 31st Street.  Its apartments would be called "studios," today.  An advertisement in the Columbia Spectator on May 12, 1932 described, "one room apartments, attractively furnished" with "kitchenette."  Rents were "$40 per month and up," or about $892 in 2025 terms.

Tenants saw a rent hike the following year.  An ad in The New York Sun in 1933 was titled, "You Get All This for $50," and touted, "attractive living room, tile bath, cooking facilities with gas without charge, also electric connections.  Electric refrigeration.  Ample closet space.  Maid service optional."

Despite their relatively small accommodations, the apartments filled with middle-class professionals, like literary agent Minnie Hoover Linton, who moved in on October 28, 1933 with her cat.  Linton, who according to The New York Times, was "distantly related to former President Hoover," was the sister of J. Edgar Hoover.  After having worked as an editor at McGraw-Hill Publishing Company for ten years, in 1929 she co-founded her agency with Nell Martin.

Also an author, Minnie Linton had completed six chapters of her current novel, The Rooming House, when she moved in.  

The 59-year-old was almost totally deaf, a result of an explosion in The Los Angeles Times building where she had worked as a proof-reader.  (Twenty-one other workers were killed.)  Because of her condition, she carried an ear trumpet.

The evening after moving into the Roger Williams, Minnie attempted to visit Nell Martin, but she was out.  She had almost made it back home at 10:00 when she was struck and killed at the corner of Madison Avenue and 31st Street.   

Novelist Henry Miller and writer Anaïs Nin moved into the Roger Williams Hotel in November 1934, according to Robert Ferguson's Henry Miller, A Life.   Ferguson explains, "The main achievement of his stay at the Roger Williams Apartments...was to finish Black Spring, the collection of autobiographical pieces that would eventually become his second published work."

Henry Miller and Anaïs Nin (original source unknown)

Sylvia Morris lived here in 1935 when she suffered embarrassing, nationwide press coverage.  Her repeated visits to Dr. Winfield Scott Pugh raised the suspicions of Pugh's wife, Irma Mary.  One afternoon she was at her husband's office when Sylvia Morris was taken into the examination room.  She later told a judge that there was "complete silence" in the room.  "When other patients were there I always heard commotion."  

Irma Mary Pugh went outside, obtained a stepladder, and peered into her husband's examination room.  In court on January 23, 1936, she pointed to Sylvia Morris and testified, "I saw that woman laying nude on the operating table.  My husband was in his undershirt," as reported in The Decatur Daily Review.

Amelia Sackett moved to New York from Philadelphia after being separated from her lithographer husband, Harry A. Sackett.  She found a job in a doctor's office in Brooklyn and  signed a lease for an apartment on the seventh floor with a friend here in 1939.  Her attempt to move on from her divorce was not successful and she suffered depression.  On November 23, 1939, Amelia rushed toward the open apartment window.  Her roommate grasped her clothing, but the fabric tore and the 66-year-old plunged to her death.

Living here in the post-World War II years was Florence Lundborg.  Born in 1870 in San Francisco, she studied at the Mark Hopkins Institute of Art and in Europe.  An established illustrator and muralist, among her works were murals for the Wadleigh High School in Manhattan and the Curtis High School on Staten Island.  Lundborg died during her sleep in her apartment here on January 18, 1949 at the age of 78.

Florence Lundborg from the collection of the National Archives and Records Administration.

By the third quarter of the century, the Roger Williams (which now accepted only transient guests) had declined.  The management began renovations in 1970, and on October 23, New York Magazine wrote, 

 

It is small and not very attractive--but adequate.  The tiny lobby and many of the rooms are now being redecorated, and the dingy hallways do lead to some pleasant rooms.  Those on the lower floors had been remodeled with wood paneling and all-new bathrooms.  The idea behind the renovation is to achieve the modern, efficient look of a motel room.  That they succeed may be either a plus or a minus in your book.

 

At the time of the article, an unrenovated single room ranged from $14.50 to $19.50 per night.  A remodeled room began at $16.50 (about $129 today).

In 1985, the Red Cross took over three floors of the Roger Williams as an "emergency family center" that could accommodate 30 homeless families, according to The New York Times on June 23.  The Red Cross facility remained at least through 1987.

On December 18, 1992, The New York Times published an article on Manhattan hotels that cost $150 or less per night.  Calling the Roger Williams Hotel a "simple, tidy establishment," it said, "The furnishings are just a step up from college dormitories, but the beds are decent and the prices remarkable."  A room cost $55 per night.

In 1995, the Madison Avenue Baptist Church leased the hotel to Bernard Goldberg, principal of the Gotham Hospitality Group.  Rev. Michael B. Easterling, the church's pastor, explained that of the eight operators who bid on the lease, "the Gotham Group has proposed the strongest renovation program."  The following year, the new proprietors initiated a year-long renovation.

Originally retaining the Hotel Roger Williams name, the renovated building was described in November 2001 by The New York Times saying, "Serene and spare, the 187-room hotel deftly blends European and Asian influences; shoji screens on the windows, Belgian linens on the beds."  The interior design by Rafael Viñoly included "a space for free chamber music performances."

In the renovation, the entrance to the hotel was moved from 31st Street to Madison Avenue.  Recently, the name was changed to Hotel AKA NoMad.

photographs by the author

The Rutgers Club - 314 West 91st Street

 

In June 1892 mansion architect C. P. H. Gilbert filed plans for a four-story brick and stone residence for attorney Charles DeHart Brower.  Completed within the year, the 39-foot wide house cost Brower the equivalent of $580,000 in today's money.  A period photograph of an abutting structure gives tantalizing clues to its appearance--a red Roman brick facing and grouped stone-framed windows with colorful stained glass transoms.

Born on December 13, 1856 Charles had married Mary Holly Bailey on October 12, 1880.  The couple had three children, 8-year old Charles Ferguson, 7-year old Fannie, and Bailey, who was born in the new house on May 2, 1893.

Brower had been a member of Ye Olde Settlers' Association of Ye West Side since 1884, a social club for area residents.  He was also highly involved in the West End Association, a more activist group, staunchly defensive of the developing suburb which lobbied for improvements like sewers and mass transportation, and against "nuisances" like the city's proposal to use land below Riverside Drive for incinerating garbage.  He was, as well, a director and treasurer of the Ocean Trading Co., and a trustee of the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

The Brower country home was in Quogue, Long Island.  There Charles berthed his yacht, the Frontenac.  The craft was annually entered in the Westhampton Country Club regatta.   And by the time the younger Charles reached his 18th birthday, he too had a boat.  Father and son did very well in the regatta of 1902.   On August 10 the Brooklyn Daily Eagle reported "In class Q. sloop Frontenac, Charles Dehart Brower, was an easy winner, beating Winnabust over nine minutes, with Wampnissie third.  In class U. sloops, Lass, Charles Dehart Brower, jr., finished first and Atmaq, second."

In 1901 the West End Association began fighting with the Forty-second Street, Manhattanville & St. Nicholas Avenue Railway Company "against the maintenance of four tracks in Amsterdam Avenue, on the ground that the unused tracks are a nuisance as well as a menace to the public," as reported by The New York Times.  When nothing happened after five years, Charles DeHart Brower took the matter in to his own hands, suing the firm and seeking the forfeiture of its charter.

The younger Charles had graduated from Princeton in 1904 with a degree in electrical engineering.  The family was spending the holidays in Quogue in 1907 while Marian Childs was visiting the William E. Barnes family nearby.  The Sun mentioned that both Charles and Marian "are well known in New York society."  

It appears that the two were well-known to themselves as well, for on New Year's Eve Charles proposed that they elope.  The Sun explained it saying he "asked Miss Child's why they couldn't get married then and dispense with the marriage license and a lot of bother and fuss."  Within hours the two were married.  The article said "They and a few relatives got into Mr. Brower's automobile and the trip to Riverhead was made in a hurry."

Fanny's marriage to Harvey C. McClintock on November 11, 1911 was a more traditional affair.  It took place in the Quogue residence with the expected announcement, invitations, and guests.  The newlyweds moved into the West 91st Street house.

In the meantime, Mary Brower was involved in Upper West Side causes.  She was an officer in the Bloomingdale Day Nursery and a member of the Ladies' Association of the Sheltering Arms.  The Sheltering Arms was an institution founded to care for children six to twelve years old "for whom no other institution provides."  The children were not orphans, but placed there by parents or guardians who could not afford to care for them.

Around 1917 Charles Brower fell ill.  His condition worsened over a period of months and he died in the house on May 2, 1918 at the age of 62.

Two years later the Browers offered the residence for sale at $65,000--just under $830,000 in today's money.  The Real Estate Record & Builders' Guide reported that it sold for a startlingly higher amount, $85,000 and that "after extensive alterations will be occupied by the purchaser."

That purchaser was motion picture producer William Fox, founder in 1915 of the Fox Film Corporation.  He was also a director in the Motion Picture Producers and Distributors of America.  Born in Hungary as Vilmos Fuchs, his parents brought him to the United States when he was nine-months old.   His name is best remembered today in 20th Century Fox, Fox Broadcasting and similar firms.

Possibly because the motion picture industry was rapidly moving west to California, Fox's residency in the house was short lived.  In 1923 it was purchased by the Rutgers Club which hired architect Samuel Sass to do interior renovations.  Five years later the architectural firm of Gronenberg & Leuchtag completely remodeled the building, giving it a new neo-Romanesque facade.  Stone medieval-inspired corbels over the entrance and below the cornice, and inset heraldic shields provided contrast to the brown-red brick.  The center shield below the gable holds the club's monogram, RC.

From the beginning the Rutgers Club was used by Jewish groups, most notably Ivriah, a women's group which ran a Jewish education center in the building.  On February 15, 1923 the New York Post reported "One of the most unique collections of dolls in the world--representing dolls of twenty-five countries stretching from the inner-most sections of the Orient to the nations of Eastern and Central Europe--will be displayed by...the West Side Division of Ivriah at the Rutgers Club, 314 West Ninety-first Street."

And on April 22, 1934 the Jewish Telegraphic Agency reported on Ivriah's upcoming weekly meeting.  Leo Schwartz was to discuss "Jewish Problems and their solution" and Selma Start would speak on "Creative Listening to Music."

International Jewish issues continued to be addressed in lectures and meetings here.  On November 4, 1937 The New York Sun reported "A symposium on the proposed establishment of a Jewish State in Palestine has been arranged by the West Side Zionist District for next Monday evening at the Rutgers Club."

Little has changed to the exterior of the building since this photograph was shot around 1941.  via the NYC Dept of Records & Information Services

On August 2, 1943 The New York Sun announced that the Herzliah Hebrew Academy had purchased the building.  The article noted "the purchaser plans to extensively alter the building and occupy it for education purposes with a curriculum similar to that of a junior college."  The renovations, completed in 1944, resulted in an auditorium on the first floor, class rooms in the second and third, and offices on the top floor.

The Herzliah Hebrew Academy remained for more than two decades.  By the early 1970's the building had become the Walden School, a private school for grades 8 through 12, and in 1974 was home to the Center for Change, "a revolutionary health care and educational service organization," according to WorkForce magazine.

In 2005 The Ideal School of Manhattan was founded and moved into No. 314 West 91st Street.  The independent elementary school remains in the space.  And despite its many incarnations, the exterior is little changed since the Rutgers Club gave it a facelift in 1928.

photographs by the author

The Westside YMCA - 5 West 63rd Street

A Juliette-ready balconette clings to the facade high above 63rd St.

In 1928 the Young Men's Christian Association had significantly evolved since its first New York branch was organized in 1852.  Its organizers had been concerned with "improving the spiritual condition of young men," and focused greatly on teaching trades within a significantly religious environment.

Now, more than seven decades, later, the organization still sought to keep boys off the streets by providing wholesome activities, and still offered vocational classes.  The atmosphere, however, was now more club-like; without the rigid oversight of the Victorian reformers of generations earlier.

In 1928 the Y.M.C.A. broke ground for a new facility which was pronounced would be "the largest in the United States."  The sprawling site replaced old rowhouses at Nos. 3 through 11 West 63rd Street, and 8 through 12 West 64th Street.   The organization had commissioned 42-year old architect Dwight James Baum to design the structure.  The only high-rise building he would design, it would rise 14 stories.

Baum married historic Italian Renaissance and Romanesque styles to produce a structure mostly romantic and partly forbidding.  The 63rd Street elevation was plucked from Lombard Tuscany; the 64th from Florence,  On both Baum included brick balconies supported by deep corbels.  The front of the building, on 63rd Street, rose from its limestone base to a riot of setbacks, angles and towers,

Baum's office released a rendering as the building neared completion. (copyright expired)

The symmetrical 64th Street elevation, looking much like a Venetian palace, was more reserved but no less striking.  Here three sets of grouped, leaded windows sat within pointed arches, while just above six projecting gargoyles with medieval human faces projected far from the facade.

The 64th Street facade.

Baum used variegated brick ("shading from brown and red to pastel shades of gray, lavender and purple," according to The New York Times), which he highlighted with vivid terra cotta decoration.  Elaborate window surrounds and entranceways were executed in colorful terra cotta.  In most instances, the motifs echoed medieval decorative elements--figures that smacked of cathedral saints, a stunning medallion of St. George slaying the dragon, and full figured lions, for example.  But included in the 64th Street entrance were very modern characters sculpted by artist Thomas Hudson Jones; symbols of the activities in which the boys here would engage.

To the left of the 64th Street entrance can be found a football and tennis player.

And to the right a baseball player and golfer.  Note the extravagant terra cotta designs of the engaged columns.

The expert workmanship required in constructing the building was not overlooked.  In September 1929 ten workers were awarded certificates and gold buttons by the New York Building Congress as "awards for craftsmanship."  In reporting on the ceremony, The New York Times remarked that the building was nearing completion; adding "Its thirteen stories and penthouse provide 600 bedrooms, two swimming pools, three gymnasiums, a theatre, library classrooms and laboratories."

This entrance on 63rd Street features polished stone columns, elaborate terra cotta ornament and full-figured seated lions.

Completed in March 1930, the building cost $3.25 million--more than $47.6 million today.  In providing activities for 14,000 members, it included a staggering range of venues.   The largest of the three gymnasiums was 90 feet long and 60 feet wide with space for spectators.  An indoor running track, boxing and wrestling rooms, six handball courts, and a Turkish bath with "sun ray equipment," were included in the physical education areas.

Terra cotta made its appearance inside as well, as seen in the entrance to the cafeteria.  photograph by Samuel H. Gottscho from the collection of the Museum of the City of New York

The Times reported "The larger of the two swimming pools, 90 feet long, is said to be the first in America in which Pompeian tile is used in the walls.  It is surrounded by a gallery and is deep enough for safety in high diving.  The smaller pool is 75 feet long, decorated in figured blue Spanish tiling. Both have blue plaster ceilings with a star effect."

The "boys' pool" was decorated with "Pompeian tiles." photo by Samuel H. Gottscho, from the collection of the Museum of the City of New York.

The West Side Y.M.C.A. was more than just athletics.  There were more than 20 "entertainment and activities rooms," classrooms and a theater.  While Baum had treated most of the rooms in the Italian style of the exterior; he added what The Times called "several novel rooms."  And novel they were.  There was a Totem Room, which housed a large native totem pole brought from Alaska; a forge room, a log cabin room, a "pirate ship's cabin," and even more unexpectedly, a "farm house attic."

The YMCA included a log cabin room (above) and a farmhouse attic...

and a pirate's ship cabin that was undoubtedly a favorite spot for young boys. photographs by Samuel H. Gottscho from the collection of the Museum of the City of New York

The West Side Y.M.C.A. had hardly settled in before plans were laid for a Trade and Technical School of the Education Department, which was currently being operated from rented space.  Dwight James Baum was recalled to design the architecturally-harmonious structure.  The New York Times reported it would be "in fifteenth century Lombardy style to match the West Side branch."

The brownstone-fronted buildings to the west of the new YMCA would come down for the new school structure.  photograph by Samuel H. Gottscho from the collection of the Museum of the City of New York

The $375,000 building (including the land and furnishings) was completed in September 1931.  Here boys would be trained in technologically up-to-the-minute trades.  The organization announced that "among the courses to be offered will be radio mechanics, television, automobile mechanics, motion picture and sound projection, architectural and mechanical drawing and electrical work."

While boys and men came and went taking advantage of the many activities, the theater space was sometimes used by other groups.  Such was the case on December 21, 1931 when the Allied Forces for Prohibition held a meeting here.  Composed mostly of clergymen, the group's goal was to obtain "pledges from citizens to support only dry candidates" in the following year's elections.

The Allied Forces for Prohibition met in the auditorium (above).  Below is the Italian-styled library.  photographs by Samuel H. Gottscho from the collection of the Museum of the City of New York

Much more surprising was the Nisei Job Conference held here on September 13, 1941.  Sponsored by two Japanese organizations, the Tozai Club and the Japanese Students Christian Association, the conference addressed the problem of anti-Japanese sentiment which had resulted in many Japanese-Americans being unemployed.   The San Francisco Japanese American News reported that "it was stressed that a long-range program for nisei employment is expected to be formulated at the meeting."

Less than three months later, on December 7, Japan's attack on Pearl Harbor put a end to the  Conference's hopes.

The main reception area contained medieval-styled furniture and a tapestry.  The boys' entrance on 64th Street featured a bas relief frieze of young men playing a variety of sports. photographs by Samuel H. Gottscho from the collection of the Museum of the City of New York

That event sparked the United States' entry into the war and left the American factory workforce significantly depleted.   The Westside Y.M.C.A. responded by announcing on October 3, 1942 "A special automobile mechanics course for women will be offered this month...The course has been scheduled at the request of many women who want to offer their services to aid in the war."

Following the war things returned to normal at the Westside Y.M.C.A.  It was frequently the scene of outside sports competitions.  On November 28, 1951, for instance, the Columbia Spectator announced that the Columbia Varsity fencers would face off with the Saltus Fencing Club here the next day.

Perhaps the first athlete trained here to gain international attention was gymnast John Pesha.  When the Illinois newspaper the Daily Illini listed the 1960 United States Olympic gymnastic team on February 13, 1959, Pesha's was among the six names.  The newspaper described him as "a former junior all-around champ from New York's Westside YMCA."

The Westside YMCA was a bargain in 1986.  The single room rent would be about $55.75 today.  The Stanford Daily, April 23, 1986

In 1986 the Trade and Technical School moved out of the 63rd Street building.  Following the construction of Lincoln Center nearby, the property values in the immediate neighborhood prompted the YMCA to merge the school with the Baldwin School and relocate.  The sale of the former school property resulted in its later being converted to apartments.

In the meantime the Westside YMCA continued to offer extensive programs to its members and visitors.  Today exercise classes are offered to both men and women which would puzzle and astound the members of 1930.  Included are instruction in belly dancing, spinning, yoga and karate.

Dwight James Baum's exotic Italian complex is an Upper West Side treasure; and its fanciful, delightful terra cotta ornamentation is a visual feast.

photographs by the author

The Fraternities Clubs Building -- No. 22 East 38th Street

John Murray had anticipated the northward expansion of the city when he wrote his will, restricting the development of his country estate for private residential purposes only.  By the mid-19th century the area, now known as Murray Hill, was filled with handsome upscale homes.

But by the first years of the 20th century commercial interests had migrated this far north as well.  The Murray Hill residents steeled themselves to fight incursion.  The South Dutch Church stood at the corner of Madison Avenue and 38th Street, but the congregation had moved to Park Avenue in 1910.

When a judge approved the erection of an apartment building on the site in July 1914, the Murray Hill residents were shocked.  "It was the general opinion that the ancient Murray Hill restriction has received, in the recent Court opinion, the hardest blow that it has ever encountered in the long fight to preserve the old-fashioned exclusiveness of the neighborhood," wrote The Times on July 12.

A few weeks earlier the Murray Hill Association had been formed "to prevent encroachments upon the old restriction."  Among its powerful directors were J. P. Morgan, Warren Delano, and Temple Bowdoin.  The Association announced its intentions to appeal the ruling.

The fight, as it turned out, resulted in only a delay.  On March 6, 1914 Wisconsin's The Blair Press reported "Today the Fraternity Club's' building stands practically completed at Madison avenue and Thirty-eighth street.  It is an imposing structure of 17 stories, not far from the center of the Murray Hill club, residential and theatrical district."

A syndicate, the Allerton 38th St. Co., Inc., had commissioned the architectural firm of Mugatroyd & Ogden to design the neo-Romanesque structure.  The Blair Press described it as "built of tapestry brick, trimmed with limestone, towered to conform, both with architectural beauty and with the requirements of the city's zoning law."

The zoning law to which the newspaper referred was the 1916 setback rule that required tall buildings to include setbacks.  The architects used the law to its architectural advantage, creating a Tuscan-inspired structure with tiled roofs, picturesque arcades and diapered brickwork.

The Allerton group operated several "club hotels," but this would be unique.  While several wealthy university clubs--the Harvard and Yale Clubs, for instance--erected their own handsome clubhouses, the Fraternities Clubs Building would house 17 college clubs.  The Cornell Club of New York took space, as well.  Its "beautiful quarters" had a private entrance on Madison Avenue and dedicated elevators.

The Blair Press noted "The building has everything a modern club might ask for.  There are squash courts, handball courts, Turkish baths, a gymnasium, locker rooms, billiard rooms, a beautiful lounge, a dining room to seat 200, smaller private dining rooms, a cafeteria, one of the largest roof gardens in New York, and more than 500 bedrooms."

The individual clubs "arranged the interiors of their quarters in accordance with the plans of their own architectural committee."  The New York Times, on February 23, 1924, added "An oyster bar, tailor shop and dressing rooms are in the basement," and described the 14th floor promenade "which encircles the building"

Fraternal shields decorate the second floor.

The building formally opened on February 22; but a month earlier the squash courts had been opened by national open squash tennis champion Walter Kinsella and Robert L. Cahill.  The New York Times noted on January 19 that the two would meet "in the first of a series of matches planned for the promotion of athletics among the seventeen fraternities which have rooms in the building."

While the fraternities were the most obvious tenants, other groups like the Epiphany Guild of America moved in as well.  The Guild described its lofty (and perhaps confusing) purpose as to provide "reading courses in the ancient Arcane wisdom with the specific object of building character and development of human efficient, applying this knowledge to the vital problems of life."

The uppermost floors contained upscale apartments for well-to-do bachelors.  photo from the collection of the New York Public Library

For decades the clubrooms would host lectures and discussions on socially and politically relevant topics.  On August 4, 1925 Rev. Dr. Charles Francis Potter of the West Side Unitarian Church spoke about the Scopes trial in Dayton, Tennessee.  Potter had gone there as unofficial aid to counsel for John Thomas Scopes.

Saying that the evolution trial was deliberately planned and was fostered by "a thirst for publicity," the minister was clear in his disdain.  Speaking at a Delta Upsilon Club luncheon he called the Dayton citizens "freaks" and said "Something that no one seemed to appreciate was that Judge Ralson himself is a Fundamentalist minister, and that up to three weeks before the trial he conducted revival meetings at different points near Dayton."

Potter scoffed that "the 'Holy Rollers' would have introduced in the Tennessee Legislature a bill prohibiting the teaching of geography in public schools because the Bible indicates that the earth is flat."

It was here, at a dinner of the Lions' Club on June 2, 1927 that Lieutenant Leigh Wade announced he was planning a 15-day flight around the globe.  The ambitious project, however, was "very much in embryo," according to The Times.  Wade had still not received financing for his bi-plane adventure.

Diamond pattern diapering in the brickwork led the eye upward to the quaint Northern Italian style upper floors.

Another surprising topic had to do with America's relations with the Soviets.  On June 26, 1928 Colonel Hugh L. Cooper spoke at a luncheon in the Delta Upsilon Club.  While he described communism as "this awful disease," he said "Russia is the richest nation in the world in natural resources...but they don't know how to develop them."  He saw that as a vast opportunity for American capitalism. "There never was such a pioneer field available as is Russia today to Americans."

The following year, on February 12, 1929, the President of Notre Dame University spoke at a luncheon of the Notre Dame Club.  His views of football were, most likely, surprising to the alumni gathered that afternoon, and inconceivable to college football fans today.

"We deplore the excessive and almost exclusive eminence of Notre Dame as a place where a football team is turned out.  Nobody at Notre Dame is fooled by it, least of all the boys and those who play on the team."  He described the university's football fame as "only a bubble" and predicted that academics would soon overshadow the sport.  He nevertheless announced the school's intentions to begin construction of a $750,000, 60,000-person football stadium in the spring.

The building's various fraternity clubs had strict admission policies, most of them requiring ID cards.  Nevertheless, non-members Frederick Kendrick and Joseph M. Roure gained access on April 18, 1930.  In the main dining room they "noticed a procession of men walking fro the dining room to a hallway."   Kendrick later explained "We thought something was up so we followed them.  They led us right into the bar."

The two interlopers were Federal prohibition agents.

They sat down and ordered two drinks of whiskey, but were told by the waiter, named Sandy, "We can't sell you a drink, but we'll sell you a bottle of rye."

The pair came back on April 22 and 23 and "on each occasion were made to feel at home."  As they wandered around the building, they discovered another bar in the locker room in the basement.

The men would return one more time, on April 30, when the Fraternities Clubs Building was raided.  Five employees were arrested and 101 bottles of liquor seized.  Officers of the clubhouses refused to make a statement regarding the illegal activities, "however, admitted they were completely mystified as to how the prohibition agents gained admission to the club even though they pretended to be college men," reported The Times on May 1.

The male-only bastion was jolted when its managing director, George A. Richards announced on August 12, 1932 that the building "will open its doors to women" beginning on September 1.  The Times reported "The ninety rooms of the fourth and fifth floors of the building have been redecorated and furnished with a 'feminine touch,' and the advance response to the change in police has led the Allerton Operating Corporation to make plans for possible use of addition space for women."

Depression Era women's organizations quickly took advantage.  The League of Girls Clubs opened its headquarters, offering "recreational and educational activities for unemployed girls;" and the Junior League of New York opened a branch for the same purpose.

In 1933 Eleanor Roosevelt established a "rest room and canteen" for unemployed girls in the building.  It was doubtlessly no coincidence that the Greater New York Branch of the League of Nations Association opened here the following year.

The New York Fraternity Clubs had been discussing construction of its own building since 1929; and in 1935 its clubhouses were gone and the building was rechristened the Midston House.  Although organizations like the Technical Publicity Association, the Silk Travelers' Association, the Aviators' Post 743 of the American Legion and the Association of Trial Lawyers had taken space by 1936; the former men-only building continued to fill with women's groups. The American Association of University Women and the New York Newspaper Women's Club joined those already here.

Fred Garrett moved into one of the apartments in 1945.  The 55-year old, tragically, was not as up-to-date with women's independence and ability to defend themselves as many of the females who met in the building.  On September 5 the following year a blonde woman, about 28 years old and wearing a gray suit, was standing on the corner of 38th Street and Madison when Garrett approached.  His remark was quite obviously offensive and witnesses said the woman "slapped [him] in the face so hard that he fell to the pavement and died."

After Garrett fell to the sidewalk, the woman fled in a taxi.

In 1961 the former Fraternities Clubs Building was converted to the Lancaster Hotel.  It became a favorite address for political campaign headquarters.  When Franklin Roosevelt, Jr. ran for Governor in 1966 his headquarters were here; as were Arthur J. Goldberg's when he ran for the same office four years later.  (Goldberg's staff sneaked out in August 1970 owing the hotel $6,500 in rent.)  And in 1973 the Lancaster housed the campaign offices of Republican candidate Mario Biaggi.  On October 5 that year burglars stole $1,000 in office equipment from Biaggi's offices; and a gutsy robber held up the desk clerk the following day, fleeing with $400.

The Lancaster Hotel was converted to the Jolly Madison Towers hotel around 2000.  Although the once beautiful arcades at the 2nd and 15th floors have been enclosed with windows; Mugatroyd & Ogden's design--a Tuscan monastery exploded to 20th century proportions--survives greatly intact.

photographs by the author

The 1894 Appleton & Co. Building -- 72 Fifth Avenue

In the first years following the end of the Civil War, Fifth Avenue below 14^th Street was already changing.  By 1870, the Lenox House hotel stood at the northwest corner of the avenue and 13^th Street—a formidable brownstone structure that looked as much mansion as hotel.  Run by James Slater, it was described by Appleton’s Hand-book of American Travel that year as a family hotel with a “deservedly high reputation.”

The "Washington Parade" in celebration of the centennial of the formation of the Federal Government marched past the Lenox House (near left) on May 1, 1889 -- NYPL Collection

At the time, neither D. Appleton & Company nor James Slater could know that their paths would intersect at the corner of 13^th Street and Fifth Avenue a quarter of a century later.

Daniel Appleton had founded the publishing house in 1825 far to the south on Exchange Place near the Bowery.  Originally a book importer and seller, the business grew at an astounding rate.  Before long, Appleton moved to Clinton Hall at Beekman Street.  It was the first of a rapid succession of relocations.

In January 1838, Appleton’s son, William, was taken into the business and it moved again, to 200 Broadway.  Upon Daniel Appleton’s retirement in 1848, William formed a partnership with his brother, John Adams Appleton, and the business moved once more—to Broadway and Leonard Street.  Then to 443 and 445 Broadway, and then to 94 Grand Street at the corner of Greene.  After that, around 1880, the firm moved to 1-5 Bond Street.

By now Appleton & Company was among the leading publishers in the nation, producing school books, religious tracks, encyclopedias, and a wealth of other texts; along with stereopticon cards, pamphlets and cabinet photographs.

In 1893 the publisher was ready to move yet again.  The old Lenox House hotel was demolished and in its place two sets of brothers, Marx and Moses Ottinger, and Isidore I. and Max S. Korn, erected Appleton’s new headquarters and store.  Designed by Cleverdon & Putzel and completed in 1894, the new 51-foot-wide structure stood in stark contrast to the dour brownstones along the avenue.  Constructed of light-colored stone, buff brick and terra cotta, it was a brilliant presence.  The Romanesque Revival design unapologetically blended medieval and Celtic motifs with a classical Greek key frieze between the third and fourth floors.

Below the pressed metal cornice a row of aloof female faces stared with disinterest and a pointed story-tall corner finial completed the design.

Awnings shield interior spaces from the afternoon sun in 1894 -- photo from The School Journal, Volume 50, January 5, 1895 (copyright expired)

Appleton & Company opened its doors in June 1894.  The New York Times called it a, “handsome new building…where the accommodations are spacious and everything for the different departments conveniently arranged.”  Books magazine noted, “In addition to their trade and two subscription departments there is a Spanish department, and a very large and important medical department which has just produced a monumental work, 'Foster’s Medical Dictionary.'”

A close look reveals cornice brackets in the form of female faces.

In 1896, Louis L. Lorillard purchased the building.  One of four sons of Pierre Lorillard, he was regarded as one of the wealthiest young men in New York upon his father’s death.  He spent $445,000 for the property–about $10.5 million today.  The New York Times noted that the sale was, “subject to leases for eight and three years.”  That would include, of course, the lease of Appleton & Company.

On March 22, 1900, the 75-year-old Appleton & Company surprised the publishing community when it was placed into receivership.  The New York Times explained

"Too much prosperity" is given as the cause of the suspension.  For years the Appletons have done a large business in the installment branch of the book trade.  This meant paying the original cost of the books, as well as the agents’ commissions long before the price of the books had been obtained from the customers, who had from six to thirty-six months’ time to make their payment.  As a result, the company had to borrow considerable amounts on its promissory notes, and these are now falling due.

 

Despite the embarrassment, the Appleton firm continued publishing and selling on a grand scale.  So grand, in fact, that in September 1902 the company moved once again, this time to a fine new building at the corner of Fifth Avenue and 39^th Street.

With Appleton & Co. gone, the building filled with smaller tenants like Perkins Goodwin & Co.  Their offices, seen above in 1905, were somewhat spartan despite the Oriental carpet in the middle of the room.  Simple stenciling relieved the white paint. --photo from the collection of the Museum of the City of New York

In April of 1910, Henry Corn signed a 21-year lease on the building, still owned by the Lorillard family.  Corn was in the process of building an L-shaped store and loft building that would wrap around the corner lot.  “He has secured the corner property primarily to protect the light and air of the adjoining building,” explained The New York Times.

In March 1915, the former Appleton Building got a new name when cigarette manufacturer Philip Morris & Co. leased the building “for a long term of years.”  For years to come, 72 Fifth Avenue would be known as the Philip Morris building.

Another long-term change came about on August 12, 1929 when The National City bank leased the ground floor, once the retail store of Appleton publishers.   The space was renovated as a branch banking and safe deposit office that would be a familiar presence in the neighborhood for decades.

By the time Philip Morris & Co. took the building the finial had disappeared from the corner. -- photo NYPL Collection

The building that had been erected as a publishing house again became home to another when Ginn & Co., educational publishers, purchased it in October 1946.  The nationally-recognized firm had been across the street at 70 Fifth Avenue for sixty years.  It announced that the National City Bank would continue to occupy the first floor while it would use the upper six floors for its own use.

By 1959, when an investor purchased the building, Ginn & Co. had reduced its space in the building and leased out a portion of the third floor to the New York Brass and Copper Company.  Two years later, New York Brass and Copper expanded to a full floor.

As the century progressed, other publishers moved into the building.  In 1976, Longman, Inc. was here, as well as Penguin Books.  Three years later, publisher Hamilton Fish moved his magazine The Nation into the building.  It was the oldest continuously published weekly in the country, having been founded in 1865.  The Nation, which dealt in politics and culture, proudly deemed itself “the flagship of the left.”

In the 1980s, the Human Sciences Press, publishers of The Journal of Aging and Judaism among other periodicals, joined the publishing community within the building.

By now, the façade of the first floor banking level had been seriously modernized.  The medieval columns and arches had been covered over by stone panels to disguise the Victorian design.  But by the end of the century, a restoration found, incredibly, that everything was entombed and waiting to be exposed.

The polished granite columns with their stylized Ionic capitals were intact behind the modern facade.

Today the building is home to the New School University’s Milano Graduate School of Management and Urban Policy.  Although the fantastic pointed finial on the roof long ago disappeared, the building looks much as it did when Appleton & Co. first opened its doors in June 1894.

non historic photographs taken by the author