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Don Rice, left, and Cole Thompson, right, specialize in uncovering and exploring the local history of northern Manhattan. They host a monthly gathering titled “Lost Inwood,” on the first Tuesday of every month at Indian Road Café.
Story and photos by Sherry Mazzocchi
When Inwood resident Don Rice was searching for art on eBay, he came across an unusual artifact.
It was a handmade ceramic piece with “Inwood Pottery NYC” inscribed on its base. The kiln-fired pot looked like it was inspired by indigenous Native American designs.
Rice, together with Cole Thompson, specialize in uncovering mysteries and layers of local history. They acquired some of the tantalizingly titled pottery and started a full-fledged investigation.
At the December installment of Lost Inwood, a monthly talk on the forgotten history of northern Manhattan, held on Tues., Dec. 6th, Price revealed the tale of a New York couple who forged an artistic career living in a cabin in the wilderness of Inwood Hill Park, inspired by the ancient art of people living there centuries before.
In 1916, Aimee and Harry Voorhees took a fateful boat trip uptown that revealed the beauty of Inwood Hill Park. The downtown couple, both in their 40’s, eventually moved to the park.
They leased the run-down former home of Pop Seeley, the long-time manager of the boat basin, from the Parks Department.
One of the Voorhees ‘ closest neighbors was Princess Naomi, a Cherokee Indian who lived in a house by the river and sold trinkets to tourists. The area is close to the current Inwood Hill Dog Run.
The cabin was expanded to include a pottery studio. Soon the Voorhees had a full-time business making pottery, firing pots for other artists and teaching ceramic art.
They became inspired by then-recent archeological evidence of ancient indigenous people. Middens—or heaps of shells and refuse—dating back to prehistoric times were discovered in the park. Excavations yielded fully intact pots and other artifacts.
The Voorhees incorporated the indigenous design into their pottery. To keep their work authentic, they used clay taken from the riverbank. After firing, Aimee rubbed wax on the pots, emulating the dull finish on the original artifacts on display in the Museum of the American Indian.
The couple also created pots inspired by nature and were noted for developing a special type of blue glaze. Their work was exhibited at the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the New York World’s Fair.
The Voorhees held art shows at their quirky studio and became famous for their distinctive pottery. In 1934, when Harry Voorhees died unexpectedly of pneumonia at age 65, his New York Times obituary described him as an “Expert on Fictile Art.”
Not long after Harry died, Inwood Pottery Studio was in jeopardy.
Robert Moses, the master builder of New York’s infrastructure, wanted to straighten out the Spuyten Duyvil “U” curve. He planned to dredge the Harlem River and fill in the area by the boat basin.
Moses decreed that private businesses like the Inwood Pottery Studio and Princess Naomi’s trinket shop did not belong in a public park.
Both were evicted. With some financial help from Eleanor Roosevelt, the pottery studio moved to 168th St. After Aimee Voorhees died in 1951, the studio was incorporated into Greenwich House Pottery.
We know what happened to Mrs. Voorhees, Thompson said.
“But we have no idea where Princess Naomi wound up.”
But Thompson and Rice are still on the case. Princess Naomi’s fate will be the topic of next month’s installment of Lost Inwood, held the first Tuesday of every month at the Indian Road Café.
Stay tuned.
To hear more about Inwood Pottery NYC, please visit http://bit.ly/t3UNUn.
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