History, Hanukkah, Christmas, and Pelham

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Happy Hanukkah, Merry Christmas, and Happy Holidays, dear Pelham!  This year, due to the shifting holidays of the Jewish lunar calendar, Hanukkah is a late December holiday that begins at sunset tomorrow -- Christmas Eve based on the Gregorian calendar.  Thus, in an event that happens only once every thirty-eight years, the first night of the Jewish Festival of Lights will begin on Christmas Eve and the first day of Hanukkah will coincide with Christmas Day.

Pelhamites celebrated an analogous circumstance in 1910 when the first night of Hanukkah began at sundown on December 25, Christmas night based on the Gregorian calendar.  The newly-established local newspaper at the time, The Pelham Sun, published an article about the event in its weekly edition at the time.  The article read:

"JEWISH FESTIVAL.
-----
Feast of Hanukkah Starts on Christmas and Will Last Eight Days.

Starting on the 25th of Kislev and lasting eight days, is held one of the Jewish festivals of rejoicing, Hanukkah.  This year it is an interesting coincidence that Hanukkah falls on the 25th of December, so that the Jewish festival occurs on the same day as the great Christian holiday, Christmas.

The celebration of Hanukkah is chiefly a festival of light, instituted among the congregations of Israel in the year 165 B. C.  Its observance is universal among the Jews, and it will be celebrated in Providence this year as usual.

The festival of Hanukkah is connected with an important chapter in the history of the Jewish religion, and [memorializes] the dedication of the altar of the temple after its profanation by the Syrians.

The origin of the manner of the celebration is interesting.  The feast of Hanukkah is observed by illuminating the house with lights of the purest oil for eight days.  The Talmud relates that a miracle occurring at the dedication of the purified temple was the foundation for this mode of observance.  The miracle was that one small cruise of consecrated oil, sufficient to burn but one day . . . lasted eight days and burned until new oil could be prepared. . . ."

Source:  JEWISH FESTIVAL -- Feast of Hanukkah Starts on Christmas and Will Last Eight Days, The Pelham Sun, Dec. 31, 1910, Vol. 1, No. 39, p. 2, col. 4.  

This year, Hanukkah will extend from the evening of December 24 to the evening of January 1.  This means Pelhamites should "look for an abundance of latkes, chocolate gelt and jelly doughnuts to directly coincide with the usual eggnog, sugar cookies, ham and gingerbread houses."  Kuperinsky, Amy, Why Are Hanukkah and Christmas Eve on the Same Day in 2016?,  NJ.com (visited Dec. 11, 2016).  It also means it will be a time for the Mensch on a Bench to join in joyous celebrations with the Elf on a Shelf.  Id.  

Happy Hanukkah, Merry Christmas, and Happy Holidays, Dear Pelham!

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Images of the Pelham Countryside Published in 1901

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In 1901, William Abbatt published a fascinating book entitled "The Battle of Pell's Point (or Pelham) October 18, 1776 Being the Story of a Stubborn Fight."  The book collected research about the Battle of Pelham and provided an account of the events before, during, and after the battle.

For purposes of today's posting to the Historic Pelham Blog, however, it is not the Battle of Pelham that will be addressed.  Rather, today's posting includes a number of the lovely photographs of the Pelham countryside that Abbatt included in his book, with brief discussions of each image.  The images captured Pelham and the surrounding countryside shortly before great change in the form of residential development descended upon the region.  The photographs depict a simpler, more pastoral time.  Each image is set forth below, followed by a brief discussion of the image and, in some instances, a current view of the same scene.

Glover’s Rock in About 1901.

NOTE:  Click on Image to Enlarge.

The photograph immediately above shows Glover’s Rock in about 1901 shortly before the first memorial tablet dedicated to the Battle of Pelham was installed on the giant glacial boulder on October 18 1901. The old City Island Road (known today as Orchard Beach Road) passes, unpaved, adjacent to Glover’s Rock with the tracks of the Pelham Bay and City Island Horse Railroad visible along the side of the road. In the distance a horse-drawn buggy can be seen making its way toward City Island along the road. Today, the paved Orchard Beach Road has been widened into a four-lane roadway with a grassy median in the center to carry heavy summer traffic to Orchard Beach (and to City Island).

Looking East From Glover's Rock in About 1901.

NOTE:  Click on Image to Enlarge.

The photograph immediately above was taken in the roadway next to Glover’s Rock looking toward the east in about 1901. Once again, this is the old City Island Road (known today as Orchard Beach Road). The tracks of the Pelham Bay and City Island Horse Railroad extend along the side of the road into the distance where they curve around the bend toward City Island. Eleven pedestrians in three successive groups can be seen in the distance walking on the roadway toward Bartow Station on the New Haven Branch Line which is located behind the photographer.

Looking East from Glover’s Rock in July, 2016.

NOTE:  Click on Image to Enlarge.

The Google Maps photograph immediately above depicts roughly the same view looking east from Glover’s Rock as it looks today. The two east-bound lanes of Orchard Beach Road curve in the distance toward City Island while the two west-bound lanes of the road (on the left in the photograph) curve in the distance toward the Orchard Beach parking area created when Pelham Bay was filled during the 1930s.

Looking West from Glover’s Rock in About 1901.

NOTE:  Click on Image to Enlarge.

The photograph immediately above was taken in the roadway next to Glover’s Rock looking toward the west (toward today’s Shore Road and Bartow Station on the Branch Line) in about 1901. The roadway is the old City Island Road (today’s Orchard Beach Road). Once again, along the side of the road are the tracks of the Pelham Bay and City Island Horse Railroad that once ran between Bartow Station and City Island. In the foreground, on the roadway, are birds. In the distance behind them can be seen what appears to be a group of four pedestrians walking from City Island to Bartow Station. Hanging from the electrical lines near the telephone on the right in this photograph is an early electric street lamp to light the roadway.

Looking West from Glover’s Rock in July, 2016.

NOTE:  Click on Image to Enlarge.

The Google Maps photograph immediately above depicts roughly the same view looking west from Glover’s Rock as it looks today. It is interesting to note that there is a modern street lamp in nearly the same location as in the similar photograph taken in 1901. A west-bound automobile can be seen in the distance traveling toward Shore Road.

Split Rock Road at the Junction with Shore Road in About 1901.

NOTE:  Click on Image to Enlarge.

The photograph immediately above depicts Split Rock Road from its beginning at Shore Road. Split Rock Road can be seen winding into the distance and passing beneath the railroad overpass that carried the tracks of the New Haven Branch Line above the ancient Split Rock Road. The railroad overpass is plainly visible in the center of the photograph. Split Rock Road was closed in December, 1937. Later, during the 1950s, construction of the New England Thruway obliterated much of the ancient roadway between Split Rock and the New York City border with Pelham Manor where a portion of Split Rock Road remains today, lined with lovely residential homes. A portion of Split Rock Road that can be seen in this photograph taken in about 1901 essentially still exists, but serves as a golf cart path traveling beneath the same railroad overpass on the grounds of the Pelham Bay and Split Rock Golf Course complex along Shore Road. Today, the clubhouse of that golf complex stands in the area on the right of the roadway in this photograph, while the parking lot of that golf complex stands in the area on the left of the roadway in this photograph.

Split Rock Road at the Junction with Shore Road in July, 2016.

NOTE:  Click on Image to Enlarge.

This Google Maps photograph immediately above shows very, very roughly the same view of what once was the beginning of Split Rock Road at the junction with Shore Road. Vegetation obscures any view of the railroad overpass that stands essentially a little to the right beyond what can be seen of the driveway entrance to the golf complex clubhouse as it seems to disappear in the distance. The clubhouse can be seen on the right. The main parking lot of the complex is just out of the photograph on the left.

View from Split Rock Looking Across the Valley Toward Eastchester

in About 1901.  NOTE:  Click on Image to Enlarge.

The photograph immediately above seems to have been taken from a point a little beyond Split Rock looking toward Eastchester. Today the “valley” has been destroyed by construction of the New England Thruway. Additionally, the area in the distance referenced as “Eastchester” is now the City of Mount Vernon. Though Mount Vernon is the eighth largest city in the State of New York, it is the second most-densely populated city in the state. This once bucolic view certainly is no more.

View of Split Rock in About 1901.

NOTE:  Click on Image to Enlarge.

The photograph immediately above shows a couple standing on Split Rock Road while admiring Split Rock. Split Rock was saved from demolition during the construction of the New England Thruway by a group of local historians who successfully urged engineers to move the planned roadway several feet in order to spare the famous Pelham landmark. The landmark now stands in an area surrounded by the Hutchinson River Parkway, the New England Thruway, and the entrance ramp from the Hutchinson River Parkway to the New England Thruway.

The Hill at Wolfs Lane in Pelham Manor in About 1901.

NOTE:  Click on Image to Enlarge.

The photograph immediately above shows a portion of Wolfs Lane in Pelham Manor not far from Boston Post Road in about 1901. Portions of Wolfs Lane have been straightened and graded a number of times since then. Additionally, of course, the entire area since has been fully developed as a residential neighborhood. Though the area appears quite rural with a fenced pasture visible in the background, there are sidewalks on both sides of the unpaved roadway and a grill in the right foreground that appears to be part of a water drainage system. At the intersection of the unidentified road on the left with Wolfs Lane, there appears to be what likely is a gas lantern atop a pole.

Approximation of the Current View of the Hill at Wolfs

Lane in July, 2016.  NOTE:  Click on Image to Enlarge.

Wolfs Lane has changed so much in the last 115 years that it is nearly impossible to determine precisely from where the photograph taken of the area in 1901 was snapped. Nevertheless, based on the reference in the caption of the previous photograph taken in 1901 to the bridge over the Hutchinson River being about three-quarters of a mile away and the prominent hill and curve visible in that photograph, one possibility is that the photograph was taken along Wolfs Lane not far from today’s Sherwood Avenue. The Google Maps photograph immediately above depicts that area of Wolfs Lane.

The Bridge Over the Hutchinson River in About 1901.

NOTE:  Click on Image to Enlarge.

The photograph immediately above shows the tiny little wooden bridge, resting on stone piers, that crossed the Hutchinson River in about 1901. The unpaved roadway climbing up the hill in the background appears to be today’s Highland Avenue in the City of Mount Vernon. The roadway crossing the bridge is the Old Boston Post Road, now named “Colonial Avenue” within the Town of Pelham (to the right in this photograph) and East Sandford Boulevard within the City of Mount Vernon (to the left in this photograph). Today there is a highway overpass that carries the Hutchinson River Parkway over Colonial Avenue that later was located immediately out of the view of this photograph on the right. Today the tiny little bridge has been replaced with a modern concrete and steel bridge so that cars traveling from Pelham on Colonial Avenue toward the City of Mount Vernon first pass beneath the overpass for the Hutchinson River Parkway and, immediately upon emerging from beneath that overpass, cross the modern bridge over the Hutchinson River that has replaced the tiny wooden bridge seen in this photograph.

The Bridge Over the Hutchinson River in July, 2016.

NOTE:  Click on Image to Enlarge.

The Google Maps photograph immediately above shows the modern bridge that stands today near the site where the tiny little wooden bridge along Old Boston Post Road once crossed the Hutchinson River. The bridge is the roadway in the immediate foreground of the photograph with low railings on each side.  In this photograph, the bridge is being viewed from the East Sandford Boulevard side in the City of Mount Vernon. Behind the bridge in this photograph, of course, is the modern highway overpass that carries the Hutchinson River Parkway over Colonial Avenue on the Pelham side of the bridge.

St. Paul’s Church in Eastchester in About 1901.

NOTE:  Click on Image to Enlarge.

The photograph immediately above shows St. Paul’s Church in the Town of Eastchester in about 1901. A remnant stretch of the village green is visible on the left of the photograph with a winding unpaved road and a footpath visible as well. The church building, begun in 1764, still stands and is on the National Register of Historic Places. Many renowned Pelhamites are buried in its ancient cemetery. The structure no longer serves as a church.

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Pelham's Highbrook Avenue Bridge Listed on the National Register of Historic Places

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Village of Pelham Deputy Mayor Susan Mutti has announced that the Highbrook Avenue Bridge has been listed on the National Register of Historic Places, effective August 2, 2016.  Called by some the "Bridge to Nowhere" because there no longer are railroad tracks at the site and the bridge connects to no roadways, the structure is a remnant of the defunct New York, Westchester & Boston Railway that once ran through Pelham.  The bridge was listed on the New York State Register of Historic Places last March.

"ARCH OVER HIGHBROOK AVE. PELHAM, N. Y.

ALONG THE NEW YORK, WESTCHESTER &

BOSTON RY. CO."  An Undated Post Card View

of the Highbrook Avenue Bridge Ca. 1912.

NOTE:  Click on Image to Enlarge.

Also known as "The Westchester" and the "Boston-Westchester," the railroad was constructed between about 1909 and 1912.  Portions of the electric commuter railroad line were considered a technological triumph at the time.  The line opened for passenger service on May 29, 1912.  Eventually it ran from the southernmost part of the Bronx near the Harlem River to Mount Vernon where it branched north to White Plains and east, through Pelham, eventually as far as Port Chester.

The railroad was known derisively as the "Million-Dollar-A-Mile Railroad" and "J.P. Morgan's Magnificent Mistake."  It reputedly never ran at a profit.  Construction of the line (excluding rolling stock) reportedly cost more than $1.2 million per mile, an extraordinary sum at the time.  The portion of the line that ran from the Bronx, through Pelham, to New Rochelle was built to rather lavish standards with attractive cast concrete stations that had marble interiors.  Additionally, and important when it comes to the history of the line in Pelham, the line was built with no grade crossings.  Consequently, many bridges, tunnels, and viaducts were built along the line including a viaduct adjacent to Pelham Reservoir, a combination station and bridge over Fifth Avenue, and the Highbrook Avenue Bridge that still stands.  Such costly infrastructure certainly drove up the cost of the Million-Dollar-A-Mile Railroad.  

"ALONG THE NEW YORK, WESTCHESTER & BOSTON

RY. CO.  HUTCHINSON RIVER VIADUCT."  An Undated

Post Card View Ca. 1912.  NOTE:  Click on Image to Enlarge.

During the Roaring Twenties, the railroad was slowly extended from New Rochelle to Larchmont (1921), Mamaroneck (1926), Harrison (1927), Rye (1928) and Portchester (in December, 1929, shortly after the stock market crash).  With the onset of the Great Depression, expansion of the line stopped.  

"ALONG THE NEW YORK, WESTCHESTER & BOSTON

RY. CO.  5TH AVENUE, PELHAM, N. Y."  An Undated

Post Card View Ca. 1912.  This View Shows the Pelham

Station in the Distance.  Though It Might Seem to Be at

Ground Level, the Pelham Station Stood Atop a Very, Very

High Cast Concrete Arch that Stood Over Fifth Avenue

at About Third Street.  NOTE:  Click on Link to Enlarge.

Passenger traffic on the line was never what was projected or hoped.  The railroad developers hoped that passengers would flock to the modern and comparatively luxurious new railroad from the old New Haven line that ran to Grand Central Terminal for a much higher fare than that of The Westchester.  Travel to Manhattan on The Westchester, however, required a transfer in The Bronx onto the Third Avenue El for a five cent fare.  Though cheaper, many passengers ignored the new line and paid the higher fare on the New Haven Line to be carried directly to Grand Central Terminal.  The Westchester reportedly carried 1.3 million passengers in 1913.  Its ridership grew to 14.1 million a year in 1928, shortly before the Great Depression.  Still, that was not enough. 

When the eastward branch of The Westchester turned toward Pelham, it remained high above ground level on a high, curving viaduct as it crossed the Hutchinson River.  Trains remained high above ground level as they slipped into the Fifth Avenue Station in Pelham because that station stood atop a very high concrete arch over Fifth Avenue at Third Street.  Upon leaving the Fifth Avenue Station heading eastward, the trains followed tracks with a gentle grade decline until crossing the Highbrook Avenue Bridge and next pulling into the Pelhamwood Station that actually stood at about the New Rochelle border on Storer Avenue between today's Lincoln Avenue and the intersection of Harmon Avenue with Storer Avenue.  

Undated Photograph of the Fifth Avenue Station of

the New York, Westchester and Boston Railway, Ca.

1912, from Engineering News. Source: Remembering

North Pelham Facebook Page. NOTE: Click on Image to Enlarge.

Throughout construction and operation of The Westchester, it was operated under the auspices of the New York, New Haven & Hartford Railroad.  As the Great Depression raged, the New York, New Haven & Hartford Railroad entered bankruptcy in 1935.  Consequently, so did The Westchester.  As the two railroads struggled with bankruptcy, there were countless efforts to save The Westchester.  According to one brief history:

"Former New Haven General Manager Clinton L. Bardo was appointed as Trustee to try to turn around the fortunes of the ailing Westchester.  But the trustees of the NH [i.e., New York, New Haven & Hartford Railroad] bankruptcy and the trustees of the NYW&B bankruptcy were responsible to different groups of creditors.  The liquidation brought them into conflict. The NYW&B was forced to cease operating on the Port Chester line to enhance the revenues of the NH from its parallel service.  The loss of revenue could not be offset by lower costs.  If the NYW&B had been left intact, it would have required the New Haven to pay off a bond issue that was due in 1946.  Total liquidation was the only answer.  Bardo died of a heart attack in August 1937, before the full effect of his policies could be realized.  The NYW&B ceased operations on December 31, 1937."

Source:  "New York, Westchester and Boston Railway" in Wikipedia - The Free Encyclopedia (visited Sep. 18, 2016).  

All efforts to save The Westchester were of no avail.  The steel rails and bridges, and the electrical distribution system of the railroad were dismantled and scrapped in 1942, for the most part, to provide steel and copper for the war effort.  In addition, it took the Town of Pelham years to settle the unpaid real estate tax bills of The Westchester, finally resolving that issue in 1943.  By 1946, liquidation of The Westchester was complete.  

Though the New York, Westchester & Boston Railway is no more, its remnants may still be found in Pelham, including the most visible relic:  the historic cast concrete overpass above Highbrook Avenue that once held trackage and allowed trains to pass above. It is quite befitting that historic bridge that it is now listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

Abandoned Bridge of the New York, Westchester & Boston

Railway Above Highbrook Avenue in the Village of Pelham

in 2004. Source:  Photograph by the Author, 2004.

NOTE: Click on Image To Enlarge.

*          *          *          *          *

I have written about the New York, Westchester & Boston Railway on numerous occasions.  For examples, see:

Wed., Apr. 01, 2015:  Pelham Settled the Unpaid Tax Bills of the Defunct New York, Westchester & Boston Railway Company in 1943.

Fri., Feb. 20, 2015:  Village of North Pelham Fought Plans for Construction of the New York, Westchester & Boston Railway in 1909.

Tue., Jan. 12, 2010:  Architectural Rendering of the Fifth Avenue Station of the New York, Westchester & Boston Railroad in North Pelham Published in 1913.

Fri., Dec. 18, 2009:  The Inaugural Run of the New York, Westchester and Boston Railroad Through Pelham for Local Officials in 1912.

Thu., Jul. 7, 2005:  The New York, Westchester and Boston Railroad Company Begins Construction of its Railroad.

Fri., Feb. 25, 2005:  Robert A. Bang Publishes New Book on The New York, Westchester & Boston Railway Company.

Bell, Blake A., The New York, Westchester And Boston Railway in Pelham, The Pelham Weekly, Vol. XIII, No. 50, Dec. 17, 2004, p. 10, col. 1.

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Pelham's Thriving and Living Memorial to the Pell Treaty Oak That Once Stood on the Grounds of the Bartow-Pell Mansion

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On June 27, 2004, hundreds of Pelhamites gathered on the grounds of the Bartow-Pell Mansion Museum for a dinner, party, and dance to celebrate the 350th anniversary of Thomas Pell's purchase of the lands that became the Manor of Pelham on June 27, 1654.  The celebration, held only a few dozen feet from the site that according to tradition was where the Pell Deed was signed by Native Americans and Englishmen, was part of a year-long celebration that included dozens of major events, gatherings, and commemorations.  According to tradition, the Pell Deed was signed beneath the spreading branches of a massive White Oak that came to be known as the Pell Treaty Oak.

During the celebrations on the grounds of the Bartow-Pell Mansion Museum that day, a few dozen attendees were given White Oak seedlings a few inches tall to take home after the festivities and plant as a living memorial to, and reminder of, the great White Oak once known as the Pell Treaty Oak.  Immediately below is a photograph of the seedlings that day, collected on a table next to the mansion, awaiting their new owners.

White Oak Seedlings Given to Some Attendees

of the 350th Anniversary Celebration of the Pell

Deed Held on the Grounds of the Bartow-Pell

Mansion Museum on June 27, 2004.  Photograph

by the Author.  NOTE:  Click on Image to Enlarge.

It is not known how many of the seedlings were planted nor, among those, how many flourished and have survived.  At least one seedling awarded that day has thrived and serves as a living memorial to the Pell Treaty Oak.  That seedling, as one might suspect, was given to the author and was planted in his yard where the White Oak now has grown to a height of about twenty feet, standing as a silent reminder of the history of Pelham.  An image of the White Oak appears immediately below.

White Oak in the Author's Yard Grown from

a Seedling Given During the 350th Anniversary

Celebration of the Pell Deed Held on the Grounds

of the Bartow-Pell Mansion Museum on June 27,

2004.  Photograph by the Author.  NOTE:  Click

on Image to Enlarge.

*          *          *          *          *

I have written extensively about the legend of what came to be known as the "Pell Treaty Oak" including a book on the topic published in 2004 to commemorate the 350th anniversary of the Pell purchase.  For examples, see:

Bell, Blake A., Thomas Pell and the Legend of the Pell Treaty Oak (Lincoln, NE: iUniverse, Inc., 2004). 

Bell, Blake, Thomas Pell's Treaty Oak, The Westchester Historian, Vol. 28, Issue 3, pp. 73-81 (The Westchester County Historical Society, Summer 2002). 

Wed., Aug. 24, 2016:  Washington Post Report of the Final Destruction of the Pell Treaty Oak in Pelham Bay Park in 1909.

Tue., Jan. 05, 2016:  Donation of a Piece of the "Pell Treaty Oak" to the Manor Club in 1940.

Tue., Oct. 16, 2007:  Information About Thomas Pell's Treaty Oak Published in 1912.

Tue., Jul. 24, 2007:  Article About the Pell Treaty Oak Published in 1909. 

Mon., Jul. 23, 2007:  1906 Article in The Sun Regarding Fire that Destroyed the Pell Treaty Oak. 

Wed., May 2, 2007:  Information About Thomas Pell's Treaty Oak Published in 1922.

Fri., Jul. 29, 2005:  Has Another Piece of the Treaty Oak Surfaced? 

Tue., Jun. 14, 2005:  Ceremony in 1915 to Open Bartow-Pell Mansion as Headquarters of International Garden Club Marred by Tragedy.

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Pelham Native Son and Civil Rights Worker Michael Henry "Mickey" Schwerner Was Murdered in Mississippi 52 Years Ago Today

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Fifty-two years ago today, on June 21, 1964, a Pelham native son and civil rights worker named Michael Henry "Mickey" Schwerner, was one of three civil rights workers murdered by the Ku Klux Klan in Neshoba County, Mississippi.  Mickey Schwerner grew up in Pelham and graduated from Pelham Memorial High School in 1957.  

The brutal killings continue to make headlines more than fifty years later.  Only yesterday, Mississippi Attorney General Jim Hood announced a decision to close the five-decade-old investigation into the murders of the three young men during the Freedom Summer of 1964. As noted in an associated announcement by the U.S. Justice Department:

"The Justice Department has investigated this case three times over 50 years and has helped convict nine individuals for their roles in this heinous crime. In 2005, Edgar Ray Killen was convicted by a state jury of three counts of manslaughter based on new information that state and federal prosecutors discovered and pursued in 2000. With the passage of the Emmett Till Unsolved Civil Rights Crime Act in 2008, the department reopened our investigation into the incident again in 2010. The department’s focus during this third investigation honed in on determining whether sufficient admissible evidence existed to support further state prosecution against any surviving person for involvement in the murders."

Source:  United States Department of Justice Office of Public Affairs, Statement from Head of the Civil Rights Division Vanita Gupta on Mississippi's Decision to Close Investigation into Murders of James Chaney, Andrew Goodman and Michael Schwerner (Jun. 20, 2016) (visited Jun. 20, 2016).  See also Office of the Mississippi Attorney General, Attorney General Jim Hood Announces The Conclusion of the State and Federal "Mississippi Burning" Case (Jun. 20, 2016) (visited Jun. 20, 2016).

The murders and the murder investigations that followed are infamous in the civil rights history of our nation and continue to attract widespread attention in the media, including an article in today's New York Times.  See Robertson, Campbell, Mississippi Ends Inquiry Into 1964 Killing of 3 Civil Rights Workers, N.Y. Times, Jun. 20, 2016, National Edition, p. A11, col. 1 (visited Jun. 21, 2016).  For those of us who lived in Mississippi at the time, including this author, the events of that day remain a vivid and horrifying part of our memories.

Michael Henry "Mickey" Schwerner (1939-1964)

Michael Henry Schwerner lived with his family in New York City until he was eight years old.  His family then moved to Westchester County.  Known affectionately by family and friends as “Mickey”, Schwerner was a musician and played sports including football, baseball and basketball. 

He graduated from Pelham Memorial High School in 1957 and matriculated at Michigan State University.  After his first year at Michigan State, he transferred closer to home to Cornell University where he majored in sociology with a specialty in  rural sociology.  After graduating from Cornell, Schwerner enrolled in a graduate program in sociology at Columbia University, but left the program for employment as a social worker in a housing project in New York City. 

Michael Scherner married a Queen’s College student who majored in education.  Her name was Rita Levant. 

Michael and Rita reportedly were deeply affected by reports of the Birmingham Riots in 1963.  Michael applied to the Congress of Racial Equality (CORE) asking to be posted in the South.  CORE hired him as a field worker in January 1964.  According to one report “On January 15, 1964, Michael and Rita left New York in their VW Beetle for Mississippi.  After talking with civil rights leader Bob Moses in Jackson, Schwerner was sent to Meridian [Mississippi] to organize the community center and other programs in the largest city in eastern Mississippi.  Schwerner became the first white civil rights worker to be permanently based outside of the capitol of Jackson.”

Schwerner quickly enraged local racists and members of the Ku Klux Klan by organizing a boycott of a small store that sold goods to the African American community but refused to hire African Americans.  He also worked hard to register African Americans to vote.  As a result, Schwerner was the target of hate mail, police harassment and threatening phone calls.

In late May, 1964, Michael Schwerner and James Chaney visited the Mount Zion Church in Neshoba County, Mississippi seeking permission to use the congregation’s church building for a “Freedom School” to help organize the local African American community.  On June 16, while Schwerner was attending a civil rights worker training session for Freedom Summer volunteers in Ohio, local Klansmen in Neshoba County, Mississippi burned the Mount Zion Church to the ground. 

On June 21, Michael Schwerner returned to Neshoba County along with James Chaney and Andy Goodman hoping to meet with those who had been terrorized and who had lost their church building as a result of Schwerner’s efforts on their behalf.

On their way back to Meridian from Neshoba County, the three young men were stopped in their blue station wagon by Deputy Sheriff Cecil Price.  He arrested the three and took them to the Philadelphia County Jail.  Price conspired with local Klansmen and alerted them that he had arrested the three and that he would release them later that night.  The three were released from jail at 10:00 p.m. that night.  The civil rights workers drove away in their blue station wagon.  The car was overtaken on a rural road by Klansmen who beat and shot the three and buried their bodies in a local earthen dam. 

These tragic events prompted a federal crackdown on Mississippi and led to the infamous “Mississippi Burning” trial of many of the conspirators involved in the murders. 

Michael Schwerner’s entry in the Senior section of the 1957 edition of Pelham Memorial High School’s Pelican yearbook tells us a lot about the young man.  In addition to his photo (see above), the entry includes the following text:

“MICHAEL HENRY SCHWERNER  238 – Pelican Board 4; Band 2,3; Orchestra 2,3; Sock and Buskin 3; “Best Foot Forward” 3; Football 2, 3, 4; Varsity Manager 2; Basketball 2, 3, 4; Baseball 2, 3, 4; J.V. 2; Varsity 3, 4. 

 “Michigan State

“Mickey”; Never a dull moment; one of the few ‘dry’ seniors; singing Rock ‘n Roll with the boys; ‘Hey, Man!’”

Much has been written of these events.  To learn more, see Huie, William Bradford, Three Lives for Mississippi (University Press of Mississippi 2000) (paperback; 184 pages). 

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Pelham Preservation & Garden Society Is Digitizing Glass Negatives and Lantern Slides of William R. Montgomery Collection

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The Pelham Preservation & Garden Society is funding the professional digitization of the Town of Pelham's William R. Montgomery collection of glass negatives and lantern slides.  The first two boxes of glass negatives are being prepared by Brooklyn-based digitization studio DiJiFi located at 1166 Manhattan Avenue, Brooklyn, NY, 11222.

I have written about the William R. Montgomery collection on several occasions.  See, e.g.:

Thu., Feb. 17, 2005:  The Glass Negatives of Former Town Historian William R. Montgomery.  

Mon., Apr. 11, 2005:  More From the William R. Montgomery Glass Negative Collection.

Thu., Sep. 08, 2005:  Glass Lantern Slides Included in the William R. Montgomery Glass Negatives Collection.  

Thu., Oct. 27, 2005:  The Camera Used by Town Historian William R. Montgomery.

The Office of The Historian of The Town of Pelham, with the approval of the Town Board, recently delivered the first two boxes of glass negatives to The Pelham Preservation & Garden Society for scanning by DiJiFi.  The negatives are being scanned as archival .TIFFs, rendered in digitized positive format as .JPEG files, and linked with scans of the acid-free archival envelopes in which each is stored to capture bibliographic information handwritten on each envelop.  Initial results are very encouraging as the two images below demonstrate.

Undated Image of The Grape Arbor on the Estate

of The Priory During the 1920s.  Photograph by

William R. Montgomery.  Courtesy of The Office of

The Historian of The Town of Pelham.  NOTE:  Click

on Image to Enlarge.

Image of the Archival Acid-Free Envelope in Which

The Glass Negative of The Grape Arbor Image Published

Above Is Stored.  NOTE:  Click on Image to Enlarge.

William R. Montgomery served as Historian of the Town of Pelham during the 1920s and 1930s.  He had an intense interest in, and abiding respect for, the history of Pelham and surrounding areas.  One of Mr. Montgomery's lasting legacies is the very large collection of more than one hundred glass photographic negatives taken during the late teens, the 1920s, and the early 1930s.  These negatives contain images of many historically-significant structures and sites in and near Pelham, many of which no longer exist.

Long after William R. Montgomery's death, then-Town Historian Sue Swanson and Deputy Town Historian Mimi Buckley approached members of his family who still owned the home in which Montgomery once lived to ask about the negative and lantern slide collection.  Through the efforts of Ms. Swanson and Ms. Buckley, the family agreed to donate to the Town of Pelham the entire collection of glass negatives and lantern slides, as well as the camera used to take the photographs, in exchange for having Sue Swanson and Mimi Buckley inventory the entire contents of the attic of the home in which the materials were stored -- a task that turned out to be gargantuan.  Upon completing the task, The Office of The Historian of The Town of Pelham took possession of the slides, inventoried them, stored them in archival envelopes, and had a number of the more significant slides printed on photographic stock for the Town archives.  The development was significant to save the materials from the heat and humidity of an ancient attic.  

In 2005, I succeeded Mimi Buckley as Town Historian and immediately began scanning the slides and glass negatives.  The scanning equipment of the day was not particularly sophisticated.  Thus, the process of creating usable positive images of each of the slides was difficult, time-consuming, and principally software-based.  Nevertheless, the collection was scanned to .JPEG files and I converted the negatives to positive images for posterity.

Recognizing the importance of the Montgomery Collection, the Pelham Preservation & Garden Society recently offered to fund the professional digitization of the entire collection.  According to the Society, "The Pelham Preservation Society is a not-for-profit organization incorporated in 1999 for the purpose of fostering community understanding and appreciation of the architecture, historic structures, natural beauty and aesthetic character of the Town of Pelham and surrounding areas."  Its Web site provides a wealth of information about the many civic and philanthropic projects sponsored by the organization.  

The quality of the professionally-prepared scans of the Montgomery negatives appears to be quite excellent as the image of The Priory Grape Arbor published above suggests.  The scanning project will take substantial time to complete, but is well worth the effort.  Due to the magnanimous dedication of The Pelham Preservation & Garden Society, images of historic Pelham structures and sites will be preserved for the Digital Age and the enjoyment of Pelham residents.    

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