By Mary Hoar, President Emerita Yonkers Historical Society, and President Untermyer Performing Arts Council
Monday, August 22nd August 22, 1882: Workers at William Copcutt’s silk mills nailed notices to trees around Yonkers, appealing to all other power-loom weavers to help in their strike for higher pay. A delegation from Copcutt’s silk handkerchief shop, operating half the factory’s looms, had met with Copcutt to ask for more pay, stating they couldn’t live on 68 cents for single-loom handkerchiefs and $1.38 for double-loom work. After being turned down flat, the department met and decided to “stand out” until rates were increased; 2/3 of the orderly and quiet strikers were girls and women. The company claimed they were paid more than anywhere else in the country, $12 a week if they worked steadily.
August 22, 1945: Officials at Leake and Watts announced they received no word about the safety of Army Air Force Navigator Lieutenant George Barr. Barr, who lived in the Home after his parents died, was a basketball star at Yonkers HS; his skills earned him the nickname “Blitzkrieg.” Barr was captured in the 1942 Doolittle raid on Japan; Yonkers hoped he was one of the four airmen rescued from a Peiping prison camp the day before.
Tuesday, August 23rd August 23, 1940: In a scene from the Wild West, six gunmen stole the Yonkers mail from a train at the Marble Hill station. The bandits believed the Alexander Smith payroll was on the train, but it was delivered earlier in the week. A Yonkers man saw the robbers jump into a car and gave the police the car’s license number.
August 23, 1945: The Army announced Lieutenant George Barr was one of four Doolittle airmen rescued from a Japanese prison camp by paratroopers, but was hospitalized; he weighed 97 pounds.
Wednesday, August 24th August 24, 1901: William Shrive, an early Yonkers auto dealer, proudly announced not only was his company the sole Yonkers Agency for the Locomobile, it had—direct from the factory—one of their latest improved machines! The noiseless steam Locomobile, claimed as the ideal physicians’ carriage, sold for $600.
August 24, 1933 Thomas Beer released his new collection of short stories called, “Mrs. Egg and Other Barbarians,” published by Alfred Knopf of New York. Six of these stories, Beer called “frivolous tales,” had appeared in The Saturday Evening Post. He was best known for his biographies of Stephen Crane and Mark Hanna , published three novels, and was considered Yonkers leading author. Although born in Iowa, Beer grew up in Yonkers, living on Palisade Avenue. As an adult, he “wintered” in Yonkers and spent his summers on Nantucket.
Thursday, August 25th August 25, 1943: Jack Lambert, a Hawthorne JHS and Yonkers HS graduate, was the first voice heard in the Hollywood film “Bomber’s Moon,” playing a turret gunner discussing the beauty of the moon. Lambert went on to be a well-known character actor, appearing in crime dramas and westerns, such as Vera Cruz, The Killers, The Enforcer, and How the West Was Won. He also appeared on Gunsmoke, Daniel Boone, Wagon Train, Get Smart and The Andy Griffin Show. He played regular character Joshua Walcek on Darren McGavin’s Riverboat.
August 25, 1945: YFD tricksters decided to play a joke on Fire Lieutenant Thomas Barden, a former national running champion. Barden had great vision… but needed reading glasses. After reading a report, he cleaned his glasses, then carefully put then in the case. While away from the desk, firehouse comedians put red dots on the lenses. Next time he put the glasses on, he saw red spots in front of his eyes. Took them off, and all was fine. It happened again. He finally saw what the crew had done… and cleaned his glasses.
Friday, August 26th August 26, 1935: Deputy Health Commissioner John Faiella announced Yonkers would not use a new polio serum extracted from monkeys until its was proved.
August 26, 1952: Fifth Ward Councilman Aloysius Moczydlowski asked the red warning light on top of the Nodine Hill water tower be replaced. He told the Common Council because of the increase of air traffic over the water tower, area residents feared an accident. In bad weather, the planes flew quite low, very close to the tower.
Saturday, August 27th August 27, 1956: The Yonkers Keys won the Eastern Junior American Legion Title at Togus, Maine by a score of 9-4! First game pitcher was Romeo Fields; Don DiChiara pitched the second. Fields attempted to steal home from third base, but was tagged out by the Everett MA catcher. Or was he? As luck would have it, the Third Base Coach had called time out while Romeo was on his way to home, so the play was called back!
August 27, 1964: The New York Film Festival picked Nothing But A Man starring Ivan Dixon as one of the features to be shown at Lincoln Center’s Philharmonic Hall. That same day, Nothing But a Man, the only American film entered, was shown at the Venice Film Festival. Beginner Leighton Avenue resident Michael Roemer directed the independently financed film costing $230,000; drawing on his personal experience of being persecuted by Nazis, Roemer also co-wrote the film. Sunday, August 28th
August 28, 1945: Musical star John Boles startled diners at the Strand Café on South Broadway when he arrived wearing red bedroom slippers. After eating, he bought a newspaper in the Square, smiling at all the commotion he was causing. Erskine Johns dubbed Boles the “Frank Sinatra of the 1930s” because of his memorable singing voice. He was best known for 1920s through 1940s movie and Broadway roles.
August 28, 1956: Yonkers welcomed the Yonkers Keys home with a seventy-car motorcade! Police officers sounded sirens, flags waved, horns sounded, and “Go, Go, Go” signs were flashed around the city! The crowd at the clubhouse was addressed by retired major league umpire Bill Grieve, who coached Yonkers first Junior American League Champions twenty-eight years earlier!
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.