independence day
One hundred years ago today … New Yorkers celebrated Independence Day around the City with leisure, sports, property sales, and indoctrination into US culture.
The Tribune printed a full-day citywide itinerary on, oddly enough, July 5.
New York Tribune, 5 July 1920, p. 14. Newspapers.com
The above-mentioned “Americanization Jubilee,” was an appeal to the “melting-pot” concept of the nation (in which immigrants subordinate their native cultures to that of the dominant, white US culture).
According to the Tribune, the festivities commenced with Billie Burke (featured by NY 1920 here) reading a poem called “Ode to the Melting Pot.” (This might have been drawn from the influential 1908 play “The Melting Pot,” by Isaac Zangwill). An actual giant pot was stationed in the middle of the field, into which representatives from countries that had fought on the Allied side in World War One threw flowers. (“Nearly Everybody Will Celebrate,” New York Tribune, 3 June, p. 8).
The event was held at City College’s Lewisohn Stadium, between 136th and 138th Streets, between Amsterdam and Convents Avenues. Ephemeral New York covered the place in a 2010 blog post.
Lewisohn Stadium, City College, ca. 1915. The Museum of the City of New York.
In association with the Jubilee, a citywide “Athletic Carnival” was held for youth. Winners were awarded with medals that misspelled “jubilee,” as “jubillee.”
From Worthpoint.com.
The medal’s opposite side features Mayor Hylan and some soldiers.
Some New Yorkers, undoubtedly, were lured to Brooklyn’s Manhattan Beach Baths.
New York Times. 4 July 1920, p. 26. Newspapers.com
They may have even been persuaded to buy lots in the area.
New York Tribune, 4 July 1920, p. 25. Newspapers.com
If so, perhaps this appeal to their status as “citizen” helped, though it was for property available in the Bronx.
New York Tribune, 4 July 1920, p. 25. Newspapers.com
Lastly, it wouldn’t be Independence Day without firearms.
New York Times, 5 July 1920, p. 5. Newspapers.com
The mishap, the Times notes, definitely violated the “Safe and Sane” principle we discussed in our post about July 4 fireworks.
WRITTEN BY JONATHAN GOLDMAN, JULY 4, 2020.
TAGS: Independence Day, holiday, patriotism, assimilation, melting pot, immigrants, Americanization, Billie Burke, John Hylan, Manhattan Beach, Brooklyn, the Bronx, real estate, guns, sports, parks, City College