Posts By: Heather Iannucci

Our story for this month is about one of America’s earliest landscape architects, and major proponent of advancing careers for women, Mary Rutherfurd Jay (1872-1953). She was the daughter of Peter Augustus Jay (1841-1875) and Julia Post, and the granddaughter of Dr. John Clarkson Jay. Mary grew up at the Jay family estate in Rye,…

John Jay II (1817-1894), son of early abolitionist William Jay, had been exposed to staunch anti-slavery sentiments from an early age. As an attorney, he dedicated a significant portion of his career to arguing against pro-slavery legislation in court, often, securing the freedom of formerly enslaved people who had made their escape north. One case that…

Check out the latest from scholar/author David Gellman on John Jay, the abolitionist founding father on THE GOTHAM CENTER FOR NEW YORK CITY HISTORY Blog.