Next Wednesday, May 25th 2011, is the 100th anniversary of the date on which Julia Isham Taylor's letter offering land for the creation of Isham Park was presented to the Board of Estimate of New York City. To mark the occasion, a ceremony and second gathering for "Six to Celebrate" will be held in the park. Mrs. Taylor’s letter to then Manhattan Borough President George McAneny was published in the New York Times on the day following its presentation. A cake and excerpts from the Times article and other related news accounts will be shared.[1]
When Isham Park was finally dedicated on September 28th 1912, the gift of land by the Isham family had already changed the shape of rapid development in the area by preserving significant land for public use on a central high point which provided open views of the surrounding landscape. Less known is the fact that the gift of Isham Park revived the discussion of the city’s purchase of private lands on Inwood Hill for additional city parkland.[2] So, the gift of land from the Isham family can be credited with helping to preserve a greater portion of the geologic and historic features of Manhattan Island than the often overlooked boundaries of Isham Park suggest.
Please join us to commemorate Julia Isham Taylor’s offer of the land for Isham Park to New York City:
Wednesday, May 25th 2011 at 6:30pm
Isham Memorial, Isham Park
For more details on “Six to Celebrate” go to: http://www.hdc.org/6tocelebrate2011.htm
For more information please contact: volunteersforishampark@gmail.com[1] Two Free Parks for a City, New York Times, May 26, 1911, Friday, page 12
[2] Plans Park for North End of Manhattan Island: Gift of Mrs.[sic] Flora E. Isham Revives the Unfulfilled Dream of Andrew H. Green for Acquiring Inwood Hill So the City Would Have a Park at Each End of the Island, N.Y. Times Sunday, March 24, 1912, (no author cited), Magazine Section Part Six, Page SM7
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