Towards the late nineteenth century, many zealous men and women with novel ideas and radical opinions searched for an opportunistic safe haven where they could promote modern ways of life. New York City’s Greenwich Village became their ultimate destination. In “American Moderns,” Christine Stansell thoroughly analyzes the ever-changing dynamics of this lower Manhattan neighborhood before, during, and after the 1910s. While including the biographies of free thinkers such as Floyd Dell, Margaret Anderson, and many more personalities, Stansell also gives much insight into the drive that pulled in these middle-class visionaries–the desire to “matter.”Bohemia enhanced notions of the city as boundlessly knowledgeable and nourishing during a time when people sought to challenge social norms. Evidence of this is found, for example, in the development of the New Woman, the independent, self-sufficient protagonist  in literature of the time; this new perception of the modern woman allowed those who were once subjected to patriarchal, authoritarian rule to form an identity for themselves. This kind of breaking away from traditional values and practices became a popular trend during the early twentieth century. That which was once considered unthinkable became almost typical within this great city.

When I read this historical piece of literature, I was awed by how people of different backgrounds and cultures all melded together in a relatively symbiotic, quid-pro-quo relationship in New York City. For instance, immigrants from Russia and other Eastern European were able to share revolutionary dogmas to curious, well-educated middle-class knowledge seekers, who in turn, began to show the respect that these outsiders never had. The radical nature of Greenwich was further highlighted in the last section, which focused on the supposed freedom of love. This freedom of love was encouraged and thought to empower women so that they would  have sexual equality with men. However, this ideal, like others sought at the time, was still quite unreachable because of the complications brought by human emotion and carnal desire. Likewise, when it involved African Americans, the bohemian liberal, left-sided state of mind also fell short of its claim to modernistic ways. Racism and old ways are often difficult to sweep away to the side. In the end, however,   Greenwich village evolved in significant ways to become a refuge for the unconventional–for those who were always on the outside.