The Columbus Celebrations

John S. Johnston. Military Parade, Columbus Celebration, New York, 1892-1893.

In October 1892, New York marked the four hundredth anniversary of Columbus’s arrival with a large military parade along Fifth Avenue, centered on Madison Square. Contemporary accounts estimated some 40,000 participants, including National Guard regiments, naval units, and artillery, moving past reviewing stands before crowds that filled sidewalks, windows, balconies, and rooftops.

A second procession followed on April 28, 1893, when sailors and soldiers from the international naval review paraded through the city. Johnston’s photographs, taken from elevated positions along Fifth Avenue near Madison Square, record both events. The distinction is carried in the negatives themselves: most are inscribed “1892” and identify units such as the 7th Regiment, National Guard of the State of New York, with Cappa’s Band; the Connecticut Regiment, preceded by a bicycle corps; the Pennsylvania Regiment; U.S. Navy bluejackets; the Naval Reserve; and horse-drawn artillery. A smaller group is dated April 28, 1893 and names foreign contingents, including Argentine and Dutch seamen, as well as American units participating in the later parade.

Across the series, the viewpoint remains largely fixed, allowing the changing composition of the procession to register against a constant architectural setting: the decorated façades along Fifth Avenue, the dense spectatorship at street level and above, and the open space of Madison Square through which the parade turns.

A full description and inventory are available on request.

$7,000