Nationally known dramatic actor and operatic baritone Hubert Wilke
By Mary Hoar, City of Yonkers Historian, President Emeritus Yonkers Historical Society, recipient of the 2004 Key to History, Yonkers Landmarks Preservation Board Member, Chair of Revolutionary Yonkers 250 and President Untermyer Performing Arts Council
Monday, August 11th
August 11, 1927: Property and store owners in the Main Street area met with Alderman Joseph Curran and Deputy City Engineer Norman Henderson; they voiced their protests and concerns about recent flooding by the new City Plaza. The group feared the new Nepperhan flume wasn’t large enough to carry off heavy rainfall.
August 11, 1948: Steve Lysak and Steve Macknowski won Olympic Gold in the 10,000-meter canoe race with a craft built at the Yonkers Canoe Club.
Tuesday, August 12th
August 12, 1942: Habirshaw received its Army-Navy flag for exceeding production expectations; the flag was flown proudly over the plant, and each worker wore a miniature as the symbol of their “permanent contribution to human freedom.”
Former Councilmember Al Richter made his first appearance in his US Navy Warrant Officer uniform at the event. A boatswain, Richter was in the Incentive Division in Washington.
The same day, City Clerk Francis Heafy administered the Oath of Office to Thomas Sheridan, elected Councilman to fill the vacancy caused by Richter’s enlistment in the US Navy.
August 12, 1943: Traffic came to a dead stop on the Saw Mill River Parkway shortly after 8 pm. A dozen drivers stopped just north of the Tuckahoe Road exit… to let a flock of gray-green ducklings—led by their mother duck—cross the highway for an early evening swim in the Saw Mill River!
Wednesday, August 13th
August 13, 1901: Burglary at the home of Columbia University Professor Michael Pupin, at the corner of North Broadway and High Street, was discovered by William Allen Butler’s coachman. Noticing the door was open, he watched the home for a short time, thinking family members had returned from their Connecticut farm and were airing the house. Seeing no movement, he investigated. The house was empty and a mess, papers thrown about.
Police concluded burglars tried to find drawings and plans for the Professor’s ground-breaking work. Pupin panicked, believing his drawings were in boxes at the house; he later remembered they were in a New York City safe.
August 13, 1943: A motion for reargument of a writ of habeas corpus for Ivan Johann Zdunic was denied by Judge John Bright in Federal Court. Zdunic, deemed an enemy alien, worked for the American Electro Metal Company, 300 Yonkers Avenue. Taken into custody right after the start of the war, he was in custody on Ellis Island.
Judge Bright called Austria, Zdunic’s birthplace, a part of Germany. His lawyer argued Secretary of State Cordell Hull had stated the US never recognized German rule over Austria. Bright ruled since Austria was overrun by Germany, Zdunic had lived in a German controlled country, and would remain in custody.
Thursday, August 14th
August 14, 1910: Hubert Wilke, 161 Shonnard Terrace, signed for the role of Herr Pappellmeister in Zangwill’s play “The Melting Pot” in New York.
August 14, 1927: Former Yonkers resident Ralph Lowes was the navigator of the “City of Peoria” biplane, in an air race from Oakland, California, to Hawaii. The first and second prizes of $25,000 and $10,000 were offered by Hawaiian pineapple magnate James Dole. It was disqualified because the judges didn’t think its tanks held enough fuel to fly the distance. Lowes and pilot Charles Parkhurst later searched for planes that hadn’t finished the race.
Friday, August 15th
August 15, 1928: Yonkers civic leader Edwin Goodhart announced Samuel Untermyer of Greystone would be the honorary chair of the cornerstone laying ceremonies for the Jewish Community Center; the structure was to cost an estimated $350,000.
August 15, 1930: The seventh airplane in four days landed at Empire City Racetrack; the pilot had lost his way while flying from Ohio to Curtis Field (Roosevelt Field).
August 15, 1942: The US Shipbuilding Corporation at Ludlow announced construction of all steel non-propelled oil tankers would soon be finished since they solved the piledriver transportation issue. The driver, too heavy to truck over the Ludlow Street bridge, was trucked it to Dock Street, ferried to a barge, then sailed down the Hudson to their South Yonkers location.
Saturday, August 16th
August 16, 1904: The popularity of the new public library was shown by the statistics announced for its first month of existence. 11,097 books were checked out, with an average of 437 books a day.
August 16, 1910: Colonel Theodore Roosevelt visited Yonkers and revealed he loved music but couldn’t play the piano. He told the group of friends, “Another instrument I cannot play is second fiddle.”
Sunday, August 17th
August 17, 1807: Robert Fulton’s Claremont passed Yonkers on its first trip from New York to Albany, inaugurating the era of river steamboats.
August 17, 1945: The Yonkers USO received a letter from Sergeant Larry Hersh of Cliff Avenue, written from Straubing-on-the-Danube, thanking them for celebrating his birthday by proxy!
His USO hostess mom provided cake and refreshments to celebrate his 23rd birthday at the Yonkers site.
Stationed with five other Yonkers men in the Ninth Army Air Force fighter group, he said all six agreed they all wanted to be back in Yonkers. According to Hersh, “In all our travels, we have found nothing that will compare to Saturday night in Getty Square, the view of the Hudson from the Yonkers ferry or the Yonkers-Gorton football game.” Hersh, a ground crew radio technician, would frequently talk about Yonkers with medic Joe Magarels, First Lieutenant Jim Hughes, driver Howie Nussbaum, and MPs Rockie Ferranne and Stewart Allen. All wished there were back in Yonkers and able to visit the USO in our fair city!
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.
