Thomas Waterman Wood (1823-1903)
Oil on canvas, 1897
Gift of the Partnership for New York City, Inc.
NYSM 2003.41.50

Charles S. Smith was among several members of the New York Chamber of Commerce who actively supported the development of a rapid transit, i.e. subway, system for New York City in the late nineteenth century. Among Smith’s other interests was the founding of the Fifth Avenue Bank in 1875. In an era when it was “not agreeable for a lady to penetrate” crowded, male-dominated bank lobbies, the Fifth Avenue Bank established a handsome “parlor” where women could conduct financial transactions in a secure, home-like environment.

After travel and study abroad, Thomas W. Wood established his studio in New York City in 1867. A Vermonter by birth, Wood had spent considerable time in the South before and during the Civil War. Known primarily for his genre or narrative paintings, he is particularly remembered for his sensitive and sympathetic portrayals of African-Americans during the Reconstruction years following the war.