Yonkers attorney Irvin Klein joined Chief Defense Attorney Samuel Leibowitz pictured, representing the Scottsboro Nine
By Mary Hoar, President Emerita, Yonkers Historical Society, recipient of the 2004 Key to History and President Untermyer Performing Arts Council
Monday, March 21st
March 21, 1943: Because of the large number of complaints to City Manager William Walsh, Police Chief William Kruppenbacher instructed all policemen, whether in uniform or not, whether on duty or off duty, to strictly enforce the “No Smoking” ban on all Yonkers trolleys and buses.
March 21, 1946: Public Safety Commissioner Patrick O’Hara ordered shops selling limited items, like nylon stockings, to have customers line up only in front of their stores, and not lines go around the corners.
March 21, 1956: Beatrice Matala, known professionally as Bea Patrick, was appointed Women’s Program Director for the Kingston Broadcasting Company. She was director, producer, writer, musical arranger and star of her own daily radio and TV show!
Tuesday, March 22nd
March 22, 1933: Yonkers attorney Irvin Klein joined the defense team to vindicate the Scottsboro Nine. The nine young African American teens faced death in the electric chair, accused of raping two white women, although at least one witness swore to the boys’ innocence. The previous year, the Supreme Court had found they had a poor defense and other irregularities in their trials and sent the case back to the original court to be reheard.
March 22, 1936: Working with his master Patrolman Peter Sullivan, Fritz, the Belgium police dog, escorted children crossing South Broadway by Radford Street.
March 22, 1936: The Surdna Foundation announced it distributed more than one million dollars, with about 80% going to Yonkers organization. Surdna was founded by the late John Andrus; the name is Andrus backwards.
Wednesday, March 23rd
March 23, 1906: Six children playing firemen in Herriott Street so alarmed a resident, a fire alarm was turned in. Chief Mulcahey with two companies answered the call; they succeeded in convincing the tykes to “abandon their fire duty.”
March 23, 1965: Both houses of the New York State Legislature saluted the amazing career of Yonkers own Joe Lapchick on his retirement! A joint resolution sponsored by Assemblyman Thomas McInerney and Senator Royden Letsen stated, “He exemplified the highest standards of sportsmanship and fair play. And he transmitted to all those young men whom he taught and coached those high standards of sportsmanship…. The Legislature congratulates Joseph Lapchick on his successes as a coach and player and extends appreciation for his services rendered to the youth of this state. And it further extends to him its hopes and wishes for his continued enjoyment of life and the blessing of the Almighty in his well-earned retirement.”
Thursday, March 24th
March 24, 1940: Edward Freeman, president of a new million-dollar corporation, confirmed the corporation would take over the Yonkers operations of Refined Syrups and Sugars, Inc., and segregate it from the rest of the company.
March 24, 1940: Testing agents from the New York State Bureau of Weights and Measures condemned the city’s scales were inaccurate.
March 24, 1945: Not only did the New York State Junior Chamber of Commerce
Board of Directors approve John E. Flynn’s presentation on the School for Civic Service the Yonkers branch would inaugurate in two weeks, they adopted it as a statewide project. Following the outline Yonkers President John E. Flynn presented at the annual state meeting, several chapters volunteered to follow the Yonkers plan to start their own schools.
Friday, March 25th
March 25, 1935: Seventy-five Yonkers police officers, acting under secret orders, prepared for a month for a quick, simultaneous strike on illegal liquor dealers. The officers, led by Police Chief Edward Quirk arrested 33 people in the city-wide intensive drive to rid Yonkers of liquor law violations.
March 25, 1956: The Yonkers Council of Churches announced it was attempting to “hold up the hands and encourage the spirit” of Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King’s passive resistance movement during the Montgomery bus boycott.
Saturday, March 26th
March 26, 1935: Acting on instinct, Riverdale Avenue furniture dealer David Schwartz purchased a framed manuscript. The appraiser valued it between $2000 to $5000, and believed it was an original Ludwig von Beethoven composition, written in the Prussian composers own handwriting!
March 26, 1946: City Manager Montgomery officially advised the Common Council that the quietly made payment of more than $15,000 from the city to the State Employees’ Pension Fund on behalf of former Mayor Loehr on his last day in office, actually was not illegal, event though it had not been authorized by the Board of Estimate and Apportionment.
March 26, 1955: Yonkers Building Department began canvassing all Yonkers multi-family dwellings to insure all houses complied with the new NYS Multiple Dwelling Law. They began on Buena Vista Avenue and found 90% of the buildings were in violation of the new act!
Sunday March 27th
March 27, 1911: Service on the McLean Avenue trolley line was stopped cold by a cow! Bossy had wandered from a nearby farm, and found she liked standing on the tracks. Despite pleading and tugging by the trolley crew and the passengers, she refused to move.
March 27, 1936: A party was held for City Clerk William McCabe at the Arrowhead Inn in Riverdale. Why the celebration? He was feted because the State Court of Appeals upheld his continuance as City Clerk. The Council members had elected Francis Heafy to the position; McCabe had refused to accept the election. The NY Supreme Court had decided 9 days earlier that he was entitled to stay in the position because City Council President Frank Cotter had voted illegally for Heafy to break a six-six tie.
March 27, 1940: The State of New York formally rejected Samuel Untermyer’s bequest of Greystone, his five-million-dollar Yonkers estate, because it would be too expensive to maintain.
Questions or comments? Email YonkersHistory1646@gmail.com. For information on the Yonkers Historical Society, Sherwood House and upcoming events, please visit our website www.yonkershistoricalsociety.org, call 914-961-8940 or email yhsociety@aol.com.
