Hudson–Fulton Celebration
The Hudson–Fulton Celebration from September 25 to October 9, 1909 in New York and New Jersey was an elaborate commemoration of the 300th anniversary of Henry Hudson’s discovery of the Hudson River and the 100th anniversary of Robert Fulton's first successful commercial application of the paddle steamer.[1] The maritime achievements of Hudson and Fulton foreshadowed the importance of the river to New York's progress and identity. Organizers used the event not only to display the success of the two men, but also the status of New York City as a world city and the achievements of its citizens.[2]
The commission
The Celebration was created and organized by the Celebration Commission, consisting of a large group of wealthy and influential New Yorkers, such as J. P. Morgan, Andrew Carnegie, and others. The commission, over the course of its long planning period (from 1905 to 1909), established dozens of committees to oversee every detail of the event, from the Celebration's official symbols to the role of New York's children.[3]
New light
Electricity played a major role in the celebration, as ships and memorials were illuminated over the course of the two-week celebration. The illumination of the naval fleet on September 25 was followed by a display of fireworks in the evening that reflected off the Hudson River. These fireworks were shot over the naval fleet from the Jersey Shore, so that they could be seen from Riverside Park. The Committee commissioned one company to regulate the fireworks; this would not only ensure a uniform display across the State but also, because the company could set off the fireworks in rapid succession, invoke historic memory of the signal fires that Hudson used to navigate along the coast.
The Commission allocated $83,000 from its budget of $934,447 for a total of 107,152 illuminations, including various types of lights and fireworks, installed for the celebration; in addition to the town halls and bridges, these lights also illuminated the
Parades
The historical and carnival parades took place between September 25 and October 9, 1909. The historical parade provided a visual education to the city's diverse population and visitors, and the carnival parades conveyed the city's culture.
The parade consisted of fifty-four floats divided into four divisions, which constituted the "periods" of New York history up to 1909 – the Indian Period, the Dutch Period, the English or Colonial Period, and the American or United States Period, also referred to as the Modern Period. An enormous float preceded all four divisions – this was the title car for the event as a whole. This massive introduction to the parade's theme depicted "The History of the Empire State", and included, among other things, a canoe and a steamboat, a wigwam and a skyscraper, and the Statue of Liberty.
The Carnival Parade was held later in the week, on the evening of October 2, 1909. It traversed the same route as the Historical Parade. The Carnival Pageant illustrated the great body of Old World folklore that has inspired so much of the beautiful imagery of the poetry, song and drama of all civilized nations. Unlike its sister event, the historical parade, the carnival parade was not divided up into divisions. It did, however, have a grand title car – a dragon spouting flames and carrying a scroll bearing the theme of the parade – "Music, Literature, and Art". The following forty-nine floats proceeded to illustrate what was suggested in the title. There were several straight allegorical floats, portraying "colors", "peace", and "song", and depicting scenes like "The Crowning of Beethoven", a float upon which a bust of the composer was crowned by "Fame", and surrounded by dancing "Muses". But the themes were also represented through mythology. Floats illustrated tales from the Bible, a
Both the historical and carnival parades were met with decent success. New Yorkers’ evident enjoyment of the spectacle indicates that the Celebration Commission did its job well. Its messages of continuity, progress, and grandeur were present along with the floats, but it is difficult to evaluate the popular response to these intended lessons. Regardless of whether they understood the commission's messages, the audience enjoyed both parades. The crowd itself, delighting in its city, may in fact have been the more important spectacle in New York's history than the massive floats that depicted it.
Sailing sea and sky
One way the memories of Hudson and Fulton were honored was in the replication of the Hudson's
The Celebration also included public flights by
City history
Although Hudson, Fulton, and their achievements were the foundation of the Celebration, the commission also aimed to emphasize the history of New York City and State, from the Native American communities to the metropolitan city of 1909. This narrative was illustrated by the Celebration's Historical Parade, which depicted four periods of New York history: the
Reform
The Hudson–Fulton Celebration of 1909 was linked to several reform movements sweeping New York City, in addition to
To express New York's civic identity and its emerging cultural preeminence, the Commission organized a Carnival Parade. Its floats displayed the music, art, and literature of the
Culture
The cultural refinement displayed in the Carnival Parade was an example of New York's status as a cosmopolis as displayed on the iconic Fifth Avenue. History and culture were present in the dozens of museum exhibitions designed specifically for the event to attract tourists from Europe and other parts of the United States. As the Carnival Parade's floats and marchers moved down Fifth Avenue, spectators looked on in awe. They memorialized their visit to New York with postcards from the Celebration, a hobby that consumed America and bolstered the importance and economic development of the America's postal service. The post office of New York, as well as the city's transportation system, were integral to the success of the 1909 Celebration, as they served to connect the vast American continent and spread awareness of both the event and the city. This momentous occasion was much more than the commemoration of Henry Hudson and Robert Fulton – it was also a recreation of New York's history, a promotion of the city's culture, a window into the social movements of the time, and an attempt to strengthen New York's national reputation and international status. The elaborate preparations of the commission were not in vain; this last great celebration in New York City was appreciated by millions in 1909, and is a success worth remembering today. A commemorative plate was produced by Royal Doulton China, The "Areo" Plate, which shows Wilbur Wright who flew up the Hudson River for the event, as well as other means of transportation including airships and boats in the river.
Gallery
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Inflexible
References
Citations
- ^ " 1909 Hudson–Fulton Celebration of the Discovery of the Hudson River and the First Successful Application of Steam to Navigation", Archived 2009-08-13 at the Wayback Machine Hudson River Maritime Museum. The image above of the Celebration program shows the event closing on Saturday, October 9, 1909. A report to the New York state legislature in 1910 by the official celebration Commission, as shown on the website of this reference, lists the celebration as ending on Monday, October 11, 1909.
- ^ Fordham University's Hudson–Fulton Project[permanent dead link]
- ^ "Chapter1, Origin of the Hudson–Fulton Celebration" Archived 2009-01-03 at the Wayback Machine, Hudson River Maritime Museum
- ^ Casey 1981, pp. 51–53.
Bibliography
- Casey, Louis S. Curtiss, The Hammondsport Era, 1907–1915, New York: Crown Publishers, 1981, pp. 12–15, ISBN 978-0-517543-26-9.
See also
- NY400 in 2009
External links
- New York City Celebrates Hudson–Fulton 1609–1909, an in depth look at the Hudson–Fulton Celebration's place in the history of New York
- Celebration of the Hudson, a digital exhibit of the Hudson Fulton 1909 Celebration
- U.S. Hudson–Fulton Commemorative Stamp
- Documenting the Gilded Age: New York City Exhibitions at the Turn of the 20th Century A New York Art Resources Consortium project. Celebration pamphlet.
- The Hudson–Fulton Celebration Collection at the New-York Historical Society