Inspired by two watershed events in the history of New York City, the Hudson-Fulton Celebration of 1909 honored the seminal achievements of Henry Hudson and Robert Fulton through a week-long, city-wide festival. In addition to the elaborate parades and fetes that were planned to commemorate Hudson’s 1609 discovery of the river that now bears his name and Fulton’s 1807 steamboat trip up this river, the city also rejoiced in other facets of its rich history during the celebration. The intention of the Hudson-Fulton Celebration Commission, which organized and realized the event, was to inform the broad civic community, as well as tourists and international visitors, of the city’s valuable historical past. Thus, the Commission enlisted numerous educational venues throughout the metropolitan area to serve as exhibition sites that presented relevant artifacts and objects, including those of Hudson and Fulton. For the duration of the Hudson-Fulton Celebration of 1909, many of the museums and historical locations throughout Manhattan and the five boroughs created displays that were pertinent to the city’s tercentennial history, with an underlying educational agenda which aimed to portray New York as a cultured, cosmopolitan city to the onlooking world.

In order to tackle such a seemingly large task, the Hudson-Fulton Celebration Commission created two separate committees to manage the events. One group would handle the art exhibits at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, while the other would take charge of the historical displays.^[1] Both of these types would, in the Commission’s eyes, serve a functional didactic purpose in addition to entertaining their audiences. Keeping this purpose in mind, organizers began compiling locations, artifacts, and information. Rather than construct numerous new buildings in which to hold the proposed exhibitions, the Commission, in 1907, agreed upon employing the already existing museums of the metro area. The plan was a success, as twenty-two of the twenty-five museums of Greater New York took part in the Celebration.^[2] This remarkable turnout stands as evidence of the city’s desire to spread its history and culture to all who would listen. The exhibits listed below were created “to emphasize the essential character of the occasion, so that they may give to the visiting thousands a more immediate and intimate knowledge of the conditions obtaining in Henry Hudson’s time, and of the initiation and development of steam navigation.”^[3] In addition, these displays served “to arouse a feeling of civic pride in our citizens, and also to impress those who come from all parts of our land with the greatness and historic importance of our metropolis, and [they] will powerfully stimulate the taste for art, science, and history.”^[4] Promoting New York’s position as a refined city with immense culture to offer was of main concern to the Commission, and the exhibits reflected this scheme, both in their subjects and their presentation to the public. Following is a description of each exhibition, listed in alphabetical order, along with the objects that were displayed there.^[5]

American Geographical Society: The exhibit at the American Geographical Society lasted for thirty days and attracted one thousand visitors to its 1572 square feet of display.^[6] The building, located at 15 West 81st Street, held a collection of rare maps, books, and the like related to Henry Hudson, Robert Fulton, and their times.^[7] A guidebook was also created that contained information on each object displayed, as well as reproductions of the title-pages of rare books seen in the exhibit.^[8] Those who viewed these artifacts came away with a more learned sense of who these influential men were and what they accomplished, along with their connection to the New York of 1909.

American Society of Mechanical Engineers: This display, which lasted from 15 September – 15 October 1909, was held in the Engineering Building located at 29 West 39th Street. Seven hundred square feet of the building were occupied by the exhibit, and a total of 500 visitors were in attendance during its open hours of 9 AM-5:30 PM.^[9] The subjects of interest at this location were “models of the first vessels to which steam was applied for navigation, and models of the latest steamships, thus illustrating the immense changes which have taken place in one century.”^[10] The juxtaposition of two eras of steam navigation allowed patrons to visualize the progression of technology over time. Paintings, drawings, books, and Robert Fulton’s personal dining table were among the objects on display,^[11] while documents related to Fulton’s initial inquiry into steamships, as well as a self-portrait of him, could also be seen at this exhibition.^[12] Visitors to this exhibit would have learned extensively about Robert Fulton’s steam-harnessing marvel, and the influence it has had on water travel since its invention.

American Museum of Natural History: The Natural History Museum, located at Central Park West and 77th Street, opened an exhibit on 15 September, 1909, displaying remnants of the Indians of Manhattan Island. This included all indigenous people who settled and resided on the land before Henry Hudson arrived. Located in a significant portion of the ground floor of the museum, the display opened in 1909 with the intention of being permanent.^[13] Around 73,714 people were in attendance within the first month of its unveiling, a number whichalso included school trips brought by teachers.^[14] The exhibit was the basis for Board of Education lectures supplemented by slide photographs of the objects, giving it an explicit educational purpose. Testimony to the “interesting character of this exhibition” was seen in the large increase in the number of visitors in 1909 versus 1908.^[15] Pamphlets were issued by Dr. Clark Wissler and Alanson Skinner on numerous themes pertaining to the exhibit, such as the discovery, acquisition, and colonization of Manhattan Island.^[16] Skinner’s catalogue gave a detailed account of native civilization in New York City and the surrounding area, describing their ways of life as inferred from numerous archaeological excavations.^[17] Engravings were also included in this pamphlet, showing Indians in their native attire. ^[18]

Specifically, the objects on display in the Museum of Natural History were described in the Hudson-Fulton program as follows:

…On the one hand an attempt will be made to represent, as adequately as possibly, prehistoric Indian life in Greater New York and the immediate vicinity. Specimens illustrating the various phases of ancient culture in this locality – implements of stone and bone, weapons, food products obtained from old fireplaces, potsherds, and household articles generally – have been installed. To demonstrate more clearly primitive processes of manufacture, series have been prepared to exemplify the history of an arrowhead from a simple unworked quartz pebble to the finished point, and of Indian earthenware from the initial coil of clay to the completed pot. In this archeological portion of the exhibit the model of a rock shelter is particularly noteworthy. Secondly, there is an ethnological exhibit, mainly devoted to the Iroquois Indians of New York State. A group of life-size figures illustrates Iroquois costumes, and there is an ample representation of the articles used by them in daily life, such as pots and other implements for the preparation of food, baskets, wampum belts, games, and weapons. A full collection of ceremonial regalia employed in their secret societies should prove of special interest.^{[19] [20]}

The Hudson-Fulton exhibit at the American Museum of Natural History, which is now a part of the permanent collection of the museum and recreated Native American culture in New York City used artifacts and descriptions, and proved instructive for schoolchildren and international visitors alike. It informed those who viewed it of the widespread society that Hudson encountered when he sailed into New York Harbor while also documenting the area’s Indian past, which was very often forgotten or ignored by historians prior to 1909.

Brooklyn Institute of Arts and Sciences: Located on the Eastern Parkway near Prospect Park North in Brooklyn, this site devoted 2,000 square feet to house their Hudson-Fulton related exhibit, which attracted fifty thousand visitors in the first month of its opening.^[21] Numerous themes were incorporated into the display, including Long Island’s native animals as well as a collection of tools used by Long Island Indians that inhabited the land before Hudson’s arrival.^[22] The Children’s Museum of the Brooklyn Institute also participated in the Celebration, putting on a display showing the local fauna of Long Island.^[23] This exhibit covered 150 square feet of the space and brought nearly 20,000 guests to its doors.^[24]

In addition to the exhibits at the Brooklyn Institute, special signs labeling tree species were placed in several Brooklyn parks, including Prospect, Bedford, Highland, and Tompkins Parks. Special plaques, which read “This species is a native of the Hudson River Valley,” marked trees indigenous to the Hudson River Valley in 1609 as well.^[25]

City History Club & College of the City of New York: The City History Club headquarters, which is located at 21 West 44th Street, had on display numerous relics relating to the history of New York City, including drawings, pictures and maps.^[26] This exhibit, which attracted 160 visitors throughout the month of October 1909, took up three hundred square feet of space in the headquarters building.^[27]

Similarly, the College of the City of New York also had representative remnants of Old New York. Among the charts, manuscripts, and artifacts included at this location at St. Nicholas Avenue and 139th Street were original prints of New Netherland (1650) and New Amsterdam (1690) by Nicholas J. Visscher, as well as Revolutionary era plans, views, and battle relics.^{[28] [29]} Bronze busts of Washington, Lincoln, and Fulton by Houdon and Volk were also shown in the exhibit, which ran from 25 September – 9 October, 1909 and brought 2000 guests to its doors.^[30] The display of objects from different time periods in New York illustrated the developments that had occurred over time, contrasting Revolutionary New York with the contemporary city of 1909.

Fraunces’ Tavern: This revolutionary period historical site, located at 54 Pearl Street, was built in 1719. It was purchased by and placed under the care of the New York Society of the Sons of the Revolution in 1904.^[31] The tavern is perhaps most famously known as the location of George Washington’s farewell to his officers on 4 December, 1783. Restored in 1907, this site participated in the Celebration by establishing a permanent collection of Revolutionary relics, which were displayed in historically realistic settings.^[32] Over a period of 2-3 weeks during the Celebration, 2500 visitors attended this exhibit, which covered about 200 square feet of the third floor of the historical tavern.^{[33] [34]}

Metropolitan Museum of Art: Often seen as the most important exhibit of the Hudson-Fulton celebration, this landmark museum had on display for two months, beginning 30 September, 1909, a magnificent, unrivaled collection of seventeenth-century paintings by Dutch masters, along with Dutch furniture and objects of art. In addition, an exhibit of American industrial art and paintings was also shown.^[35] Covering 9,070 square feet of the then-recently completed north wing of the museum, this monumental exhibition brought over three hundred thousand guests to the Metropolitan’s legendary entrance, which is located in Central Park at Fifth Avenue and 82nd Street.^[36]

The Dutch exhibit contained 145 paintings and consisted primarily of masterpieces created by contemporaries of Henry Hudson, including Rembrandt, Frans Hals, Vermeer van Delft, Jacob van Ruisdael, and Aelbert Cuyp.^[37] Contributors to this collection included many prominent New Yorkers of the time, such as Henry Frick, J.P. Morgan, Charles Schwab, and W. Vanderbilt.^[38] It was said in 1910 that “^[n]ever before had so many splendid examples of Dutch art been gathered together in the United States…the exhibition as a whole has never been rivaled even in Europe.”^[39] Not only were the pieces themselves noteworthy; the collection as a whole was said to signify the increasing extent of art culture in America.^[40] The display was representativeof only a fraction of the expanding art resources of the country, since the artwork came mostly from private art collections, thus also establishing the exhibit as a “significant indication of the development of art taste in the United States.”^[41] By relying on American-backed donations to create this collection, the contributors may also have been attempting to portray New York City as a place of high culture and class.

The second exhibit at the Metropolitan Museum of Art that opened during the Hudson-Fulton Celebration consisted of American art and artifacts from various time periods, including colonial times through to 1825. Furniture was an important focus of this exhibit, as early colonial pieces were usually always imported from Holland or England. Later furnishings made in the colonies were therefore inspired by the earlier imported pieces.^[42] This gave early American furniture design a decidedly European-influenced origin. Various styles and types of wood were displayed, showing the linear development of furniture through the eras. ^[43] These exhibits were also supplemented with collections of American silverware, including many rare pieces made by Paul Revere.^[44] The development of silver-making mirrored that of furniture, beginning with English-influenced design and later morphing into a more simplistic, American style.^[45] In addition, pewter, glass, and pottery displays, representative of industrial arts in America prior to 1815, were put on display.^[46] The 1909 American exhibit at the Metropolitan Museum illustrated how American designs developed from European origins.

Overall, the exhibits at the Metropolitan Museum of Art were said to be of great importance and success during their stay in the galleries. According to the Commission, “all appreciative visitors…recognized that the exhibition possessed the very highest value for all students….We can hardly err in believing that the educational result was commensurate with that attained by the Philadelphia Centennial, the Chicago, or the St. Louis expositions.”^[47] While the Metropolitan displays were educationally noteworthy within the Celebration itself, their impact reached further than the city in 1909. Through the Hudson-Fulton exhibits at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York City attempted to outdo its predecessors and claim its place as a cosmopolitan center with vast cultural resources to offer to citizens and tourists alike.

National Arts Club: The exhibit held at the National Arts Club, situated at 15 Twentieth Street facing Gramercy Park, was entitled “Three Hundred Years of New York” and included paintings, drawings, early engravings, and other art objects that demonstrated the development of the area, beginning with Henry Hudson’s time and ending in 1909. The display was sponsored jointly by the National Arts Club and the American Scenic and Historic Preservation Society, covering eras stretching between the aboriginal, colonial, revolutionary, nineteenth century, and twentieth century periods of New York.^[48] Over six months’ time, in a space of 3900 square feet, the exhibition attracted nearly 10,000 guests.^[49] The chairman of the Art Committee of the National Arts Club, Mr. Frederick Lamb, wrote “that this unique exhibition was greatly appreciated, being pronounced by many to be the most noteworthy of its kind ever held.”^[50] This display, along with the other historical exhibits of 1909, was meant to educate and inform spectators of the rich, remarkable past that the still-growing metropolis of New York had to offer.

New York Aquarium: This venue was erected in Battery Park by the U.S. government in 1807 to serve as a fort, but following the war of 1812, it was renamed Castle Clinton, and later called Castle Garden. Between the years of 1855 – 1890, the building served as “the portal to the New World” for over seven million immigrants.^[51] During the Celebration, under the management of the New York Zoological Society, the aquarium’s display lasted from 26 September – 9 October, 1909 and covered 10,000 square feet of space^[52]. In total, almost 370,000 people visited the aquarium, where the native species of the Hudson River at the time of its discovery were marked by flags bearing the official colors of the Celebration.^[53] On the opening day of the exhibit, 26 September, it was estimated that nearly 65,000 people were in attendance, setting the record for the greatest number of visitors to enter the aquarium in one day.^[54] In preparation for this volume of guests, “a special effort was made before the Celebration began to fill the tanks and pools with the greatest number and variety of aquatic forms ever crowded into the tanks.”^[55]

New York Botanical Garden: Consisting of extensive grounds, conservatories, and museums and located in Bronx Park, the New York Botanical Garden extends over 200 acres, 50 of which were dedicated specifically to the Celebration over a period of two months beginning in September 1909. The exposition attracted over 150,000 people to its displays of plants, shrubs, trees, and natural woodlands, as well as to the museum exhibits showing plant-products of the arts, sciences, and industries.^[56] Similar to the New York Aquarium, “all trees growing on Manhattan Island and in the Hudson River Valley at the time of Hudson’s arrival were marked with the letter H.”^[57] Displaying the flora and fauna of Hudson’s day was fundamental to the Hudson-Fulton Celebration Commission. By recreating the environment of New York’s past, they hoped that visitors would visualize the topographical changes that the island underwent over the course of three hundred years. These changes signified the immense growth of the city, while also prompting audiences to realize the importance of preserving the surrounding land. At the Garden in 1909, a catalogue was available containing a description of the native trees, which was “illustrated and written in untechnical language” in order for it to be accessible to the masses.^[58]

New York Historical Society: The Historical Society, which is located one block south of the American Museum of Natural History at 170 Central Park West, contained the official Robert Fulton exhibit of the Hudson-Fulton Celebration.^[59] Running from September 27 – October 30, 1909, the display covered three thousand square feet of the society’s space and brought in over two thousand visitors.^[60] A catalogue of the exhibit was produced in cooperation with the Colonial Dames of New York, showing in detail the numerous portraits, miniatures, manuscripts and other historical objects pertaining to Fulton and his time.^[61] In retrospect, it was said in 1910 that “^[t]he grouping together of so many objects illustrating the individuality and career of this distinguished man served to impress those who saw them with his historic significance.”^[62]

New York Public Library: At the Lenox Branch of the New York Public Library, located at Fifth Avenue and 72nd Street, there was a special exhibition of prints, books, manuscripts, and other historical documents relating to Henry Hudson, the Hudson River, Robert Fulton, and steam navigation available to the public.^[63] This display covered 3,612 square feet of the library and brought in around five thousand visitors during its three month run.^[64] A catalogue was created listing all pieces included in the exhibit, and the materials were readily available for reference.^[65] Additionally, at each of the 41 branches of the New York Public Library throughout the greater New York area, lists of books and materials pertinent to the Celebration located at each particular branch were collected for those interested.^[66]

New York Zoological Park: Located in Bronx Park and stretching over 50 acres, the New York Zoological Park was managed under the New York Zoological Society and participated in the Celebration between 25 September and 9 October, 1909. During this time, the numerous species of birds, mammals and reptiles native to the Hudson River Valley in 1609 were indicated by the official flag of the Celebration.^[67] This included the American bison, which “inhabited the southwestern part of New York state at the time of Hudson’s coming.”^[68] A guidebook, written by the director of the park, Dr. William T. Hornaday, and entitled “The Wild Animals of Hudson’s Day and the Zoological Park of our Day,” was available at the entrance to the park.^[69] Over 76,000 guests attended this exhibit during the Celebration.^[70]

Reformed Protestant Dutch Church: The Reformed Protestant Dutch Church of the City of New York displayed an exhibit of relics of its extensive history, following its founding in 1628. This exhibit demonstrated some of the earliest religious organization in New York. It was housed in the Chapel of St. Nicholas, located on Fifth Avenue and 48th Street.^[71] The display was open for six days during the Celebration. It covered two hundred square feet of the Chapel and attracted one thousand guests.^[72]

Van Cortlandt House: This historical site, located at 242nd Street and Broadway in the Bronx, was built in 1748. In 1889, the City of New York bought the property, and at the time of the Celebration its custody lay in the hands of the Colonial Dames of the State of New York.^[73] It is one of the oldest houses within the area of Greater New York.^[74] As an exhibit, it was open from June – November 1909, covered three thousand square feet, and brought in nearly 300,000 visitors throughout the year.^[75] As a colonial historic museum, it was furnished with pieces from the era and also contained artifacts of Colonial silver, Wedgwood medallion portraits and mezzotints, and political cartoons from this time period.^[76] The authentic décor of the house gave guests a better feel of the lifestyles of colonial people.  ^[77]

The nature of the Hudson-Fulton Celebration exhibitions gives an overall feel for the character of the whole festival. Mainly focusing on the cultured aspects of New York, the displays clearly demonstrated the rich sense of history that existed throughout the area of Greater New York. In addition to the history they compiled, the exhibits served to educate the masses, whether native or tourist, on the origins of the society and the subsequent historical development of the city. An overarching theme of the displays was to portray the people, landscapes, and events of Manhattan Island throughout its history, from indigenous times to the Revolution and onward to 1909. While also celebrating the tremendous achievements of Henry Hudson and Robert Fulton, the exhibits painted a picture of life in New York from the time of Hudson’s arrival up to 1909 and strived to inform the community of their own role in the city’s history. Another aim of the Commission was to portray New York as a cosmopolitan center of culture, and this was done by using artifacts and relics that illustrated the emergence of a refined, contemporary metropolis from the original, colonial Dutch settlement. Overall, the exhibits of the Hudson-Fulton Celebration functioned as a demonstration of the historical trends and events that made possible a booming New York City of 1909.

Endnotes