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Archives & Special Collections: Edward Jennings Collection

Contents

  1. Descriptive Summary
  2. Biographical Information
  3. Historical Note
  4. Scope and Content 
  5. Arrangement
  6. Series Descriptions 
  7. Container List
  8. Access Points
  9. Administrative Information
  10. Acknowledgement 

Descriptive Summary

Creator:  Edward Allen Jennings, 1882-1958
Title:  Edward Allen Jennings Collection
Dates: 1876-1954
Size:  3 scrapbooks, 1 manuscript box, lantern slides.

Biographical Information

Edward Allen Jennings was a physician in New York City.  He received his medical degree from Columbia University in 1913 and then served as a first lieutenant in the Army Medical Corps during World War I.  He later worked on the staffs of the Harlem, Fordham, and St. Luke's hospitals.  Jennings had a lifelong interest in the history of New York City and church architecture.  He amassed a collection of old photographs from which he made over 150 lantern slides.  After extensive research at the New York City Department of Records, Jennings also wrote Manhattanville: An Architectural Retrospect, which remains unpublished. Jennings died on September 11, 1958, at the age of 76.

Historical Note

Laid out in 1806 by Jacob Schieffelin and John B. Lawrence, the New York City community of Manhattanville existed during the first half of the nineteenth century as a sparsely populated rural village in the northwest section of Manhattan.  Surrounded by hilly, open land and large country residences, the neighborhood was centered in the valley bordered by what is now 123rd Street to the south, 140th Street to the North, and west and east by the Hudson River and Convent Avenue. With the arrival of the Industrial Revolution came the completion of the Hudson River Railroad in 1851, which linked Manhattanville with the rest of the city. The village began to change into a bustling enclave of German and Irish laborers who found employment in the woolen mill, brewery, and Hudson River ferry terminal in the area. Streets were paved; churches, schools, and a dispensary were built to serve the population, which grew from 500 residents in mid century to 14,675 in 1900.  The institutional predecessors of Manhattanville College --  the Academy of the Sacred Heart and the Manhattanville College of the Sacred Heart --  were located in the Manhattanville section from 1847 to 1952.

The Landmark Map included in The Iconography of Manhattan Island, by N. Phelps Stokes (New York: R. Dodd, 1918-1925) is a good reference point for the neighborhoods depicted in the Jennings lantern slides.  This detailed, multi-page map (v. 3, pp. 174-180) was originally prepared for Stokes in 1891, with revisions made in 1918.  Approximate borders for the neighborhoods, as labelled on the map, are:

  • Harsenville, West 69th St. to West 76th Streets
  • Manhattanville, West 125 to West 131th Streets
  • Bloomingdale, West 31th to West 110th Streets

Scope and Content

Book manuscript, photographs, correspondence, news clippings and lantern slides which document the architecture and landscape of Manhattanville, Harsenville, and Bloomingdale --  New York City neighborhoods which correspond to the present day  West Side of Manhattan.   Images depict churches, homes, taverns, and other buildings in the late nineteenth century, often with accompanying descriptive text.

Arrangement

The collection is arranged in three series:

  1. Photographs
    • Subseries A. Manhattanville
    • Subseries B. Old Bloomingdale
  2. Book Manuscript and Related Materials
  3. Lantern Slides

Series Descriptions

  1. Photographs
    • A. Manhattanville
      43 photographs of various buildings, including homes, churches, and schools.  Also includes several street views. Jennings's original captions are given. Some slides are identified by date.
    • B. Old Bloomingdale
      16 photographs of churches, homes and other structures. Jennings's original captions are given. Some slides are identified by date.
  2. Manhattanville Book Manuscript
  3. Lantern slides

Container List

Scrapbook 1. Manhattanville Photographs

Photos are numbered as follows.  An accompanying sheet gives Jennings's original captions.

  • M1: Manhattanville Streets Old as of 1823 and as of 1890
  • M2: Manhattanville in 1834
  • M3: View toward the N[orth] from 123rd St. about 1876 showing Manhattan St. and skyline, Manhattanville College of the Sacred Heart
  • M5: Railroad station at foot of Depot Lane of West 177th Street. Track of Dolly Varden Line at NY Central and Hudson River RR
  • M7: Prior's stable on Broadway -- East Side between 126 and 127 Streets
  • M9: House of Daniel F. Tiemann (west side) Riverside Drive and 127th St.
  • M10: House of Thomas Finlay at 127th St. or Tiemann Place and Broadway
  • M11: Intersection of Manhattan Street and Broadway.  On bank is house of Thomas Finlay.
  • M12: At 77 Manhattan Street.  House of James Pettit.  Built in 1845.  Taken down about 1935.
  • M13: St. Joseph's Church 125 St. and Morningside Ave.  Built in 1860.
  • M14: Manhattanville Presbyterian Church  126 St. and Morningside Ave.  Built in 1851.  Torn down about 1927.
  • M15: 101 Lawrence St.  St. Mary's P.E. Church, Manhattanville.  Built 1825.  Torn down March 1908.
  • M16: Interior -- St. Mary's Church -- Manhattanville. 101 Lawrence Street.
  • M17: St. Mary's P.E. Church -- Manhattanville. 101 Lawrence Street. Erected 1824. Date of picture about 1895.
  • M19: May Cottage -- 530 West 129 Str. Sheltering Arms. Built in 1879. Torn down 1945.
  • M20: Furniss Corage. Sheltering Arms. 129 Old Broadway -- built in 1881. Architect -- Ralph S. Townsend.
  • M21: Public School 43. Eastern facade on 10th Ave.
  • M22: Public School no. 43. 129 Str. and 10th Ave. Built 1885-1895. Torn down 1936.
  • M23: Dr. John Larkin's house -- 498 W. 130 St.
  • M26: Church of the Annunciation. North-west corner - 131 St. and Old Broadway.
  • M28: West facade of Manhattan College before Broadway was cut thro. At 131 St. Time -- about 1867.
  • M29: Manhattan College -- East facade in 1923.
  • M30: At 132nd St. and old Broadway in 1918. East Facade of Manhattan College.
  • M31: North east corner of Broadway and 131 St. -- shows south wing of Manhattan College after being remodeled about 1872.
  • M32: In 1918 -- view south from 133rd Street and Old Broadway -- showing Manhattan College.
  • M33: Manhattanville College of the Sacred Heart Convent. Built 1851. Burned - August 13, 1888. 132nd St.
  • M34: Manhattanville in 1876. View north from 122nd St.
  • M36: Lawrence House -- on hill west of Broadway between 134 and 135th Streets.
  • M37: July 1888 -- NW Corner Broadway -- 135 St. residence of Charles B. Morris
  • M38: On Bloomingdale Road near 136th St. Gateway to Donnelly grounds.
  • M39: Donnelly house -- south driveway approach.
  • M40: Donnelly House at 135th St. On hill between Amsterdam Ave. and Bloomingdale Road.
  • M41: Donnelly house -- south of 135th St. side
  • M42: In 1903. Ruin of Donnelly mansion on north side of 135th Street -- west of Amsterdam Ave.

Scrapbook 2. Manhattanville and Old Bloomingdale Photographs

Photographs are numbered as follows.  An accompanying sheet gives Jennings's original captions.

Manhattanville

  • M43: Granite residence NE corner -- 136 St. -- Broadway. Erected May 6, 1886 to June 30, 1887. Architect - A.B. Jennings.
  • M44: Granite residence - NE corner of 136 St. and Broadway. Built 1886. Torn down 1930.
  • M45: Ottendorfer house on 136 St. Built by Eugene Kelly - west of Broadway. East front. Built in 1879.
  • M46: 137th Street in 1905. Ottendorfer stable.
  • M47: Ottendorfer pagoda or summerhouse at 135th St. - west of Broadway. East front. Built in 1879.
  • M48: Daniel Devlin house at 137th Str. and Amsterdam Ave. Torn down 1891 for later creation of Hebrew Orphan Asylum.
  • M49: John E. Develin house on north side of 138th Str. - near Hudson River.
  • M51: At 141st St. and Riverside Drive. The Hoguet House.
  • M52: At 141st Street and Riverside Drive. East side of the Hoguet House.

Old Bloomingdale

  • OB1: Bloomingdale Reformed Church N.E. Corner - 68th Street and Bloomingdale Road. Taken down.
  • OB4: 61 West 71st Street -- New York. Taken down 1923.
  • OB7: South east corner West End Avenue and 81 St. - All Angels PE Church.
  • OB8: The Apthorp House - west of 9th Ave at 91st Street. West front.
  • OB9: The Apthorp House - west of 9th Ave at 91st Street. West front.On north side of 90th Street - west of Columbus Ave. Apthorpe House.
  • OB10: The Apthorp House - west of 9th Ave at 91st Street. West front.St. Michael's P.E. Church - 99St. and 10th Ave. Built 1854 Taken down 1892. Time 1890.
  • OB11: West front. St. Michaels Prof. Episc. Church. West Side Amsterdam Ave. bet. 99th and 100th Sts. Built - 1854. Architect - J.W. Priest. Removed 1890.
  • OB13: View from just south of 102nd St. west of Columbus Ave. Toward north east. 104th St. elevated RR station. To the east or right foreground can be seen the remnant of the foundation of the old Clendening Valley Croton Aqueduct.

Manhattanville Book Manuscript and Related Materials

Oversize Box 1

  • Folder 1: Unpublished typeset manuscript of Manhattanville: an Architectural Retrospect,dated 1940.  Approximately 20 pages.
  • Folder 2: Black and white photographs of buildings in Manhattanville.
  • Folder 3:  Black and white photographs mounted on scrapbook pages.
  • Folder 4:  News clippings related to Manhattanville history; obituary of Jennings from New York Times.
  • Folder 5: Correspondence with Mother Grace Dammann, president of Manhattanville College, and publishers.
  • Manhattanville book manuscript bound into scrapbook.

Lantern Slides

  • Box 1:  52 slides which correspond to numbered photographs above.
  • Box 2:  additional 56 slides

Access Points

Personal Names

  • Jennings, Edward Allen

Topical Subjects

  • New York, N.Y. -- Churches
  • New York, N.Y. -- Buildings, structures, etc.
  • Manhattanville (N.Y.) -- Churches
  • Manhattanville (N.Y.) -- Pictorial works.
  • New York (N.Y.) -- Pictorial works

Genre / Form Terms

  • Lantern slides
  • Manuscripts
  • Photographs

Administrative Information

  • Access: Unrestricted
  • Provenance: Gift of Edward A. Jennings
  • Preferred Citation:
    Edward A. Jennings Collection, Identification of item, date (if known); Manhattanville College Library Special Collections, Purchase, NY.
  • Collection processed and finding aid compiled by Claire Gabriel, June-August 2002.

Acknowledgement

A part of this collection has been preserved with a grant from the New York State Program for the Conservation and Preservation of Library Research Materials.