1905 photo of Actor and Comedian Jefferson De Angelis of 69 Sunnyside Drive, Yonkers
By Mary Hoar, City of Yonkers Historian, Chair of Revolutionary Yonkers 250, 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, August 12th
August 12, 1938: Yonkers Public Schools announced for the first time in Yonkers’ history, every Yonkers public school student would attend classes full time when schools opened in September! Some school facilities were switched. Longfellow Junior High School moved from North Broadway to Seymour Street, Commerce High School moved to North Broadway to the former Longfellow, and Roosevelt JHS would occupy part of Mark Twain School on Wakefield Avenue.
August 12, 1942: New Common Council member Thomas Sheridan, just sworn in as Al Richter’s successor, really surprised City Manager Raymond Whitney and the rest of the Common Council when his first official act was to get an indefinite postponement of the “Junk Sale” of Yonkers’ lighting fixtures. City Lighting Inspector James Delehanty said not only were they not junk, he labeled them as valuable, said they could not be purchased at any price, and would be used for replacement parts.
Sheridan had learned about the sale by reading a small ad on the back page of the Herald Statesman.
Tuesday, August 13th
August 13, 1887: A new electric locomotive invented in Yonkers by Stephen Field using Rudolph Eickmeyer’s dynamo, was placed on the tracks of the Hudson River Railroad.
August 13, 1942: City Manager Raymond Whitney’s announcement upset city employees. Whitney said the 12.5% pay cut they had suffered January 1st, 1942, would NEVER be returned. This cut had followed a 12.5% “voluntary” 1941 pay cut. Whitney stated, “The youngest employee on the city payroll will not live long enough to get back the cut.”
August 13, 1945: Alexander Smith and Sons mounted an exhibition of their mechanical war products in the First National Bank Building.
The exhibit featured samples of defense items designed, manufactured and delivered by the company, staged against a backdrop of photos showing how the products were used. The display was accompanied by a listing of the 1,600 Smith employees who served in the Armed Forces during the war. Plaques itemized products Smith produced, heralded employee volunteer work, highlighted employee purchase of more than $4 million War Bonds, employee donations to the Red Cross Blood Bank, Smith’s four government “E” awards for high standards of plant production, and its War Production award for salvaging more than 11,000,000 pounds of scrap!
Wednesday, August 14th
August 14, 1913: The Common Council’s Committee on Public Buildings recommended to the Council a tunnel be built from South Broadway through Washington Park to City Hall.
August 14, 1942: Mayor Benjamin Barnes, referring to City Manager Whitney’s statement about City employee pay cuts, said it was ridiculous, stating, “…anybody who makes a statement like that… is certainly in my opinion, reading palms or looking in the crystal ball.
Thursday, August 15th
August 15, 1913: Famous Yonkers comedian Jefferson DeAngelis, won his lawsuit against the Dressler’s Players for back salary and costs of transporting the company’s baggage. His claims were granted as neither famed actress Marie Dressler nor her husband J. H. Dalton appeared to answer the claims.
Thomas Jefferson De Angelis of Sunnyside Drive was a 19th-20th century stage actor who specialized in comedy and acrobatic clowning. He achieved fame in vaudeville and on Broadway. He was also a stage director and producer. He began in Baltimore at age 10. Near the end of his life he appeared in the hit 1927 Broadway play “The Royal Family” by Edna Ferber, and sporadically appeared in silent films.
August 15, 1922: Former NY Assemblyman, First Ward Alderman and Yonkers Justice of the Peace George Rigby took time off from his job as Mayor of Ormond, Florida, to return to his native city to visit! Ormond had a “floating population,” with an off-season population of 1200, and in season, the population swelled so much, officials divided it into three sections and hired a manager for each section. While in Yonkers, Rigby attended and spoke at Rotary weekly luncheons held in the Getty House.
Friday, August 16th
August 16, 1939: Several former Yonkers Mayors met at Greystone to honor world famous attorney Samuel Untermyer. Gathered were Leslie Sutherland, Dr. Nathan Warren, William Wallin, Alfred Watson, Ulrich Wiesendanger, William Walsh and John Fogarty.
August 16, 1939: Attorney Samuel Untermyer offered his $5,000,000 estate on North Broadway to the City of Yonkers to use as a public park. Greystone, as the estate was called, had famed gardens and priceless statuary.
Saturday, August 17th
August 17, 1899: The first movies filmed in Yonkers were shot at the NY State Firemen’s Convention. One titled “The Water Throwing Contest” between hand engines showed two volunteer fire department companies battling for the win. The “Oceans” of Greene, NY and the “Exempts” of Brooklyn competed; Greene’s First Ocean Engine Company won in this short from the American Mutoscope & Biograph Company.
August 17, 1942: Vera Rushforth, who grew up on Halladay Avenue and attended Roosevelt High School, was selected as the “personification of the average American school teacher’ by Look Magazine. Featured in the magazine’s story, “The School Teacher in Wartime.” Her typical school day was pictured in a series of 13 photos. Rushforth, according to the story, was “literally and professionally, one in a million.”
Sunday, August 18th
August 18, 1918: Yonkers girls continued to enroll as “U. S. Marinettes” at the Marine Corps Recruiting Station in the Radford Building in Getty Square. Officials announced recruitment of women stenographers continued until they reached the number they needed.
August 18, 1920: Joseph Pearman of 625 South Broadway finished second to Italy’s Ugo Frigero in the 10,000-meter walk at the Olympic games in Antwerp, Belgium. Our silver medal winner worked in advertising and was a member of the NYAC.
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
