Episodes 6-9 Dark History of Central Park

Episode 6- Dark History of Central Park Part 1: Laying the Foundation Description

In this episode, we go down to New York State and discuss the dark history behind the development of New York City's famous Central Park. We discuss some of the key players in bringing the idea of the park to life- Robert Bowne Minturn- a wealthy shipping merchant, Mayor Ambrose Kingsland, and Senator James Beckman- who tried to play dirty to get the park built the way he wanted. This is a story of wealthy people looking out for themselves under the guise of "working for the people". As a bonus, I bring you the story of a wealthy merchant with a name most people would cringe if it was theirs to bare- Preserved Fish. This story is a two parter, we're only just getting started! 

Episode 7- The Dark History of Central Park Part 2: The Truth of the "Park Dwellers" Description

In the first episode we covered the history behind the idea of creating Central Park. In the second part of the Central Park series we take a deep dive into the "park dwellers"- the residents of the land that would become the current Central Park. The people living here were freed persons of color as well as immigrants of Germany and Ireland. They had lives and livelihoods tied to the land, and were forced from their homes and communities for what was thought to be the "greater good". We also discuss two Tammany Hall leaders who grew up on the land that would become Central Park- George Washington Plunkitt and Roger Crocker. Also suprise! We're still not done, buckle up! There's going to be a third episode!

Episode 8- The Dark History of Central Park Part 3: Politics, Design, Building, and Opening Central Park Description

The 'Park Dwellers' have moved out, but we're not done with our coverage of Central Park. In this episode we get into the politics surrounding the financing, design, building, and opening of Central Park. The "Park for ALL the People" was far from that when it first opened. Please try to "keep off the grass" as you dive into this episode, where we hear the story of how the hiring of the workers to build the park led to the removal of Fernando Wood as mayor of New York City, fancy carriage parades, the fight over Sundays in the Park, and why adults couldn't play baseball in Central Park until over 50 years after it opened.

Episode 9- Dark History of Central Park Part 4- Hoaxes, Crime, and Evolving the Park for All The People Description

I couldn't help myself, I'm bringing you Part 4 of the Central Park saga to help wrap up this coverage. In this episode we dive into the first private attempt at bringing a private institution to the park when the wealthy elite wanted to start the first city zoo in Central Park. We take a look at the Central Park menagerie started by the public as they donated live animals which would eventually become the Central Park Zoo and how a hoax in 1874 claiming mass escapes of animals from the zoo started by Pete the Rhinoceros would lead to widespread panic and contribute to the elephant and donkey becoming the political symbols of America's two major political parties. Watch out, Pete might still be in the sewers of New York! We'll finally have playgrounds in the park, we'll talk about the 1956 "Battle of Central Park" when a group of mothers, children, and baby carriages stood in front of a bulldozer to protect their grassy knoll and the first political rally in Central Park.

The main source material used for these episodes:

Rosenzweig, R., & Blackmar, E. (1992). The Park and the People: A History of Central Park. Ithaca: Cornell University Press. 

https://coloredconventions.org/black-wealth/biographies/charles-bennett-ray/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seneca_Village#:~:text=Additional%20nearby%20development%20was%20centered,American%2C%20in%20the%20late%201830s

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_W._Plunkitt

http://nationalhumanitiescenter.org/pds/gilded/power/text7/plunkitt.pdf’

https://oldcathedral.org/documents/2022/4/Honest%20John%20Kelly.pdf

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Anderson_Van_Wyck#Political_career

https://www.sankofaarchives.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/SGJ-Seneca-Village-Vol.1-No.1.pdf

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Washington_Irving

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Cullen_Bryant

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Bancroft

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nativism_in_United_States_politics

https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/immigrants-conspiracies-and-secret-society-launched-american-nativism-180961915/

https://www.hmdb.org/m.asp?m=179110

https://economic-historian.com/2020/07/panic-of-1857/

https://www.centralparkhistory.com/timeline/timeline_1850_compete.html

A Specimen Snake Story. (1884, December 1). Democrat and Chronicle, p. 1.

Boese, A. (2023, June 17). Central Park Zoo Escape. Retrieved from Museum of Hoaxes: http://hoaxes.org/archive/permalink/the_central_park_zoo_escape/

The Caddo Parish Republican Party. (2023). The Caddo Parish Republican Party. Retrieved from Origin of the Republican Elephant: https://new.caddogop.com/origin-of-the-republican-elephant/

https://www.britannica.com/topic/Belmont-family

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Central_Park_Zoo

Britannica, T. Editors of Encyclopaedia (2008, February 25). Belmont family. Encyclopedia Britannica. https://www.britannica.com/topic/Belmont-family

https://fultonhistory.com/Newspaper%2014/New%20York%20NY%20Herald/New%20York%20NY%20Herald%201874/New%20York%20NY%20Herald%201874%20-%203503.pdf

http://hoaxes.org/archive/permalink/the_central_park_zoo_escape/

https://books.google.com/books/about/Mister_Crowley_of_Central_Park.html?id=NaQrAAAAYAAJ

https://www.nytimes.com/1974/05/15/archives/john-f-kennedy-jr-13-robbed-of-bike-in-park.html