Thursday, June 19, 2003
East End Temple preserves historic building on East 17th Street
LOOKING AHEAD by Wally Dobelis
Over the weekend of June 7, 2003, the congregants of East End Temple
celebrated the dedication of their new home at 245 East 17th Street, in the
Stuyvesant Square Historic District. Noted among the representatives of local organizations at the dedication ceremonies were Dr. Thomas Pike, Rector of St. George/Calvary Episcopal Church, Rabbi Daniel Alder of the Brotherhood Synagogue, Robert Lauder, principal of Friends Seminary, Assemblymembers Deborah Glick and Steven Sanders, State Senator Thomas K. Duane, Carol Schachter and Robin Hoffmann of SPNA and Jack Taylor of Historic Districts Council, a private preservation advocacy group. It must be noted that the HDC does not designate or approve changes in buildings, it expresses opinions; the Landmarks Preservation Commission makes Historic District and individual building landmarking designations, applicable to exteriors only. Interiors are designated separately, and rarely.
The interesting building at 17th Street west of 2nd Avenue, across from Stuyvesant Park, has been restored to its former glory. It was designed by Richard Morris Hunt (1828-95), the flamboyant architect of chateaux for the Vanderbilts (the 660 5th Avenue "Hunting Lodge," the
Breakers and Marble House in Newport, the garden-rich Biltmore in
Asheville), conservationist Gifford Pinchot and other American grandees.
Having brought Beaux-Arts style to New York in 1855, Hunt was also
commissioned to design public structures - the base of the Statue of
Liberty, the facade of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the 1873 Tribune
skyscraper, as well as the extension of the U.S. Capitol, and the 1893
Columbian World Exhibition in Chicago. Hunt is celebrated in a memorial in
Central Park at East 70th St.
The residence at 245 East 17th Street was built in 1883 for the
Harvard-educated lawyer Sidney Webster (1828-1910), private secretary of
President Franklin Pierce (Democrat, 1853-57, failed to reconcile the North
and South over the admission of Kansas as a slavery state). Webster met
Governor Hamilton Fish while the latter was a U.S. Senator (1851-57; NYS
Governor 1849-50; Secretary of State under Grant, 1869-77), and married his
daughter Sarah in 1860. She bought the property from her father. Webster
practiced law in N. Y., was a director of the Illinois Central RR, and
wrote Two Treaties of Paris and the Supreme Court (1901), useful as
research material for Jefferson's Louisiana Purchase. His other important
local connection was the ownership of Pen-Craig, a Newport cottage
purchased from the George Frederick Jones family, whose daughter Edith
spent many months of her childhood and young adulthood, as Mrs Henry
Wharton, on the premises.
In the progress of time the building changed, eventually turning into a
Beth Israel clinic. The interior was divided into examination rooms andcubicles, preserving only the magnificent front room with its wooden
fireplace and wooden ribs across the ceiling. Nevertheless, the Hunt house
was one of the prides of the Stuyvesant Square Historic District when it
was established in 1975.
The East End Temple, occupant of a small building and other adjacent
valuable underused land on 23rd and 2nd Ave, had a dream, since the 1980s.
They hoped to trade their valuable corner real estate to an apartment
building developer, reserving for themselves some much improved premises on
three floors. When that did not materialize, in 1998 they sold the property
to developer Don Zucker, expecting to use $2.9 million of the proceeds to
buy a larger mid-block property Meanwhile, their long- time architectural
consultant Harry Kendall fitted them up with a temporary temple in a former
restaurant at 403 1st Ave.
In 2001 the dreams came to a fruition - the 17th Street property surfaced
on the synagogue=s radar screen. The building was researched and found
appropriate, it was bought, the plans were presented to Community Board #6
and the Landmarks Preservation Commission, all with great urgency. The main part of the restoration has been completed.
How is that all possible, in the days of environmental impact statements
and multi-level reviews and approvals? Well, with good plans that respect
original design and good intentions, everybody cooperates. The initiative was
driven by the then president of the synagogue, Helene Spring, present president Edna Rosen, the Board of Trustees and its Chairman, Richard Muskat, and the Rabbi, David S.
Adelson.
The building has five stories, of which the ground floor and the next level were combined, to form a balconied sanctuary, with seating for the 200 families. A lower level, of equal size,
became the social room. The beautiful front parlor, the Library, was
preserved. Directly behind it, a staircase and the elevator were removed,
and a new elevator installed . The sanctuary fitted in the space behind,
nearly to the end of the 90-plus foot depth of the building (an L- space in
the back was squared off). The two upstairs floors serve as offices and
Hebrew School.
The landmarked front elevation may be described as French Renaissance
Revival, although Hunt was inventive in his use of designs. The building
has interesting step-wise dormers. The architect, Harry Kendall, in researching the
design, was able to locate original photographs showing small Ionic columns
between the roof structures, lost in the past years as the building was
maintained and adapted for use by various owners, appropriate for
restoration.
Wally Dobelis thanks Heather Klopfer and Jack Taylor for assistance in updating his 2001
material to celebrate the successful preservation and renovation effort of
a true historical and neighborhood treasure.
Over the weekend of June 7, 2003, the congregants of East End Temple
celebrated the dedication of their new home at 245 East 17th Street, in the
Stuyvesant Square Historic District. Noted among the representatives of local organizations at the dedication ceremonies were Dr. Thomas Pike, Rector of St. George/Calvary Episcopal Church, Rabbi Daniel Alder of the Brotherhood Synagogue, Robert Lauder, principal of Friends Seminary, Assemblymembers Deborah Glick and Steven Sanders, State Senator Thomas K. Duane, Carol Schachter and Robin Hoffmann of SPNA and Jack Taylor of Historic Districts Council, a private preservation advocacy group. It must be noted that the HDC does not designate or approve changes in buildings, it expresses opinions; the Landmarks Preservation Commission makes Historic District and individual building landmarking designations, applicable to exteriors only. Interiors are designated separately, and rarely.
The interesting building at 17th Street west of 2nd Avenue, across from Stuyvesant Park, has been restored to its former glory. It was designed by Richard Morris Hunt (1828-95), the flamboyant architect of chateaux for the Vanderbilts (the 660 5th Avenue "Hunting Lodge," the
Breakers and Marble House in Newport, the garden-rich Biltmore in
Asheville), conservationist Gifford Pinchot and other American grandees.
Having brought Beaux-Arts style to New York in 1855, Hunt was also
commissioned to design public structures - the base of the Statue of
Liberty, the facade of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the 1873 Tribune
skyscraper, as well as the extension of the U.S. Capitol, and the 1893
Columbian World Exhibition in Chicago. Hunt is celebrated in a memorial in
Central Park at East 70th St.
The residence at 245 East 17th Street was built in 1883 for the
Harvard-educated lawyer Sidney Webster (1828-1910), private secretary of
President Franklin Pierce (Democrat, 1853-57, failed to reconcile the North
and South over the admission of Kansas as a slavery state). Webster met
Governor Hamilton Fish while the latter was a U.S. Senator (1851-57; NYS
Governor 1849-50; Secretary of State under Grant, 1869-77), and married his
daughter Sarah in 1860. She bought the property from her father. Webster
practiced law in N. Y., was a director of the Illinois Central RR, and
wrote Two Treaties of Paris and the Supreme Court (1901), useful as
research material for Jefferson's Louisiana Purchase. His other important
local connection was the ownership of Pen-Craig, a Newport cottage
purchased from the George Frederick Jones family, whose daughter Edith
spent many months of her childhood and young adulthood, as Mrs Henry
Wharton, on the premises.
In the progress of time the building changed, eventually turning into a
Beth Israel clinic. The interior was divided into examination rooms andcubicles, preserving only the magnificent front room with its wooden
fireplace and wooden ribs across the ceiling. Nevertheless, the Hunt house
was one of the prides of the Stuyvesant Square Historic District when it
was established in 1975.
The East End Temple, occupant of a small building and other adjacent
valuable underused land on 23rd and 2nd Ave, had a dream, since the 1980s.
They hoped to trade their valuable corner real estate to an apartment
building developer, reserving for themselves some much improved premises on
three floors. When that did not materialize, in 1998 they sold the property
to developer Don Zucker, expecting to use $2.9 million of the proceeds to
buy a larger mid-block property Meanwhile, their long- time architectural
consultant Harry Kendall fitted them up with a temporary temple in a former
restaurant at 403 1st Ave.
In 2001 the dreams came to a fruition - the 17th Street property surfaced
on the synagogue=s radar screen. The building was researched and found
appropriate, it was bought, the plans were presented to Community Board #6
and the Landmarks Preservation Commission, all with great urgency. The main part of the restoration has been completed.
How is that all possible, in the days of environmental impact statements
and multi-level reviews and approvals? Well, with good plans that respect
original design and good intentions, everybody cooperates. The initiative was
driven by the then president of the synagogue, Helene Spring, present president Edna Rosen, the Board of Trustees and its Chairman, Richard Muskat, and the Rabbi, David S.
Adelson.
The building has five stories, of which the ground floor and the next level were combined, to form a balconied sanctuary, with seating for the 200 families. A lower level, of equal size,
became the social room. The beautiful front parlor, the Library, was
preserved. Directly behind it, a staircase and the elevator were removed,
and a new elevator installed . The sanctuary fitted in the space behind,
nearly to the end of the 90-plus foot depth of the building (an L- space in
the back was squared off). The two upstairs floors serve as offices and
Hebrew School.
The landmarked front elevation may be described as French Renaissance
Revival, although Hunt was inventive in his use of designs. The building
has interesting step-wise dormers. The architect, Harry Kendall, in researching the
design, was able to locate original photographs showing small Ionic columns
between the roof structures, lost in the past years as the building was
maintained and adapted for use by various owners, appropriate for
restoration.
Wally Dobelis thanks Heather Klopfer and Jack Taylor for assistance in updating his 2001
material to celebrate the successful preservation and renovation effort of
a true historical and neighborhood treasure.
Thursday, June 12, 2003
The language police force our children to learn censored history
LOOKING AHEAD by Wally Dobelis
The Language Police: How Pressure Groups Restrict What Students Learn, by Diana Ravitch (Alfred A. Knopf, N.Y. 2003 $24) shocks the reader. The censors from the Right and the Left, including extremist ethnic and fringe cultural groups, have profoundly influenced the contents of textbooks, by gaining unquestioned review and revision rights in state education departments. The big extreme Left/Right states, California and Texas, by requiring that textbooks pass their bias and sensitivity committee standards, limit what is taught throughout the nation. It is not only Huck Finn and Catcher in the Rye that no longer pass the muster.
Diane Ravitch, historian, Assistant Secretary of Education under Bush41 and a member of the National Assessment Governing Board under Clinton, learned the realities when working on Clinton's Voluntary National Tests in 1998-2000. Developing test reading material for fourth-graders, she found that a reputable test contractor's (Riverside Publishing) own bias and sensitivity board rejected 15 stories that the NAGB, all educators, had found eminently acceptable. A story about a courageous blind climber of Mt. McKinley and another, about dolphins, had "regional bias" (unfamiliarity). A tale of owls ran into a Navajo taboo. Aesop's fable of the clever crow had "gender bias," Mary McLeod Bethune opened her school for Negro Girls with the aid of National Association of Colored Women (two biased words) and money from John D. Rockefeller (objectionable source). An African-American girl in summer school traded her rope-jumping skills for tutoring - the self-esteem values did not offset the purported negative stereotype. A tale of peanuts and George Washington Carver's discoveries had the faults of mentioning African slaves and European explorers defeating Brazilian tribes (correct use is "enslaved;" the history is accurate but conveys bias???)
Investigating further, Ravitch found these censorships deeply ingrained in the four textbook houses responsible for 75% of the $3 billion textbook industry. Historically, censors on the Right scrutinized textbooks, arguing against discourses of evolution, United Nations and Communism, eventually centering on family values (Falwell, Schlafly, Robertson, LaHaye). Mel and Norma Gabler in Texas were particularly successful. On the Left, Council on Interracial Books for Children (CIBC, NYC, 1966-1990 ) forced the American Library Association in 1979 to take a stand against racist and sexist books (Dr Doolittle, Uncle Tom's Cabin, fairy tales) in libraries, and, in tandem with NOW and other feminist groups, fought against Dick and Jane stereotypes, and for 50-50 male and female ratio in books. James and Cherry Banks wrote bias guidelines for two publishing empires. Book publishers, faced with the racist label, readily accepted the threats from the Left.
In the Appendix, one can measure the impact of the censorship. Banned words, usages, stereotypes and topics add to 420; there are 30 phrases and 15 expressions to be avoided in textbooks (do not mention mankind, "she thinks like a man;" balance Marys and Joes with Joses, Lashundas, Ches and Lings). Bad images (98) include mother sewing, cooking, in shock; men in stereotypical tasks (police, construction, playing ball while women watch). Images to avoid include people of color (15), African-Americans (29), Native Americans (25), Asian-Americans (35), Hispanic Americans (31), Jewish (6), people who are older (28), persons with disabilities (21), homosexual persons (6), miscellaneous stereotypes ( Irish police). Topics to avoid in textbooks (41) cover slaves, religion, divorce, drinking, drugs, crime, dialect, smoking. Foods to avoid (34) and to accept (29) are as you would expect. Nevertheless, one is shocked by the knowledge areas to be excluded in tests (108) - religion, evolution, law and technology terms, politics, crime, violence, race relations, sports, war, hurricanes, rock & roll and rap music; also masks (Halloween) and dinosaurs (evolution). The author cites 24 publisher and state education departments' publications of standards to substantiate her claims.
While we can accept the good intent behind many established standards fighting bias, racism and stereotypes, rewriting history is another matter. The early glorification of the American nation and neglect of the racial minorities and women has taken a drastic turn since the 1970s. America is now portrayed as the conflux of three civilizations. The Anasazis and Mayas had the greatest builder cultures. University of Timbuktu was a major cultural resource, and black Egypt was the cradle of civilization. History textbooks have fattened, to include biographies of new worthies. World histories often see Mao as emancipator of Chinese peasantry, forgiving the million killed and 20 million starved, and Islam somewhat like the silent majority here, with women having significant rights. Indian women have dignity; no mention of widows' self-immolation. In 1987 NY, and particularly CA (Charlotte Crabtree and Gary B. Nash at the National Center for History at UCLA) revised history curricula, with federal funding, to re-balance toward multiculturalism, and to de-emphasize the "great men" concept. This caused an uproar, the Senate passed a 99-1 resolution condemning it, and some radical language was cut. Now 14 states have strong standards, instructing schools what students should learn about, without prescribing interpretations. But the textbook bias and sensitivity boards persist.
The author proposes reform, by exposure of the censorship and the shrinking of knowledge and intellectual challenge that it carries. Our children are getting incomplete and distorted conformist education. Eliminate the state-wide textbook adoption process. Cast sunshine on the process; let educators evaluate, not identity politics pushers. Have textbooks reviewed, just like trade books. Let's move, our children's America is at stake.
The Language Police: How Pressure Groups Restrict What Students Learn, by Diana Ravitch (Alfred A. Knopf, N.Y. 2003 $24) shocks the reader. The censors from the Right and the Left, including extremist ethnic and fringe cultural groups, have profoundly influenced the contents of textbooks, by gaining unquestioned review and revision rights in state education departments. The big extreme Left/Right states, California and Texas, by requiring that textbooks pass their bias and sensitivity committee standards, limit what is taught throughout the nation. It is not only Huck Finn and Catcher in the Rye that no longer pass the muster.
Diane Ravitch, historian, Assistant Secretary of Education under Bush41 and a member of the National Assessment Governing Board under Clinton, learned the realities when working on Clinton's Voluntary National Tests in 1998-2000. Developing test reading material for fourth-graders, she found that a reputable test contractor's (Riverside Publishing) own bias and sensitivity board rejected 15 stories that the NAGB, all educators, had found eminently acceptable. A story about a courageous blind climber of Mt. McKinley and another, about dolphins, had "regional bias" (unfamiliarity). A tale of owls ran into a Navajo taboo. Aesop's fable of the clever crow had "gender bias," Mary McLeod Bethune opened her school for Negro Girls with the aid of National Association of Colored Women (two biased words) and money from John D. Rockefeller (objectionable source). An African-American girl in summer school traded her rope-jumping skills for tutoring - the self-esteem values did not offset the purported negative stereotype. A tale of peanuts and George Washington Carver's discoveries had the faults of mentioning African slaves and European explorers defeating Brazilian tribes (correct use is "enslaved;" the history is accurate but conveys bias???)
Investigating further, Ravitch found these censorships deeply ingrained in the four textbook houses responsible for 75% of the $3 billion textbook industry. Historically, censors on the Right scrutinized textbooks, arguing against discourses of evolution, United Nations and Communism, eventually centering on family values (Falwell, Schlafly, Robertson, LaHaye). Mel and Norma Gabler in Texas were particularly successful. On the Left, Council on Interracial Books for Children (CIBC, NYC, 1966-1990 ) forced the American Library Association in 1979 to take a stand against racist and sexist books (Dr Doolittle, Uncle Tom's Cabin, fairy tales) in libraries, and, in tandem with NOW and other feminist groups, fought against Dick and Jane stereotypes, and for 50-50 male and female ratio in books. James and Cherry Banks wrote bias guidelines for two publishing empires. Book publishers, faced with the racist label, readily accepted the threats from the Left.
In the Appendix, one can measure the impact of the censorship. Banned words, usages, stereotypes and topics add to 420; there are 30 phrases and 15 expressions to be avoided in textbooks (do not mention mankind, "she thinks like a man;" balance Marys and Joes with Joses, Lashundas, Ches and Lings). Bad images (98) include mother sewing, cooking, in shock; men in stereotypical tasks (police, construction, playing ball while women watch). Images to avoid include people of color (15), African-Americans (29), Native Americans (25), Asian-Americans (35), Hispanic Americans (31), Jewish (6), people who are older (28), persons with disabilities (21), homosexual persons (6), miscellaneous stereotypes ( Irish police). Topics to avoid in textbooks (41) cover slaves, religion, divorce, drinking, drugs, crime, dialect, smoking. Foods to avoid (34) and to accept (29) are as you would expect. Nevertheless, one is shocked by the knowledge areas to be excluded in tests (108) - religion, evolution, law and technology terms, politics, crime, violence, race relations, sports, war, hurricanes, rock & roll and rap music; also masks (Halloween) and dinosaurs (evolution). The author cites 24 publisher and state education departments' publications of standards to substantiate her claims.
While we can accept the good intent behind many established standards fighting bias, racism and stereotypes, rewriting history is another matter. The early glorification of the American nation and neglect of the racial minorities and women has taken a drastic turn since the 1970s. America is now portrayed as the conflux of three civilizations. The Anasazis and Mayas had the greatest builder cultures. University of Timbuktu was a major cultural resource, and black Egypt was the cradle of civilization. History textbooks have fattened, to include biographies of new worthies. World histories often see Mao as emancipator of Chinese peasantry, forgiving the million killed and 20 million starved, and Islam somewhat like the silent majority here, with women having significant rights. Indian women have dignity; no mention of widows' self-immolation. In 1987 NY, and particularly CA (Charlotte Crabtree and Gary B. Nash at the National Center for History at UCLA) revised history curricula, with federal funding, to re-balance toward multiculturalism, and to de-emphasize the "great men" concept. This caused an uproar, the Senate passed a 99-1 resolution condemning it, and some radical language was cut. Now 14 states have strong standards, instructing schools what students should learn about, without prescribing interpretations. But the textbook bias and sensitivity boards persist.
The author proposes reform, by exposure of the censorship and the shrinking of knowledge and intellectual challenge that it carries. Our children are getting incomplete and distorted conformist education. Eliminate the state-wide textbook adoption process. Cast sunshine on the process; let educators evaluate, not identity politics pushers. Have textbooks reviewed, just like trade books. Let's move, our children's America is at stake.
