when the Seventh Regiment of militia was called out to preserve the peace. The Croton aqueduct was completed in 1842; and on July 14, 1853, the Crystal Palace Industrial Exhibition was opened on what is now Bryant Square. Another severe financial panic occurred in 1857, followed by suspension of banks and business failures.
On the approach of the Civil War many in the city seemed to favor the South, and in January, 1861, the Mayor, Fernando Wood (q.v.), proclaimed secession to be ‘a fixed fact,’ and proposed that an independent commonwealth, to be called ‘Tri-Insula,’ be formed out of Manhattan, Long, and Staten Islands. The city, however, loyally supported the Union during the war, sending to the front 116,382 soldiers at a cost of about $14,500,000. In July, 1863, occurred the Draft Riots (q.v.), lasting three days, during which business was suspended, property worth more than $1,500,000 was destroyed, and more than 1000 lives were lost. The city suffered for several years from frauds, perpetrated by the ‘Tweed Ring,’ which controlled municipal affairs, but in 1871 the ‘Ring’ was convicted of having robbed the city of more than $20,000,000, and was effectually broken up. (See Tweed, William M.) In 1869 a financial panic, caused by the effort to ‘corner’ gold, culminated on ‘Black Friday’ (September 24th), gold then being at 162½. The financial panic of 1873 caused the greatest suffering in New York City, although its growth continued unabated. On May 24, 1883, the Brooklyn Bridge was formally opened, and in 1886 the Bartholdi Statue of Liberty was unveiled. New York has been the scene of many imposing processions and celebrations: On the occasion of Lafayette's visit in 1824; the celebration of the opening of the Erie Canal in 1825; the funeral processions of Lincoln, April 25, 1865, and of General Grant, August 8, 1885; the laying of the Atlantic cable, 1858; the opening of the Brooklyn Bridge; the centennial celebration of Washington's inauguration as President of the United States, in 1889 (from April 29th to May 1st); the Columbian celebrations of October, 1892, and April, 1893; the reception to the Santiago fleet in 1898; and the Dewey reception in 1899.
Bibliography. Lamb, History of the City of New York (New York, 1880); Lossing, History of New York City (ib., 1885); Roosevelt, History of New York (ib., 1891); Wilson, Memorial History of the City of New York (ib., 1891-93); Janvier, In Old New York (ib., 1894); Goodwin, Royce, and Putnam, Historic New York (ib., 1898); Leslin, History of Greater New York (ib., 1899); Wilson, New York, Old and New (Philadelphia, 1903). Special periods are treated in Guernsey, New York City and Vicinity During the War of 1812-15, vol. i. (New York, 1890); Phisterer, New York in the War of the Rebellion (Albany, 1890); Colton, Annals of Old Manhattan, 1609-64 (ib., 1902); Inness, New Amsterdam and Its People (ib., 1903). Consult, also, for a popular treatment of the city government, Coler, Municipal Government (New York, 1900); for the financial history, Durand, The Finances of New York City (ib., 1898); and for the economic improvement, Riis, How the Other Half Lives (ib., 1890); id., The Battle with the Slum (ib., 1902).
NEW YORK, College of the City of. A public institution of learning in New York City, established by the Board of Education of the city in 1848, and originally known as the Free Academy. Collegiate powers were granted to it in 1858, and in 1866 it assumed its present name. The members of the Board of Education were ex-officio trustees of the college until in 1900 a separate board of trustees was created, composed of nine members appointed by the Mayor, with the president of the college and the president of the Board of Education as ex-officio members. In 1882 the requirement of one year's previous attendance at the public schools of the city was repealed, and the college was thrown open to all young men of the city. In 1900 the length of the course was increased from five years to seven, comprising three years' attendance in the preparatory department and four years of collegiate work. There are five courses of study, leading to the degrees of B.A. or B.S. The M.A. and M.S. degrees are conferred after two years of additional study. Instruction and the use of text-books and apparatus are free to students. The college was one of the first institutions to establish a separate chair of English and to make manual training a part of the curriculum. In 1902 the process of securing a new site for the college, then situated at Lexington Avenue and Twenty-third Street, was completed. The new home of the college is located in the block bounded by 138th and l40th streets, Saint Nicholas Terrace, and Convent Avenue. Ground was broken on March 10, 1903, and the erection of new buildings, estimated to cost $4,000,000, was begun. In 1903 the collegiate department had an attendance of 817, and the preparatory department 997. The instructors numbered 110. The buildings and grounds on the old site were valued at $846,500, and the new grounds at $800,000, the total value of the college property being $1,646,500, and its income $299,362. The library contained 34,911 volumes and 2000 pamphlets. During the first half century of the history of the institution there were but two presidents. Horace Webster (1848-69) and Gen. Alexander S. Webb (1869-1901), both graduates of West Point, and the discipline and curriculum have been greatly influenced by that institution. In 1903 John Huston Finley, professor of politics at Princeton University, became president.
NEW YORK ACADEMY OF SCIENCES, The. An association incorporated in 1818 as The Lyceum of Natural History in the City of New York, which was exchanged in 1876 for the present name. In 1902 the Academy was empowered by legislative enactment to obtain funds and erect a building for scientific uses, and to exercise such other powers as appertain to the scope of such institutions. Membership in the Academy consists of four classes: active members, fellows, corresponding members, and honorary members. Fellows are chosen from the active members in virtue of their scientific attainments. The number of corresponding members is limited to two hundred, and honorary members to fifty. The following sections of the Academy are in active operation: astronomy, physics, and chemistry; biology; geology and mineralogy; anthropology and psychology. The Academy publishes Annals and Memoirs.
NEW YORK BAT. See Red Bat.
