Skating In New York During The Civil War

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"Central Park, Winter - The Skating Pond. After a painting by Charles Parsons. Lithographed by Lyman Wetmore Atwater. Published and printed by Currier & Ives, 1862". Photograph courtesy Metropolitan Museum of Art, Bequest of Adele S. Colgate, 1962.

The editing process for my next book, a biography of American figure skating pioneer Jackson Haines, is well underway. Jackson got his start in figure skating in New York City and lived there during most of The Civil War. At the time, there was a huge skating boom in the City, with thousands flocking to ponds to 'cut on edge' when The Red Ball was up.

In order to give you a flavour of the time and place, I put together a new board on Skate Guard's Pinterest account full of articles and pictures highlighting what the skating scene was like in New York from 1861 to 1865. Take a browse - I guarantee you will find it interesting!

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