Macmillan was one of the first foreign publishers to locate a branch in the United States, reflecting the growing importance of the American market. During its time at 60 Fifth Avenue, Macmillan grew to become the largest publisher in the United States. While the Depression years were challenging for Macmillan, they nevertheless prospered, in no small part due to the success of their American operation, headquartered here, and their publication during this time of Margaret Mitchell’s wildly popular Gone With The Wind in 1936.

"Gone with the Wind" by Margaret Mitchell, 1936 The story, which takes place in and around Atlanta, Georgia during and after the American Civil War and Reconstruction Era, dramatically shaped cultural perceptions of this historic period. The book was highly popular when it was published, earning its author the Pulitzer Prize and National Book Award. It also received (and continues to receive) harsh criticism for its casual treatment of slavery, its one-dimensional and demeaning portrayal of African Americans, and its romanticization of the slave-holding antebellum South. Click here to send a letter supporting landmark designation of this and other historic buildings south of Union Square. . . .

59 Fifth Avenue was originally owned by prominent businessman and philanthropist Jonathan Sturges, who bought the home for his daughter Virginia Reed Sturges Osborn and son-in-law William H. Osborn (Sturges lived just a few doors away in the now-demolished 5 East 14th Street).

Jonathan Sturges, c. 1840 Sturges was one of the founders of the Union League Club, the pro-Union, anti-slavery club established to support the cause of the Union and abolition during the Civil War in the face of significant opposition from New York’s governing elite and its working class. Sturges was also the club’s second president beginning in 1863, at the time when the club, located a few blocks north of Sturges’ home on Fifth Avenue, was a prime target, along with the Colored Orphans Asylum, of mobs during the 1863 Draft Riots. Club members kept the mobs at bay with an armed vigil in the locked and barricaded clubhouse. Following the riots the club chose a bold gesture to show it was not intimidated by such threats; they recruited, trained, and equipped for military service a Colored Infantry regiment, whom club members accompanied on a march from the Union League clubhouse to Canal Street’s Hudson River piers to see them off to duty in Louisiana.

“Presentation of Colors” by Edward Lamson Henry, 1864. Shows the Union League Club of New York’s First Headquarters Virginia Osborn, in addition to being a great patron of the arts, was also extremely involved in philanthropic services to benefit the infirmed and impoverished — endeavors she shared with her mother Mary Cady Sturges. Among other positions, she served on the board of the art section of the 1864 New York Sanitary Fair, which was held to raise money for medical provisions for the Union troops during the Civil War. In 1854, William H. Osborn took over the presidency of the Illinois Central Railroad. During his tenure with the Illinois Central, Osborn worked with Abraham Lincoln, then general counsel for the railroad, as well as Ambrose Burnside, its treasurer, and George McClellan, its chief engineer and Vice President. The latter two served as generals in the Union Army during the Civil War, while Osborn directed the movement of Union troops and supplies on the Illinois Central. Click here to send a letter supporting landmark designation of this and other historic buildings south of Union Square. . . .

57 Fifth Avenue was built c. 1852 by James Lenox, the noted philanthropist and bibliophile whose mansion was located directly south of this building and which housed his collection of books that eventually became the Lenox Library, one of the original entities which merged to form the New York Public Library. In the late 19th century, 57 Fifth Avenue was home to Robert B. Roosevelt (1829-1906). Roosevelt was the brother of Theodore Roosevelt Sr., uncle of President Theodore Roosevelt, and great uncle of Eleanor Roosevelt. An early and influential conservationist, he is credited with imbuing in his nephew Teddy his dedication to the conservation cause. A Democrat, he nevertheless was a fiercely loyal Unionist during the Civil War, co-founding and helping to lead the Loyal National League, which was established to support the war effort and the maintenance of the Union, and particularly to channel support for Northern and Border State Democrats to the Union (the League was located at 813 Broadway, an extant building also within the proposed historic district).

Robert B. Roosevelt, 1860-1875 After the Civil War, Roosevelt was elected to Congress and eventually appointed Ambassador to the Netherlands (the Roosevelts were of Dutch lineage). Unlike many New York Democrats at the time, he was a staunch opponent of the corrupt Tammany Hall machine, and successfully worked towards its demise. Roosevelt was a trustee representing New York City in the building of the Brooklyn Bridge, and was instrumental in the establishment of paid Fire and Health Departments in New York City. He founded and led for twenty years the New York State Fishery Commission, an early conservation group, and introduced the bill in Congress which established the United States Fish Commission. Shortly after its incorporation in 1884 he also became President of the New York Association for the Protection of Game, whose establishment in 1844 has been described as “the first active steps looking towards game protection in the United States.” Roosevelt was also a noted author and close to writer Oscar Wilde, who visited Roosevelt’s family when he came to the United States. Roosevelt is also credited with being the first to write down and publish the "Br’er Rabbit" stories, in Harper’s Magazine, which had been passed down orally by African slaves based upon traditional African folklore. The stories were later popularized by Joel Chandler Harris and Walt Disney. Click here to send a letter supporting landmark designation of this and other historic buildings south of Union Square. . . .

A plaque at 113 University Place states that the headquarters of the Union Army’s Ninth Regiment of the New York State Militia was located here.

"1799 Ninth Regiment NYSM 1908" Plaque, 2020 According to the New York State Military Museum, the Regiment was formerly known as the Sixth Regiment, formed in June, 1799. Originally a group of 850, it began serving for the Union Army on May 27, 1861, and within that served for three years in the Army of the Potomac. \[Click here to send a letter supporting landmark designation of this and other historic buildings south of Union Square.]\(h https://bit.ly/southofunionsquare) . . .

813 Broadway is a four-story residential and commercial building constructed ca. 1850 for Peter Goelet, a very prominent merchant and real estate entrepreneur of mid-19th century New York. During the Civil War, 813 Broadway was the home of the Hall of the Loyal National League, an organization established to support the Union and bring about the end of slavery throughout the country, not just in the slave states in revolt (as the Emancipation Proclamation did). The Loyal National League was composed of some of New York City’s most prominent citizens including the League’s secretary, James A. Roosevelt. The league had locations all throughout the country during the Civil War with the 813 Broadway location being one of the largest and most prominent.

James A. Roosevelt, 1896-1899 James. A Roosevelt, uncle of future president Theodore Roosevelt, first started working at his father’s mercantile firm, Roosevelt & Son, at the age of twenty, eventually taking over the business. He was connected with many prominent New York and American institutions, including the Chemical Bank of New York, of which he was Vice-President; the Broadway Improvement Company, which he led; the Bank of Savings, of which he was Vice President; and the New York Life Insurance Trust, of which he was Director. Click here to send a letter supporting landmark designation of this and other historic buildings south of Union Square. . . .

Mathew Brady, c. 1875 The current structure at this location was built c. 1955. At the northwest corner of Broadway and East 10th Street 785 Broadway used to stand and it was the studio of a very significant 19th century photographer, Mathew Brady. Brady is best known as the photographer of the American Civil War where he and his staff captured for the first time on camera the tragedies of war. A revolutionary way of broadcasting disturbing images to an as-then unaware public, hundreds of photographs of soldiers lying dead in fields became accessible to households across the country. Though Brady often staged scenes and “touched up” photographs to maximize the horror of his subject matter, he was nonetheless an integral figure in the history of photographic documentation and has since become known as “the father of photojournalism.”

Photo of Abraham Lincoln by Mathew Brady, c. 1860-1865 On February 27, 1860, relatively unknown presidential hopeful Abraham Lincoln gave his celebrated Cooper Union address at the Cooper Union Foundation Building at Cooper Square between Astor Place and East 7th Street. Knowing the South was on the brink of secession, Lincoln focused his speech on the importance of preserving the Union by outlawing slavery in free states but not in the South, an institution he would later abolish in 1863 during the height of the Civil War. But earlier in the day, before that historic speech set into motion Lincoln’s rise to the presidency, he had called on photographer Mathew Brady to take his portrait at his nearby studio in what is now known as NoHo. This temporary studio was located at 643 Broadway, northwest corner of Bleecker Street, before it was demolished and replaced by a Neo-Grec style tenement building in 1878. In a piece written in The World in 1891, Brady claimed that Lincoln had said that “Brady and the Cooper Institute made me President.” It’s hard to argue with that assertion given the high demand for this portrait following the historic speech; re-productions of the captivating photograph appeared in many papers, including Harper’s Weekly, showcasing Lincoln as a serious contender for the presidency during a particularly tumultuous time in the nation’s history. After his short time in that studio, Brady moved to his new location at 785 Broadway in the fall of 1860 and he remained here for the rest of his career. Lincoln, as well as other key figures of the era, sat for a number of portraits for Brady during his presidency.

Existing building at 771-785 Broadway, 2014 Click here to send a letter supporting landmark designation of extant historic buildings south of Union Square. . . .

This building housed the Women's Central Association of Relief (WCAR) during the Civil War. Elizabeth Blackwell, an ardent abolitionist and the first female physician in the United States, established the WCAR. Dr. Blackwell realized the Union Army needed a system for distributing supplies and organized four thousand women into the organization. The WCAR grew into chapters around the county, and this body systematically collected and distributed life-saving supplies such as bandages, blankets, food, clothing and medical supplies.

Elizabeth Blackwell Blackwell also partnered with several prominent male physicians in New York City to offer a one-month training course for 100 women who wanted to be nurses for the army. This was the first formal training for women nurses in the country. Once they completed their training, they were sent to Dorothea Dix for placement at a hospital.

United States Sanitary Division Seal By July 1861, the WCAR prompted the government to form a national version—the United States Sanitary Commission, which was the precursor to the American Red Cross. And it all started because Dr. Blackwell decided to mobilize the women of the country to help the Union. From just May 1, 1861 to November 1, 1863, WCAR donated nearly a half million items of clothing and nearly 300,000 items of bedding to the war effort, which was valued at nearly $600,000. They continued to raise money and relief items for the remainder of the war. Click here to send a letter supporting landmark designation of this and other historic buildings south of Union Square. . . .

This Greek Revival rowhouse was constructed c. 1838-40 by John H. Cornell.

It was the home of Irish immigrant Andrew Carrigan, a successful businessman and civic leader who made great strides and established key institutions for Irish immigrants, as well as helping to found the Irish Brigade, which served during the Civil War.

More than 150,000 Irishmen, mostly recent immigrants and many not yet U.S. citizens, joined the Union Army during the Civil War -- some out of loyalty, some in the hopes that a conspicuous display of patriotism might put a stop to anti-Irish discrimination. Between 1861 and 1863, the soldiers who fought in the all-Irish units that made up the “Irish Brigade” were renowned for their courage, ferocity, and toughness in battle. The brigade became famous for their battle cry of “Faugh a Ballaugh,” a phonetic spelling of the Irish phrase “clear the way”: fág an bealach.

At the outbreak of the Civil War in 1861, three all-Irish New York voluntary infantries formed the Irish Brigade: the 63rd from Staten Island and the 69th and 88th from the Bronx. Thanks to their toughness and bravery, the Irish Brigade led the Union charge in many of the Army of the Potomac’s major battles, which meant they also suffered disproportionate casualties. At Antietam in September 1862, about 60 percent of the 63rd and 69th New York regiments (almost 600 men) were killed. At Fredericksburg, 545 of the brigade’s 1,200 men were killed or wounded. At Gettysburg in 1863, about 320 of the Irish Brigade’s remaining 530 soldiers were killed. “Irish blood and Irish bones cover that terrible field today…We are slaughtered like sheep,” wrote one soldier.

Gettysburg was not only a turning point for Union in the war but for the Irish Brigade. The huge and disproportionate numbers of casualties in the Brigade led many Irish soldiers and their families to believe that the Union Army was taking advantage of their willingness to fight, using them as cannon fodder. The 1863 National Conscription Act, which made every unmarried man in the Union between the ages of 21 and 45 subject to a draft lottery unless he could hire a replacement or pay a $300 fee, was viewed by many working-class Irish people as discrimination. And the rationale for the war changed from preserving the Union to ending slavery — a cause many Irish did not support, as it was perceived to mean increased competition for labor and jobs with African Americans. The tensions soon boiled over into the deadly New York City Draft Riots, the largest civil insurrection in American history. It also marked the end of organized Irish participation in the Civil War, though individual Irishmen continued to serve as soldiers in the Union Army. The Irish Brigade diminished greatly in size and disbanded for good in 1864. Click here to send a letter supporting landmark designation of this and other historic buildings south of Union Square. . . .