Fun with Images

I have been moving between research that is reading and research that is visual. I’ve found several images of the Worth Memorial location which show the site in such a way that you can compare that historical reference to its current state. This is fascinating to me because it so clearly shows how the city has changed.

When the memorial was originally constructed, it dominated the landscape. This can be seen clearly in the lithograph below, which shows its 1857 dedication ceremony. Any buildings are far away, as the intersections between Broadway and Fifth Avenue merged at its base and the cobbled stone roadways were wide and deep, with Madison Park seemingly far in the distance.

The Miriam and Ira D. Wallach Division of Art, Prints and Photographs: Print Collection, The New York Public Library. — Ceremonies of the dedication of the Worth Monument. (Nov. 25, 1857), from The New York Public Library.

Some thirty years later, not much had changed. The area is still dominated by wide cobblestone streets, but now there are the metal tracks for the trolly lines, electric lines for arc lighting, and a posh hotel, build across from the monument itself.

Irma and Paul Milstein Division of United States History, Local History and Genealogy, The New York Public Library. — Madison Square: Edison Electric Arc Light, Worth Memorial, William Seward statue, Hotel Victoria. Circa 1884. From The New York Public Library/

However, by 1930 (the likely date of the stereograph below) Broadway had been narrowed and buildings constructed, hemming the monument in.

The Miriam and Ira D. Wallach Division of Art, Prints and Photographs: Photography Collection, The New York Public Library. — Worth Monument, South Front view. Circa 1930. From The New York Public Library.

Over time, the buildings have only grown in height until they dwarf Worth’s resting place. In the comparison below, you can see the 1930 view and the 2021 view, side-by-side, at almost the same angle. Without the sky, the monument is absorbed by the streetscape.

Comparison Photo Composite of Worth Square circa 1930 and circa 2021. — Worth Square as seen in 1930 and in 2021. The 1930 image comes from the New York Public Library’s digital collection.

These images are metaphors for the man’s memory. At his death, his memorial dominated the scene. But now, subsumed by the street-scape, it disappears from our view. And yet, it is still there if you have a mind to see it.

[This entry was originally posted to DHUM 70002 Digital Humanities: Methods and Practices (Spring 2021) in Personal Blogs and tagged mapping cemeteries, Personal Blog on April 13, 2021 by A Virtual Lisa.]