Hudson-Fulton Celebration Collection
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Abstract
Paintings and photographs of parade floats from the Hudson-Fulton Celebration of 1909.
Historical Note
The weeklong Hudson-Fulton Celebration of 1909 was held to recognize the 300th year of Henry Hudson's discovery of the Hudson River and the 100th year since Robert Fulton began the first commercial steamboat (the Clermont) service between New York City and Albany, NY.
The festivities included two parades; the Historical Pageant and the Carnival Pageant, with floats designed and built by the Hudson-Fulton Celebration Commission. The parades took place in Manhattan, the Bronx, Brooklyn, and Staten Island, as well as various cities north of New York on the Hudson River. The Historical Pageant and Carnival Pageant parade route in Manhattan began on Central Park West at 110th Street, traveled south to 59th Street, west to Fifth Avenue, and south to Washington Square Park. The parades in Brooklyn took place on Eastern Parkway. The designers of the floats were Mr. Bror A. Wikstrom, Mr. M. K. Nash. Mr. A. Sestac, and Mr. Joseph Damon and were constructed in the Bronx at 149th Street and the Harlem River.
Also included in the celebration were naval parades with vessels from nine countries, including 53 U.S. naval vessels, fireworks, buildings and bridges illuminated with electric light, and a 63-foot replica of Hudson's Half Moon built in Amsterdam and sailed to New York.
Chronology
Arrangement
Arranged by format and serial number.
The collection is divided into two sereis; Boxed Files and Flat Files, with subseries for paintings, photographs, and printed material in each series.
Scope and Content Note
The Hudson-Fulton Celebration Collection spans the period circa 1909, and primarily contains paintings and photographs of parade floats from the celebration. The collection is divided into 2 series: Boxed Files, and Flat Files.
Series I. Boxed Files are arranged into subseries for Photographs, Miscellaneous Printed Material, Paintings of New York History Floats, and Paintings of Carnival Floats.
There are 4 boxes of monochromatic paintings on illustration board of New York History and Carnival floats, each measuring about 8 x 10 inches, as well as copy photographs of these paintings. These paintings were reproduced in souvenir booklets and official programs for the celebration. The New York History floats are also represented in a group of 15 photographs, showing the finished floats in parade on September 28, 1909.
The boxed files include portraits from the Hudson-Fulton Celebration, including William Berri, Chairman, Illumination Committee, and Children's Festival, Colored Children impersonating Indians. There is also an unbound photograph album containing 24 photographs, primarily of ships from the naval celebration.
The boxed files also contain miscellaneous printed material including a bond and affidavit for exhibition of the Half-Moon replica in the United States, and a 32 page souvenir booklet: Souvenir of the Hudson-Fulton Celebration, Albany, N.Y., October 7 & 8, 1909.
Series II. Flat Files are arranged into subseries for Photographs, Paintings of New York History Floats, Paintings of Carnival Floats, and Miscellaneous Printed Material.
The flat files include a second series of New York History and Carnival paintings in color on 18 x 23 inch paper.
The photographs include 8 views of the Half Moon replica, as well as a group of miscellaneous photographs of New York City Hall and Getty Square in Yonkers, NY illuminated at night by electric light, a view of the Hudson River and Verplank's Point, and a 'Living Flag' in Yonkers, NY.
The miscellaneous printed material is made up of original packaging labels from the gift, and a certificate of appreciation to General Stewart L. Woodford, President of the Hudson-Fulton Celebration Commission, from the Committee of Japanese Residents of New York commemorating the gift of 2,100 cherry trees from Japan to be planted along Riverside Drive.
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Access Restrictions
Open to qualified researchers.
Photocopying undertaken by staff only. Limited to twenty exposures of stable, unbound material per day. See guidelines in Print Room for details.
Use Restrictions
Permission to reproduce any Print Room holdings through publication must be obtained from:
Rights and Reproductions
The New-York Historical Society
170 Central Park West
New York, NY 10024
Phone: (212) 873-3400 ext. 270
Fax: (212) 579-8794
Preferred Citation
This collection should be cited as Hudson-Fulton Celebration Collection, PR 268, Department of Prints, Photographs, and Architectural Collections, The New-York Historical Society.
Provenance
Gift of the Hudson-Fulton Celebration Commission, 1911.