Gould Memorial Library, Bronx, NY - Philatelic Photographs on Waymarking.com

New York University was founded in 1831 by a group of prominent New York City denizens including former Secretary of the Treasury (and US stamp subject) Albert Gallatin. At that time, it was called the University of the City of New-York. After having rented facilities for a few years in the heart of the city, a permanent campus was established “uptown” in Greenwich Village at Washington Square. (This location would be considered downtown today.)

By the end of the nineteenth century, the area around Washington Square had become crowded and industrial and expansion of the campus proved difficult. In the 1890s NYU sought to move its campus north of the urban sprawl where land was plentiful and expansion easier. It also sought to provide an athletic program and dormitories to attract out-of-area students. Land was purchased in the Bronx along the Harlem River and plans were drawn up for a new campus.

The architectural firm of McKim, Mead and White was contracted to design the campus with the primary design responsibilities falling to Stanford White. White envisioned the campus as a quadrangle with a domed library as its centerpiece. This library is now considered to be the esteemed architect’s most beautiful building and the one chosen for the stamp. Wealthy railroad tycoon Jay Gould provided the lion’s share of the funding for the new campus and the new library was named in his honor.

Incidentally, around this same time, Columbia University (which was also located in New York City) got the same idea. Their choice of a rural area to build a new campus was on the upper west side of Manhattan. They also contracted the firm of McKim, Mead and White to design their new campus. This design also featured a domed library as its centerpiece and this library (the Low Memorial Library) also made it onto a postage stamp. The only difference was that this building was designed by partner Charles McKim and not Stanford White.

NYU’s attempt to outrun urban sprawl eventually proved futile. The campus unrest of the late sixties coupled with declining enrollment and other financial difficulties forced NYU to sell its Bronx campus in 1973. Perhaps they agreed with humorist (and US stamp subject) Ogden Nash who famously said “The Bronx? No thonx!” In any event, the campus was purchased by the City University of New York and transformed into the current Bronx Community College although many of the buildings retain their original NYU names.

Partially visible on the stamp is the colonnade connecting the library to a couple of the surrounding buildings. Contained within this colonnade is a series of bronze busts of famous Americans called the “Hall of Fame,” the first of its kind in the United States. For many years, this Hall of Fame was a top tourist attraction in the Bronx. Today, few have ever heard of it.

The stamp was part of a multi-year series commemorating American architecture. This stamp in particular honors Stanford White whose other notable designs include the arch at Washington Square, the Tiffany building on Fifth Avenue and the second Madison Square Garden (the one that was actually located at Madison Square but has since been torn down). It was at Madison Square Garden where White, a notorious womanizer, was brutally murdered by millionaire Harry Thaw in 1906. Thaw accused White of “ruining” his wife Evelyn Nesbit who may also have appeared (very indirectly) on a US postage stamp: Nesbit was one of the models used by Charles Dana Gibson for his ubiquitous “Gibson Girl” illustrations and bears a striking resemblance to the Gibson Girl stamp issued in 1998.

Stamp Issuing Country: United States Date of Issue: 28-Aug-1981 Denomination: 18 cents Color: black & red Stamp Type: Single Stamp Relevant Web Site: Not listed

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