Statue of Liberty 1898

Sept 3, 1898. Edison Manufacturing Co.

Bedloe's Island in New York's harbor bares Frederic Auguste Bartholdi's 'Liberty Enlightening the World' (the Statue of Liberty) which was only 12 years old at the time of this film. This is the first view immigrants had of the New World as the ships would enter the upper bay before docking at Ellis Island. After lifetimes of living in nineteenth century labor, poverty and strife, and after weeks of traveling on the ocean, often in tight conditions, the symbolic and emotional sight of this entry into America must have been incredible.

''ODE TO GREATER NEW YORK"
Hail thee, city, born today /
Commercial monarch by the sea, /
Whose throne is by the Hudson's way, /
'Mid thousands' homesteads join'd to thee. /
On terrace race, plain and mountainside, /
Where countless millions shall abide. /
Let the bells in triumph ring, /
Let the thundering cannon say, /
Let a million voices sing, /
Hail, our city, born today.
(composed by W.F. Easton & Francesco Fanciulli for the city's Consolidation Celebration to be played in City Hall Plaza on New Year's Eve 1897.)
- New York: Songs of the City - Nancy Groce

New York City in 1898:
On January 1st, Greater New York came into being, encompassing the five boroughs / Charlie Ebbets became president of the Dodgers and moved the team from Eastern Parkway in East New York to 10,000-seat Washington Park, which he built between Third and Fourth Avenues and First and Third Streets. The team won the opening game before 14,000 fans on April 30, beating the Philadelphia Phillies 6-4 / The $5 million dollar Harlem Speedway. The 2.3-mile roadway from 155th Street to Dykeman Street, opened on July 2. It was designed for carriages so that the elite could show off their prized horses. Lawson N. Fuller was the first to race through. The Speedway opened to automobiles in 1919 / A new Third Avenue Bridge over the Harlem River opened, the third on the site since 1795 / On September 13, the Board of Aldermen banned the sale of tobacco products to children under 18 / Life expectancy in the city was less than 50 years

Recommended reading:
Gotham / A History of New York City to 1898
- Edwin G. Burrows & Mike Wallace (The single most comprehensive history of NYC available)

Statue of Liberty / The First Hundred Years
- Bernard A. Weisberger (Houghton Mifflin Co.)

10/10/12 - 4,854

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[blahblahmr]

The air looks so clean.

[WetPooooopie]

I hope she downs herself