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40-708: Founded in 1919 as the Yonkers Museum, the facility was also known as the Yonkers Museum of Science and the Arts, prior to being named the Hudson River Museum. The museum originally contained a number of mineral specimens housed in Yonkers City Hall . Photographer Rudolf Eickemeyer Jr. , a lifelong resident of Yonkers, played a key role in the creation of the museum, as did sculptor Isidore Konti , and George J. Stengel . Central to its history

80-407: A debating chamber for council meetings, office space for city employees, an archive room for official documents, and some degree of fortification lest the city be attacked. The Palazzo Senatorio has been the headquarters of the municipal government of Rome since 1144, making it the oldest city hall in the world. The Cologne City Hall of 1135 is another early example. The Palazzo Pubblico of

120-631: A 2006 expansion attempted to better join the Glenview Mansion with the modern 1969 additions. The museum used its namesake, the Hudson River , as the core of its 75th anniversary celebration in 1994. It celebrated its centennial in 2019. Since 1995 the museum has offered a Junior Docent Program; the program was recognized by the President's Committee on the Arts and Humanities with a Coming Up Taller Award in 2008. In November 2020,

160-617: A civic town hall have become separated. Particularly in North America, "city hall" can be used as a metonym to mean municipal government , or government in general, as in the axiom "You can't fight city hall". "Town hall" tends to have less formal connotations (cf. Town meeting ). Alvin Hollingsworth Alvin C. Hollingsworth (25 February 1928 – July 14, 2000), whose pseudonyms included Alvin Holly,

200-422: A covered space to function as a marketplace at street level, and one or more rooms used for public or civic purposes above it. These buildings were frequently the precursors of dedicated town halls. The modern concept of the town hall developed with the rise of medieval communes . Much as a lord was based in his hall, the new councils which formed to rule the cities required a headquarters. This building needed

240-705: A federal Museums for America grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services to digitize approximately 8,000 objects, largely consisting of historical photographs representative of their local and regional communities, including photographs from the archives of the John Bond Trevor family, the Alexander Smith Carpet Factory, artist Alvin Hollingsworth , and photographer Rudolf Eickemeyer Jr. The period interiors of

280-836: A great variety and flexibility of purpose in mind. In some European countries, the town hall is the venue for the declaration of Christmas Peace , such as Turku and Porvoo in Finland and Tartu in Estonia . As symbols of local government, city, and town halls have distinctive architecture, and the buildings may have great historical significance – for example the Guildhall, London . City hall buildings may also serve as cultural icons that symbolize their cities. City Hall buildings often serve citizens in accessing government functions as well as providing vital symbolic roles for their communities. In Commonwealth countries ,

320-410: A painter, his subjects included such contemporary social issues as civil rights for women and African Americans , as well as jazz and dance . Of one subject he painted, an African Jesus Christ , he told Ebony magazine in 1971, "I have always felt that Christ was a Black man," and said the subject represented a "philosophical symbol of any of the modern prophets who have been trying to show us

360-407: A regional strategic authority. The Oxford English Dictionary sums up the generic terms: County Council administrations in parts of England and Wales generally operate from a base in a building called, by analogy, a " county hall " or "shire hall". Conversely, cities that have subdivisions with their councils may have borough halls. Scottish local government in larger cities operates from

400-543: A single large open chamber (or "hall") formed an integral part of the building housing the council and such other organs of government as supported it. The hall may be used for council meetings and other significant events. This large chamber, the "town hall" (and its later variant "city hall") became synonymous with the whole building, and, synecdochically , the municipal government headquartered there. The terms "council chambers", "municipal building" or variants may be used locally in preference to "town hall" if no such large hall

440-729: A thousand more than the Spitz. In 2014 the planetarium was renovated and upgraded with a Sky-Skan Digital Planetarium system and a Megastar projector capable of displaying 22 million stars. The Hudson River Museum Planetarium (formerly known as the Andrus Planetarium) remains the only public planetarium in Westchester County, and one of the few in the region to feature live presenters on weekends in addition to pre-recorded shows. The planetarium accommodates school groups on weekdays, while three different shows are offered to

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480-630: Is a distinction between the Council House and the Town Hall , a concert and meeting venue that pre-dates it. In Sheffield , the distinction is between the Town Hall , the seat of local government, and the City Hall , a concert and ballroom venue. In Leeds , the Town Hall , built in the 1850s as a seat of local government, now functions primarily as a concert, conference, and wedding venue, many of its municipal functions having moved in 1933 to

520-482: Is accredited by the American Alliance of Museums , a mark of excellence it has maintained since 1974. The rooms on public display feature carved woodwork by Philadelphia cabinetmaker Daniel Pabst . In 1979, artist Red Grooms created and installed "The Bookstore" at Hudson River Museum, where it is on permanent display. The museum has had a planetarium component for over 60 years. The first planetarium

560-754: Is made between city halls and town halls. The term is also sometimes (but more rarely) used as a name in Commonwealth countries: for example, for the City Halls of Brisbane in Australia, and of Cardiff , Norwich and Bristol in the UK. City Hall in Dublin , Ireland, is another example. City Hall in London, opened in 2002, is an exceptional case, being the seat not of a conventional municipal authority, but of

600-528: Is one of the grandest examples of the medieval era, serving as a model for 19th-century town halls such as the Rathaus, Vienna . Over centuries, the idea of civic representation along with notions of urbanism and public space evolved. Even the building form grew in size and the town hall concept expanded beyond Europe to become an established institution across the world. As the functions of government generally and municipal government in particular expanded in

640-435: Is present within the building. The local government may endeavor to use the building to promote and enhance the quality of life of the community. In many cases, "town halls" serve not only as buildings for government functions, but also have facilities for various civic and cultural activities. These may include art shows, stage performances, exhibits, and festivals. Modern town halls or "civic centres" are often designed with

680-543: Is the Glenview Mansion , a house built in 1877 from a design by American architect Charles W. Clinton , and once the home of one John Bond Trevor . Home of the museum for 45 years from 1929, the house now forms a large part of the Hudson River Museum. It contains six period rooms displaying furniture and decor from that era. In 1972 it was listed on the National Register of Historic Places . The Museum

720-680: The Republic of Siena and the Palazzo Vecchio of the Republic of Florence , both late-medieval town halls, date from 1297 and 1299 respectively. In each case, the large, fortified building comprises a large meeting hall and numerous administrative chambers. Both buildings are topped by tall towers, have ancient clocks against which townsfolk measured time, and have space for local archives of official documents. These features became standard for town halls across Europe. The 15th-century Brussels Town Hall , with its 96-meter (315 ft) tower,

760-416: The city or town council and at least some other arms of the local government. It also often functions as the office of the mayor (or other executive), if the relevant municipality has such an officer. In large cities, the local government is often administratively expansive, and the city hall may bear more resemblance to a municipal capitol building. By convention, until the middle of the 19th century,

800-534: The "City Chambers". Other names are occasionally used. The administrative headquarters of the City of London retains its Anglo-Saxon name, the Guildhall , signifying a place where taxes were paid. In a few English cities (including Birmingham , Coventry and Nottingham ) the preferred term is "Council House": this was also true in Bristol until 2012, when the building was renamed " City Hall ". In Birmingham, there

840-868: The 1960s, he directed an art program teaching young students commercial art and fine art at the Harlem Parents Committee Freedom School. Examples of Hollingsworth's work are held in the permanent collections of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture , the Hudson River Museum , the Brooklyn Museum , and the Harvey B. Gantt Center for African-American Arts+Culture , in Charlotte, North Carolina . His work

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880-431: The 19th and 20th centuries, the role of town and city halls became broader. Many cities established a reading room in their city hall, which later grew into a public library , typically in its own building. The central room in a town hall (the "hall" proper) began to be used for a variety of other functions; some cities installed a large pipe organ to facilitate public entertainment. In the 20th century, town halls served

920-731: The Smith-Mann Syndicate, as well as Scorchy Smith (1953-1954) and, with George Shedd, Marlin Keel (1953-1954). During the 1960s, Hollingsworth taught illustration at the High School of Art & Design in Manhattan. Hollingsworth left comics for a career as a fine art painter. From 1980 until retiring in 1998 he taught art as a professor at Hostos Community College of the City University of New York . As

960-1147: The feature "Suicide Smith" at least sporadically from 1946 to 1950. He is tentatively identified under the initials "A. H." as an artist on the feature "Captain Power" in Novack Publishing's Great Comics in 1945. In the following decade, credited as Alvin Hollingsworth or A. C. Hollingsworth, he drew for a number of publishers and series, including Avon Comics ' The Mask of Dr. Fu Manchu ; Premier Magazines' Police Against Crime ; Ribage's romance comic Youthful Romances ; and such horror comics as Master Comics ' Dark Mysteries and Trojan Magazine's Beware . As Al Hollingsworth, he drew at least one story each for Atlas Comics , Premier Magazines, and Lev Gleason Publications . One standard source credits him, without specification, as an artist on stories for Fox Comics (the feature "Numa" in Rulah, Jungle Goddess , and "Bronze Man' in Blue Beetle ) and on war stories for

1000-519: The museum broke ground on an expansion project, adding a 12,000 sq ft (1,100 m) wing to the campus. The new West Wing debuted in June 2023 and houses special exhibition spaces overlooking the Hudson River, a 100-seat auditorium, a Community and Partnership Gallery, and art storage space, also allowing the museum to display more of its permanent collection. In 2023, the museum was awarded

1040-544: The museum's Glenview Mansion appear in the HBO series The Gilded Age , an American historical drama television series created by Julian Fellowes , which premiered in January 2022. The late 1980s was a difficult time for the Hudson River Museum when it faced a decrease in funding, uncertainties in future funding, and a high level of staff turnover. The museum was forced to reduce its operating hours and cut some programming, but

1080-443: The new Civic Hall . Large halls called basilicas were used in ancient Rome for the administration of justice, as meeting places, and for trade. The development of the town hall as a setting for local governance meetings and decisions is historically related to the early cities in medieval Europe. The objective was to have engagement with the citizens in a public space by a representative civic authority. The oldest town hall in

1120-427: The public as places for voting, examinations, vaccinations , disaster relief, and disseminating information through noticeboards, as well as for the more usual civil functions, festivities, and entertainments. Local councils have increasingly tended to move administrative functions into modern offices. Where new premises are designed and constructed to house local governments, the functions of an administrative office and

1160-471: The public on weekends. Special events and shows are occasionally presented in the evening. The museum has also hosted watch parties for many astronomical events, beginning in 1971 with the close approach of Mars, to Halley's Comet in 1986 and the solar eclipses of 2017 and 2024. The planetarium was one part of the museum's expansion throughout the 1960s, which also included the construction of larger and more modern facilities to house its collections, followed by

1200-470: The publisher Spotlight. Historian Shaun Clancy, citing Fawcett Comics writer-editor Roy Ald as his source, identified Hollingsworth as an artist on Fawcett's Negro Romance #2 (Aug. 1950). Hollingsworth graduated from City College of New York in 1956, Phi Beta Kappa , as a fine arts major, and earned his master's degree there in 1959. In the mid-1950s, while still a student, he worked on newspaper comic strips including Kandy (1954-1955) from

1240-565: The restoration of the ground floor of the Glenview house to its 19th-century condition. The museum's diversity is part of what led to its citation as one of the most unusual cultural facilities by the New York State Council on the Arts in 1972. It has sought to maintain this diversity amidst changes in leadership and focus throughout its history. The diversity is apparent in the museum's 23-acre (9.3 ha) site, on which

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1280-534: The right way. To me, Malcolm X and Martin Luther King are such prophets." An authority on fluorescent paint , he worked in both representational and abstract art . In the summer of 1963, Hollingsworth and fellow African-American artists Romare Bearden and William Majors formed the group Spiral in order to help the Civil Rights Movement through art exhibitions. At some point during

1320-530: The term "town hall" may be used even in a city. This is often the case in the United Kingdom (examples being Manchester Town Hall and Liverpool Town Hall ), Australia ( Sydney Town Hall ), New Zealand , and elsewhere. People in some regions use the term "city hall" to designate the council offices of a municipality of city status . This is the case in North America , where a distinction

1360-417: The time it would be occupied by routine administrative and judicial functions. In a smaller manor, a lord might even live in the hall with his family and retainers. Inasmuch as the manor was the primary local jurisdiction of medieval society, the hall was a place of great local importance. In the later Middle Ages or early modern period , many European market towns erected communal market halls , comprising

1400-547: The wake of these cutbacks, the museum began to host private events and offer tours, particularly to groups of school children, as a means of increasing income. City hall In local government , a city hall , town hall , civic centre (in the UK or Australia ), guildhall , or municipal building (in the Philippines ) is the chief administrative building of a city, town, or other municipality . It usually houses

1440-567: The world is Palazzo Senatorio in Rome , Italy, which is established in AD 1144. In the Early Middle Ages , the great hall , a single large open chamber, was the main, and sometimes only room of the home of a feudal lord . A great variety of activities took place in the hall, which was an all-purpose space. The lord would host banquets and other grand ceremonies in the hall, but most of

1480-434: Was able to expand the planetarium. The facility experienced a resurgence in the 1990s, received a number of grants and awards, saw increased funding from Westchester County , and was able to expand in time for its 75th anniversary. The museum also saw its attendance almost double from 55,000 to 100,000 between 1990 and 1994. The late 1990s saw a downturn in funding and the museum was again forced to face significant cutbacks. In

1520-596: Was an American painter and one of the first black artists in comic books . Alvin Carl Hollingsworth was born in Harlem , New York City , New York , of West Indian parents, and began drawing at age 4. By 12 he was an art assistant on Holyoke Publishing 's Cat-Man Comics . Attending The High School of Music & Art , he was a classmate of future comic book artist and editor Joe Kubert . Circa 1941, he began illustrating for crime comics . Since it

1560-433: Was constructed in 1956 inside the Glenview mansion dining room. It had a 20-foot dome, seating for 50 and a Spitz A-1 star projector. In 1969, as part of a major expansion of the museum campus, a planetarium was built with a 40-foot dome, seating for 120 and a Spitz Space Transit Projector. In 1987 the Spitz was replaced by a Zeiss M1015 star projector. One of only three in the U.S., it was capable of displaying 5,000 stars,

1600-644: Was not standard practice during this era for comic-book credits to be given routinely, comprehensive credits are difficult to ascertain; Hollingsworth's first confirmed comic-book work is the signed, four-page war comics story "Robot Plane" in Aviation Press' Contact Comics #5 ( cover-dated March 1945), which he both penciled and inked . Through the remainder of the 1940s, he confirmably drew for Holyoke's Captain Aero Comics (as Al Hollingsworth), and Fiction House 's Wings Comics , where he did

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