By Mary Hoar President Emerita Yonkers Historical Society and President Untermyer Performing Arts Council
Monday, August 1st
August 1, 1943: Yonkers resident Lieutenant Frank Culley of First Street was appointed to serve on the staff of Yonkers native Lieutenant General Joseph Stilwell! A reserve officer, Culley was called to active service well before the US entered the war. A military school graduate, he served as Assistant Chief of Staff of the Army’s Cavalry School at Fort Riley, KS. After attending the Command and General Staff School in 1942, he was picked by General Patton for his staff. He took part in the invasion of Africa, during which he was wounded. He was sent to Halloran General Hospital to recuperate, then went on a special mission of maneuvers in Louisiana before heading to China to work with General Stilwell.
August 1, 1946: Yonkers, in its efforts to stamp out polio in Des Moines and the country, offered to send the Iowa city a respirator from the Yonkers City Hospital for Communicable Diseases.
Tuesday, August 2nd
August 2, 1935: The Mayor’s Memorial Day Committee asked the public’s help. They wanted to decorate the grave of every Yonkers war veteran with an American flag, and asked for information on the location of where 120 of our soldiers were buried.
August 2, 1941: Most of the 500 gas station owners in Yonkers agreed to observe the 7 p.m. curfew on fuel pumping equipment, but… station operators stated no city, state or federal law was on the books requiring they close at that time.
August 2, 1955: The latest Northeast Yonkers zoning crisis centered on Central Avenue. The question? Can someone sell new cars on an open lot?
Wednesday, August 3rd
August 3, 1935: Descendants of once powerful Native American tribes, led by Mohawk Chief James Deer of Midland Avenue, pitched a teepee on the shores of the Hudson by the Hudson River Boat Club, in honor of the 296th anniversary of the transfer of Yonkers land from Indians to the Europeans. Before the celebration began, Chief Deer and Chief Red Eagle smoked a peace pipe with boat club commodore Edward Barker.
The steady beat of their drums was heard across the boat club pier and the Hudson, while more than 150 people watched Chiefs Deer, Lone Pine and Red Eagle of the Iroquois, celebrate with songs, dances and ceremonies. Dr. C. T. Lansing, boat club secretary, welcomed Chief Deer and the assemblage of Indian leaders, saying, “ We invite you to mingle the modern with the past, for you are the true first Americans.” Musical entertainment was provided by Chief Red Eagle, Princess Chickadee and Princess White Deer; Princess White Fawn told stories and Doris Little Bird and Leah Deer performed dances.
Princess White Deer, daughter of Chief Deer, also happened to have performed in many Ziegfield “Follies” shows as a leading Native American beauty of our country.
Thursday, August 4th
August 4, 1886: Samuel J. Tilden died at Graystone, his estate in Yonkers. Tilden purchased the North Broadway estate in 1879, a few years after his run for the presidency, on the advice of his doctor. He loved living in Yonkers and made it his main home, only returning to his New York City home in winter.
August 4, 1958: The Yonkers Keys won the New York State Junior Championship of the American Legion at historic Cooperstown’s Doubleday Field! They defeated Rochester’s Memorial 209th Post by a score of 14-2!. Dom DiChiara hit two homerooms and a triple, bringing in a total of 7 runs. Our winning pitcher was Hank Fischer, who got two hits himself.
Their next step? The regional tournament in Kingston, where they would compete against Connecticut, Rhode Island and New Jersey.
Friday, August 5th
August 5, 1946: Thousands of Yonkers residents listened to Councilman Edith Welty’s interview on CBS radio about our tercentennial celebrations. Mrs. William Gibbs McAdoo, widow of the former Yonkers resident and 46th US Secretary of the Treasury, interviewed Welty in an informal chat about our “City of Gracious Living.” A few city officials– City Manager Montgomery, Councilman Albert Fiorillo, Comptroller Kennedy and Public Safety Commissioner O’Hara held a “listening party” at City Hall.
August 5, 1955: Enlisting in the Air Force under the new “buddy system,” five men from Yonkers not only enlisted together, they trained together. Chester Caro, Robert Johnson, James Kilduff, Robert Snyder and Richard Thomas went through basic training at Sampson Air Force Base in Geneva, NY.
August 6th
August 6, 1917: The Military Training Camps’ Association made a special appeal to Yonkers men with military experience. All veterans able to give time were asked to volunteer as military instructors in colleges and universities during the coming school year
August 6, 1927: Contractor Thomas Larkin accepted the Democratic Mayoral nomination. He declared himself a “free agent with no promises asked or made.”
August 6, 1935: City Judge Boote fined a Brooklyn plumber $25 for working in Yonkers without a license, in front of an audience of 200 very interested and properly credentialed local plumbers.
Sunday, August 7th
August 7, 1933: Poplar Street’s Patsy Flower saved St. Anthony’s Church on Willow Street from fire! He noticed a candle had set fire to a stand in the church; he grabbed it, rushed it outside, and then sent a fire alarm.
August 7, 1941: The Yonkers Branch of the Workmen’s Sick and Death Benefit Fund of the United States announced their national organization purchased $30,000 of United States Defense Bonds. Yonkers Branch #3, started in 1885 by German-American workers who emigrated because of Bismarck’s anti-labor law, formed one year after the national organization. Although nonpolitical, they were one of the first organizations to voice opposition to Nazism, Fascism and all forms of dictatorship.
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.
