New York City Firehouses: The Legacy of Renaissance Ideals in a Modern Urban Context

FAIN: FT-56345-08

Jacob Wisse
Yeshiva University (New York, NY 10033-3201)

This study explores the emergence of a new style of firehouse in New York City and other urban centers between 1890 and 1910, revealing how civic and professional ideals were transmitted to the urban landscape of turn-of-the-century America through architectural forms inherited from Renaissance Europe. In addition to enriching our understanding of how ideals are communicated from one period and culture to another, "New York City Firehouses" serves to illuminate the origins of present-day attitudes toward firemen and the role of architecture in the life and culture of American cities. A Summer Stipend would support research toward the writing of a scholarly article to be published in a journal of urban or architectural history. It will elucidate key aspects of the architectural legacy and civic culture of America--a central theme of the NEH's "We the People" program--and provide a model for inter-disciplinary study of the modern urban environment.