WWI Princeton Club of New York Casualties Remembered

Princeton lost 151 men in World War I. Whether through wounds, accidents, injuries, sickness or the Influenza Pandemic, the toll was high. Of these 151, twenty-nine were members of the Princeton Club of New York. In the club entrance foyer is a beautiful bronze memorial to the honored war dead of the club. For my talk at the club on my book World War I New York: A Guide to the City’s Enduring Ties to Continue Reading →

November 5 Walk and Talk in Brooklyn-Queens

On November 5 I am going to have a double-feature day: At 10:00 AM take a cemetery walking tour in Cypress Hills, Brooklyn. Followed by a 2:00 p.m. book talk about World War I New York: A Guide the City’s Enduring Ties to the Great War, which will be held at the Queens Historical Society in Flushing. To begin the day, I will lead a free tour of the only national cemetery in NYC in Continue Reading →

The 500 Confederates Buried in Brooklyn and the Bronx

I have paid my respects to the Confederate soldiers buried in Brooklyn. Oh, you didn’t know that more than 500 war dead who served in the Confederate States of America are interred there? There are more Confederate graves in New York City than any other place in the Northeast? I’ve been waiting to talk to a couple of reporters for two days, since I wrote a book about city war memorials, and give tours of Continue Reading →

The Statue of Liberty and WWI

On Independence Day I’ll be climbing the 215 steps up to the pedestal of the Statue of the Liberty. I’m making five trips in five consecutive days, down from four trips last week. As a licensed tour guide, I’m among the lucky few who get to visit the most famous landmark in the country for my “job” so often. Taking visitors to Liberty Island and Ellis Island is an incredible privilege. When I began leading Continue Reading →

Centennial of General Pershing on Governors Island

One hundred years ago on Sunday, General John J. Pershing woke up in Times Square. He was in bed in the Astor Hotel, which once was on the corner of Broadway and W. 44th Street. I do not know how he got from Forty-second Street to the Battery Maritime Building at 10 South Street, but I like to think that instead of a car he and his group took the Interborough Rapid Transit Company (IRT) Continue Reading →

World War I Book Published and I Wear a Doughboy Uniform

The last week has been a whirlwind ever since my new book World War I New York: A Guide to the City’s Enduring Ties to the Great War was published by Globe Pequot. I was on the edge for weeks because the book was delayed, and I was worried it would miss the centennial on April 6. To say it was close was an understatement. April 4 I finally got a chance to see the Continue Reading →

NYC Now Knows Who Co-Founded The New Yorker

It is Women’s History Month. Who celebrates Jane Grant as the co-founder of The New Yorker? Was it, perhaps, The New Yorker? Or newyorker.com? Or another Condé Nast publication, such as Vanity Fair or Vogue? You’d be wrong in every case, just like you’d be wrong to choose The New York Times, where Grant was the first female reporter in the city room, before World War I. The one (and only one) place that recognizes Continue Reading →

WWI Centennial Countdown Begins with Private C. LeRoy Baldridge Art

In thirty days is the centennial of American entry in World War I on April 6. To mark the occasion, beginning today I am going to post a daily countdown with a different sketch by Private C. LeRoy Baldridge. He was a sketch artist in the war and his work was widely distributed. I am going to post these images daily until April 6 on my Tumbler, Twitter, and Facebook Page. Here is a little Continue Reading →

Rubber Rats and Vintage Uniforms in the Bronx

In the basement of an American Legion hall in the Bronx I saw an Army coat from the Teddy Roosevelt administration, a shirt worn in 1918, and a display of medals that were museum-quality. There was also a rubber rat and caps galore. This could only be a flea market for World War I buffs, and it was held on Saturday, February 25. If there was one story that came out of the inaugural event Continue Reading →