The New York Times recently published an article called, “Layers of Mystery for a Steinway Grand,” about the grand piano that used to be at Roosevelt House. It was given to the house in 1947 by Mrs. Rose Gershwin (c.1877-1948), the mother of famous composers George and Ira Gershwin.
The article discusses Professor Richard Burke’s research on the history of the piano. After tracing its original sale to an upstate New York music teacher in 1897, he could not find out how it later arrived back in New York City and became the property of Mrs. Gershwin, or whether one of her sons actually played it. Nonetheless, it was located at Roosevelt House in the second floor drawing rooms (now the second floor classroom) for more than 40 years, where students played for pleasure and it provided music for events like dances and weddings. It was eventually moved to the main campus when Roosevelt House was closed in 1992. It has been restored and is now used by Hunter College’s Music Department, which cherishes it for its association with one of America’s most talented musical families. In addition to what the Times reported, it should be noted, too, that Mrs. Gershwin was an immigrant to this country from Russia, as was her husband, Morris, and their migration meant that their children would have great opportunities. This is a story that would have been as familiar to the College’s students in the 1940s as it is today.
There is one additional connection to Hunter College. In Mrs. Gershwin’s obituary it was reported that at her 1895 wedding reception on the Lower East Side “one of those present …was Theodore Roosevelt, who had been appointed president of the police board of New York.” A decade later, on March 17, 1905, President Theodore Roosevelt attended the wedding of his niece, Eleanor Roosevelt, to her fifth cousin, Franklin Delano Roosevelt, at a site not far from Hunter College. Roosevelt House became their home in 1908, a gift from Franklin’s mother, Sara Delano Roosevelt.
In the picture above, the piano can be seen at a dance during World War II attended by Hunter students and active members of the military. This was one of many social activities hosted by Hunter’s women during the war.
