Near my home on the Upper West Side of Manhattan, the Hamilton Fountain sits on Riverside Drive at the end of Seventy-sixth Street.
Attached to a lamppost adjacent to the fountain is a small plaque put in place by the New York City Parks Department that offers a brief biography of Ray Hamilton, explains the significance of ornamental fountains in early twentieth-century parks, and mentions a “public scandal involving Eva Mann, who he had secretly married, and who had used this alliance to raid his substantial financial holdings.” That one line piqued my curiosity and instigated a search through court records, case files, personal correspondence, and archival material in an effort to learn more about this mysterious scandal. It is a story that has not been told in book-length form until now and I am thrilled to be able to bring it to my readers.
I hold a Bachelor of Science degree in graphic design from the University of Cincinnati and an M.A., History of Design and Curatorial Studies from Parsons, The New School.
