legends Greater Astoria Historial Society 35-20 Broadway, 4th Floor | L.I.C., NY 11106 718.278.0700 | www.astorialic.org Gallery Hours: Mondays & Wednesdays 2-5 PM Saturdays 12-5 PM Exhibits ~ Lectures ~ Documentaries ~ Books Walking Tours ~ Historical Research Unique & Creative Content For more information visit us on the web at www.astorialic.org This image adapted from an invitation to the Long Island City Athletics 33rd Annual Masque Ball, 1909. 32 DECEMBER 2013 I LIC COURIER I www.queenscourier.com Renaissance Man A book of the community’s past would be overwhelmed with narratives of lives that resonate over time: the boisterous politician, the nameless saint, a person of note. William Steinway’s contributions changed both our city and country. He was drawn to Long Island City because it was good ground for opportunity. Perhaps he sensed us as a community that could make his dreams real, dreams that helped defi ne the age he lived in. Mr. Steinway is our very own “Renaissance Man.” His childhood was described in spare terms, the fourth son of Henry Engelhard Steinway, a craftsman of pianos from Seesen, a town in Brunswick, Germany. His schooling included instruction in languages and music, skills for he would fi nd good use in adulthood. He apprenticed at a piano factory for two years. The Steinways came as immigrants to the alien shores of America in the 1850s. Their dream was to design and perfect the most complex hand crafted instrument in the world: the Steinway Piano. Within three years, the Steinways were making those pianos under their name. Each family member had a duty. William, one of the youngest of fi ve adult brothers and profi cient in English, was responsible for administration. He eventually became company president. William created one of the fi rst modern corporations, a many armed enterprise that drew resources from around the globe. The neighborhood around his family’s factory became a magnet for craftsmen and artisans from many nations and many places. Sohmer Piano, Astoria Silk Works, Astoria Mahogany, and dozens of smaller shops crafted silk and metal and wood into things the world wanted. William was just getting started. He built the Steinway Concert & Artist Department and managed Steinway Hall, the country’s outstanding cultural venue in his time. He applied his skills to community development and public transportation. The Steinway Settlement, the waterfront community around the factory, attracted thousands drawn by its location and amenities. He organized two transit grids: the New York City subway system and a streetcar network that knit Queens together. His projects included the Queensboro Bridge, the Steinway Tubes under the East River, and a proposal for a metropolitan rail network. He was a heavy investor in the idea of the automobile. Mr. Steinway died on November 30, 1896, aged 62. He is buried at Green- Wood Cemetery, Brooklyn. He left a fi nal gift. In 2010, the Smithsonian Institution made public nine volumes of his personal diaries covering the last 35 years of his life. Those words give us an unparalleled window to the past, a time when William and his family summered at the mansion in Astoria. We also have dozens of family pictures from those years. One of the most notable is William, sitting on the mansion’s carriage step, hat in hand, looking past us, confi dently, towards the future. Next installment: “The Commissioners fi nd Value” LEGENDS OF LIC BY GREATER ASTORIA HISTORICAL SOCIETY LEGENDS OF LIC 32
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