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, and President Untermyer Performing Arts Council
Monday, March 13th
March 13, 1959: School Twenty-Nine fourth grader Helene Zolkower of Young Avenue became incensed while watching TV coverage of the desegregation in the South, so wrote to President Dwight Eisenhower.
“Dear Mr. President, I am only a little girl of ten, but I think it’s a disgrace to the United States about the segregation in the South. You are President. Maybe you can do something about it. I hope this letter finds you in good health.”
A few days later, a letter from E. Frederick Morrow, Administrative Officer of Ike’s Special Projects Group, arrived in the mail. He wrote, “The President has asked me to acknowledge your letter to him regarding the sensitive issues of human rights. Please be assured the President will resolutely continue to carry out the responsibilities of his office, inherent in his oath to uphold and defend the Constitution and the laws of our nation,”
Tuesday, March 14th
March 14, 1925: Preston Chapman, Superintendent of the Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Children, appeared in the Court of Special Sessions to speak on the summons he issued to Warburton Hall manager Sam Taylor for two underage girls performing in a play. Instead, Chapman was chastised by City Judge Gorfinkel; the judge had spotted two high school girls smoking in City Hall Park a few days earlier. Gorfinkel was so horrified, he told Chapman he should “watch conditions like that… rather than spend time prosecuting cases like Taylor’s.”
Taylor pleaded not guilty, stating he applied for a permit for the girls to perform, and was not responsible for Yonkers’ delay issuing the permit. Taylor was paroled in custody of his counsel Peter Smyth, and the case delayed a week.
March 14, 1927: The first dry ice in the world was manufactured here in Yonkers! The Federal Sugar Refining Company’s Syrup Products Company division converted part of its Yonkers plant to manufacture dry ice (frozen carbonic acid gas) to supplement industrial refrigeration. Previously, the carbonic acid gas was sold to soda manufacturers to make carbonated water.
Wednesday, March 15th
March 15, 1939: Speaking at their Americanism program, Assistant State Attorney General Jeremiah Cross told the Yonkers Lodge of Elks America should avoid alliances with other world democracies. He labeled the impending four-day visit of King George and Queen Elizabeth in June as pure propaganda. The Royal couple visited Washington for two days, and spent one day in NYC visiting the World’s Fair. Their final day was at Hyde Park with the Roosevelts.
March 15, 1946: Contractor Thomas Brogan gave The Herald Statesman a copy of his letter to Councilman Edith Welty, denying he was contractor for electrical work on Caryl Avenue. Welty had attacked Brogan in the paper, stating “he was ruining Caryl Avenue.” Brogan answered Welty only had to call the DPW Commissioner’s office to get the correct Contractor’s name. Brogan demanded Welty issue an immediate retraction and an apology. The day after her attack was printed, the paper published a correction, stating he was not the contractor responsible for the damage.
Thursday, March 16th
March 16, 1940: Caryl Avenue’s Joseph Schlobohm, son of Westchester AAU Sports Commissioner William Schlobohm, sailed for Saudi Arabia to work as foreman of the world’s oldest gold mine! The mine, opened 90 years before the birth of Christ, had underground ore the owners wanted to tap, so they hired Schlobohm to run the shaft sinking crew.
The Roosevelt High graduate previously worked as a shaft miner in the Metropolitan Water District tunnel in Massachusetts and the Delaware Aqueduct at Newburgh.
March 16, 1968: Deirdre McMahon of Highland Circle, five-year-old daughter of County Sheriff Daniel McMahon, led the NYC St. Patrick’s Day Parade down Fifth Avenue, accompanied by Sean and Paddy, two Irish Wolfhounds!
Friday, March 17th
March 17, 1929: Irma Schubert, member of Yonkers’ G.E.M. championship Girls Basketball Team, was the first woman aviator known to fly a plane over Yonkers! While flying the biplane, she tossed flyers advertising a coming basketball game, then entertained Yonkers with fifteen minutes of aerial acrobatic tricks. Recruited by GEM team Manager Frank McCue and Coach Joseph Reagan, Schubert formerly was a Ziegfeld Follies show girl!
March 17, 1966: Baseball hero Jackie Robinson spoke to the parents and children of School 22, invited by Yonkers resident Reverend Wyatt Tee Walker, Special Assistant to Governor Rockefeller for Urban Affairs. Robinson not only discussed his time in baseball, but also spoke about his son who was wounded in Viet Nam. He advised parents not to push their children, but let them play ball to learn team spirit, both in sports and in the community.
Saturday, March 18th
March 18, 1932: City Judge Gerald Nolan awarded Roberts Avenue resident James Cerasuli $145 in damages for two peach trees and several grapevines. An old boiler fell off a truck, rolled down Cerasuli’s property, damaging trees and vines in its path.
March 18, 1948: Mayor Curtiss Frank appointed Marian Sutton of Belmont Terrace the first woman member of the Yonkers Planning Board.
Sunday, March 19th
March 19, 1928: After greeting thousands of fans, Ruth Elder, the first woman to attempt to fly across the Atlantic, was made an honorary member of the Yonkers Aero Club. She urged creating a Yonkers airport at the ceremony.
March 19, 1932: Mrs. George Arthur Smith, Regent of Keskeskick Chapter, DAR, turned the first shovelful of earth to plant cedar trees in front of Manor House. The trees came from Washington’s birthplace at Wakefield, VA, specifically for Philipse Manor Hall.
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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
