By Mary Hoar, President Emerita Yonkers Historical Society, recipient of the 2004 Key to History and President Untermyer Performing Arts Council
Monday, June 13th
June 13, 1930: Contractor Thomas Brogan testified in Yonkers City Court about roadwork damaged on Central Park Avenue. Two men, one driving a car and the other in a horse and wagon, refused to detour around his crew and ignored the workers trying to stop them. Both deliberately drove over the cement work, badly damaging it to the tune of $1200, more than $20,000 in today’s dollars.
June 13, 1956: Yonkers School Superintendent Stanley Wynstra called an emergency teachers’ meeting, held at Hawthorne JHS. He told those gathered, although everyone agreed the teachers “were discriminated against in the distribution of pay raises… (their) curtailment of afterschool activities must be stopped.” Wynstra added Yonkers residents supported them, but continuing the slowdown would only hurt their cause.
Tuesday, June 14th
June 14, 1946: Members of the Yonkers City Post, VFW, carried one of the biggest flags Yonkers had ever seen in the “Boost Yonkers” parade. Besides the flag, it featured a Liberty Bell created from flowers; a float created by the Yonkers Federation of Churches honoring free speech, free press and free religion; and banners carried by employees of Otis Elevator, Habirshaw Wire, and NY Engineering, pledging their support for the US Constitution. Veterans’ Groups, YPD, YFD, DPW, Rotary, Kiwanis, Elks and Lions, school bands, Boy Scouts and members of the Yonkers Canoe Club carrying enormous paddles joined them! Charles Ohrenberger, National Commander of Army & Navy Veterans, and local officials spoke at post parade ceremonie; the night ended with a two-hour block dance.
Wednesday, June 15th
June 15, 1927: Professor Michael Pupin of Columbia University received the first degree of Doctor of Science from Brown University; he lived in Yonkers when he first started his radio research.
June 15, 1945: The US War Department announced Gerald Brophy of 280 Bronxville Road was promoted to the rank of Colonel; at the time of his promotion, he was stationed in India, and was the Chief of Lend-Lease for the Army Air Forces.
Thursday June 16th
June 16, 1911: Alexander Smith Cochran joined the “primer class” of Wright Aviation School at Belmont Park after purchasing his own Wright biplane. He went with friend Redmond Cross; their instructor A. L. Welsh required both men crank the engine before they got into the plane, something that proved to be more difficult than anticipated. Welsh took the plane up for half an hour, flying at an altitude of 500 feet, but did not let them touch the controls. He showed them how to increase altitude and made turns. They were to take daily lessons until Welsh felt they were proficient enough to make their first solo flights. Cochran took his first actual lesson the next day.
June 16, 1920: Supreme Court Justice Albert Seeger authorized the Yonkers Corinthian Yacht Club to sell its property to James A. O’Connell for $7,500. Membership in the Club decreased so much, it was impossible for the remaining members to maintain the house on the property; it stood on land under water north of Arthur Street. O’Connell reportedly represented the New York Yacht Club.
Friday, June 17th
June 17, 1907: John D. Rockefeller was stopped in North Yonkers for speeding; a YPD officer had stretched a rope across the road. According to his stopwatch, the officer said the mogul was traveling 30 miles an hour, about double our speed limit. Rockefeller was fined $25 for his offence.
June 17, 1935: The Seventh Ward Colored Republican Club endorsed Dr. Edward Jones for membership on Yonkers Municipal Housing Commission. The Seventh Ward Colored Democratic Club also endorsed Dr. Jones, an African American dentist, for the Commission.
June 17, 1937: Mrs. George Lustig of Hoover Road asked her name be added to the eligible Jurors’ List, the first Westchester woman to do so.
Saturday, June 18th
June 18, 1916: Second Precinct Captain Hugh Brady announced the start of his crusade against the small time bookies trolling outside Empire City Race Track. Brady revealed on the previous Saturday, more than 2,000 men had taken bets outside the track, accepting wagers as low as twenty-five cents.
June 18, 1926: The Community Service Commission notified Parks Superintendent Otto Frey unless he installed a wire backstop at the Glen Park baseball diamond within two days, he would face dismissal.
June 18, 1935: The Common Council refused to pass a resolution proposed by Alderman William Slater; the ordinance would have directed Corporation Counsel Leonard McAneny to draft a law “regulating the dress and attire of persons appearing on the streets in scanty costumes that offend the sense of propriety of the average normal person.” Much to the relief of McAneny, the Counsel’s rebuff of the resolution relieved him of the duty of deciding what women in Yonkers could wear on Yonkers streets.
Sunday, June 19th
June 19, 1935: June 19, 1936: Captain Harry Warfield, Hospital Superintendent of St. John’s Riverside Hospital, showed The Herald Statesman staff the marine deck he designed! Built on the seventh floor roof, it had deck chairs, a crow’s nest, an equipped bridge with wheel, ship’s compass, binnacle, bell, starboard lights and engine room telegraph. It also featured a bed hoist, so the staff could wheel patients up the ramp. The deck was enclosed with a ship’s rail sporting life preservers emblazoned “SS St. John’s.” it’s garden area was decorated with an obelisk, decorated with a patterned mosaic of varied colored stones. Where were the stones from? In truth, they were not stones, but repurposed bits of broken dishes and plates from the hospital!
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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.
