Spring 1998 - Norman Rockwell Museum

12A Move to the Country:Rockwell in WestchesterStephanie Plunkett, Manager of Adult Se1'7JicesA young NormanRockwell poseswith his brother] arvis, left; andtheir motherNancy HillRockwell inMamaroneck,New York, circa1907.~THOUGH I-ITS IMAGESoften betray a heartfeltappreciation for rurallife, it gave Norman Rockwellconsiderable pleasure to letpeople know that he actually hadbeen born in New York City,where he and his family lived ina fifth floor walk-up on 103rdStreet and Amsterdam Avenue.As a boy, his earliest remembrancesof green spaces were ofthose in Central Park, where heand his brother Jarvis spentmany hours wandering andexploring.The family left that apartmentwhen Rockwell was two, andadditional moves uptown-firstto 147 th Street and then to153rd and St. Nicholas Avenuewereconsidered improvementsto the family situation, althoughthese railroad apartments werefar from sumptuous. "It was apretty rough neighborhoodwhere I grew up," Rockwellrecalled. "There were gangfights around there sometimes,though not with knives and gunslike today." The streets werenot without mystery, and therealways was plenty to do. Theboys spent hours at thefirehouse watching the menwash and polish the gleamingred wagons and waited for theclanging of the fire bell. Also,the corner saloon was a favoriteoff-limits curiosity, whereNorman and Jarvis would squatdown on either side of thedoorway, trying to get a lookinside. In the city, Rockwelldiscovered his love of drawing,and spent many evenings withhis father at the dining roomtable sketching scenes from themagazines Leslie's or Harper'sWeekly.For a few weeks each summer,the Rockwells escaped from~ENew York to board at rural~ " farms that provided lodging fort city vacationers. In 1907, when~ Rockwell was thirteen, the~ family moved to 121 ProspectAvenue in Mamaroneck, a townalong Long Island Sound justbeyond the Bronx and NewRochelle. A crowded suburbtoday, Mamaroneck thenseemed bucolic, in contrast tothe cold world of the city.In Mamaroneck, Rockwellsang in the choir at St. ThomasEpiscopal Church. He enjoyedthe experience, but was rankledby the fact that his mother madehim return the dollar and a halfhe was paid every Sunday. Apoint of interest for him and hisfriends was St. Michael's homefor girls, which was perched on ahill just beside the church. "Afterservices on Sunday, four or fiveof us would climb up into thebelfry in our black cassocks andsurplices and yell across at the ...girls, teasing them. One day thesexton locked us in by mistake.For two hours we shouted andwaved ... at the passers-by in thestreet below. They glanced upand waved back. Finally someoneunderstood and let us out so wecould go home for dinner."Rockwell was a somewhat lessthan average student atMamaroneck High School and,surprisingly, his grades in artwere not outstanding. Thelowest passing grade was a 70,and in advanced drawing he gotjust that-a 70. A favoritememory of those days was of hiseighth-grade teacher, Miss JuliaSmith, who encouraged drawingand asked him to create picturesin colored chalks on the board."That meant a lot to me; it wassort of a public recognition ofmy ability .... I know she sawwhere I was headed, and becauseshe was a fine teacher, she helpedme along."During his first year of highschool, Rockwell went every Saturdayto study art at the ChaseSchool in New York City. Eventually,the school principal allowedhim to take Wednesdays