Osborn, William Church

William Church Osborn was born in 1862. Son of the famous New York philanthropist William Henry Osborn (one of the people involved in the exposure of the notorious Tweed Ring), he studied to become a lawyer and for the rest of his life served New York City in many notable capacities both political and charitable (though he was never elected to any office). He was the president of the Children's Aid Society, president of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and (maybe most memorably) president of the New York Society for the Relief of the Ruptured and Orphaned. The Osborn Memorial Playground was built as a tribute to him by New Yorkers after his death in 1951.

The bears and deer involved in the "attack of the statues" sequence in SYWTBAW almost certainly came from the gateway of the playground bearing his name. (SYWTBAW)