A spatial interface to twenty essays on the objects and themes of the exhibit as well as the objects and landmarks
More informationThe important landmarks that stood at this important Broadway intersection over time and by site
More informationA look at the technical processes along with the men and women who made all these cultural commodities in New York
More informationHannah Wirta Kinney
Claire McRee
Kelsey Brow
Andrew Gardner
Kirstin Purtich
Kirstin Purtich
Claire McRee
Laura Kelly-Bowditch
Kelsey Brow
Virginia Fister
Martina D’Amato
Zahava Friedman-Stadler
Virginia Spofford
Virginia Spofford
Martina D'Amato
Virginia Fister
Andrew Gardner
“View of Broadway opposite Fulton Street”
From Harper’s Weekly [February 18, 1860], pp. 104–5
1860
Woodcut
15 1/2 × 21 5/8 in. (39.2 × 54.9 cm)
Library, Bard Graduate Center
Broadway and Fulton Street were the main thoroughfares running between uptown and downtown and from east to west, respectively. In the 1850s, gridlock reigned at the intersection, with some 1,200 vehicles reportedly passing every hour, and chaos prevailed, even in nice weather. However, in this scene, the melting snow has turned to mud, causing omnibuses and sleighs to skid and forcing pedestrians to risk their lives—and white undergarments–while crossing the street.
— Zahava Friedman-Stadler