Stanford White

“This man is Harry Thaw, charged with murder,” said Capt. Hodgins, in a voice which rang through the courtroom. It was June 1906 in the Jefferson Market Court House and these words heralded the start of the trial for the murder that was proclaimed the Crime of the Century! (It was 90 years before O.J. Simpson took that title away).

The Jefferson Market Court House is now the Jefferson Market branch library and we are proud to present an author reading and discussion of the new book, American Eve: Evelyn Nesbit, Stanford White. the Birth of the "It" Girl, and the Crime of the Century by Paula Uruburu. The event takes place Wednesday June 10 at 6:30pm at - where else? - the Jefferson Market branch library!

I first learned about Stanford White in E. L. Doctorow’s book Ragtime. It was the lurid tale of lust and murder regarding Stanford White that remained in my mind until I moved to New York City many years ago. Over a long period of time, I have come to learn Stanford White was much more than the scandal that I first associated with him. Stanford White was a master designer and instrumental in many of the great architectural works of the city.

Without knowing it, I came across the legacy of Stanford White time and time again while living in the city. Slowly I learned many of the great architectural prizes that exist in the city are White's designs. There are Stanford White treasures all over New York and the ones that are gone nonetheless register prominently if only in photographs. For example the long gone great Penn Station was designed by the prestigious architectural firm of McKim, Mead and White. I had been looking at images of Penn Station long before I moved to New York in the early 80’s. Penn Station’s demise in 1963 by no means crushed the spirit and importance of this building. Tragically its structure was destroyed for something inferior, but the old Penn Station’s voice speaks loud and clear from the many photographs that exist.  read more »

Today marks the 86th anniversary of the birth of photographer Diane Arbus.

Diane Nemerov was born in New York City on March 14, 1923. In 1941, at the age of 18 she married Allan Arbus who worked in the advertising department of her family’s store. She received a Graflex 6x9 camera the same year. They started working in fashion, with Allan at the camera and Diane as stylist and art director.

She began to work independently in 1957 and after separating from her husband in 1959 (he later went on to become an actor) she moved to a rear carriage house at 131 1/2 Charles Street where she lived for nine years. During those productive years she received two Guggenheim Fellowships (in 1963 and 1966) and had her first exhibition at the Museum of Modern Art (1964). In 1968 she moved from Greenwich Village to East Village’s historic Renwick Triangle at 120 East 10th Street. In 1970 Diane Arbus moved to the Westbeth Artists Housing in the West Village where she lived until July 26, 1971.

Check the Leo Catalog for more information on Diane Arbus. I recommend the book Untitled, the biography by Patricia Bosworth, and the highly fictionalized feature film Fur.

The Bosworth biography lists Arbus’s Greenwich Village address as 121 1/2 Charles Street, which interestingly enough is just about the location of another village landmark, Margaret Wise Brown’s relocated house. Other sources including the May 2, 2006 Greenwich Village Historical District Extension Designation Report and the address book notes associated with the discovery of her Hubert’s Museum photographs list her address as 131 1/2 Charles Street.

On a side note: architect Stanford White grew up in 118 East 10th Street, also part of the Renwick Triangle. White was murdered by Harry Thaw in 1906 and the murder trial was held at the Jefferson Market Courthouse.