Author Archives: Roger W. Smith

About Roger W. Smith

Roger W. Smith is a writer and independent scholar based in New York City. His experience includes freelance writing and editing, business writing, book reviewing, and the teaching of writing and literature as an adjunct professor at St. John’s University. Mr. Smith's interests include personal essays and opinion pieces; American and world literature; culture, especially books and reading; classical music; current issues that involve social, moral, and philosophical views; and experiences of daily living from a ground level perspective. Sites on WordPress hosted by Mr. Smith include: (1) rogersgleanings.com (a personal site comprised of essays on a wide range of topics) ; (2) rogers-rhetoric.com (covering principles and practices of writing); (3) roger-w-smiths-dreiser.site (devoted to the author Theodore Dreiser); and (4) pitirimsorokin.com (devoted to sociologist and social philosopher Pitirim A. Sorokin).

taking the ferry (from Arthur Henry, “Lodgings in Town”)

 

taking the ferry (Arthur Henry)

 

Posted here:

an excerpt from Lodgings in Town

by Arthur Henry

New York: A. S. Barnes & Company, 1905

Arthur Henry was a friend of and collaborator with Theodore Dreiser.

 

— posted by Roger W. Smith

 

Inwood Hilll Park

 

See Word document below, containing an excerpt from:

Elizabeth Barlow

“The Campfires of Inwood Hill”

IN The Forests and Wetlands of New York City (Little, Brown and Company, 1969)

 

Elizabeth Barlow, Inwood Hiil Park

 

photographs by Roger W. Smith

— posted by Roger W. Smith

   April 2024

 

 

new post about Walt Whitman, a walker in the City

 

New Yorkers may enjoy a post on my Whitman site about Walt Whitman’s New York jaunts:

 

Whitman rambles

 

— Roger W. Smith

   December 2023

views of early New York City

 

William P. Chappel (1801–1878), a tinsmith and amateur painter, depicted scenes of early nineteenth-century New York City. His oil paintings were featured in an exhibition at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Posted here are my photographs of same.

*****************************************************

a personal note:

My maternal grandmother’s great-grandfather, Captain Gamaliel Hart (circa 1791/92-1834), captain of the whaleship John Willis out of New Bedford, moved to New York City late in life, where he had a lumberyard. (The name Gamaliel is from the Hebrew, meaning God.) New York City directories from this time indicate that Gamaliel Hart’s widow Ann (his second wife) was living at 56 Centre Street shortly after his death, which may have been the residence of Gamaliel and his wife before he died; and, if not, it provides an indication of where they lived. It was probably not far from where City Hall is located today.

 

— posted by Roger W. Smith

   July 2023

 

Adult Funeral Procession

Baker Pears in Duane Park

Baptism

Bathing Party

Berg’s Ship Yard

Bull;s Head Tavern

Buttermilk Pedlar

Chimney Sweeps

City Watchman

Fighting a Fire

Firemen’s Washing Day

Fly Market

Hot Corn Seller

House Raising

Infant Funeral Procession

Militia Drilling

Old Ferry Stairs

Strawberry Pedlar

Tea Party

Tea Rusk and Brick House

The Water Pump

The Baker’s Wagon

The Boot Black

The Dog Killer

The Garbage Cart

The Lamp Lighter

The Sewer

Roger W. Smith, photographer of my city

 

Flow on, river! flow with the flood-tide, and ebb with the ebb-tide!
Frolic on, crested and scallop-edg’d waves!
Gorgeous clouds of the sunset! drench with your splendor me, or the men and women generations after me!
 
— Walt Whitman, Crossing Brooklyn Ferry

 

Many of these photos were taken from the Staten Island Ferry. The harbor is my favorite.

Dates taken were from around 2017 to the present.

 

— posted by Roger W. Smith

  May 2023

 

 

 

 

 

taking the subway in 1914

 

‘Hunker Explores New York’s York’s Subway’ – NY Times 9-13-1914

‘Huneker Explores New York’s Subway’ – NY Times 9-13-1914

 

Posted here (see above):

“Huneker Nervously Explores New York’s Subway”

By James Huneker

The New York Times Magazine

September 13, 1914

James Huneker (1857-1921) was an literary, theater, and arts critic for the New York Sun.

 

— posted by Roger W. Smith

   April 2023

the subway

 

L train, 11:35 a.m., April 18, 2023

Non-New Yorkers may think it is something that only people who have to take it endure … that it is unpleasant to take the subway.

Mostly I find it’s the opposite.

I thought about this while taking the L train from Brooklyn to Manhattan yesterday.

The subways are often not that crowded. I tend to be in a thoughtful mood (all of this is true of the buses, as well); enjoy the people, who by a large majority are polite and usually pleasing in appearance.

There are always a lot of young people, by which I mean mostly 20s and 30s. A large number of them are reading their cell phones or engaged in lively conversations. Some are reading books in which they usually seem engrossed.

I often catch up on the news on my phone or on Facebook posts.

And, sometimes I am lost in thought. The subway is peaceful enough to permit this.

I don’t have to worry going home if I have had a couple of beers, and I don’t have to deal with driving.

 

— posted by Roger W. Smith

   April 19, 2023