Lou Gehrig's New Rochelle Wedding

Lou Gehrig's New Rochelle Wedding

On this day, September 29, in 1933, New Rochelle resident and Yankee great Lou Gehrig married Eleanor Twitchell in their 5 Circuit Road apartment in New Rochelle.  Why did the celebrity choose his apartment for the big day? This is one of New Rochelle best stories!

From baseball-fever.com

Although the rugged, handsome bachelor was one of the most eligible bachelors of the day, his mother, “Mom” Gehrig, held the apron strings tightly. When she wasn’t in the kitchen cooking-up fried chicken and pickled eels for her son and his teammates, she was with her son at batting practice, games at Yankee Stadium, spring training camp, or on road trips. She kept a tight control on who he could – or most of the time, couldn’t date. 

In the ninth year of his career, at the age of 29, Gehrig fell head over heels for a young Chicago sophisticate, Eleanor Twitchell. That year, during the World Series against the Cubs, “Gehrig was a ball team by himself,” Fred Lieb wrote in Baseball as I Have Known It. “He had nine hits, including three home runs and a double. He scored nine runs and drove in eight. All Chicago, including Eleanor Twitchell, thrilled at this outstanding performance. The next thing we heard, Lou and Eleanor were engaged.”

“Mom” Gehrig was not happy. But, as Lou told Lieb, “She broke up some of my earlier romances and she isn’t going to break up this one.” Twitchell found an apartment at 5 Circuit Road, not far from the Gehrigs’ Meadow Lane home, and began planning her wedding – a small but “classy” affair that was to be held at the Long Island home of her aunt and uncle. The event was slated for the evening after the last game of the 1933 season, on September 29th.

On the day before the wedding, amid crates of furniture, the bride-to-be was unpacking moving boxes and supervising workmen at the Circuit Road apartment. “Suddenly, Lou came rushing in and tossed a bombshell in the middle of the mess,” she wrote in her autobiography. “. . . his mother had gone berserk . . . And this time, he didn’t fumble the ball. He picked up the phone, called the mayor of New Rochelle, and told him to bring a marriage license and make it fast.” 

Mayor Walter C.G. Otto did, accompanied by the roar of motorcycles driven by New Rochelle’s finest. With plumbers, carpet-layers and cops watching “at strict military attention,” Otto “intoned the words that made this unlikely looking couple man and wife. One day early.” After a toast with tepid champagne, the newlyweds were escorted to Yankee Stadium by the motorcycle caravan. Gehrig announced the marriage to the press, donned his pinstripes and played an errorless game against the Washington Senators.

Contributor: Barbara Davis, City Historian and Community Relations Coordinator at NRPL. 

Happy Birthday, Monty!

Happy Birthday, Monty!

Will it be Door #1, Door #2 or Door #3?

Today is the birthday of Monty Hall, as our local history intern Michael Weaver reveals:

Monty Hall was born on August 25, 1921 at Winnipeg in Canada as Monte Halparin. It was there that he gained his start as an entertainer, speaking on the radio. Later he moved to Toronto, then New York, serving a five-year run as host of NBC’s monitor. During this period he lived in New Rochelle with his wife and three children. Eight years later, he moved to California, and he eventually became most well-known for hosting the game show Let’s Make a Deal. At age 94, Monty still lives in Beverly Hills with his wife, but New Rochelle honored him with a spot on the Walk of Fame in 2014.

Olympics: New Rochelle's Stars, Part II

Olympics: New Rochelle's Stars
Part II

Last week’s “Thursday Throwback” highlighted the 1924 Olympic Gold won by New Rochelleans Larry Stoddard (Rowing) and Francis T. Hunter (Tennis). This week – Swimming and Track & Field highlights.

The most recent Olympic gold medalist from New Rochelle is Cristina Teuscher, who won a gold medal in the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta, Georgia, as part of the 4 × 200 freestyle relay, breaking the Olympic and American record and swimming the fast split in U.S. history. Four years later, she was voted one of the U.S. Olympic Swim Team Captains for the 2000 Games in Sydney, Australia, at which she won a bronze medal in the 200 I.M.   

Raised in New Rochelle and a member of the Badger Swim Club in Larchmont, Cristina graduated from New Rochelle High School in 1996 and Columbia University in 2000. She was an All-American and four-time NCAA champion, won 12 Ivy League titles, and set 17 Lion records. 

In the 1956 Summer Olympics in Melbourne, Australia, New Rochelle native Lou Jones ran the second leg in the gold medal winning American 4X400 meter relay team. The team of Jones, Charlie Jenkins, Tom Courtney and Jesse Mashburn edged out Russia and Germany in a close finish. 

NRHS Yearbook

New Rochelleans helped Lou raise the funds to make the Olympics, four months after the NRHS graduate of 1950 Jones broke his own 400 meter world record, at the US Olympic Trials in Los Angeles. 

Lou would go on to receive his master’s degree from Columbia Teacher’s College, teaching and coaching at NRHS before a long career as high school and then college administrator. He made his home on Prince Street (now “Lou Jones Way”) in New Rochelle until his death on February 3, 2006. 

Contributor: Barbara Davis, Community Relations Coordinator @ NRPL and Local Historian. 

Olympics: New Rochelle's Stars

Olympics: New Rochelle's Stars

If you had the pleasure of reading The Boys in theBoat: Nine Americans and Their Epic Quest for Gold at the 1936 Berlin Olympics by Daniel James Brown, or catching the PBS documentary, The Boys of '36 that aired on August 2^nd, then you are well-familiar with the thrilling story of the eight-man rowing crew that won the gold in the 1936 Olympics.

How about the story of the Boys of ’24?

"Paris, July 17: Yale's eight stalwart sons raised the Stars and Stripes to the masthead on the Seine banks this afternoon by scoring a victory which proved them unquestionably the finest rowing eight at present in the world," concluded the New York Times on July 18, 1924.

"Yale Crew Rides to Easy Victory in Olympic Race.' Wonder Crew,' with Miller of Larchmont and Stoddard of New Rochelle Seated, Sets New Record for Course," headlined the Evening Standard of July 17, 1924.  The U.S.A. "dream team" of the Eighth Olympiad, held in France, was the eight-oared Yale crew coached by Ed Leader and captained by a 6'1" twenty-two year old, James Rockefeller, of the prominent Rockefeller family. Lester Miller, a 6'2" twenty-year old from Larchmont pulled from the third seat. The tallest member of the crew, at 6'4", was a Yale junior by the name of Benjamin M. Spock, who would become the world famous baby doctor. As is the norm, the shortest member was the coxswain, who was 5”1” tall and weighed 108 pounds. The twenty year old was Laurence (Larry) Stoddard, of New Rochelle.

"It was a remarkably adaptable crew," the New York Times stated in post-race commentary. "It had speed, it had power, it had endurance, it had oarsmanship and courage. It was a combination that rowed with its head and heart as well as its arms, legs and back…”

With a Yale contingent and Stoddard's father cheering from the banks of the Seine, the "eight well-trained oarsmen answered the coxswain's call at each stroke," as reported in the Evening Standard. "The precision of the drive," along the four-mile course, "was a wonderful thing to watch - as the shell came hurtling out in front to leave a growing gap of open water between the Blue and the unbeaten Canadians, who were completely outclassed." The winning time was 6 minutes, thirty-three seconds.

(For an up-close and personal account of the "wonder crew's" Olympic experience, check-out Spock on Spock: A Memoir of Growing Up with the Century.  The 1985 autobiography by Dr, Spock recalls the entire adventure, which began as an eight-day, first-class voyage aboard the S.S. Homeric.)

P.S. Larry Stoddard was not the only New Rochelle native to bring home the gold from the 1924 Olympics!  While the rowing completion was playing out on the Seine, Westchester tennis star Vincent Richards had "fought his way into the semi-final round in the Olympic Tennis Tournament, men's singles, when he defeated Rene La Coste, the French star, in a thrilling five set match," reported in the Evening Standard of reported of the July 17^th match. The "boy wonder" from Yonkers went on to capture the gold medal in the men's singles - as well as in the men's doubles. His partner in victory was Francis T. Hunter, from New Rochelle.

Wait, there's more! Next week: New Rochelle Gold in Swimming and Track & Field.

Contributor: Barbara Davis, Community Relations Coordinator @ NRPL and Local Historian. 

Happy Birthday, Jay!

Happy Birthday, Jay!

Several dozen notable individuals are honored in the New Rochelle Walk of Fame, which is located in Ruby Dee Park at Library Green. The interpretive signs that make-up the Walk constitute a veritable “Who’s Who in America,” over a course of three centuries. One of the most surprising honorees is celebrating his birthday today. Here’s a snippet from the Walk of Fame sign for Jay Leno:

Born James Douglas Muir Leno in 1950 in New Rochelle, Jay Leno was the son of an Italian-American father and a Scottish mother whom he claims had a “Gracie Allen type of humor.”

He grew up in a house still located at 69 Leland Avenue. He attended Trinity School before his family moved to Massachusetts in 1959 but his relatives remained in New Rochelle. His uncle, Anthony, started the popular establishment Leno’s Clam Bar on Pelham Road (although that side of the family pronounces the name “Leeno”).

He apparently has always had a heart for comedy. His fifth-grade report card read: ‘If Jay spent as much time studying as he does trying to be a comedian, he'd be a big star.’ Jay Leno is well known for his philanthropy. He won Emmy Awards in 1995 and 2011, and has been nominated numerous times. He has been honored with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

Jay Leno was honored in the Walk of Fame in New Rochelle, his hometown, in 2013!

Pulitzer Prize Winners

New Rochelle Pulitzer Prize Winners 

As the 2016 Pulitzer Prize Winners were announced this week, we thought it would be an ideal time for a look back on winners who were from New Rochelle.

Robert E. Sherwood

We’ll start with a four-time recipient, Robert Emmet Sherwood. The New Rochelle native won the very first Pulitzer Prize for Drama in 1936, for his play, “Idiot’s Delight.” In 1939 he won the prize for “Abe Lincoln in Illinois,” and in 1941 for the drama, “There Shall Be No Night.” As if these prizes weren’t enough, in 1949 he won the Pulitzer Prize for his book, “Roosevelt and Hopkins.”

Herbert Agar

Herbert Agar, who was born in New Rochelle in 1898 and grew up on Premium Point, won the prize for best book on American History in 1933. “The People’s Choice” focused on the first 26 American presidents. A poignant note about the family: his brother Lt. John G. Agar was killed in World War I and his brother William Scott Agar was killed while serving in World War II.

George Oppen

George Oppen, son of George A. and Elsie Rothfield Oppen, was the May 5, 1969, recipient of a Pulitzer in poetry for "Of Being Numerous." Oppen's works appeared regularly in such publications as Nation, The New York­er, Massachusetts Review and Poetry. One of his pieces in Poet­ry was titled "Birthplace: New Rochelle."

Elia Kazan

The 1943 Pulitzer Prize-winning play, Skin of Our Teeth, written by Thornton Wilder, was directed by New Rochelle High School graduate Elia Kazan. Born in Turkey to parents of Greek decent, Elia Kazan was four years old when his father, a rug merchant, moved to New York. After in the Greek section of Harlem for a short time, they moved to 731 Webster Avenue in New Rochelle where they lived from 1922 to 1960. Expected to become a rug merchant like his father, he decided instead to pursue his interest in acting and literature. Described as one of the most honored and influential directors in Broadway and Hollywood history, Kazan was also vilified for his appearance before the House Committee on Un-American Activities in 1952.

Tad Mosel

Another New Rochelle High School graduate, Tad Mosel, received the 1961 Pulitzer Prize for Drama for his play All the Way Home. A stage adaptation of James Agee's novel A Death in the Family, the play received critical acclaim at its premier at the Belasco Theater in 1960, and was also nominated for a Tony Award.

Clifford J. Levy

A more recent graduate of New Rochelle High School, journalist Clifford J. Levy is a two-time winner of the Pulitzer Prize. Born in New Rochelle in 1967, Levy became a reporter for the New York bureau of United Press International, New York after attending Princeton University. He joined the New York Times in 1990, and became a special projects reporter for the Times' Metro desk in 2000. His first Pulitzer Prize for investigative reporting was awarded in 2003 for his 2002 series, "Broken Homes," on the abuse of mentally ill adults in state-regulated homes. While serving as the Moscow bureau chief for the Times, he and Ellen Barry won the 2011 Pulitzer Prize in the category of International Reporting in Moscow. The jury awarded their "dogged reporting that put a human face on the faltering justice system in Russia, remarkably influencing the discussion inside the country."

Phyllis McGinley

The first time a poetry Pulitzer was awarded for light verse, the prize went to Phyllis McGinley for "Times Three: Selected Verse From Three Decades." In 1961 the poet, children's book author and essayist had gained fame for her on-target views of suburban and somewhat-urban life. The Oregon­ born McGinley wrote "Lucy Mc­ Lockett," "The Year Without a Santa Claus" and other beloved juvenile books after she attended West Coast universities and moved to Manhattan. "Sixpence in Her Shoe" and the "Province of the Heart" were among her amusingly insightful essays that appeared in The New Yorker, the Woman's Home Companion and other leading mag­azines. Her long career began while she was teaching English at New Rochelle High School and living in Larchmont. Two years before her death, in 1978, McGinley's wry humor shaped the 70th birthday poem she penned to herself: "Seventy is wormwood, seventy is gall, but it is better to be 70, than not alive at all."

News correspondent Russell Owens, who resided at 17 Lee Court, won a Pulitzer for his coverage of the first Byrd Antarctic expedition, 1929-1930.

William Schuman

Last in this illustrious list, but certainly not least! William H. Schuman, who won the first Pulitzer for music in 1943, while teaching composition at Sarah Lawrence College. His piece, “A Free Song,” was adapted from poems by Walt Whitman... Soon after, and, he moved to his grand home on Elk Avenue and, in 1945, became the president of the Julliard School. While there, he founded the Juilliard String Quartet. From 1961 – 1969 he served as the first president of Lincoln Center. In 1985 he won a special Pulitzer Prize for "more than half a century of contribution to American music as composer and educational leader. He also received the National Medal of Arts in 1987. 

Have we missed anyone? Please let us know!

Alexander Jackson Davis - the New Rochelle Connection: Part II

 

Alexander Jackson Davis - the New Rochelle Connection

Part II

Last week, we highlighted the great architect’s works for Colonel Richard Lathers. This week: Two A. J. Davis houses that continue to grace New Rochelle.

Wildcliff

The Gothic Revival style cottage on the top of the hill overlooking Hudson Park was built in 1852. Originally called Overlook, it was the home of Cyrus Lawton and his wife, a member of the Davenport family for which Davenport Neck was named. Lawrence Montgomery Davenport, her father, commissioned A. J. Davis to design the home as a wedding gift to the newlyweds. Wildcliff, as it was renamed, was enlarged in 1865 and again in 1919, five years after it had been purchased by banker Julius Prince and his wife, Clara. In 1940, Clara Prince bequeathed her home and its one and a half acres of land to the City of New Rochelle. After having been utilized for city offices the building housed a variety of not-for-profit groups and functions: Wildcliff Youth Museum and then Natural Science Center (1963 – 1981), East Coast Performing Arts (Dec. 1986 – 1991), and Wildcliff Center for the Arts (beginning in 1992), and Fleetwood Stage (1999 - 2004). Wildcliff was listed on the National Register of Historical Places in 2002. The interior of the building has not been used for several years; the exterior was restored with funds from the sale of adjacent property.

Sans Souci

The magnificent Gothic Revival-style villa at 157 Davenport Avenue, also designed by Alexander Jackson Davis, was completed in 1859. It was a 1½-story residence with a central gable-roofed section and flanking pavilions. Its original features include the lacy, curvilinear bargeboard, many windows, tall tripartite chimneys, an oriel window, and other details still seen today.  

Sans Souci, as the estate was named, was also built for Lawrence Montgomery Davenport. In 1865 he sold the house to W. W. Evans, who commissioned A.J. Davis to design a wing in 1871. In 1875 a 1-story wing, designed by Frederick H, Coles, was added to the north. The firm of Snelling and Porter enlarged the north and south wings to two stories. In 1922 the Evans family sold the property Leroy Franz, a founder of the First Westchester National Bank. Theodore Green, who served as a New Rochelle City Councilman, completed historically-appropriate restoration of the building in the 1970s and completed the process for 1980 National Register designation. In 2015 it was given local historic designation, which provides the property with the greatest level of protection.

Alexander Jackson Davis - the New Rochelle Connection

Alexander Jackson Davis - the New Rochelle Connection

Lyndhurst mansion, in Tarrytown, was profiled in the first episode of the new PBS series program, "10 Homes That Changed America," this past Tuesday evening. If you had the good fortune to tune in, you learned that William Paulding, a former mayor of New York City, hired architect Alexander Jackson Davis to design a Hudson River mansion that would be set apart from all others. And Davis delivered! Although a shocking and dramatic departure from the Colonial Revival styles popular in the period, the design of the 1838 Lyndhurst would inspire American Gothic mansions and cottages for decades to follow…including at least five in New Rochelle.

Alexander Jackson Davis designed at least three New Rochelle houses for Colonel Richard Lathers, who maintained a long friendship with the renowned architect. One of the houses would become the home of the famous artist Frederic Remington. To learn about these houses, read the below article written by City Historian Barbara Davis for The Preserver, a former publication of the New Rochelle Historical and Landmarks Review Board.

Two other Davis-designed houses are still standing, near New Rochelle’s Sound shores. You can learn all about them in next week’s Thursday Throwback!