Shelby and William Modell |
NEW YORK HISTORICAL SOCIETY
What Matters Is Family
At This Amazing Exhibit
Story and Photos by Polly Van Raalte
 HEN
Doris Modell Tipograph invited me to the opening of the
Family Matters exhibit at the New York Historical Society, how could
I refuse? Of course, Modell’s was one of the featured families in
this amazing show.
The Hundred Year Association of New York
coordinated Family Matters: Century-Old New York City Businesses,
under the leadership of Richard A. Cook.
The exhibition features eleven family-owned
companies successfully operated for more than a century. Each was
founded between 1826 and 1899. They have all contributed greatly to
the city.
Mitchell and Robin Modell |
Doris is the corporate archivist of Modell’s.
Her exhibit was dedicated to the memory of Michael Modell who
left us last spring.
In 1882 brothers Morris and George Modell
escaped the pogroms of Czarist Russia. They started as peddlers in
New York, and then opened a store downtown. They outfitted Teddy
Roosevelt’s Rough Riders during the Spanish-American War in the
1890s.
Today there are 90 Modell’s stores, and yes,
I frequent them quite often. In fact, I bought hats for one entire
third grade class.
On hand for the exhibit were Doris and Norman
Tipograph, Shelby and William Modell, Robin and Mitchell Modell,
Abby and Alex Henry Modell, Joan Solomon, and Lewis, Peter and Neil
Tipograph.
Doris and Norman Tipograph (left) and
Joan Solomon
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Also present were New York Historical Society
president Kenneth T. Jackson, Family Business Foundation chairman
Arthur D. Levy, J.H. Cohn LLP’s Charles Ludmer, and writers Ellen
Williams and Steve Radlauer.
Ellen and Steve are writing a book for Little
Bookroom, sister company of the New York Review of Books. It will be
published in the fall with the title The Historic Shops and
Restaurants of New York.
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