Internationally recognized photographic pioneer and Yonkers native Rudolph Eickemyer, Jr., circa 1901
By Mary Hoar, City of Yonkers Historian, President Emeritus Yonkers Historical Society, recipient of the 2004 Key to History, Yonkers Landmarks Preservation Board Member, Chair of Revolutionary Yonkers 250 and President Untermyer Performing Arts Council
Monday, July 14th
July 14, 1928: Yonkers traffic policeman turned down the opportunity to direct traffic without their uniform coats. The officers did not believe shirtsleeves were dignified enough for their positions.
July 14, 1930: Plans were filed for a new four-room portable school to be built on the grounds of the South Yonkers Tennis Club on Valentine Lane and converting the tennis courts into the school playground. Authorities also filed plans for alterations to School Eighteen, for work on playgrounds at schools Three and Eleven, and a new heating and ventilating system at School Fourteen.
Tuesday, July 15th
July 15, 1942: Three Red Cross volunteers selling War Bonds and Stamps at Empire Racetrack were surprised to find their cash box a dollar short at the end of the day. The very careful women made up the missing dollar; they had no idea how the shortage happened. As soon as they opened the next day, a gentleman appeared and told the women he bought stamps the day before. He went home with a $1 stamp he hadn’t paid for… and handed the women a dollar!
July 15, 1942: Rear Admiral Husband Kimmel, Retired, who moved to 280 Bronxville Road in Yonkers after retiring from the Navy, joined the Frederick Harris firm in New York City, a firm that worked on top secret projects.
Kimmel was Commander of the Pacific Fleet on December 7th 1941 when Pearl Harbor was attacked, and was relieved of command shortly afterward. He was facing Court Marshall for dereliction of duty; the Roberts Commission later found him not guilty.
Wednesday, July 16th
July 16, 1921: Greenville Avenue residents filed a police complaint; their sleep was being disturbed by a cow, in a nearby lot, whose neckbell tinkled loudly late at night and early in the morning.
July 16, 1935: President Franklin Roosevelt nominated Anthony Drexel Biddle, Jr., to be his Minister to Norway. Biddle was the son-in-law of Mrs. William Boyce Thompson of North Broadway.
Thursday,July 17th
July 17, 1924: Famed Yonkers photographer Rudolph Eickemeyer, Jr., presented a photograph of his father to the City of Yonkers; it was hung on the walls of Water Bureau office. The photo, called by some the “Rembrandt of Photographs,” was taken March 1894, just nine months before the older gentleman died; a few months later, it won first prize in the International Exposition at Newcastle, England. Eickemeyer. Sr., had created a “useful form of dynamo.”
July 17, 1931: Nelson Rockefeller, S. L. Rothafel, architects and engineers working on Radio City inspected apparatus at Otis Elevator Works, specifically designed for raising and lowering of orchestras and organs. This new type of synchronized electrical stage lift not only would operate in organ and orchestra pits, but also enable the simultaneous lifting of parts of the stage by pressing a button. Prior to the demonstration, the visitors were entertained at the Hudson River Country Club.
July 17, 1942: The six War Bond and Stamp booths opened at 11 am at the Empire City Racetrack. Surprisingly, they had a line almost immediately, well before the races started. Who was on the line? Workers who ran the parimutuel windows! IN the short morning hour, the Red Cross workers sold $500 worth of bonds and stamps!
Friday, July 18th
July 18, 1921: Yonkers police were called to Sandy Beach at the end of Valentine Lane when residents phoned to complain young women attired in “one-piece bathing suits” were “dancing while wearing wet bathing suits,” doing the “new-fangled numbers, the Chicago and Shimmy.” Police investigated and left without chasing the girls off.
July 18, 1923: Public Safety Department Commissioner Thomas Tobin announced police officers would not have to wear their coats on duty as of August 1st. The new uniform would be a “white waist, white collar and black tie.”
Saturday, July 19th
July 19, 1928: Strong earth tremors followed by loud rumbling noises woke people in the Lowerre Summit section of Yonkers. Vibrating houses, rattling windows and shaking furniture woke several families. Unfortunately, the only seismograph in the area at Fordham University was out of order and it could not be confirmed as an earthquake.
July 19, 1939: Public Safety Commissioner Denis Morrissey finally explained why he had not given the State Comptroller information on Yonkers police and firefighters.
The Public Safety Department did not have enough clerical staff to dig out all the details the State wanted. Details needed were names, birthdates, years of service, salary information, of current employees and those receiving a pension.
Sunday, July 20th
July 20, 1871: Plans were announced to improve the little park opposite Getty House in Getty Square. For several years, its railing and retaining wall was in bad condition, but improvements to be made would rectify this lack of maintenance. The sidewalk in front of the Getty House would be widened, taking away about four feet of the “carriage way.” Four feet of the park would be removed to return the street to its formal width. The park would be shortened ten feet at the southern end and six feet at the north, rounding its corners in the process. The pump would be moved to the northwest corner and the streetlamp moved to the opposite corner. Additional improvements would be made to two properties, one owned by Von Storch and the other by Sawyer.
When the new St. John’s Church was completed, there would be few village centers that would equal our Yonkers.
July 20, 1924: Yonkers’ Vincent Richards was the first American to win gold in the Olympic Men’s Tennis singles
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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.
