HOW NEW YORK BECAME AMERICAN, 1890–1924 THE JOHNS HOPKINS UNIVERSITY PRESS BALTIMORE HOW j NEW YORK BECAME AMERICAN, 1890–1924 Angela M. Blake © 2006 The Johns Hopkins University Press All rights reserved. Published 2006 Printed in the United States of America on acid-free paper 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 The Johns Hopkins University Press 2715 North Charles Street Baltimore, Maryland 21218-4363 www.press.jhu.edu Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Blake, Angela M. How New York became American, 1890–1924 / Angela M. Blake. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 0-8018-8293-1 (hardcover : alk. paper) 1. New York (N.Y.—History—1898–1951. 2. New York (N.Y.)— History—1865–1898. 3. New York (N.Y.)—Public opinion. 4. National characteristics, American. 5. Public opinion—United States. 6. New York (N.Y.)—Economic conditions. 7. City and town life—New York (State)—New York—History. 8. City planning—New York (State)—New York—History. 9. Tourism—New York (State)—New York—History. 10. Architecture—New York (State)—New York—History. I. Title. F128.5.B59 2006 974.7′1—dc22 2005018073 A catalog record for this book is available from the British Library. CONTENTS List of Illustrations vii Acknowledgments ix Introduction 1 1. Reforming New York’s Image in the 1890s 15 2. Tourism and New York’s Image in the 1890s 49 3. Architecture, Americanism, and a “New” New York, 1900–1919 80 4.New York Is Not America:Immigrants and Tourists in New York after World War I 111 5. Brand New York: Making Midtown in the 1920s 139 Conclusion 171 Notes 177 Essay on Primary Sources 215 Index 231 This page intentionally left blank ILLUSTRATIONS 1.1. “Gotham Court” and “Five Cents a Spot,” in Jacob Riis, How the Other Half Lives,1890 26 1.2. “Life among the Tenements,” Harper’s Weekly,1887 32 1.3. Map No. 2, “Showing the Distribution of the Principal Nationalities by Sanitary Districts,” Harper’s Weekly,1895 34 1.4. “Poverty map” used in the Tenement House Exhibition, 1900 42 1.5. Model of a “dumb-bell”–style tenement block shown at the Tenement House Exhibition, 1900 44 2.1. Pamphlet guide to the World Building, c. 1899, front cover 56 2.2. “Looking Southwest from the ‘World’ Dome,” in King’s Handbook of New York,1893 64 2.3. Postcard, 1906 70 3.1. “Seeing New York from the Head of the Statue of Liberty” cartoon from “It’s a Fine Place to Visit, Yes—But I’d Hate to Live There,” Everybody’s Magazine,1916 84 3.2. “Wall Street Looking toward Broadway,” in New York: The Metropolis of the Western World,1902 88 3.3. Postcard of the Flatiron Building, 1904 90 3.4. Cartoon accompanying “Confessions of a Westerner and What He Sees in New York,” The Independent,1917 100 viii ILLUSTRATIONS 3.5. Detail of skyline image from Scenes of Modern New York,1905 106–7 4.1. “Leaving the Modern Gomorrah” cartoon from Saturday Evening Post,1920 114 4.2. Racial colonies map, Ohman Map Company, New York, 1920 118 4.3. “Melting Pot or Dumping Ground?” article by George Creel,Collier’s,1921 128 4.4. Illustration in Konrad Bercovici, Around the World in New York,1924 136 5.1. “Workshop of the Modern Novelist” cartoon from “Mis- representing New York in Fiction,” Literary Digest,1922 140 C.1. Detail of “Cartoon Map of New York City,” 1938 172 C.2. Detail of “Manhattan: First City in America,” 1933 174 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS With a project of such long duration—originally my doctoral dis- sertation and then a book—the individuals and institutions to whom I owe thanks are legion. In the first instance I wish to acknowledge the intellectual and moral support provided to me by the Department of History at American University, Washing- ton, D.C. When I arrived from England to begin graduate work, I knew little about the career path onto which I had unwittingly stepped. Luckily for me, the Department of History and the Col- lege of Arts and Sciences decided I was a good investment and provided me with four years of full and generous funding, as well as with fine teaching and professional training. The first two faculty members I met in the Department of His- tory, Michael Kazin and Peter Kuznick, became my chief mentors. I am grateful to them both for leading by example as gifted teach- ers, as historians, as advisers, as cheerleaders, as politically engaged academics, and as generous human beings. I also benefited greatly from the contributions of Vanessa Schwartz, during her time as a faculty member in A.U.’s History Department, and of Roy Rosen- zweig. I was fortunate to work with Vanessa as her student and as her research and teaching assistant. In her capacity as an innova- tive and deeply intelligent cultural historian, Vanessa helped shape many of the questions that drive this book as well as the method by which I answer them. As a member of my dissertation com- mittee, Roy Rosenzweig gave generously of his time, his knowl- edge of New York history, and his critical judgment, far beyond what I had any right to expect. Michael, Peter, Vanessa, and Roy