ladiesfourinhanddrivingclub

Thanks!

From The New York Times: "WOMEN TO START COACHING SEASON; Ladies' Four-in-Hand Club to Make Daily Trips to Rockingstone and Return. April 28, 1912 "With the advent of Spring weather and the roads in good condition, the Ladies' Four-in-Hand Driving Club, an organization of enthusiastic horsewomen of this city, will inaugurate the 1912 coaching season with daily trips between the Colony Club and Rockingstone, Bronx Park. The first trip will be made May 6 and continue daily until further notice, according to the plans arranged with the officers of the club and Morris E. Howlett, the coaching whip." ... [End of First Paragraph] "AGAIN OLD COACH LIBERTY; Miss Harriet Alexander to Tool First Day's Run to Country. May 11, 1915 "The famous old coach Liberty, which has a history dating back to 1893, when James Gordon Bennett used it in trips from Paris to Rouen, and which Alfred G. Vanderbilt often drove in this country, will on next Friday be placed in service between the Biltmore and the Gedney Farms Hotel in White Plains. John McE. Bowman, President of the Biltmore, is the sponsor for the undertaking. ..." [End of First Paragraph]

Found this at the National Sporting Library's website: "The Ladies' Four-in-Hand Driving Club was formed in New York City in 1901 by several prominent society women who took an interest in driving. The club was a counterpart to the city’s famed Coaching Club, many members of which were husbands, fathers, and brothers to the members of the Ladies’ Club. The Ladies’ Club took regular trips to the different boroughs as well as longer road trips to destinations in New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Connecticut; for a short time they even ran a small shuttle service through Manhattan. Under the tutelage of renowned driving instructor Morris Howlett, most of the members became quite accomplished drivers. Each year, the Club held a parade and review through Central Park onto Fifth Avenue. The Club’s founder and president was Helen Benedict Hastings, wife of the famous architect Thomas Hastings, designer of the New York Public Library, the front façade of the U. S. Capitol Building, and the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier at Arlington Cemetery. Other notable members of the Ladies’ Club included Mrs. Arthur Iselin (vice president), Louisa Gulliver Sheldon (secretary and treasurer), Marion Hollins, and Harriet Alexander. The Club flourished until automobile traffic on the city streets made coaching impossible."

Great hats!

Women driving a coach? Ha! Next thing you know they'll be wanting to vote!

This appears to be taken at the same time as:

"Ladies' 4-in-hand-club [Harriet Alexander driving] (LOC)" by library_of_congress


If so, this would be Harriet Alexander driving ("whip") -- and was likely taken in Central Park.

This appears to be taken at the same time as:

"Ladies' 4-in-hand-club [Harriet Alexander driving] (LOC)" by library_of_congress


If so, this would be Harriet Alexander driving ("whip") -- and may very well be in Central Park.

Love this shot!!

Date written next to caption on negative is 5/8/13

query.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=9900EEDA173FE633A... indicates that May 8, 1913 will be the date for the garden party at the New York Zoological Society. "The Ladies Four-in-Hand Driving Club will have its race from the Colony Club to the Westchester Club on the same day and upon its return, it plans to stop at the park and join the party." A quick search of the NYT shows that Harriet Alexander was winning four-in-hand driving competitions for years.

This was taken in front of the original Colony Club Building (1904-1908) at 120 Madison Avenue in New York City. The Colony Club moved uptown, but the building's still there, and today used by the American Academy of Dramatic Arts. The AIA Guide to New York City notes that its architect, the renowned Stanford White, was assassinated during its construction only three blocks away. You can read a great New York Times article about the building here.

This was likely an exhibition of The Ladies' Four-in-Hand Driving Club. The Club’s founder and president was Helen Benedict Hastings, wife of the famous architect Thomas Hastings, designer of the New York Public Library, the front façade of the U.S. Capitol Building, and the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier at Arlington Cemetery. –National Sporting Library Mrs. Arthur Iselin (vice president), is seen here driving the coach (whip), with Mrs. Hastings seated next to her. Mrs, William Goadby Loew (Miss Florence B. Baker), seated to the rear, can be seen between them. The Ladies' Four-in-Hand Driving Club regularly made trips to and from the Colony Club.

"With the advent of Spring weather and the roads in good condition, the Ladies' Four-in-Hand Driving Club, an organization of enthusiastic horsewomen of this city, will inaugurate the 1912 coaching season with daily trips between the Colony Club and Rockingstone, Bronx Park." –New York Times

Mrs. Loew could well afford to indulge her whims in Bronx Park. She was an heiress; her father had left her 5 million. Her husband, William, was a stockbroker, noted for his snappy attire. In 1935, a panel of tailors voted him the best-dressed man in the country. William and his buddies once rode a coach-and-four 206 miles from Manhattan to Newport, RI, just to play polo. The trip, taken at a gallop, required 21 changes of horses. Here's the story, reported decades later, in a 1935 issue of Time Magazine: www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,748315,00.html

Wystan: typo fixed – thanks!

Wystan-- Thanks. Does look like it should be Hastings'. Will submit for update to the catalog record. --Jeff