The Bronx Booth
From antiquity, sculpture has been a popular form for devotion to deities, celebration of sovereigns and political leaders, and remembrance of both warriors and artists. In our own clubhouse, sculptures across three centuries are prominent in the permanent collection. But celebrated Players are not limited to our Gramercy Park environs.
100 years ago, our members learned of the unveiling a new tribute to Edwin Booth. While not stated in this item from the May 1, 1926 Players Bulletin, the new work was produced by the same sculptor, Edmond T. Quinn, had who realized Mr. Booth as Hamlet in the center of Gramercy Park nearly a decade before. Notably, this work was envisioned as Edwin himself, and not the actor in character.
The Hall of Fame for Great Americans, directed by writer and diplomat Dr. Robert Underwood Johnson, was located on the University Heights campus of New York University in the Bronx. This undergraduate and engineering campus, designed by Stanford White, operated from 1894 until its 1973 sale to CUNY during an NYU financial crisis. Now the campus of Bronx Community College, much of the art and architecture remains intact and true to its early years. The Hall of Fame facilities are currently closed to the public while undergoing repair and restoration work. Among other Hall of Fame inductees with Mr. Booth on that Wednesday in 1926, The New York Times reported, were theologian Jonathan Edwards, sculptor Augustus Saint-Gaudens, philanthropist George Peabody, inventor Eli Whitney, jurist James Kent, orator and statesman Daniel Webster, explorer Daniel Boone, and minister and Rhode Island founder Roger Williams.
Quinn, Johnson, White, and Saint-Gaudens were all Players, as well.
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