Lismore, an estate on Hawthorne Avenue, was owned by Mr. and Mrs. Francis O’Neill
By Mary Hoar, City of Yonkers Municipal Historian, 1977 recipient of the Key to the City of Yonkers, President Emeritus Yonkers Historical Society, recipient of the 2004 Key to History, Yonkers Landmarks Preservation Board Member, Founder of Revolutionary Yonkers 250 and President Untermyer Performing Arts Council
Monday, June 15th
June 15, 1929: Twenty-two year old Yonkers aviatrix Dorothy Hart of Colgate Avenue had a “minor air mishap” while taking her first flying lesson upstate.
She wanted to fly for a long time, so took advantage of her vacation from her job at Otis Elevator to spend time with an upstate uncle, a Superintendent of Consolidated Aircraft Company in Tonawanda! While there, she took her first lesson; the plane’s throttle stuck! The plane suddenly dropped 2000 feet, but the instructor was able to correct the problem before it crashed.
She did not lose her desire to fly.
June 15, 1943: The Yonkers Women’s Army Corps recruiting campaign kicked off with a bang! An Army trailer filled with WACs arrived in Getty Square; the WACs gave information and answered questions, they interviewed and enlisted Yonkers women on the spot.
Tuesday, June 16th
June 16, 1942: A sign put up in the Yonkers City Hall Rotunda was “adorned” with pictures of the sneering faces of Hirohito, Hitler and Mussolini! Why? It was the kickoff of Yonkers’ Scrap Rubber Collections!
Yonkers people were donating every bit of scrap rubber they could find, from rubber office mats to car mats from city cars, to our Federal government.
June 16, 1943: After eight months in Europe, the Memphis Belle was back in the States, the first combat bomber to fly back from England under its own power.
Original crew member Staff Sergeant John Quinlan of Truman Avenue was on the plane when it landed at Washington National Airport. Chief of the Army Air Forces General Henry “Hap” Arnold and Under Secretary of War Robert Patterson met the plane. The crew was given a short furlough to visit families; Quinlan not only visited his mom, he thrilled his neighborhood youth by spending time with them. Afterwards, the Memphis Belle crew went on a national War Bond and Stamp Sale Tour.
Wednesday, June 17th
June 17, 1890: The Palisade Boat Club, founded 1866, held a “housewarming” at its new location in Glenwood. Although its location changed a few times, each time the club simply moved its clubhouse on the Hudson.
Palisade Boat Club is the oldest boat club in New York State, the third oldest boat club in the county… and the country’s oldest boat club in its original building!
June 17, 1935: New York press attended Judge Martin Fay’s court to witness hearings for women who received summonses for wearing shorts on the streets of Yonkers!
Fay sternly lectured four of the women, telling them “…to wear what people in Yonkers wear if you want to walk through our streets.”
Fay discharged them with a warning after Slater would not sign a formal complaint; Slater believed a court appearance alone would teach the women a lesson.
The fifth girl called Slater the night before and told him she would lose her job if she missed work.
Thursday, June 18th
June 18, 1935: The Common Council refused to pass Alderman William Slater’s resolution, to direct 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 Council’s refusal relieved him of the duty of deciding what women in Yonkers could wear on our streets!
June 19th
June 19, 1903: Marie Grace Derickson, former Empire Theatre Stock Company member, married Francis O’Neill at St. Patrick’s Cathedral. Mr. and Mrs. O’Neill lived at their Yonkers country home, Lismore, in Ludlow. A few years later, Yonkers bought their property with its wonderful views of the Hudson for a riverside park. The six-acre property, laid out as a tropical garden, included uplands and a water grant.
June 19, 1937: Mayor Joseph Loehr formally announced he would run for a fourth term as Yonkers Mayor, putting to rest the rumors he would take a job at a New York City Financial company.
Saturday, June 20th
June 20, 1944: The Jewish Community Center held a successful bond rally, thanks to the kisses of Conover model Candy Jones; she volunteered to kiss any male who purchased a “piece of victory.”
First purchaser was grandfather Jacob Kessler, who bought a $500 bond; Mayor Curtiss Frank, bought a $1000 bond, and took advantage of Jones’ offer. The auction top prize, a pair of stockings, went to a $10,000 bond purchaser; second prize, a bottle of brandy, went to a $5000 bond purchaser.
June 20, 1945: NY State Parks Commissioner Robert Moses saved the Victory Gardens of Chandell Court residents (Caryl Avenue)! Unfortunately, their gardens behind Chandell Court actually were on Van Cortlandt Park property. Moses reversed the decision to tear up the residents’ plots behind the building, while warning them the reversal only was for 1945. They could not plant gardens in 1946.
The Yonkers’ gardeners were pleased with the brief reprieve and pleased a NYC Parks Department worker replaced the tomato stakes pulled out two days earlier.
Sunday, June 21st
June 21, 1928: Officials from the Boyce Thompson Institute for Plant Research announced they were developing a public arboretum on a 300-acre tract they had purchased on a tract of land west of Sprain Road formerly Moneypenny Farm. It would have every kind of shrub, plant and tree that could be grown in our climate.
The arboretum was to be laid out as a park, with the grounds open to the public.
Any questions on this column, email yonkershistory1646@gmail.com.
For information on the Yonkers Historical Society, the Sherwood House Museum on Tuckahoe Road or their upcoming events, please visit their website www.yonkershistoricalsociety.org, call 914-961-8940 or email info@yonkershistoricalsociety.org.
