History of New York Public Library
Created by Adeline Anderson
Architect of NYPL
John Merven Carrere and Thomas Hastings were the architects of the New York Public Library. They owned an architectural firm. In the 1880s, Carrere and Hastings were trained by McKim, Mead & White. McKim, Mead & White were the architects for the Boston Public Library, which was admired by many.
Founders of the New York Public Library
The founders were Samuel J. Tilden who was the governor from 1814-1886. Samuel J. Tilden owned a large book collection. John Jacob Astor(1793-1848) created the Astor Library. He was another founder of the New York Public Library.
Facts about the Library
The New York Public Library started construction in 1899. The official name is The New York Public Library, Astor, Lenox, and Tilden Foundation because of a merger that took place in 1895. The reason of the merger was because there were already libraries standing in New York: the Astor, the Lenox, and the Samuel J. Tilden Trust.
Library Lions
According the the New York Public Library, Paul Goldberger, an architect critic, stated "New York's most lovable public sculpture". The Lions in the front of the building are decorated during the holidays like Christmas. They are decorated with holy wreaths during winter and in the spring the Lions are decorated with floral wreaths. Other decorations have been top hats, graduation caps, Mets and Yankee caps, etc. The Library Lions have been illustrated in children books, tourists have taken countless photos. The sculptor was Edward Clark Potter. Due to the popularity of the Library Lions, the New York Public Library made the Library Lions the mascot. The Library Lions were given a few nicknames over the years. The first set of names were Leo Astor and Leo Lenox, named after the founders. Down the road the popular lions' name was tweaked: Lady Astor and Lord Lenox. The two current ones are Patience and Fortitude. Patience and Fortitude was given in the1930s by Mayor Fiorello LaGuardia. He believed that patience and fortitude would be what New Yorkers would need in order to get threw the Great Depression.