Amelia Earhart spoke in Yonkers in 1935
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, Chair of Revolutionary Yonkers 250 and President Untermyer Performing Arts Council
Monday, November 25th:
November 25, 1944: Park Hill Avenue resident Irving Haim, President of International Distributors, sponsored a national contest for the best essays to promote better understanding… on matchbook covers!
There were six different messages on the matchbooks, including, “When you find anyone, yourself included, thinking, speaking or acting with racial or religious prejudice—Stop It! If Smith, Kelly, Cohen or Svoboda is good enough to die for us, he is good enough to live here with us as an equal.”
November 25, 1944: Yonkers had a sad Homefront war industry death. Sixty-one-year-old Fritz Bliss died working at “Pier Two, Arthur G. Blair,” or the Yonkers City Pier. Bliss, repairing a US Navy ship, was hit by a 30-pound block falling 20 feet. Although he received immediate emergency care from ship doctor Lieutenant Commander Gackeneheim, he died early the next morning at St. John’s Riverside Hospital.
Tuesday, November 26th:
November 26, 1934: Mayor Joseph Loehr crowned Ruth Reichenbach the Yonkers Chamber of Commerce’s “Queen Prosperity,” culminating their “Buy at Home” campaign. Besides the honor of reigning at the “Prosperity Ball,” Reichenbach was awarded a 23-day cruise to the West Indies. She received about three million votes, 500,000 more than her nearest competitors. Runners-up Pearl Hanley and Ann Kowalczyk received two million votes each and cruises to Bermuda.
November 26, 1932: Margaret George, Publicity Director for the War Industries Training Program, revealed executives at Tarrytown’s Eastern Aircraft called the Yonkers School of Aeronautical Manufacturing the “West Point of the Air.” Hundreds of the school’s certified graduates, reflecting a wide variety of ethnic, social and religious backgrounds, worked together in the school and in Eastern’s plant with one goal in mind, to end the war.
Wednesday, November 27th:
November 27, 1928: “Machine Gun Louie” Wishbrod, Chicago’s Gas and Machine Gun specialist, visited Yonkers City Hall to convince Yonkers to buy his wares, including his latest invention, the fountain pen gas gun!
November 27, 1932: Although only seventeen degrees, officials dedicated an elm tree on the grounds of Philipse Manor Hall to George Washington.
Thursday, November 28th
November 28, 1776: Frederick Philipse III signed the Declaration of Dependence! His signature was prominent on its first page, one of the Loyalist signers who pledged to continue to support Great Britain’s supremacy over the Colonies.
November 28, 1942: The safety glasses Harry Ahistedt used every day at work were featured in Yonkers Works Digest, the Otis employee paper.
Although Ahistedt performed a thousand operations a day at the plant, he had a narrow escape. A bolt flew out of his machinery, hitting the safety glasses he was smart enough to wear, saving his eyesight! The incident and publicity were an important lesson for the men and women of Otis… and Yonkers’ other defense factories.
Friday, November 29th
November 29, 1672: Adriaen Van der Donck’s brother-in-law Elias Doughty sold Colendonck to Thomas Delaval, Thomas Lewis and Frederick Philipse.
A thriving business at the mill near the mouth of the Nepperhan River proved so profitable, Philipse bought out his partners in 1686, becoming sole owner of the land. He gradually extended his holdings from the Spuyten Duyvil Creek to Croton River.
November 29, 1933: Samuel Untermyer of Greystone on North Broadway, addressing a hearing at the New York Bar Association to unify federal laws controlling sale of liquor, spoke against the ban on “standing drinking” as “unfair and discriminatory.” He believed the open bar was the “poor man’s club!”
November 29, 1940: The US War Department announced Otis Elevator received a $2.7 million contract to manufacture anti-aircraft gun parts, making Yonkers one of the country’s most important arsenal centers.
To prevent sabotage, FBI Chief J. Edgar Hoover placed Otis’s waterfront plant under FBI protective custody and sent agents to consult with local plant and city officials. Together they developed effective procedures to prevent interference with manufacturing the top-secret recoil gun mechanisms.
Otis was selected because it was “sufficiently large, adequately tooled and equipped to begin almost immediate production.” (Otis complained there was a problem getting needed materials.) Yonkers also had a “reserve of trained mechanics in the community.” (Otis executives believed there was a shortage of skilled machinists.)
Saturday, November 30th
November 30, 1692: Frederick Philipse married Catherine VanCortlandt Dervall; his first wife Margaret Hardenbrook de Vries had died the year before. Catherine was the wealthy widowed sister of Stephanus VanCortlandt, an adviser to the provincial governor. Another brother, Jacobus Van Cortlandt, married Frederick’s adopted daughter Eva. Philipse is buried with both wives in the crypt of the Old Dutch Church of Sleepy Hollow.
Sunday, December 1st
December 1, 1892: The Nepperhan River dams belonging to Copcutt, Flagg and McCann were “destroyed mysteriously” in middle of night. Companies owned by these men caused river pollution, and the destruction removed a major health hazard to Yonkers and our water.
December 1, 1935: Female aviation pioneer Amelia Earhart spoke at the South Yonkers Forum. Introduced by fellow aviator Edward Molitor, Earhart mixed humor with anecdotes about her experiences in the air and on land. She also spoke about several instances of mistaken identity, such as being congratulated for swimming the English Channel or identified as Mrs. Eleanor Roosevelt!
December 1, 1940: Nearly 1,000 men registered to attend the new school, Yonkers’ National Defense School of Aeronautical Manufacturing at Saunders Trades School. During its existence, thousands of men—and women—were trained in this program.
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.
