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🏘️ Croton Local History
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viticulture . . . The scale and the long life of their vineyards give them a claim to be the real founders of the winegrowing industry in New York.” Let’s take a look at what the artist D. C. Hitchcock, aided by a team of Harper’s Weekly engravers,
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recorded for us more than 145 years ago . . . Detail showing the Underhill mansion at the southern tip of Croton Point. The faint white horizontal and vertical lines seen in these details are where blocks of wood, each prepared by a different
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engraver, were glued or bolted together to make the larger image. For more on “the grape king,” see here . For information on how Harper’s Weekly woodblocks were produced, see the online version of “A Visitors’ Guide to Harper & Brothers’
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Establishment” from the 1878 edition of the New York publishing house’s 314-page catalog. Share this: Print (Opens in new window) Print Email a link to a friend (Opens in new window) Email Share on Facebook (Opens in new window) Facebook Share on X
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(Opens in new window) X Share on Pinterest (Opens in new window) Pinterest Share on Tumblr (Opens in new window) Tumblr Share on LinkedIn (Opens in new window) LinkedIn Like Loading... Related Tagged Underhill Vineyard Published February 27, 2013
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Clifford B. Harmon is well-known to Crotonites as the famous aviator and real estate developer who created what he modestly advertised as “HARMON, the New City on the Hudson—the most important and extensive suburban development in the history of New
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York.” But how many of us have heard about his brother and partner, William E. Harmon? A serendipitous discovery on the blog of the libraries of the Smithsonian reveals that Clifford’s brother left a legacy more interesting and more important than a
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real estate development. “When wealthy real estate developer William Elmer Harmon founded the Harmon Foundation in 1922, it originally supported causes as varied as playgrounds, biblical films and nursing programs. But it is better known today as one
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of the first major supporters of African American creativity and ingenuity. Harmon grew up in the Midwest, where his father was an officer in the 10th Cavalry regiment, a black unit known as the Buffalo Soldiers. Growing up among the soldiers likely
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had an impact on his attitudes toward blacks, and in particular, Harmon himself became interested in supporting them after meeting an artist who was unable to sell his paintings because of his race. The Harmon Foundation gained its now well-known
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focus in 1925 when it began presenting cash awards to blacks for distinguished achievements in eight fields: business, education, fine arts, literature, music, race relations, religious service, and science. Between 1928 and 1933, the Foundation was
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one of the first to give national recognition to the achievements of African Americans. It is best known for its impact on African American art of the Harlem renaissance. Only a few years after the first awards were presented, the annual program was
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receiving such large numbers of high-quality art works that the Harmon Foundation began organizing a corresponding exhibition to provide an opportunity for the candidates to show and sell their work. These awards exhibitions gained even more national
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attention when they were toured to art museums, colleges, public libraries, and even YMCAs all around the country.” Read the rest here . Share this: Print (Opens in new window) Print Email a link to a friend (Opens in new window) Email Share on
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On July 16, 1928 the New York Times published the obituary of William E. Harmon. Three days later, the Times revealed his secret. “William E. Harmon . . . a retired real estate operator noted for his philanthropies . . . was Jedediah Tingle, the
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mysterious philanthropist who made generous financial gifts to great writers, obscure poets, unsung heroes and good children without ever revealing his identity, it was disclosed yesterday.” Although members of his family were “reluctant to discuss
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Mr. Harmon’s unique method of disposing of his money,” the Times reported that “many have been benefited by his unexpected gifts, and all have wondered vainly who he could be. Once he announced publicly, under the assumed name, that he was carrying
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on the ‘eternal mission’ of his own great-grandfather, whose name he had taken, ‘to bring smiles and tender thoughts to the great in heart, in high and low places, to comfort and cheer those who do exceptional things or suffer.’ ” “He was an unknown
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contributor to the Children’s Aid Society for years,” wrote the Times . Corresponding through “a banking address in Brooklyn” the society honored his request and “made no effort to learn who he was. Only two days ago it made known his latest gift of
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$500 to be distributed as prizes in the form of savings accounts for children of good character among the hundreds who will spend vacations this summer at the society’s eight fresh-air camps.” Coming tomorrow: William E. Harmon describes how he “hit
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upon something everybody wants” and enlisted his brother Clifford to “let everybody know that I have it for sale.” To see some of the ads the Harmon brothers used to let everyone know what they had for sale, see here . Share this: Print (Opens in new
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window) Print Email a link to a friend (Opens in new window) Email Share on Facebook (Opens in new window) Facebook Share on X (Opens in new window) X Share on Pinterest (Opens in new window) Pinterest Share on Tumblr (Opens in new window) Tumblr
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Share on LinkedIn (Opens in new window) LinkedIn Like Loading... Related Published March 6, 2013 March 8, 2013
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A postcard of the Harmon sales office on the corner of South Riverside Avenue and Benedict Boulevard. The building is now a nail salon. On July 16, 1928, when the New York Times published the obituary of William E. Harmon, the newspaper quoted from
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an interview he had given years earlier in which he described how he started his real estate empire. “The surest way is to hit upon something that everybody wants, make it possible for everyone to buy it and then let everyone know that I have it for
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sale. But what does everyone want? ‘Land’ was my answer. That is what everybody would like to own. It wasn’t easy to buy land in those days. The first payments were always so high that a man with little money could not meet them. So most folks went
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wanting land, but they didn’t buy any. I worked out a plan by which even the smallest wage-earner could buy a building lot. All the purchaser needed was one dollar to pay in cash and a few cents to pay each week. It was simply the installment plan