Reform
The Hudson-Fulton Celebration of 1909 was linked to several reform movements sweeping New York City, in addition to Progressivism. These included the Conservation and Preservation movements, which led to the creation of the Historical Preservation Society. This organization worked to restore and establish landmarks and parks; these goals would be seen in the Celebration, in the many dedications of monuments which occurred over the course of the festivities. These monuments promoted the history of the city, and provided, like the Historical Parade, a visual history lesson for New Yorkers. Similar to the Progressives’ City Beautiful Movement, these memorials hoped to develop a unified civic identity for the diverse inhabitants of New York City.
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 Old World, in an attempt to link New York to London, Paris, and other European metropolises. This event was a night celebration which illuminated New York, creating an exciting and festive atmosphere.
Read more about this topic: Hudson-Fulton Celebration
Famous quotes containing the word reform:
“Both of us felt more anxiety about the South—about the colored people especially—than about anything else sinister in the result. My hope of a sound currency will somehow be realized; civil service reform will be delayed; but the great injury is in the South. There the Amendments will be nullified, disorder will continue, prosperity to both whites and colored people will be pushed off for years.”
—Rutherford Birchard Hayes (1822–1893)
“When I go into a museum and see the mummies wrapped in their linen bandages, I see that the lives of men began to need reform as long ago as when they walked the earth. I come out into the streets, and meet men who declare that the time is near at hand for the redemption of the race. But as men lived in Thebes, so do they live in Dunstable today.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)
“...the way to reform has always led through prison.”
—Emmeline Pankhurst (1858–1928)