By Mary Hoar, President Emerita, Yonkers Historical Society, recipient of the 2004 Key to History, and President Untermyer Performing Arts Council
Monday, November 15th:
November 15, 1930: Yonkers Police detectives led by Chief Edward Quirk and Detective Lieutenant George Ford staged a Saturday raid on an office at 466 South Broadway; the office was alleged to be headquarters of a million dollar liquor ring. Five men and one woman were arrested; ledgers, bankbooks, and documents were confiscated and turned over to the US Secret Service. The ring, said to be the largest and best organized in the Eastern US, did not peddle liquor in Yonkers or Westchester, but rather sold to their associates in Bridgeport, Brooklyn, Hoboken and Newark. Their garage at 196 Riverdale Avenue also was raided the same day; cars, trucks, bags of ale and bottles of whiskey were seized. While at the garage, Quirk answered the two phones and took several orders before he disconnected them. Henry Lange, leader of the operation, was from McLean Heights.
Tuesday, November 16th:
November 16, 1945: First Lieutenant and Army flight nurse Helen Logan was awarded the Army Air Medal for her work in air-evacuating wounded servicemen during World War II. She was the first Yonkers woman to receive this recognition!
November 16, 1958: Yonkers Junior Red Cross Chairman Mrs. Earle Griffen announced the “Christmas on the High Seas” program. With the help of a few adult volunteers, Yonkers school children would collect gifts for servicemen on ships who had to spend Christmas away from home. Gifts would be sent to the ships with the understanding the presents would be distributed to crewmembers Christmas morning.
Wednesday, November 17th:
November 17, 1943: The Algiers edition of Stars and Stripes, the newspaper for American servicemen, named Private Ray Hall, Jr., of Yonkers as the “Most Distinguished Looking Private in North Africa”. The twenty-five year old had been in the motion picture industry before entering the service; at the time of the “honor,” he was serving with an Army photographic unit in North Africa.
November 17, 1945: The first new Piper Cub airplane delivered to anywhere in the Eastern US since Pearl Harbor was on its way to Somers Airport. Its new owner? Yonkers’ Andrew Coppola, member of the Westchester Civil Air Patrol! Coppola’s new plane was bright yellow and sported the three-blade propeller insignia of the Civil Air Patrol. Similar planes had been used for reconnaissance during the war.
Thursday, November 18th:
November 18, 1929: William Boyce Thompson was awarded the George Robert White Medal of Honor by the Trustees of the Massachusetts Horticultural Society, considered to be one of the top horticultural awards in the country.
November 18, 1930: National Guard officials granted permission to Major John Gourley, head of Yonkers Salvation Army, to use the State Armory on North Broadway as a shelter for homeless men. The officials converted the mess hall for sleeping and dining quarters for 150 men.
Friday, November 19th:
November 19, 1925: New York Central Railroad sought permission to suspend service on the Putnam Division between the Park Hill and Getty Square stations while electrification was in progress. The Railroad felt there would be no inconvenience as people could take trolleys to reach the Park Hill Station.
November 19, 1937: After receiving many complaints from parents, YPD moved to end the habit of Roosevelt High Schools students taking cabs to school instead of buses!
November 19, 1947: Yonkers Health Commissioner Berwyn Mattison, working with the Yonkers Liquor Dealers Association and the Yonkers Tuberculosis and Health Association, announced Yonkers would run the first municipal campaign to x-ray all food handlers.
Saturday, November 20th:
November 20, 1915: Yonkers police immediately responded to an emergency call to a Warburton Avenue home. A concerned citizen had phoned the owner was about to kill his wife with an axe. After barging into the house to save the woman’s life, they found the man—and his wife—quietly chopping their week’s supply of firewood in their backyard!
November 20, 1942: Although Yonkers schools did not allow collecting funds, the students in the Yonkers Schools of Aeronautical Manufacturing lobbied Assistant Principal George Schmeltz to allow them to do so “on their own time.” Why was it so important? The students wanted to donate money to the Community and War Chest!
November 20, 1955: Frustrated by the Recreation Department’s decision to cancel Yonkers annual citywide Golf Tournament, the new Sprain Valley Golf Club in Yonkers announced it would sponsor its own tournament in 1956.
Sunday, November 21st:
November 21, 1945: Actor, author, editor and humorist Robert Benchley passed away at the age of fifty-six. Benchley, who lived at 22 Pennsylvania Avenue in the Crestwood section of Yonkers, was the author of more than 600 essays and screenplays. With Dorothy Parker and Alexander Woollcott, he was an original member of the famed Algonquin Round Table, a group of actors and writers whose sharply honed wit and professional accomplishment gained national media attention. He appeared in many full-length movies and raised the humorous “short” to a new level.
November 21, 1946: City Clerk Francis Heafy received a letter from Brigadier-General Francis Hopkins, stationed in Manilla. Hopkins had been invited back to Yonkers for our Tercentennial celebrations; the city particularly wanted him to witness the unveiling of the Yonkers Tercentennial Scroll of prominent Yonkers citizens. He wrote his duties in the Pacific made it impossible to attend, but promised to come to Yonkers as soon as he returned to the US and visit both the City Clerk and the Common Council. Hopkins, whose parents lived on Riverdale Avenue, had attended School Three, Yonkers High School and Columbia University.
Questions or comments? 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 yhsociety@aol.com.
