Richard Magat, Man in Manhattan: Bronxville Gets Presidential Library--Not Quite
By Richard Magat
Jun. 10, 2015: For a few split seconds in May, perhaps, some Bronxville residents may have pinched themselves in disbelief. Our village was chosen to be the site of the Barack Obama Presidential Library?
How could that be, since there were at least three major competitors for the site--Hawaii, where he was raised; New York, where he spent a few years as a student at Columbia; and Chicago, where he built his political career.
As it turns out, the choice was a sociological, to say the least, glitch. The Obama library will be built in a portion of the South Side of Chicago known as Bronzeville, a center of African-American culture from the 1920s through the l950s.
Though small, at its peak it housed more than 300,000 in a narrow seven-mile strip. The pulsing energy of Bronzeville was located at the crowded corners of 35th and State Street and 47th Street and South Parkway Boulevard (later renamed Martin Luther King Jr. Drive). Nearby are the Illinois Institute of Technology and the Illinois College of Optometry.
The neighborhood's Wabash YMCA is credited as the birthplace of the commemoration of black culture that later become Black History Month. Although Bronzeville was a center of black culture such as jazz, blues, and gospel music, it was also notorious for the huge public housing project the Robert Taylor Homes--so wretched that it was razed in the late 1990s.
Apart from their historical and scholarly value, presidential libraries are tourist attractions. The most popular are the Reagan, Kennedy, and Clinton libraries, though FDR's home in Hyde Park is a revered venue.
Attendance at libraries of presidents who had low approval ratings, e.g., Hoover and Nixon, is comparably low. To say nothing of William Henry Harrison, who died in 1841, one month after taking office.
For the record, there is only one Bronxville in the United States, and one Bronzeville.
Photo by N. Bower
Government & History Directory
Bronxville is a quaint village (one square mile) located just 16 miles north of midtown Manhattan (roughly 30 minutes on the train) and has a population of approximately 6,500. It is known as a premier community with an excellent public school (K-12) and easy access to Manhattan. Bronxville offers many amenities including an attractive business district, a hospital (Lawrence Hospital), public paddle and tennis courts, fine dining at local restaurants, two private country clubs and a community library.
While the earliest settlers of Bronxville date back to the first half of the 18th century, the history of the modern suburb of Bronxville began in 1890 when William Van Duzer Lawrence purchased a farm and commissioned the architect, William A. Bates, to design a planned community of houses for well-known artists and professionals that became a thriving art colony. This community, now called Lawrence Park, is listed on the National register of Historic Places and many of the homes still have artists’ studios. A neighborhood association within Lawrence Park called “The Hilltop Association” keeps this heritage alive with art shows and other events for neighbors.
Bronxville offers many charming neighborhoods as well as a variety of living options for residents including single family homes, town houses, cooperatives and condominiums. One of the chief benefits of living in “the village” is that your children can attend the Bronxville School.
The Bronxville postal zone (10708, known as “Bronxville PO”) includes the village of Bronxville as well as the Chester Heights section of Eastchester, parts of Tuckahoe and the Lawrence Park West, Cedar Knolls, Armour Villa and Longvale sections of Yonkers. Many of these areas have their own distinct character. For instance, the Armour Villa section has many historic homes and even has its own newsletter called “The Villa Voice” which reports on neighborhood news.
Village of Bronxville Administrative Offices
337-6500
Open 9:00am - 4pm excluding holidays and weekends
Bronxville Police Department
337-0500
Open 24 hours
Bronxville Parking Violations
337-2024
Open 9:00am - 4pm excluding holidays and weekends
Bronxville Fire Deparment
793-6400
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