An early postcard of Wallace Lodge and the Park Hill Lake. The Park Hill Country Club was sold to the Methodist Episcopal Board of Foreigh Missions to be used as a rest home when the club closed. The Wallace Lodge later sold it back to the community, and now is the location of the Park Hill Racquet Club.
By Mary Hoar, City of Yonkers Historian, President Emerita Yonkers Historical Society, recipient of the 2004 Key to History, Member of the Yonkers Landmarks Preservation Board, Chair of Revolutionary Yonkers 250 and President Untermyer Performing Arts Council
Monday November 11 November 11, 1954: Elsie Nielsen, President of National Gold Star Mothers and Alice Kinsella, President of Yonkers Gold Star Mothers, dedicated plaques in memory of Yonkers servicemen who died during World War II and the Korean War. The plaques listed names of 525 Yonkers servicemembers who died during WWII, and the names of 36 Yonkers residents who lost their lives during the Korean police action. More than 100 Gold Star Mothers attended this first Veterans Day commemoration.
November 14, 1926: Yonkers suit against the Methodist Board of Foreign Missions went to the Court of Appeals, Yonkers claimed it was owed back taxes for Wallace Lodge in Park Hill as it operated for profit, not for religious purposes.
Tuesday, November 12th
November 12, 1912: Gertrude Nelson Andrews conducted a class in public speaking and suffrage argument for the Yonkers Woman Suffrage Association. The class was taken by men and women who supported the right of women to vote!
November 12, 1934: Objections from local veterans caused German and Austrian veterans to be excluded from the 1934 Yonkers’ Armistice Day parade; Peter Dauenheimer, Chairman of the Central Committee of German American Organizations, protested withdrawal of the invitation the night before the parade. The Central Veterans’ Committee restricted parade participation to American veterans and members of the Allied Forces. Those voting to prevent Germans from marching thought it would be painful for our Gold Star mothers to see former German soldiers in the parade.
Dauenheimer reminded the committee President Roosevelt wanted veteran’ activities to perpetuate peace through “…mutual understanding and friendly relations with all other people.”
Wednesday, November 13th:
November 13, 1892: NY Archbishop Michael Corrigan dedicated the new St. Mary’s Church.
November 13, 1922: British novelist and critic Hugh Walpole spoke to a large audience in Philipsburgh Hall on “Books and Friendship.” The lecture was arranged by the Lecture League of Yonkers; Walpole, considered by many to be the foremost English novelist, spoke with an unusual breadth of knowledge coupled with a keen sense of humor.
Thursday, November 14th:
November 14, 1942: City Manager William Walsh, announced his strong approval of Westchester County Executive Herbert Gerlach’s order banning gambling in the County Center. When appointed City Manager, Walsh led an aggressive war against the Yonkers bingo syndicate to wipe out gambling in Yonkers.
November 14, 1942: Reverend Lynde May, Protestant Chaplain of the Yonkers Fire Department and Rector of St. Andrew’s Memorial Episcopal Church, was sworn into the US Naval Reserve as a Lieutenant Junior Grade.
May was the second Protestant minister to enter WWII military service; the first, Reverend Roland Traver, was Pastor of Warburton Avenue Baptist Church.
Friday, November 15th:
November 15, 1927: Jerry the Seal escaped from Bronxville Nurseries at Central Avenue and Tuckahoe Road; he spent hours frolicking over the “hills, dales and rocky roads” of Colonial Heights.
Jerry and two other seals escaped their enclosure in the dark of night, but his friends quickly were recaptured. Jerry wandered through Colonial Heights and Mohegan Heights, unseen until a man walking on Underhill Road that night spotted him. After frustrating an attempt to capture him in Sprain Brook, the adventurous little guy headed to the brook near Grassy Sprain Golf Club. Nursery employees tried to follow him with a basket of fish to entice him, but he took off. When last seen, Jerry was splashing happily in the Bronx River near 180th Street.
November 15, 1934: Although barred from the 1934 Armistice Day Parade, members of the German and Austrian War Veterans were guests of honor at the Yonkers City Post, VFW, military ball held at the Polish Community Center.
Saturday, November 16th:
November 16, 1915: Actor Richard Bennett purchased a large Georgian brick home on Park Hill Avenue, and announced it was his family’s permanent home. A successful stage performer in the early 20th century, he transitioned to playing character roles with the advent of “talkies;” his last role was the ship’s captain in “Journey into Fear,” a 1943 thriller with Joseph Cotton and Dolores del Rio. He was the father of stars Joan, Constance and Barbara Bennett
November 16, 1927: After a day of cavorting through the hills of Yonkers and the Bronx, Jerry, the adventuresome sealion from Bronxville Nurseries on Central Avenue, was captured! Jerry, who explored the Bronx River and snacked on carp swimming the waterway, was recaptured at Bronx Park. Park Guards snared him with a net as he attempted to jump over a dam, and was back in Yonkers a short time later.
Sunday, November 17th:
November 17, 1922: Company Publicity Manager John Flinn of Park Hill went to Mexico City to attempt restoration of Famous Players-Lasky Pictures to the good graces of Mexico. The Mexican government had banned films made by American producers for the previous eight months.
November 17, 1943: The Algiers edition of Stars and Stripes, the American servicemen’s newspaper, named Private Ray Hall of Yonkers holder of the title “Most Distinguished Looking Private in North Africa.”
The twenty-five-year-old local man had been in the motion picture industry before entering the service; at the time of the “honor,” he was with an Army photographic unit in North Africa.
November 17, 1953: The Yonkers Chamber of Commerce honored Yonkers native Howard Brinton, President of Phelps Dodge Copper Products Corporation at its 60th annual dinner.
Phelps Dodge was the parent company of Yonkers’ Habirshaw Cable and Wire Corporation, manufacturer of the pipeline for WWII’s Operation Overlord, called Operation PLUTO (PipeLine Under The Ocean) by the British. Operation Overlord was credited with the success of the Allied invasion on D Day.
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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 info@yonkershistoricalsociety.org.
