This page was created by Parker Temple. 

Cass Gilbert's Woolworth Building

Ushering in Modernity

Towards the end of the 19th century, New York rapidly elevated itself to prominence on the world stage. The United States had recently resolved the domestic disputes of its Civil War, and peace and prosperity were once again beginning to blanket the country. As individuals thirsting for a taste of the “American Dream” boarded ships en masse to reach this alleged land of promise, immigration exponentially increased. A very large percentage of these immigrants were ushered into the country through the ports of Ellis Island, welcomed by Gustave Eiffel’s triumphant copper, torch-bearing Lady Liberty. Many of these eager opportunists would find permanent residence, here, in the city of New York. 

The City of Dreams seemed to entice all walks of life. Businessmen envisioned grand empires of industry, while toiling immigrants dreamed of a land of opportunity and promise. Architects and engineers gazed ever-skywards with the advent of the skyscraper, while artists yearned to portray this new world of modernity. Many times, these individuals were greeted by an exciting, yet unnerving, strange new world. Newcomers' quaint villages and slow lifestyles of old were replaced by the hustle and bustle of an ever-persistent chaos of constant movement, speed, and bright lights.  Automobiles zigged and zagged between towering structures of iron and steel. Under these streets, subways powered through the tunnels intertwined beneath the city. Speeding trains carried passengers from one city to the next. Winged planes spiraled aloft through the sky, and boats exhaling billows of steam traversed the waters. An individual’s sustained bombardment by the new, strange, wonderful, and terrifying led to a near constant state of overstimulation. New York - bastion of mechanization, technology, and commerce - continued to challenge all who listened, as it continually pushed forward in its dizzying array of progress and innovation.




Parker Temple

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