By Mary Hoar, President Untermyer Performing Arts Council, President Emerita, Yonkers Historical Society
Monday, August 31st
August 31, 1914: Isadora Duncan’s sister Elizabeth and nine charges from the European War Zone finally arrived in Yonkers; the children had been detained at Ellis Island by Immigration Authorities. When finally released, the group headed directly to Park Avenue in Yonkers, where they spent their first days in America. Duncan’s plan to establish a school to teach esthetic dancing was fulfilled by 1916, with the school located at 360 North Broadway.
August 31, 1929: More than 2,000 fans cheered as the new aquatic champions of Westchester County were crowned! Held in Tibbetts Brook Park, two teams from Yonkers, the Yonkers Swimming Association and the Yonkers Aquatic Club, shared the major honors. Yonkers YMCA swimming star Parnell Callahan smashed two County records.
Tuesday, September 1st:
September 1, 1918: Concerned about accidents and danger from large crowds gathering at railroad stations, the Adjutant General’s office requested no more parades and patriotic demonstrations be held.
September 1, 1928: Postmaster Albert Bogart announced, with our beautiful new post office open, Yonkers would kick off a campaign to encourage Yonkers residents to buy their stamps and money orders in Yonkers.
Wednesday, September 2nd:
September 2, 1927: City Judge Charles Boote was not pleased with the New York State Crime Commission report stating the Yonkers City Court had given out far too many suspended sentences; he strongly stated Yonkers was “ahead of most of the cities in the state in freedom from crime,” and strongly “upheld the value of the probation system used here.”
September 2, 1946: Daily News Broadway columnist Danton Walker devoted his column to Yonkers and our Tercentennial. Beside telling the history of our city and adding some of the usual jokes, he included the news of our mile-long Central Avenue sign, and featured photographs of screen star Marie MacDonald and tennis champion Vincent Richards. One of his comments about MacDonald? “If she had been born a few decades sooner, she could have made her movies right in her backyard at the old Whitman-Bennett studios.”
Thursday, September 3rd:
September 3, 1867: Dr. Charles A. Leale married John Copcutt’s daughter Rebecca Medwin Copcutt at the Nepperhan Avenue Copcutt home. Dr. Leale was the first doctor to reach the presidential box at Ford’s Theater after John Wilkes Booth shot President Lincoln. His quick thinking temporarily saved the president’s life. He stayed with Lincoln, holding his hand through the night until the president passed away. Leale is buried in Oakland Cemetery, here in Yonkers.
September 3, 1918: Former Yonkers resident William G. McAdoo, US Director General of Railroads, announced $25 a month raises for almost a million railroad employees; this included everyone from clerks to maintenance men to track workers. This was the second largest salary boost in American industrial history.
September 3, 1935: Two hundred-seventy-five children celebrated Frank Tobin Day at the Polo Grounds! Besides watching a double-header, the kids munched on peanuts, popcorn and traditional ballpark goodies. The little ones wore white ribbons with Tobin and Winn written in blue. Tobin, of course, was for Frank Tobin, originator of Tobin Day; Winn was Supervisor William Winn who joined the festivities. After the games, a bus brought the children back to the First Ward Democratic Club for ice cream and cake. By the way, Frank Tobin was the Democratic candidate for First Ward Alderman, and later long time Yonkers Postmaster.
Friday, September 4th:
September 4, 1931: Mrs. Jules Hart of Landscape Avenue urged Health Commissioner Clarence Buckmaster to put unemployed men to work clearing vacant lots of weeds and garbage; this, she believed, would relieve hay fever sufferers and remove eye sores around our city. She also complained sewer gases escaping from a manhole near her home, preventing her from using her porch.
September 4, 1944: The Westchester County War Council reported Yonkers led Westchester County in paper salvage for the month of July. Our patriotic citizens contributed 1,249,361 pounds!
Saturday, September 5th:
September 5, 1926: After Right Reverend John Chidwick, former President of St. Joseph’s Seminary in Dunwoodie, accused veterans in the United Spanish War groups of being “dominated” by the Klan in New York State, former Yonkers Police Chief strongly stated the Ku Klux Klan has no association with the Yonkers units of the United Spanish War veterans, and never would.
September 5, 1950: City Clerk Francis Heafy received official notice from the County Board of Elections of the pending litigation over the Brogan-Cooney contest in the August Primary Election. The notice came with instructions that the ballot boxes of the Second Assembly District be closely guarded so they would be “intact in every respect” when they were delivered to the Board of Elections. Heafy had read of the litigation in the Herald Statesman before receiving the official notice, and had gone to the Tuckahoe Road city building where the ballot boxes were stored. He checked the boxes to determine all was satisfactory, and then relocked the storeroom.
Sunday, September 6th
September 6, 1941: Former Mayor Joe Loehr felt compelled to defend his administration of the city, especially his financial administration. He pointed when his term ended, he left no municipal deficit; instead the city had $2.41 in assets for each dollar of current liabilities.
September 6, 1946: Writer described Yonkers as a “city of umpires” in his article in the New York Sunday Mirror magazine section. Parker, writing about various US towns, wrote, “Yonkers is noted for umpires. Bill Klem, daddy of them all, claimed it as his hometown until he moved to Florida. Bill Grieve, an American League arbiter, is another Yonkerite.”
For more information on the Yonkers Historical Society, Sherwood House and our upcoming events, visit our Facebook page at www.facebook.com/YonkersHistoricalSociety. We also are on LinkedIn and Twitter @YonkersHistoric. For information on membership in the Yonkers Historical Society, please call 914-961-8940 or email yhsociety@aol.com.
