Mr. Sandler shares that on May 31, he provided his New York City History class a tour of Greenwich Village. They examined the history behind Washington Square Park as a potter’s field and parade ground before the construction of Stanford White’s Washington Square Arch. They then explored how the neighborhood gentrified through our study of The Row, a group of Greek Revival houses where Protestant elites lives before the arrival of Italian immigrants.
Students studied the bohemian era epitomized by Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney’s art scene before WWI when socialists, anarchists, suffragettes and creatives colonized the era. Finally, they learned about the Gaslight and Cafe Wha in the early 60s where folk musicians like Bob Dylan and rock stars like Jimi Hendrix played on MacDougal Street.
They also had special private tours of the Church of the Ascension (the first church on famous 5th Avenue) and the Salmagundi Club. The students loved learning about this famous capital of counterculture!
