Morey Amsterdam
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, October 6th
October 6, 1945: Rear-Admiral Husband Kimmel, Bronxville Road resident, testified he believed the Army “let down” the Navy with its detection of the Japanese on Pearl Harbor. Kimmell said two Navy enlisted men detected the planes on its radar and immediately reported it to their officers; the Navy officers asked the Army Information Center several times if the Army knew what direction the Japanese came from, but didn’t get a response.
Kimmel was Pearl Harbor Naval Commander at the time of the attack, and was relieved of command soon after the attack.
Under Secretary of War Robert Patterson closed the Army investigation, stating the facts did not warrant “punishing” Colonel Theodore Wyman, the Army engineer in charge of Hawaiian defense construction.
Patterson later reported Wyman attended lavish parties given by German contractor Hans Wilhelm Rohl; the pair often were accused of drunkenness and “private and public misconduct.” Rohl received many Army contracts in Hawaii, even though he was not always the lowest bidder. Wyman was believed to have lied about knowing Rohl was a German citizen; German citizenship made Rohl ineligible to handle secret Army contracts.
Wyman received the Distinguished Service Medal for his work in Hawaii; later assigned to Alcan Highway construction, he was removed at the request of the Canadian Government because he failed to “enforce safety regulations.” This resulted in the death of eleven men.
Tuesday, October 7th
October 7, 1933: Yonkers Firefighters saved the Manor Hall from being badly damaged by a fire; the fire had broken out during a DAR tea held in the mansion. Fortunately, none of the women were hurt.
October 7, 1947: Mount St. Vincent celebrated its centennial with a Pontifical Mass of Thanksgiving, a luncheon and an academic convocation! The school was founded by a small group of nuns led by Mother Elizabeth Boyle, at the request of New York’s Bishop John Hughes. The school originally was located at McGowan’s Point; in 1855 the sisters purchased Fonthill, Shakespearian actor Edwin Forrest’s 70-acre estate in the Town of Yonkers because New York City purchased their McGowan Point home to be part of Central Park. The Yonkers “Mount” property later was annexed to New York City.
Wednesday, October 8th
October 8, 1942: When an enormous number of servicemen appeared at the Yonkers USO, Director Elmer Sheets had a problem. There were not enough women at the USO to help and chat with our boys. He called the Yonkers Library across the street and asked for HELP! The women came over in shifts of twos and threes to help with the large crowd of men; later the library staff volunteered to be regular volunteers.
October 8, 1940: Forty-one Yonkers men and women, twenty-nine non-Yonkers residents and two Yonkers corporations were indicted by a Federal Grand Jury in New York City on charges they conspired to defraud the government by operating a huge illicit liquor ring, headquartered in Yonkers. Their huge still at 1 Lawton Street was the largest ever uncovered in this city.
Thursday, October 9th
October 9, 1924: Literacy tests for potential voters were held at Yonkers High School. Before citizens could register to vote, they had to prove they were literate.
October 9, 1974: Herve Filion, a French-Canadian driver, won his 5,000th lifetime victory with pacer Lovin Time at Yonkers Raceway. To commemorate the occasion, Filion was presented with a king size trophy!
Friday, October 10th
October 10, 1945: Arthur Doran, attorney for New York City’s Associated Filmmakers, Inc., ordered a contract written to purchase City of Yonkers property on Central Park, just north of Roosevelt High School. The company planned to build a movie studio on the site, to be run by Broadway Producer Horace Schmidlapp, who married Carole Landis two months later.
October 10, 1949: Stage, radio, television star and soon-to-be Yonkers resident Morey Amsterdam, with radio commentator Walter Kiernan, appeared at the Jewish Community Center to raise money for the Yonkers Community Chest.
Amsterdam had just bought a home on Valentine Street in Dunwoodie Heights!
Saturday, October 11th
October 11, 1943: Movies of the “tomato-growing” employees at the Yonkers Refined Syrups and Sugars plant went international! The film, made by the US Army Signal Corps, showed Sugar House workers caring for thousands of plants grown on top of a company warehouse at the foot of Vark Street. The movie was sent to Army camps all over the world to show our fighting forces “what the folks on the Homefront were doing!” Shortly after a Signal Corps officer read about the company efforts to support their employees in The Herald Statesman, photographers appeared to film their story.
The rooftop gardens were created to ensure fresh vegetables were available to Sugar House workers. During the war, an estimated 30,000 pounds of food were produced and given to the workers.
Sunday, October 12th
October 12, 1942: Former child movie star Miriam Batista, then starring in a Broadway play, helped sell War Bonds at the Yonkers Columbus Day ceremonies at Columbus Park.
October 12, 1942: Mrs. Herold Robinson of Pondfield Road West and Chief Petty Officer Bert Rothing, US Navy, shared the honor of donating the first bumpers in the “Bumpers for Victory” drive held in Larkin Plaza. Mechanics from Otis Elevator removed the bumpers and replaced them with wood bumpers!
Thanks to the cooperation of the Yonkers War Salvage Committee, The Herald Statesman and the City of Yonkers, just about all the major newsreel companies and most of picture services filmed this project, showing the world how Yonkers had taken leadership of an important patriotic program.
Questions or comments on this column? 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 info@yonkershistoricalsociety.org.
