Travels in the 2nd half

  Grolier Club Library New York City is filled with places that celebrate lesser known or thought about aspects of history and industry. There are museums for almost everything. One of those places is the Grolier Club, which celebrates all things about books. The Grolier Club is a private club, dedicated to bibliophiles and lovers of graphic arts. It was founded in 1884 by Robert Hoe , a printing press manufacturer and book collector, along with eight other book lovers. Its mission is to foster the study, collecting, and appreciation of books and works on paper. The club maintains a a library dedicated to all aspects of books and graphic arts, with over 100,000 books about books; bibliographies; histories of printing, publishing and collecting; and catalogs of exhibitions and sales. The Grolier club promotes and encourages knowledge of books, making their library available for research, and maintaining galleries with where they hold exhibitions and events open to the public. When ...

Entrance to the Main Building   The story of my family’s journey to the United States is fairly representative of those who came from Europe in the early 20th Century. All four of my grandparents made their way from eastern Europe to one of several ports. They boarded a ship and sailed to New York. On arrival, they passed through Ellis island’s processing center. That history has drawn me back to to visit the center several times. What is today called Ellis Island started off as a much smaller outcropping in New York’s Upper Bay. It was one of three islands that were used by the local Lenape people as a place to harvest oysters, and so was given the name Little Oyster Island. From 1674 through 1790, the island passed through several owners, ending up in the hands of Samuel Ellis. After his death, New York State took control of the island to build part of its fortification system to protect the harbor from the English and French navies. Ellis Islands Main Building In 1892, the immi...

  Standing on my balcony, a the northern end of The Bronx, I have a great view of the Hudson River. On the eastern shore is Westchester County, starting with the city of Yonkers. On the western shore are the Palisades, the 500+ foot tall volcanic cliffs that tower over the river. It is here that I headed on a fall morning to visit the unique Palisades Interstate Park, formed by two governors with who had an eye for the future. Palisades Interstate Park was formed in 1900 by Gov. Teddy Roosevelt of New York and Gov. Foster Voorhees of New Jersey. It was formed in an effort to preserve the beauty of the Palisades at a time it was being quarried mercilessly. The park is twelve miles long, but only half a mile wide, and it follows the river along both the top and bottom of the cliffs. It runs basically from the Ft. Lee and the George Washington Bridge, north to just past the state line with New York. Along the water, the park offers access to the Hudson River. There are parking and pi...