P.S. 196 is named after John Burroughs. He was a 19th century American Naturalist, environmentalist, poet and philosopher. John Burroughs was born on April 3, 1837 on his family's farm in Roxbury, New York. He spent his youth working on a farm and exploring Old Clump Mountain. His favorite place was a place he called Boyhood Rock, where he sat and studied the ways of nature around him.
John Burroughs once quoted, "The most precious things of life are near at hand, without money and without price." Burroughs tried to make readers feel comfortable with the environment by observing even the smallest details. John Burroughs best friend was Walt Whitman, also a great writer and poet. John Burroughs wrote the first biography of this great American man called "Walt Whitman as Poet and Person." He was a teacher, a journalist, a treasury clerk in Washington,DC ( where he met and befriended Walt Whitman), and a bank examiner before returning to his beloved Catskills. In 1871, his first book Wake Robin was published . In 1874, he bought a small farm in Esopus, and devoted himself completely to his writing.
Later he would divide his time between "Slabsides", his summer retreat at West Park near Esopus , and "Woodchuck Lodge" in Roxbury. His essays ranged from studies of birds and nature to religion and literature. John Burroughs was an author of more than 25 books. His friends included Thomas Edison, Presidents Theodore Roosevelt and Henry Ford. His writing is best known for his gentle observation of nature. Alf Evers in The Catskill: From Wilderness to Woodstock noted that the first verse of the poem "Waiting" expresses this "serene acceptance of life" by Burroughs. John Burroughs died on a train in Ohio in 1921, on route from Southern California to his beloved farm in West Park, NY 5 days before his 84th birthday. John Burroughs lived until he was 84 years old.(1837-1921) Today there are 15 schools across the country named after John Burroughs.
Did you know…….That in The Edge
of April, a biography of John Burroughs written by Hildegarde Hoyt
Swift, there is mention of P.S.188. On page 309, the following
description can be found."At the lower end of Manhattan, Public
School 188 is called the Burroughs School. In the auditorium,
proudly displayed, are his head and shoulders in bronze, bearing
the words, "To understand nature is to gain one of the greatest
resource of life." 