Booker T. Washington

My favorite short story by Dorothy Canfield Fisher is "The Washed Window," which centers on Booker T. Washington. Fisher's story was published in 1955, forty years after Washington's death. I…

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Daniel Webster (Central Park, New York)

Thomas Ball, Daniel Webster, dedicated 1876. Central Park near the West 72nd Street entrance. Photo copyright © 2017 Dianne L. Durante Fame ... The national reputation of “the god-like Daniel”…

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Darrow Faces Bryan Again in Dayton, TN

In late May, I posted on the sculpture of Clarence Darrow that was being designed to stand in front of the courthouse in Dayton, Tennessee, where the Scopes trial was…

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“America for Me,” by Henry Van Dyke, Jr.

Henry Van Dyke, Jr. (1852-1933) was sent as United States ambassador to Holland and Luxemburg in 1913, just before the Great War (World War I) erupted. Perhaps it was that…

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Athens Square, Astoria

Athens Square (corner of 30th Avenue and 30th St.) is in Astoria, a New York City neighborhood with a sizable Greek-American population. Over the past twenty-five years, residents have partnered…

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Recuerdo Staten Island

The (relatively) new Staten Island Ferry Terminal is decorated with excerpts from Edna St. Vincent Millay's 1922 poem "Recuerdo" ("I remember" or "souvenir"). The views from the terminal and the…

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Raymond Kaskey’s Portlandia

The facade of Robert Graves's Portland Building is graced by Raymond Kaskey's Portlandia. It's a huge sculpture in proportion to it site: just over three stories on a 15-story building. The…

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