Sid Caeser returned to his hometown of Yonkers for a benefit for the Yonkers PAL in 1947
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, January 29th
1943: Yonkers Draft Boards reported only a few men hadn’t complied with Selective Service regulations; the entire city had fewer than 20 men who couldn’t be “located” by their draft boards. Why? Selective Service had no record of them, or they registered in another locality that neglected to transfer papers to Yonkers. Other men hadn’t registered yet or gave fake addresses to escape the draft.
1943: Councilman Edith Welty introduced two laws to increase salaries of beginning firefighters and policemen. The first law increased first year salaries to $1600, a $100 raise; the second law increased second year salaries to $1800, a $200 raise. The increases were to help new department members buy their equipment and uniforms.
Tuesday, January 30th
January 30, 1947: Police Athletic League (PAL) President Lieutenant Edward O’Connor received a telegram from the National Foundation for Infantile Paralysis (NFIP); they asked PAL to withdraw NFIP’s name from its “Night of Stars” show, organized to raise funds to fight polio. The telegram advised the PAL it was not their policy “to permit a benefit to be held in the name of the National Foundation for Infantile Paralysis in connection with any other group.”
Before organizing the evening, PAL representatives consulted with the National Foundation’s city and county representatives, making it clear from the start the money would be divided equally between two organizations, the NFIP and the Sister Elizabeth Kenny Foundation. After receiving the telegram, the PAL board voted to donate all proceeds to the Sister Kenny organization. They also chose to return the ticket price to anyone who asked; few holders of the 3,500+ ticket sold requested refunds.
Entertainment and commentary were to be provided by more than 80 performers, including Mel Allen, Kate Smith, Perry Como, Superman creators Jerry Siegel and Joe Schuster, Freddy Land, the Crosby Sisters and Yonkers own Sid Caesar!
Wednesday, January 31st
January 31, 1943: The Common Council passed Councilman Edith Welty’s resolution giving two-week paid vacations to long-term DPW per diem workers. The law also awarded per diem workers who served a full year and entered the armed forces vacation time or the cash equivalent.
January 31, 1956: School officials, teachers and students participated in groundbreaking ceremonies for the Southeast Yonkers Junior-Senior High School on Kneeland Avenue, now Lincoln High School. Mayor Kristen Kristensen, Schools Superintendent Stanley Wynstra, City Manager Charles Curran, School Trustees and Council members also participated.
Thursday, February 1st
February 1, 1893: The Town of Eastchester Board of Health pulled down the dam on the Bronx River between Yonkers and Bronxville! The Yonkers Board of Health had ordered the dam removed in January because the stagnant, contaminated water spread illness to Yonkers residents; dam owner H. Duden immediately got an injunction restraining Yonkers from destroying his dam. Duden, however, didn’t think to file against Eastchester. The town kept their plan to destroy the dam secret, up until men arrived there. Duden arrived a few hours afterwards to find most of the dam down; part of the dam on the Yonkers side was left because to “respect” the injunction.
Friday, February 2nd
February 2, 1926: Two prominent Yonkers families merged when Colonel John Stilwell, Westchester Lighting Company executive, married Mabel Halliwell Duell, former wife of Colonel Holland Duell. The ceremony, held at the Madison Avenue Presbyterian Church, was attended only by immediate family, including his 18-month-old daughter and mother of his late wife, who had died shortly after giving birth in 1924.
Mrs. Stilwell’s first husband served both as a NYS Assemblyman and State Senator. She filed for divorce in 1925 after he eloped with her cousin Emilie Brown, who lived with the family. The couple and their blended family would live at Ardenwold, the summer estate she built ca. 1908 on North Broadway.
Saturday, February 3rd
February 3, 1926: Deputy Public Safety Commissioner Bernard Reardon resigned, the second aide to Commissioner Van Keuren to quit after serving only one month in office. Reardon issued this statement: “The safeguarding of my reputation, my dignity and my character required I sever my connections with that department.” He refused to provide details; Van Keuren made no comment. Rumor was Reardon flatly refused to preside at Third Precinct Captain Charles O’Mara’s trial or take part in the Commissioner’s “brutal and inhuman treatment against the police force of Yonkers.” According to the Yonkers Statesman, Reardon resigned because he defended O’Mara, an officer “recognized as one of the ablest policemen in the city…”
Sunday, February 4th
February 4, 1925: Bantamweight Jackie Williams knocked out Joe Dundee in his professional debut as a fighter at Columbus Hall! Born Sal Tripoli, he won a silver medal for the US at the 1924 Paris Olympics. He is in the Yonkers Sports Hall of Fame.
February 4, 1928: Clarence Chamberlin totaled a Bellanca plane owned by Yonkers’ banker Alvin Martine while taking-off to break the world flying endurance record. The plane, heavy with fuel to stay aloft for more than 60 hours, hit an unfavorable wind on its take off at Byrd Field, Richmond. Up 50 feet, the right wing dipped and plunged the plane into a ditch. The landing gear snapped, the wing broke, the cabin was damaged and the oil tanks split. The runway was too short for the plane to get the momentum needed to lift the very heavy plane in the air. Pilots, Chamberlin and Roger Q. Williams escaped, with the only injury a burn on Chamberlin’s hand. Martine, residing at 357 North Broadway, pledged to supply a new plane if Chamberlin and Williams continued their efforts to break the record.
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.
