Early History of the Parent Teacher Association in Pelham

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The early history of the organization that we think of today as the Pelham Parents Teachers Association is quite fascinating. The initial predecessor organization was known as the "Mothers' Club of the Pelham Heights SchooL' founded in 1908. According to one account, the initial "constitution" of the organization described its purpose as follows: "To foster closer association of teachers and parents and the promotion of all educational, social, and communal interests in our village."  I have written before about the predecessor organizations that evolved into the Pelham Parents Teachers Association.  See:  Mon., Dec. 25, 2006:  Early Organizations That Evolved Into the Pelham Parents Teachers Association (PTA).  

In the opening days of 1908, the kindergarten teacher at the tiny little school opened by real estate developer Benjamin L. Fairchild to serve a handful of school children who lived in Pelham Heights had an idea.  The teacher's name was Mrs. Moore.  She "realized that she could work more intelligently if she could reach the mothers and freely discuss school questions."  On January 14, 1908, Mrs. Moore held an organizational meeting and formed "The Mothers' Club of the Pelham Heights School."  Mrs. Harry Mulliken was elected the first president of the group.  Mrs. Moore was elected Secretary and Treasurer.

The concept of the club seems to have been modeled on the predecessor organization to today's National Parent Teacher Association.  That predecessor organization was the "National Congress of Mothers" founded by Alice McLellan on February 17, 1897 in Washington, D.C. -- only eleven years before the Mothers' Club of the Peham Heights School was organized.

Only about ten local mothers participated in early meetings of the new Mothers' Club of the Pelham Heights School.  Slowly, however, the group gained traction and grew as the Pelham Heights settlement grew.  In November, 1909, the group expanded its mission to encompass all schools within the Town of Pelham and, thus, changed its name to The Mothers' Club of Pelham.  

The club continued to grow.  It sponsored lectures, in-school art exhibitions, landscaping work at local schools and in local parks, and collaborative projects among Pelham teachers and the women of Pelham.  On October 11, 1911, the club changed its name again to "The Woman's Educational Club of Pelham."

By 1912 the club had grown to ninety members.  That year the club affiliated itself with the Housewives' League.  At about this time the business of the club became so pressing that it adopted a revised Constitution and began meeting twice a month rather than once a month.

Within a short time, the women of the Manor Club invited the Women's Educational Club of Pelham to join them.  According to one account:  "This invitation was at first declined but later accepted and in February 1915 the Women's Educational Club became a section of the Manor Club.  This alliance presented many problems and lasted only a year.  In 1916 the Women's Educational Club was again an independent club.  Another achievement of these active workers was securing the property right of way from Pelhamdale avenue to Siwanoy School."

Under the leadership of Mrs. Charles Bolte, President of the club, in 1923 the club voted to join the National and State Parent-Teacher Association and continues to this day doing its fine work in support of all Pelham school children.

*          *          *          *          * 

"Woman's Educational Club
-----

The success of the Woman's Educational Club of Pelham in its hearty cooperation with the teachers, has made it a helpful medium through which parents and teachers work out the problem they share in common -- the welfare of the child.

In 1908 when the Highbrook School was used for the children of Pelham Heights, there was a teacher, Mrs. Moore, who realized that she could work more intelligently if she could reach the mothers and freely discuss school questions.  Her suggestion to form a Mothers' Club was responded to.  The Mothers' Club was organized on January 14, 1908, and elected Mrs. Harry Mulliken, President, and Mrs. Moore, Secretary and Treasurer.

In reading the minutes of the club during the first year it is interesting to note that all the talks and lectures given at that time emphasized the important impulse in efficient school service -- intelligent co-operation.

It was the key-note upon which the work of the clerk was built and the note which still rings true.

The idea of intelligent co-operation for the better growth of the school was an appeal in such a broad sense to all women that it was deemed advisable to consider a change of name which would be comprehensive enough to embrace every public-spirited woman who saw the importance of school work.  On October 11, 1911, the name of Mothers' Club was changed to 'The Woman's Educational Club of Pelham.'

The history of the club reveals the same struggle and endeavor the individual experiences in attaining his ideal -- days when only faith in the usefulness of such organization saved it from dissolution.  But it has lived through those periods of depression and grown into a vital dominant factor in school affairs.

The work of the club has been broad and varied and through the interest of some of its most active members, talks and lectures by people of large experience have been given.

Mrs. Ashton Johnson, Mrs. Leo Meilziner, Dr. Leonard, Miss Cowing, Mr. Alexander Johnson, Dr. G. R. Pisek, Dr. Jacob R. Street, Mr. Lang and Mrs. McAfee are some of the lecturers who have taken an active interest in this club and contributed largely to its wider outlook.

The programs give accounts of the happy social gatherings -- the May Day tea, in 1911, the hallowe'en dance, tableaux for the school children and stereopticon entertainments.

One of the most thoroughly enjoyed entertainments of the club was the wonderful exhibition of etchings which was given through the courtesy of Frederick Keppel & Co. and attracted many lovers of good pictures.  This exhibition inspired a group of teachers to arrange another exhibition by the Elson Educational Art League, as a result of which some beautiful reproductions are now hanging in the school.

As the school is so closely allied to the interests of the home, a section on Domestic Science was the logical result of the talk given by Mrs. Julian Heath and Domestic Economics.

A discussion of sanitary questions brought to light conditions which were corrected by the concerted action of the committee on Civic Improvement whose work deserves even more than passing praise.  There were only a few women whose sense of civic responsibility actuated them to serve the community in such a generous way, but they won the admiration of the town officials and proved beyond doubt that any nuisance or unsanitary condition can be corrected if dealt with in a tactful, dignified way.

So that the two achievements of which the club may be proud, are the fine work done in connection with the Elson Art Exhibits and the 'clean-up' work by the civic committee.

The direct influence of the Woman's Educational Club on the school is difficult to measure or analyze.  It is safe to say, however, that the organization has brought beautiful pictures into the school, worked wisely with the teachers, encouraged a closer union of home and school interests, and is a great factor in helping to create the happy stimulating atmosphere which pervades our school.

'For the best interest of the school' is and always will be the motto of the Woman's Educational Club of Pelham, which, through its varied interests feel assured that this year work will find happy and willing cooperators and that only when every woman in this community helps in the work, will its ends be best served.

The following is the list of officers through whose diligence and earnest purpose the club has attained its present state of efficiency:

1908 -- President, Mrs. Harry Mulliken; Secretary and Treasurer, Mrs. Moore.

1908-09 -- President, Mrs. Fisher; Vice-President, Mrs. Kingsland; Second Vice-President, Miss Beaudry.

1909-10 -- President, Mrs. Fisher; First Vice-President, Mrs. Kingsland; Second Vice-President, Miss Beaudry; Treasurer, Mrs. Holmes; Secretary, Mrs. Steinbach.

1910-11 -- President, Mrs. Kingsland; First Vice-President, Mrs. Gerry; Second Vice-President, Miss Granger; Treasurer, Mrs. Herndon; Secretary, Mrs. Whitenack.

1911-12 -- President, Mrs. Kingsland; Vice-President, Mrs. Ferguson; Treasurer, Mrs. Lyons; Secretary, Mrs. Whitenack.

1912-13 -- President, Mrs. Burnett; Vice-President, Mrs. Ferguson; Secretary, Mrs. Heath; Treasurer, Mrs. Emerson.

1913-14 -- President, Mrs. Burnett; Vice-President, Mrs. Ferguson; Corresponding Secretary, Mrs. Warner; Recording Secretary, Miss Beaudry; Treasurer, Mrs. Steward.

ELIZABETH E. GERRY."

Source:  Woman's Educational Club, The Pelham Sun, Dec. 20, 1913, p. 8, cols. 6-7.  

"PTA NEWS
-----
The Story of the Parent-Teacher Association in the Pelhams

This is the first in a series of three articles prepared by Mrs. Ben L. Fairchild, historian of the Parent-Teacher Association of the Pelhams, dealing with the history of the organization which is numbered among the most important in the community.

The Parent-Teacher Association of the Pelhams has a membership today of over 1100.  The tiny acorn from which this great oak grew was planted just thirty years ago, when about a dozen women organized on January 14, 1908, The Mothers Club of the Pelham Heights School.  The object of this club was to foster a closer association between parents and teachers.  At the first meeting, Mrs. Harry Mulliken, who now resides in Pelham Manor, was elected President, and Mrs. Moore, the kindergarten teacher in the Highbrook avenue school was the secretary-treasurer.  From the very beginning they were splendidly organized and appreciated that success rested upon the mutual sharing of activities by parents and teachers.  At the second meeting the minutes state a speaker, Miss E. Thornton of New Rochelle, spoke on 'Children's Literature.'  Here began the adult education movement in Pelham.  The club grew rapidly and in June, 1908 they evidently felt the need of increasing the number of officers from two to five, and at the same meeting they elected a program committee.  In October, 1909 the program for the current year was read and the president announced that it had been printed.  In November, 1909 they changed the name to The Mothers Club of Pelham, thus including the other two villages in their organization.

The women who served so faithfully in this pioneer movement may well be proud of their record and achievement.  They surely knew what they wanted and accomplished their desires and we Pelhamites of today are indebted to them for advantages we accept casually.  In reading the minutes of the meetings of this club one must continually look to the top of the page to convince oneself what Pelham women were doing in 1908 not 1938.  This club carried on its 'educational, social and communal interests' until October, 1911 when they became the Women's Educational Club of Pelham.  The president at the time was Mrs. E. Kingsland, who still resides in Pelham Heights.

MRS. BEN L. FAIRCHILD"

Source:  PTA NEWS -- The Story of the Parent-Teacher Association in the Pelhams, The Pelham Sun, Feb. 11, 1938, p. 7, col. 4.  

"PTA NEWS
-----
THE HISTORY OF THE P. T. A.

This is the second in a series of three articles concerned with the history of the P. T. A. in Pelham prepared by Mrs. Ben L. Fairchild, historian of the association.  The first installment appeared last week.

Women's Educational Club

The Women's Educational Club was an organization of which Pelham may well be proud.  The records indicate that the meetings were interesting and instructive as well as social and that the members were active in civic improvements.  In 1912 the club affiliated itself with the Housewives' League.  Mrs. E. F. Burnett was the President at this time.  Membership had grown and ninety are recorded at a meeting instead of ten as formerly.  November, 1912 the revised Constitution was adopted and the club was so active it was found necessary to hold bi-monthly meetings.  The spring of 1913 found them sponsoring a clean-up of Pelham Heights.  Mrs. W. W. Warner was chairman of this committee.  One seeing Pelham Heights today can hardly believe it could have once been in such disorder that 'over fifty cart loads of rubbish had been removed.'  Lots were cleared, and the park property near the station was weeded, planted and generally improved.  A goodly sum was received for this work by contribution and the village paid the balance.  Mrs. Irving Ferguson succeeded Mrs. Burnett.

The Manor Club invited the Women's Educational Club to join them.  This invitation was at first declined but later accepted and in February 1915 the Women's Educational Club became a section of the Manor Club.  This alliance presented many problems and lasted only a year.  In 1916 the Women's Educational Club was again an independent club.  Another achievement of these active workers was securing the property right of way from Pelhamdale avenue to Siwanoy School.

Other presidents were Mrs. Felix Hughes, Mrs. James Longley, Mrs. J. Migel, Mrs. W. H. Rose, and Mrs. Charles Bolte.  Under the leadership of Mrs. Bolte in 1923 the club voted to join the National and State Parent-Teacher Association.

MRS. BEN L. FAIRCHILD,
Historian, P. T. A. of Pelham"

Source:  PTA NEWS -- THE HISTORY OF THE P. T. A., The Pelham Sun, Feb. 18, 1938, Vol. 28, No. 46, p. 7, cols. 1-2.  

"PTA NEWS
-----
THE HISTORY OF THE PELHAM P. T. A.
-----

This is the third and last article in a series of three prepared by Mrs. Ben L. Fairchild, historian of the Pelham Parent-Teacher Association, dealing with the early history of the organization in the Pelhams.

The National Parent-Teacher Association was founded as the National Congress of Mothers in 1897, only eleven years before Pelham women founded our local Parent-Teacher Association at the Mothers' Club of Pelham Heights.  In its early years, Pelham Heights did not have sufficient population to justify the Board of Education supporting a school there.  The only schools in Pelham were the Hutchinson School, and the Jackson Avenue School.  Either was too great a distance away for the children of the Heights, so in about 1900 Mr. Ben. L. Fairchild established in Pelham Heights a free school.

He furnished the house, equipment, supplies and teacher, until the increased population warranted the Board of Education taking over, and building the Highbrook Avenue School, which opened in 1905.  This new local school was dear to the hearts of the women.  They evidently took charge of the building as to maintenance because the minutes give a report of 'Mrs. McGuire, Chairman and Treasurer of Committee in charge of the Highbrook Avenue Building' in which appears such an item as '10 tons coal - $64.00,' as well as salaries to janitors and receipts for rental of hall. 

Also in the minutes one reads that two committees were appointed 'one to investigate a vacuum cleaner, with the idea of having the new school cleaned by that process and the other to see about a piano for the school.'  It was in this school within three years of its opening that the women laid the foundation of an association, the Constitution of which stated its object was 'to foster closer association of teachers and parents, and the promotion of all educational, social and communal interests in our villages.'  The firmness of their foundation can be guaged by the success of the movement.

There has been an unbroken line of service and achievement right through the years.  The annual reports, all on file in the High School, show high aims and purposes with splendid work accomplished.  The changing times brought changing problems but always a steadfast group to carry on.  The Presidents following Mrs. Bolte were Mrs. R. G. Adams, Mrs. C. H. Stewart, Mrs. C. T. Chenery, Mrs. H. Scott, Mrs. F. Anderson, Mrs. M. Hull and at present Mrs. Wm. R. Butler.

Our P. T. A. today still sponsors the welfare of our school children.  It functions under a Board of Directors comprising the President and five executive officers, the Chairman of each School Unit and the Chairman of each Standing Committee.  Each school unit is self-governing.  It has a Chairman and executive officers who are elected annually.  In co-operation with school officials three main projects are sponsored, and from 1933 to 1937 the money appropriated by the P. T. A. to these projects has been:  College Loan Fund, $2,400; Dental Clinics, $3,560; Orthopedics, $800.

The aim of the P. T. A. is that no Pelham child should be deprived of college assistance or dental service.  The association cooperates with the Board of Education in carrying out the health program.  It makes available studies in child psychology, and presents speakers of national reputation to the community.

ELINOR FAIRCHILD,
Historian, P. T. A. of Pelham."

Source:  PTA NEWS -- THE HISTORY OF THE PELHAM P. T. A., The Pelham Sun, Feb. 25, 1938, Vol. 28, No. 47, p. 7, cols. 1-2.  

"WOMEN OF PELHAMS HAD IMPORTANT PART IN PROGRESS OF EDUCATION
-----
Parent-Teacher Association Was Instituted in 1909 as ] by the Mothers' Club; Address by Robert A. Holmes in First Year of Club Shows His Great Education of Pelham Children.
-----

Women of the Pelhams have been deeply interested in matters of education, and the Parent-Teacher Association, which is the representative educational organization of the local school district recognized as one of the outstanding organizations of its kind in Westchester County.  The organization was established in 1909 [sic; actually 1908] when the local school district was in its infancy.

It was first known as the Mothers' Club, and later became the Women's Educational Club.  As the organization broadened its role to include both parents and teachers in the local schools, it became a branch of the national movement known as the Parent-Teacher Association.

Through the courtesy of Mrs. Robert A. Holmes, a former president of the Mother's Club, The Pelham Sun reprints an address made before the Club in 1910 by the late Robert A. Holmes who was president of the Board of Education at the time.  The address shows the great interest of Mr. Holmes in the affairs of the Pelhams and particularly the school district and also is a good ruler on which to judge the ad[illegible] of the local school system.  The address follows:

I accepted gladly your President's kind invitation to speak to you this afternoon because it has been my desire, ever since this group was organized to express to you personally, as a citizen of Pelham and officially as President of the Board of Education, my thanks for the interest you are showing in our public schools and my appreciation of the work which you are doing -- a work which cannot help but be farther reaching in its influence than your imagination or mine can conceive.

There is something peculiarly unsettling -- almost pathetic -- to me in this whole school work.  The guidance of these little minds into the right paths of thinking, learning [illegible] teaching them to recognize, when they come to the parting of the ways, the mile post which will point them toward the good; is a work which may make the strongest and wisest look with suspicion on their fitness for the task.  It is then natural and proper that the interest of the mothers of Pelham in the schools should be awakened and encouraged by such an organization as this, for

'Tis a mother's large affection
Hears with a mysterious sense
Breathings that escape detection,
Whisper faint, and fine inflection
Thrill in her with power intense,
Childhood's honeyed words untaught
Hiveth she in loving thought,
Tones that never thence depart;
For she listens -- with her heart.

In order to bring to any public business its fullest measure of [illegible] a live public interest must be aroused and kept alive -- and to my mind, may be best accomplished in this community through the medium of your club.  I remember one year just before the annual meeting a disturbed citizen came to me and said there was trouble ahead for the School Board.  It was reported that a teacher with whom the Board had had some differences and the results of her work was stirring the people up to come to the meeting and express their views to the members of the Board.  This well meaning informant told me that he was doing all he could to suppress it.

'Don't do that,' I said.  'Help him stir it up.  Anything in the world to get the people out to the annual meeting?'

[Illegible] P. T. Barnum did [illegible]

instilling in the youngster a desire to go to school but on the mother frequently falls the trouble of deciding whether or not it is a nine o'clock headache or whether a visit to the city is of sufficient importance to offset the loss of a day which can never be wholly made up.  The Board receives monthly a report of the attendance of each class in the district and sometimes it is a discouraging one.  I sincerely hope that this club can see its way clear to give to this important question of regular attendance the attention which it emphatically deserves.

'Again there should be cooperation between the parent and the Board of Education.  On the parents, father and mother alike, rests the great responsibility of the selection of men for this office and in them primarily should fall the blame for poor work, if through their neglect or indifference proper selections are not made.  I serve notice on you mothers today that the terms of office of three members of this board expire next August.

'Do not leave the selection of their successors to the chance of the meeting night, I pray you.  Let this mother's club look into the question far enough ahead to pick out the right men and see that they are elected.  You should co-operate with your School Board by holding up their hands when they are doing right and just as sincerely condemning them when they are wrong.  But you have no right to complain if you shirk the duty or ignore the privilege of taking part in their selection.  

'I believe that a great deal could be gained by a personal acquaintance with the men whom you delegate to carry on the school work in this town and the teachers who have charge of your children.  I know that it would do the Board good to know you.  I wish you might arrange some sort of a reception and invite the Board of Education and all of the teachers to meet you.  I want the Board to see for itself the Mother's Club.  I want it to appreciate and take a lively interest in, the work this club is doing.

'I must not impose too long on your patience nor wear out my welcome by too much talk but I do want to say a word about the new school which is soon to be erected.

(Editor's note -- This was the Siwanoy School).

'The bonds have been sold very satisfactorily to bear 4 per cent interest at a total premium of a little under $500.  The architects, a well known firm in New York, have been selected and affairs are shaping themselves rapidly.  We have a beautiful site and when the time comes I shall ask this club to appoint a committee to take under its charge the beautifying of the grounds and the encouragement of the children to keep them beautiful.  In the meantime I should like to have this club see the plans and express their opinion before they are finally accepted.

'I thank you for your courtesy in giving me this opportunity to speak to you and in closing I want to leave with you these words of Walter Savage Landor, which beautifully justify the existence of a Mother's Club.

'Children
Walter Savage Landor
-----

Children are what the mothers are.
No fondest father's care
Can fashion so the infant heart 
As those creative beams that dart, 
With all, their hopes and fears
fears upon
The cradle of a sleeping son.

His startled eyes with wonder see
A father near him on his knee, 
Who wishes all the while to trace
The mother in his future face;
But 'tis to her alone uprise
His wakening arms; to her those eyes
Open with joy and not surprise.'"

Source:  WOMEN OF PELHAMS HAD IMPORTANT PART IN PROGRESS OF EDUCATION -- Parent-Teacher Association Was Instituted in 1909 as ] by the Mothers' Club; Address by Robert A. Holmes in First Year of Club Shows His Great Education of Pelham Children, The Pelham Sun, Jul. 31, 1931, p. 6, cols. 1-2.  

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Pelham Voted in 1908 to Build its First Public High School, Now Known as Siwanoy Elementary School

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Not long after the turn of the Twentieth Century, the population of the Town of Pelham began to explode.  In 1900, the population of the Town was 1,571.  In 1905, the population had reached 1,841.  By 1910, the population had grown to 2,998 -- nearly doubling over a ten-year period.  With the expanded population came expanded needs for facilities to service young scholars in the Town. 

Pelham, however, did not have its own public high school.  The Pelham public school system offered only eight grades of study.  Pelham sent its young scholars who wished to continue their education to the high schools of other communities such as Mount Vernon and New Rochelle. 

The time was ripe.  The need was great.  The citizens of Pelham and their Board of Education stepped up and created the "Pelham High School, and Siwanoy Grammar School."  The new facility was dedicated in 1911.  The school building they built we know today as Siwanoy Elementary School located at 489 Siwanoy Place in the Village of Pelham Manor.

Undated Postcard View of "Pelham High School, Pelham, N.Y."

NOTE:  Click on Image to Enlarge.

The decision to build a new school, including how to pay for it and where to locate it, was not easy.  Moreover, when the process began, it was not even clear that the building would be dedicated as a high school.  Rather, Pelham Manor and Pelham Heights parents were furious that their elementary schools were overcrowded and outdated and wanted something done about it.  I have written before about the process of opening the new school we now know as Siwanoy Elementary School.  See Mon., Mar. 10, 2014:  Dedication of Pelham's New High School in 1911, Now Known as Siwanoy Elementary School.

A series of events pushed the matter to the fore in 1908.  First, of course, was serious overcrowding in Pelham Manor and Pelham Heights schools (see Mar. 10, 2014 article cited above).  Second, earlier in the year, on Wednesday, March 11, 1908, a terrible fire in an old wooden public school house in North Collinwood, Ohio (a suburb of Cleveland) killed nearly 170 young school children.  The terrible tragedy attracted attention throughout the nation and was even referenced during the debates in Pelham about the need to build a new school and close the old wooden schoolhouse in Pelham Heights.  Pelham parents considered the old Pelham Heights school building to be a firetrap.

In addition, once the School Board began considering the need to build a new school building, it realized that it might actually save some money (in annual operating expenses) by building a structure that could house not only elementary students, but also high school students.  Because Pelham had no high school at the time, Pelham students who wanted to continue their studies after the eighth grade had to attend high schools in Mount Vernon or New Rochelle.  The Pelham school district had to make expensive tuition payments to such high schools for each student who chose to attend.  In 1908, the School Board was projecting that the expense would continue to grow as an additional ten students each year were projected to attend high school.

To make matters more pressing, in 1908, Mount Vernon High School announced that it no longer had the capacity to accept any additional high school students from Pelham.  This meant that future Pelham high schoolers would have to attend New Rochelle High School -- a much less convenient and more distant school for most Pelham families

On the evening of August 4, 1908, the Pelham school district held its annual meeting.  Three school board trustee positions were up for election and there was a plan to offer a resolution authorizing the board to spend $66,000 to build a new schoolhouse in Pelham Manor.  The turnout was massive.  Over three hundred voters attended the meeting.

After the election of three new trustees, attendees began a debate regarding whether to build a new schoolhouse and, if so, whether it should be located where today's Siwanoy Elementary School stands.  The debate focused on the fact that the site had frontage on Pelhamdale Avenue where trolley cars passed throughout the day and night.  Parents felt the trolley cars presented an unreasonable danger to school children.  Proponents of the plan argued that they "did not think that because it was located on the trolley line should cause the parents much concern, that it would be possible to locate a school for the two villages where the children would not have to cross the tracks and that the school would be five feet above the road, and that the grounds would be fenced in and that the children could be made to leave the school by the back door and in that way have plenty of time to give vent to some of their enthusiasm so they would not rush across the tracks."

Former Congressman Benjamin L. Fairchild opposed the site selected by the School Board.  He was in favor of a site for an elementary school bounded by Highbrook, Witherbee and Monterey Avenues.  If, however, the School Board decided to include a high school in the building, he favored a location bounded by Pelham Street on the north and east, and Manor Lane on the north and west.  In an effort to block the School Board's proposal, Fairchild proposed a resolution providing, among other things, as follows: 

"Resolved, that it is the sense of this meeting that a site for a school building be selected which shall not abut upon any street containing a trolley line and that the matter of a school site for a combination school for Pelham Heights and Pelham Manor is hereby referred back to the school board, with the request that they arrange either for the site bounded by Highbrook and Witherbee avenues on the west and by Monterey avenue on the south and east, or the site bounded by Pelham street on the east and Manor lane on the north and west."

The resolution was adopted by a large majority in attendance at the meeting.  A procedural battle, however, promptly broke out over how the resolution was presented and whether a previous resolution could be decided.  Based on the procedural issue, the meeting was abruptly adjourned to the consternation of many attendees.  No School Board vote was held on whether to purchase the property and build a new schoolhouse.

Throughout autumn of that year, the School Board continued its efforts to build some consensus on buying property and building a schoolhouse where today's Siwanoy School is located.  Finally, on November 13, 1908, the School Board called a special meeting to vote on the matters.

This time only half as many voters attended the meeting (barely more than 150).  After members of the School Board made a presentation on the financials that would underlie the purchase and construction of the school at the site the Board favored, a new safety issue arose.

At that time, the tracks of the New York, Westchester & Boston Railway had not been laid.  For years there had been debate and competing proposals to run two different railroad lines through Pelham -- one through a portion of Pelham Manor and another through the Village of North Pelham.  One early proposal provided that a rail line would enter Pelham Manor near today's Iden Avenue and cut across to New Rochelle passing right by the site selected by the School Board for the new school.  There was extensive discussion over the fact that the early proposal to build a line through Pelham Manor had been all but abandoned and that the only railroad likely to be built in the near future would pass through North Pelham.  The School Board promised to require, if a railroad passed nearby, the construction of a massive fence that could not be climbed by the school children to keep them away from the tracks.  

That night a proposition to authorize the School Board to purchase a site for a new school was passed by a vote of 105 to 53.  A separate proposition to build a new school building passed by a vote of 102 to 49.  The purchase of the site and the erection of the school were expected to cost $70,000 requiring issuance of bonds.

Less than a week later at a regular meeting of the School Board, a local engineer reported that he had obtained formal confirmation that no railroad line would be built through Pelham Manor -- only the New York, Westchester & Boston Railway through North Pelham.  The die was cast.  Within a short time, the School Board went through with its plans to buy the site, build the new structure and open both an elementary school and high school in the new building.

To assuage parental concerns over the trolley cars on Pelhamdale Avenue, however, the School Board decided to place the school far back from the roadway.  Once the school opened, students were also dismissed from the back of the school on the side away from Pelhamdale Avenue so young students would not run giddily into the path of a trolley car as they departed school each day.
 
*          *          *          *          *

Below is the text of a number of newspaper articles that form the basis of today's Historic Pelham article.  Each is followed by a citation and link to its source.

"EXCITEMENT AT PELHAM ELECTION
-----

North Pelham, Aug. 5.  --  The most exciting school meeting that has been witnessed in this town in twenty years, was held last night in the Pelham Heights schoolhouse.  The fact that three new trustees were to be elected and a resolution authorizing the board of education to expend $66,000 for the erection of a new school house in Pelham Manor brought out over 300 voters.  North Pelham, with the assistance of some of the voters of Pelham and Pelham Manor, so controlled the meeting, that they easily elected their nominees, H. Elliott Coe and C. T. Johnson.  A total of 316 votes was cast of which number Mr. Coe received 158 votes; C. T. Johnson, 93, and Seth T. Lyman, 65.  Hugh Herndon was unanimously elected to succeed Willis E. Bacheller.

The resolution to purchase land in Pelham Manor and erect a new school building to cost $66,000, caused considerable discussion, and Ben L. Fairchild presented a resolution, a substitution for the original resolution, which referred the original resolution back to the board.  This resolution was adopted by a large majority and means that the erection of a new school building will be considered at another meeting.  

At the conclusion of the meeting a number of the friends of George Bowden, one of the outgoing trustees, from North Pelham, tendered him a reception in Pelham hall [the main building of Mrs. Hazen's School for Girls on the Esplanade], where Mr. Bowden was given a vote of thanks for his efforts in behalf of his constituents.  Mr. Bowden would not allow his name to be used again for re-election, owing to pressure of business.

The meeting was called to order at 8:30 o'clock by President James F. Secor, who acted as chairman.  The secretary of the meeting was Kneeland S. Durham, clerk of the board; Peter Vander Roest and Jacob A. Heisser were appointed tellers.

After the minutes of the last annual meeting were read and approved, the annual budget which called for the expenditure of $18,030 for school purposes, was adopted, each item being voted on separately.  Then came the election of three trustees in place of Willis E. Bacheller, of Pelham Heights; George Bowden and Seth T. Lyman, or North Pelham.

Five nominations were made, as follows:  North Pelham H. Elliott Coe, nominated by Mr. Smith, seconded by Eugene Lyon; Henry Kavanagh, nominated by Mr. O'Donnell, seconded by John Cottrell; Charles T. Johnson, nominated by David Lyon, seconded by John Cottrell; Seth T. Lyman, nominated by Lewis W. Francis, seconded by John T. Logan.  Pelham Heights, Hugh Herndon, nominated by W. L. Jaques, Jr., seconded by Elbert H. Kingsland.

On motion of Robert A. Holmes, the secretary was instructed to cast one ballot for the election of Hugh Herndon, of Pelham Heights.

The meeting then proceeded to ballot for the election of the two trustees in place of George Bowden and Seth T. Lyman.  Henry Kavanagh declined to allow his name to be used.  His action left H. Elliott Coe, Charles T. Johnson and Seth T. Lyman.  After the ballots had been cast and the votes counted, the tellers announced the result of the election as follows:  H. Elliott Coe, 158; C. T. Johnson, 93; Seth T. Lyman, 65.  Mr. Coe and Mr. Johnson were declared elected trustees, amid applause.

While the ballots were being counted and after the result was announced, the meeting discussed the advisability of erecting a new school building for Pelham and Pelham Manor.  Trustee Henry L. Rupert said in part:

'It takes sometimes a public calamity to awaken the public conscience.  I have in mind that terrible catastrophe in that Ohio town last winter when scores of school children perished in the flames.  We have in this locality a school house that is a perfect tinder box.  A spark of fire would ignite that building so quick that the escape of many of the school children from that place would be an impossibility.  Many children would be burned to death and we need a new school in Pelham Manor.'

He said that the Mount Vernon board had informed this board that it could take no more children from Pelham.  Mr. Rupert said that this action meant that the Pelham children would have to attend the New Rochelle high school which he said was not easily accessible, that the location selected by the board was central and that the board was practicing economy in the matter of the erection of the new school.

After Clerk Durham read the resolution relating to the purchase of land in Pelham Manor, Trustee Robert A. Holmes said that it would be next to criminal for the board of education to attempt at present to sell either the land in Pelham and Pelham Manor on which the present school buildings are located on account of the inactivity of the real estate market.  It would be much better to wait until later in the year; that the location selected by the board for the new school was the best and most available one in the vicinity.  He did not think that because it was located on the trolley line should cause the parents much concern, that it would be possible to locate a school for the two villages where the children would not have to cross the tracks and that the school would be five feet above the road, and that the grounds would be fenced in and that the children could be made to leave the school by the back door and in that way have plenty of time to give vent to some of their enthusiasm so they would not rush across the tracks.

One of the property owners wanted to know what objection was to the present site in Pelham Heights.  Trustee Holmes replied that the site was not centrally located; not easily accessible that it was not fair to ask the Pelham Manor residents to send their children so far and that it was not healthy.  The board had lost one of its best teachers because of ill health caused by the poor location.

Trustee Lewis W. Francis then presented facts showing that by expending $66,000 for the purchase of land and the erection of the new school, the district would save $856 a year.  He said that the fact might seem ridiculous on the face of it but it was nevertheless so.

Ben L. Fairchild said that he was in favor of a new school for Pelham Manor, but was opposed to the site on the ground that the lives of children would be constantly endangered by the trolley cars.  The parents of a number of the scholars had spoken to him about these dangers.  He was in favor of a site bounded by Highbrook, Witherbee and Monterey avenues, for the equal benefit of Pelham and Pelham Manor scholars, but if the board was contemplating installing of a high school department, he said he was in favor of a location bounded by Pelham street on the north and east, and Manor lane on the north and west.  By such an arrangement there would be a direct line of communication with the North Pelham school, and the school would be centrally located for all three villages.

The following resolution was then presented by Mr. Fairchild and adopted by a large majority:  'Resolved, that it is the sense of this meeting that a site for a school building be selected which shall not abut upon any street containing a trolley line and that the matter of a school site for a combination school for Pelham Heights and Pelham Manor is hereby referred back to the school board, with the request that they arrange either for the site bounded by Highbrook and Witherbee avenues on the west and by Monterey avenue on the south and east, or the site bounded by Pelham street on the east and Manor lane on the north and west.

'Be it further resolved, that the school board be requested in the event that they decide in favor of the last above mentioned site to also ascertain what arrangements can be made to lay out and continue a street westerly from Manor lane to Wolf's lane or to the Esplanade in the vicinity of the connection of Wolf's lane and the Esplanade.

'Be it further resolved that the school board be requested, when they have arranged for either one of the two foregoing sites to call a special meeting in accordance with law for the purpose of taking action upon such a site.'

Trustee Rupert after the resolution was read, and President Secor ruled that it could be voted on, demanded that a vote by ayes and noes be taken.  This vote was first given viva voce.  But Mr. Rupert said that he wanted the response of each voter present, individually.  This was done and it was twenty minutes before the task was completed.

Then President Secor started to ask for a vote on the original resolution, when he was informed by Mr. Fairchild that there was no need of doing this, in view of the fact that the resolution which had just been passed was a substitution for the original resolution.  Trustee Rupert said that he understood that it was an amendment and that for that reason he had demanded a vote in the manner that he did.  Mr. Fairchild said that it was not an amendment.  In spite of Mr. Fairchild's declaration, there were those in the room who were certain that he presented the resolution to the meeting as an amendment.

As the resolution which Mr. Fairchild presented was a substitution, no action could be taken on the original resolution and the meeting adjourned before the voters had hardly realized what had taken place."

Source:  EXCITEMENT AT PELHAM ELECTION, The Daily Argus [Mount Vernon, NY], Aug. 5, 1908, p. 3, cols. 3-4.  

"BUILD NEW SCHOOL IN PELHAM NOW
-----

North Pelham, Nov. 14.  --  By overwhelming majorities, the propositions to purchase land and to erect a new school building in Pelham Manor for the villages of Pelham and Pelham Manor, were passed at a special school meeting last night, in the Pelham Heights schoolhouse.  The proposition to purchase a site was passed by a vote of 105 to 53, while that to build a new school building went through by a vote of 102 to 49.  The purchase of the site and the erection of the school will cost $70,000.

The meeting was called to order by President Robert A. Holmes, of the board of education, who said in part:  'All we want is a square deal in this matter.  The laws of nature take no account of such artificial lines as political boundaries.  It is just as necessary for the villages of Pelham and Pelham Manor to have a new school, as it is for the village of North Pelham.  We cannot afford to have better facilities for one section of the town than another.  We are asking for good facilities here, as North Pelham has been enjoying for a number of years.

'The financial end of this question should be the least of all to be considered.  So far as the board of education is able to figure, the present plan should reduce expenses in the town.  This idea has been under consideration for two years, and has been discussed at public meetings in the three schools in the town.'

Trustee Lewis W. Francis gave some figures showing how the erection of the new school would be less expensive than the present plan.  He said that at the present time there were six teachers in the two schools of Pelham and Pelham Manor, which are paid in salaries $4,500 a year.  According to the proposed plan in the consolidated school, there would be employed eight teachers, who would be paid salaries amounting to $6,400.  The interest on the bond issue is now $520.  It would be the same under the other plan.  The interest on the addition to the Pelham Manor school would be $800 a year.  The interest on the new plan would be $2,600.  The town is now paying for high school tuition $3,300, and the high school scholars are gaining at the rate of ten a year.

John Butler, of Pelham Heights, said that too much attention was being paid in the country to higher education.  He favored a plan of manual training and vocational training and moved that a committee be appointed to take the matter p, but his motion was not seconded.

It was then moved by John F. Fairchild that the board of education be authorized to issue bonds for $45,000 for the purpose of purchasing a plot of land as designated in proposition No. 4.  Trustee James F. Secor moved to amend the resolution by substituting in place of it, proposition No. 2.  

Just previous to the putting of this motion, Mr. Heath wanted to know if the tracks of the New York, Westchester and Boston railroad would not pass near the site.  Mr. Fairchild then gave some history of the New York, Port Chester and Boston, and the New York, Westchester and Boston railroads.  He said, that according to the original plan of the latter, the road would enter Pelham Manor through the Iden property and go through the business section of New Rochelle, while the Port Chester road would go through Mount Vernon about where the Columbus avenue station is located and then through North Pelham, by the way of Third street, into the sparsely built section of Westchester road were operating under a franchise granted some years ago, while the Port Chester road was operating under a new franchise.  The two roads fought each other.  Then the New Haven road bought out the control of both roads.

Mr. Fairchild further said that the route of the Westchester road had been practically abandoned as far as he could learn from an unofficial source.  He continued, 'I doubt if the railroad would ever be constructed along the route of the New York and Westchester railroad in Pelham Manor.  The site for the new school in either proposition 2 or 4, is about in the center of the town.  It is about as near geographically as it could be.  It is equally accessible to all parties.  To my mind, the purchase of the entire block is the best thing for the town.'

In answer to other questions by Mr. Heath, Mr. Fairchild said that the center of the Westchester road would be about 100 feet from the nearest point of the school plot.  Mr. Heath seemed to think that such a site would be dangerous for the children.  Mr. Secor said that Mr. Heath could depend on the village of Pelham Manor to see to it that the Westchester road would construct its tracks in such a way that the children would be protected and would be in no danger at all.  

'The children can climb the fences.' Mr. Heath said.

'Well, we will make them build a fence so high that they won't be able to climb it,' Mr. Secor said.  (Laughter).

Charles Gillette said that he happened to be a member of the village board of Pelham Manor when the trustees granted a franchise to the Westchester road to go through the village ,that the village trustees were assured that the cut would be sufficiently and properly protected.  He said that the chances of the road going through the village of Pelham Manor were now remote, indeed.'

Then the vote was taken, as stated above."

Source:  BUILD NEW SCHOOL IN PELHAM NOW, The Daily Argus [Mount Vernon, NY], Nov. 14, 1908, p. 3, col. 2.  

"NO ROUTE THROUGH PELHAM
-----

That the New York, Westchester and Boston Railway has abandoned its proposed route through the village of Pelham Manor is certain, according to statements made by Engineer Fairchild [i.e., John F. Fairchild] at the school meeting in Pelham Friday night.

The question was brought up if the proposed route of the New York, Westchester and Boston railroad would not interfere with the location of the new school.  It was shown that since the New Haven road had purchased both the Port Chester and Westchester roads, that the proposed route of the Westchester would in all probability be abandoned.  This information was the first of its kind that has come to the notice of the public, and was somewhat surprising in nature, in view of the fact that it was only two years ago that the village trustees of Pelham Manor had granted a franchise to the Westchester to construct its road through the village.  

Mr. Fairchild said that in his opinion the New Haven road would not operate its road at all along the route as proposed by the Westchester through Pelham Manor, but that it would follow a route near that planned by the Port Chester road.  The road would not extend farther north than the North Columbus avenue station, Mount Vernon.  The nearest point of the new road to Pelham Manor will be at Sixth street and Fulton avenue, Mount Vernon.  The road will then continue on north near the water tower and then to White Plains.  The New Rochelle branch will extend through the village of North Pelham, about where the houses formerly occupied and owned by Dominick Smith now stand."

Source:  NO ROUTE THROUGH PELHAM, New Rochelle Pioneer, Nov. 21, 1908, Vol. 50, No. 34, p. 3, col. 4.  

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Turning "Stink Field" Into the Colonial Athletic Field, Predecessor to Today's Glover Field

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Introduction

The field complex known today as "Glover Field" took many years -- and one failed school bond vote -- to plan and construct.  By 1935, additions to the original Pelham Memorial High School complex required the School Board to cannibalize the adjacent athletic fields.  Thereafter, the High School had no varsity sports fields whatsoever as the Great Depression roared. Indeed, for years, Pelham varsity teams played most games "away."  Occasionally, they played "home" games.  (Typically that meant that they played on fields in Mount Vernon.  Indeed, often the School Board paid to "rent" Memorial Stadium on the Pelham Border for such "home" games.)  Additionally, varsity teams had to practice on fields in Mount Vernon.

During the 1940s, however, the Town of Pelham arranged with the Westchester County Park Commission to allow access to a large swath of land sandwiched between the Hutchinson River Parkway and the Hutchinson River for athletic fields.  The acreage included a large swampy lagoon.  In addition, a Westchester County sewage pumping station stood directly across the Hutchinson River from the field.  Nearby there also was an incineration plant that routinely emitted noxious odors.  The lagoon, sewage pumping station, and incineration plant combined to give the land its time-honored epithet:  "Stink Field."  

I have written before about the history and development of Glover Field, first known as Colonial Athletic Field, then as Parkway Field, and finally as Glover Field.  See:

Mon., Feb. 09, 2015:  Town Board Considered Renovation of "Stink Field" to Create Parkway Field (Today's Glover Field) in 1952.  

Tue., Feb. 23, 2010:  A Brief History of the Development and Unveiling of Parkway Field in 1955 -- Known Today as Glover Field.

Today's posting to the Historic Pelham Blog tells a little more of the story of the development of "Stink Field" into the beautiful sports complex known today as Glover Field.

Detail from First Page of the Program Issued on

the Occasion of the Dedication of "Parkway Field"

(Today's Glover Field) on October 15, 1955.  Note

the Toll Booths on the Hutchinson River Parkway

and the New Pedestrian Bridge from the Parking

Lot in the Foreground (Next to Today's Targe Complex)

Crossing the Hutchinson River.

NOTE:  Click on Image to Enlarge.

WPA Work Relief Program Improves Colonial Avenue Playfield in the Mid-1930s

Almost immediately after the Board of Education had to cannibalize the high school athletic fields for an expansion of the Pelham Memorial High School, efforts were begun to identify and develop a new location for playing fields.  The Great Depression, however, was raging.

The most logical location was a large tract owned by the Town once known as the Isaac Rodman tract sandwiched between the relatively new Hutchinson River Parkway and the Hutchinson River.  Near the rear of the property was a smaller adjaent area owned by the County of Westchester on which stood the ruins of the abandoned Pelham sewage disposal plant.  The smaller original area was known as the Colonial Avenue Playfield, although that name later seems to have been applied to the larger area. 

In 1935, the Federal Works Progress Administration (WPA) was supporting worker relief programs throughout the United States including Westchester County.  A Westchester County bureau known as the Emergency Work Bureau (also known, informally, as the "Emergency Work Board" or simply the "Work Board") served as a "clearing house" for WPA projects in Westchester County.  Among those projects was the "Colonial Avenue Playfield" project to improve an area adjacent to the Hutchinson River Parkway and the ruins of the abandoned Pelham sewage disposal facility on what was known as "Stink Field."

The Pelham sewage disposal plant was constructed in about 1910 but was taken offline when the Hutchinson Valley Sanitary Sewer System was installed around 1925.  Thereafter the plant was abandoned and deteriorated into ruins that interfered with development of the surrounding lands as an athletic facility.  

Word came at the end of 1935 that there would be no money available to continue the Emergency Work Board in Westchester.  Although many worried that would mean the end of any development of the Colonial Avenue Playfield, an "informal" county committee approved a budget of $75,000 for work relief projects in the county including $1,300 to improve Colonial Avenue Playfield.  Moreover, it appears that at or about this time, the Town of Pelham ponied up about $900 to fund WPA workers clean up the property known as the Colonial Avenue Playfield project.

As a consequence of the Depression, however, work seems to have slowed.  Consequently, the eventually unsuccessful Democratic candidate for Town Supervisor, William M. McBride, made the Colonial Avenue Playfield project an issue in the local elections in 1937.  He argued that Republican Town Supervisor Harold W. Davis and the Town Board had spent a large sum on the project, then abandoned it.  Davis responded that the Town had only spent $900 to help local workers and noted that the County of Westchester offered the "playfield" (with the remnants of the sewage disposal plant) to both the Town and the School Board for a leasehold of $1.00 per year.  Both turned down the offer because, at the height of the Great Depression, neither authority felt it could "afford it" to accept responsibility for the property.

Pelham Leases the Playfield for $1, But the Area Languishes for Years   

During the spring of 1938, Town Supervisor Davis and Superintendent of Schools Joseph C. Browne met with officials of the Westchester County Park Commission and reached an agreement to lease "part of Colonial Avenue playfield at a nominal rate for one year."  Significantly, the tiny area included tennis courts.  One report noted that the intent was to have the School Board then "lease it from the Town." 

The Playfield area including the ruins of the abandoned sewage disposal plant seems to have languished for several years.  An editorial in the local newspaper described the area in 1942 as follows:  "[This is] the land immediately bordering the Pelham tennis courts on Hutchinson parkway.  The ruins of an old building, formerly used as a sewage disposal plant, disfigure the site, and we should say could well be leveled as a matter of health protection. . . . The place is an eyesore, a menace to health."   

On the Eve of World War II, Plans for a High School Field Emerge

On November 5, 1941, only a month before the dastardly Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor plunged the United States into World War II, the Town Board met in special session to deal with Stink Field and approved the following resolution:

"on November 5, 1941, duly adopted a resolution, an abstract of which is as follows:  RESOLVED, That the Town of Pelham sell and convey to the County of Westchester the parcel of real property owned by the Town of Pelham, commonly known as the Colonial Avenue Playfield, and described on the Assessment Roll of the Town of Pelham, no longer used or required by the Town for that or any other purpose, in consideration of the written agreement of the County of Westchester, at its sole cost and expense, except for the contribution by the Town, as hereinafter mentioned, to demolish the existing structures on said property, to level, grade and improve the same, and to convert it into an athletic field within twelve months after the conveyance to it of said property, to level, grade and improve the same, and to convert it into an athletic field within twelve months after the conveyance to it of said property, and to lease said athletic field to the Town of Pelham for the term of five years, next ensuing after the date of its completion at the rental of $1 for said term, and to consent to the subleasing of said athletic field by the Town of Pelham to the Union Free School District No. 1 in the Town of Pelham; and that the Town of Pelham contribute to the cost of the removal of the existing structure a sum of money not exceeding $1200.  By order of the Town Board of the Town of Pelham, N.Y. Dated November 14, 1941."

The Town of Pelham planned to work with Westchester County and with the WPA which, at the time, was still involved with work relief projects before the war, to demolish the disposal plant ruins, grade the site and convert it to an athletic field within twelve months.  World War II intervened, however.  With employment ramping up quickly for the War, the WPA began to wind down its programs, including its involvement with the Colonial Avenue Playfield.  

The fate of Stink Field seemed to hang in the balance once again.

The School Board Steps Into the Picture

It seems that, to move matters along, the Pelham School Board stepped into the picture and offered to provide some funds, with the Town, to demolish the disposal plant ruins and grade the field.  On June 19, 1942, the Town Board adopted a resolution to provide $1,200 toward demolition of the sewage disposal plant and the grading of the roughly one-acre site to provide space for high school varsity sports.  The focus, at the time, was developing the small area where the plant stood.  According to one news report at the time:  

"The Town Board will provide $1,200 toward the demolition of the building while the Board of Education will pay the remainder of the cost for taking down the structure, levelling off the area and rough grading the surface.  The playfield, which will be approximately one acre in area, will provide space for varsity sports at Pelham Memorial High School.  Through an arrangement with the Town, the County Park Commission and the Board of Education, the field will be leased to the School board at a rate of $1 for five years.  The property is owned by the Town and is to be deeded to the County Park Commission for $1.  The Park Commission will in turn lease the developed property to the Town will then re-let it to the School Board at the same rate."

The plan was to have a football field completed, with spectator stands, on the land (including the larger area owned by the Town of Pelham) before the beginning of the 1942 high school football season.  Would they make it?

Demolition of the Sewage Disposal Plant, Grading and Construction of Fields

By early August, 1942, demolition of the plant ruins was well underway.  A crane swinging an eighteen hundred pound concrete ball took its toll.  At a meeting of the Town Board on August 12, Town Supervisor Thomas Fenlon announced that demolition of the ruins was complete.  

Over the next two weeks, grading of a large area including the smaller site of the old sewage disposal plant was completed.  By August 28, 1942, the construction of wooden bleachers on concrete footings on the western side of the field sufficient to accommodate 700 spectators were "about complete."  According to one report published on that date:

"The large area which will be available is now becoming visible as the football field stakes and the setout for the baseball field came into vision.  An application of top soil and the sowing of grass seed will finish the work. . . . [I]t is planned to have a running track encircling the area so that any kind of field events can be staged with plenty of opportunity for the spectators to view the contests."

First Uses of the New "Colonial Athletic Field"

On September 10, 1942, the Pelham Memorial High School football team held a practice at the new "Colonial Athletic Field."  The grass on the main football field was not yet ready, but the team practiced in a grassy area on the side.  It was the first athletic use of the new field that later became known as Parkway Field and, even later, Glover Field.

With World War II well underway, however, football was not the only use to which the new facility was put.  The School Board worked with the local War Council to build a "commando obstacle course" at the new Colonial Athletic Field.  The purpose was to prepare all young men and women of the Town of Pelham to meet the physical rigors of war. . . . 
*          *          *          *          *

Below is a series of articles that touch on the early history of the development of the facility we know today as Glover Field.  Each is followed by a citation and link to its source.

"WORK BOARD TO CONTINUE
-----
Heydecker to Head Bureau as Coordinator for County Relief
-----
(Special To The Daily Argus)

WHITE PLAINS, Dec. 31. -- The Emergency Work Bureau here, which has coped with the relief problem in Westchester under three Federal administrative set-ups, will continue to serve the county as a clearing house for county projects under the Works Progress Administration.

The Board of Supervisors yesterday authorized continuance of the work bureau indefinitely as a relief coordinating agency until such time as the WPA shall be dissolved.  It gave Wayne D. Heydecker, the director, authority to continue with a skeletonized staff the work of outlining, studying and supervising work projects which affect the county generally.  

At the same time, the Budget Committee recommended that towns and cities caring to continue use of the service might hire the work bureau as their agents.

No appropriations were voted to continue the bureau, but the Budget Committee has estimated that supervision on county projects by a skeletonized staff will cost in the neighborhood of $30,000 a year.

A total of $75,000 for WPA projects, approved by an informal committee composed of Mr. Heydecker, County Engineer Charles H. Sells, and Budget Commissioner William B. Folger, has been appropriated by the board in sponsors contributions.

The contributions are for materials and machinery or projects for which the labor cost is borne by the WPA.  Some of the improvements were begun under the TERA and the work bureau but nearly all require new financing.  In many cases the sponsor may put up machinery, if available, and additional funds for materials.

Principal funds appropriated were as follows:  

Colonial Avenue Playfield, Mount Vernon, $1,300. . . ."

Source:  WORK BOARD TO CONTINUE -- Heydecker to Head Bureau as Coordinator for County Relief, The Daily Argus [Mount Vernon, NY], Dec. 31, 1935, p. 18, col. 3.  

"PREPARE FOR EXTENSION OF PARKWAY TO N. Y.
-----
Start Grading Work South of Boston Road to Connect Hutchinson Route to Shore Road
-----

Grading work started this week under WPA projects will lead to the extension of the Hutchinson River Parkway from the Boston Post road to the Shore road within New York City.  Although actual construction of this parkway extension may not be undertaken for a few years, the preliminary work is being done under the same project, which provides for the extension of the parkway from Westchester avenue northward to the Connecticut line where it will be connected with the new Merritt Highway.

The Emergency Work Bureau on Saturday discontinued all its activities within towns, cities, Town Engineer Frank T. James reported.  In the future all such projects will be conducted by the WPA.  The work bureau, however, will continue to provide for projects under the jurisdiction of the county.  These include the Colonial avenue playfield.

Michael Barrett, work bureau engineer who has been making his headquarters in Pelham for the last year, has been transferred to Yonkers, where he has supervision of several projects."

Source:  PREPARE FOR EXTENSION OF PARKWAY TO N. Y. -- Start Grading Work South of Boston Road to Connect Hutchinson Route to Shore Road, The Pelham Sun, Jan. 3, 1936, p. 7, col. 6.  

"REPUBLICANS RAP McBRIDE
-----
Democratic Candidate's Claims Draw Rebukes At Meeting
-----
(Special To The Daily Argus)

PELHAM MANOR, Oct. 13. -- Claiming the sixth district will be the focal point of the November elections, Republican officials and candidates meeting with members of that district at Village Hall last night mapped out a campaign of house-to-house calls.

Attacks on the speech by the Democratic candidate for Supervisor, William M. McBride, to the Young Democrats Monday night, were made by Supervisor Harold W. Davis and Councilman Arthur Retallick, candidates for reelection.

Mr. McBride's charge the Town Board had abandoned the Colonial Avenue Playfield after spending a great deal of money on it was censured by Supervisor Davis.

'The Town of Pelham never paid a nickel for that playfield,' he said.  'The county did.  Pelham spent not more than $900 on the playground, and that for WPA workers to clean it up.'

Offered To Board, Claim

The playfield was offered to the Town Board by the County Park Commission, which owns the property, for $1 [per] year, the Supervisor said.

'The Town Board felt and still feels that it can not afford it,' Mr. Davis said.  'The school board, to whom it was offered, also turned it down on the same grounds. . . .'"

Source:  REPUBLICANS RAP McBRIDE -- Democratic Candidate's Claims Draw Rebukes At Meeting, The Daily Argus [Mount Vernon, NY], Oct. 13, 1937, p. 7, col. 1.  

"EXEMPT TAX PLAINT FILED
-----

A protest against the Westchester County Park Commission's failure to pay taxes on revenue-producing properties it owns in the Town of Pelham was registered last night by the Town Board.

Councilman Arthur Retallick raised the question when he asked why no taxes were collected on a garage owned by the commission in Pelhamdale Avenue.

Supervisor Harold W. Davis, who called exemption of the property a 'gross injustice,' was authorized to make a protest.

It was revealed that the commission owns a garage, a store and two houses in the town, all but one producing revenue.

Board to Lease Playground in Manor

Supervisor Davis reported that after a conference he and Superintendent of Schools Joseph C. Brown had with officials of the Park Commission, it was agreed to lease part of Colonial Avenue playfield at a nominal rate for one year.  The School Board then will lease it from the Town.

The area to be taken includes tennis courts.

The Supervisor explained that the cost of equipment makes it impossible for the Town or School Board to take over the rest of the field at present.  The area to be leased will be supervised by the school authorities. . . ."

Source:  EXEMPT TAX PLAINT FILED, The Daily Argus [Mount Vernon, NY], May 19, 1938, p. 11, col. 3.  

"To Hold Hearing On Transfer of Land to County
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The Town Board will hold a public hearing on Dec. 3 on the proposal to transfer to the County of Westchester the Town disposal plant property on the Hutchinson River Parkway.  The area will be included in the plans for development of the property as a playground under a WPA project."

Source:  To Hold Hearing On Transfer of Land to County, The Pelham Sun, Nov. 7, 1941, Vol. 31, No. 31, p. 1, col. 8.  

"LEGAL NOTICE TOWN OF PELHAM

Resolution adopted November 5, 1941.

NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN, pursuant to Section 90 of the Town Law that the Town Board of the Town of Pelham, at its regular meeting, held on November 5, 1941, duly adopted a resolution, an abstract of which is as follows:  RESOLVED, That the Town of Pelham sell and convey to the County of Westchester the parcel of real property owned by the Town of Pelham, commonly known as the Colonial Avenue Playfield, and described on the Assessment Roll of the Town of Pelham, no longer used or required by the Town for that or any other purpose, in consideration of the written agreement of the County of Westchester, at its sole cost and expense, except for the contribution by the Town, as hereinafter mentioned, to demolish the existing structures on said property, to level, grade and improve the same, and to convert it into an athletic field within twelve months after the conveyance to it of said property, to level, grade and improve the same, and to convert it into an athletic field within twelve months after the conveyance to it of said property, and to lease said athletic field to the Town of Pelham for the term of five years, next ensuing after the date of its completion at the rental of $1 for said term, and to consent to the subleasing of said athletic field by the Town of Pelham to the Union Free School District No. 1 in the Town of Pelham; and that the Town of Pelham contribute to the cost of the removal of the existing structure a sum of money not exceeding $1200.  By order of the Town Board of the Town of Pelham, N.Y. Dated November 14, 1941.  GEORGE O'SULLIVAN, Town Clerk, Town of Pelham.

Nov. 14 - Dec. 5c"

Source:  LEGAL NOTICE TOWN OF PELHAM, The Pelham Sun, Nov. 21, 1941, p. 12, col. 3.  

"COLONIAL AVENUE PLAYGROUND
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The Town Board will hold a special meeting tonight to discuss the matter of Colonial Avenue Playground, so-called.  This concerns the land immediately bordering the Pelham tennis courts on Hutchinson parkway.  The ruins of an old building, formerly used as a sewage disposal plant, disfigure the site, and we should say could well be leveled as a matter of health protection.  

Prior to last Fall election, The Westchester County Park Commission agreed to take over the property if the Town of Pelham would pay for the leveling of the building and rough grading of the ground, and in return for the title would improve the property and transform it into an up-to-date recreation ground which then would be leased for one dollar a year on a five-year lease to the Board of Education.  At present there is no Park Commission money available for carrying out the work, and the unsightly ruin persists and the proposed recreation spot is unavailable.  The Board of Education is anxious to level the building and [portion illegible] of metal, and provided the Town Board acquiesces, will go through with the original plan.  The Park Commission can carry out its part and has promised to improve the property as soon as funds are available.

If the five-year lease begins only after the recreation ground is fully prepared for use, we believe the project should be started as early as possible.  The place is an eyesore, a menace to health, and would be of great value as a recreation field.

Tonight's meeting should determine its future."

Source:  COLONIAL AVENUE PLAYGROUND, The Pelham Sun, Jun. 19, 1942, p. 2, cols. 1-2.  

"Town To Raze Disposal Plant To Make Way For Playground

PELHAM -- First steps in making the Colonial Avenue Playfield a reality after several years of planning were taken last night when the Pelham Town Board approved a resolution providing for the demolition of the old disposal plant on Hutchinson River Parkway in Pelham Manor.

Action was taken at a special session of the Board in Town Hall with Supervisor Thomas B. Fenlon officiating.  

The Town Board will provide $1,200 toward the demolition of the building while the Board of Education will pay the remainder of the cost for taking down the structure, levelling off the area and rough grading the surface.

The playfield, which will be approximately one acre in area, will provide space for varsity sports at Pelham Memorial High School.

Through an arrangement with the Town, the County Park Commission and the Board of Education, the field will be leased to the School board at a rate of $1 for five years.

The property is owned by the Town and is to be deeded to the County Park Commission for $1.  The Park Commission will in turn lease the developed property to the Town will then re-let it to the School Board at the same rate.

Originally the work on the field was to be done by the Park Commission as a W. P. A. project.  Plans for this however were put aside last week with a change in W. P. A. activities.

In the contract it states the Commission will, when it is able, complete the project in accordance with the Park Commission specifications drawn in 1941, Supervisor Fenlon reported."

Source:  Town To Raze Disposal Plant To Make Way For Playground, The Daily Argus [Mount Vernon, NY], Jun. 20, 1942, p. 7, cols. 2-3.  

"Colonial Athletic Field Will Be All Ready For Fall Football Practice
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The new Colonial avenue playground, proposed athletic field for Pelham High School, took tangible shape this week as the last remnants of the old Pelham disposal plant which stood on the playground site, were torn down.  

The work was carried out by the Jackson & Barnum Co., under the supervision of Harry Jackson, who has been in the construction business in Pelham for many years.  Demolition of the old disposal plant started a week ago in conjunction with plans of the Building and Grounds Committee of the Pelham Board of Education to develop the site as an athletic field.

Frank James, Town Engineer, approximates that the plant was built 'somewhere around 1910 and became inactive when the Hutchinson Valley Sanitary Sewer System was installed around 1925.'  Mr. James is inspecting the work on behalf of the town.

When the site is cleared of debris and graded, bleachers to accommodate close to 700 people will be erected and should be completed 'sometime in August,' according to Jackson, whose company will construct the stands.

Demolition of the plant is being carried out by means of an 1,800 [pound] ball of concrete which is swung against the walls by a crane.

In commenting on the work, Joseph C. Brown, Superintendent of Schools said he thought the grounds would be ready 'at least as a practice field,' by Fall.

The new field will give Pelham High its own gridiron and will no longer necessitate the hiring of Memorial Field from the City of Mount Vernon."

Source:  Colonial Athletic Field Will Be All Ready For Fall Football Practice, The Pelham Sun, Jul. 17, 1942, Vol. 32, No. 15, p. 1, cols. 4-5.  

"DEMOLITION OF TOWN DISPOSAL PLANT COMPLETED
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Westchester County Park Commission Requests a Deed to Property; Engineer James Says Work Has Progressed Sufficiently to Grant It.
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Supervisor Fenlon reported to the Town meeting Wednesday night that the demolition of the old disposal plant had been completed and that he had been requested by George S. Haight, the general manager of the Westchester County Park Commission to give a deed of the property to the Park Commission.

Mr. Fenlon inspected the property with Mr. William B. Shaw, Buildings and Grounds chairman of the Board of Education, who has sponsored the playground project.  Town Engineer Frank T. James has also inspected the work from time to time, and he reported to the Board that the work has progressed to a point where the deed can be delivered.

The Town is receiving no cash consideration from the County Park Commission for the property which consists of approximately one acre in area and lies west of the Hutchinson River Parkway about 1,000 feet south of Sanford Boulevard, but the town is to receive a lease of the land to be deeded and the surrounding land on which the playfield is being built at the rate of $1.00 a year.  In turn the Town will lease the whole area to the school board.  The lease is expected to be renewed more or less indefinitely and the County Park Commission has said that it will landscape the area when funds are available.

The old disposal plant has been an 'eyesore' and a 'health menace.'  It has been some expense to the town also as it was necessary to keep liability insurance upon it.

It has been inspected from time to time by the Town Engineer.  The land owned by the town was pretty much isolated as it was surrounded by Parkway property.

Credit for the play field belongs to Mr. William B. Shaw, for it was his persistence which finally resulted in action.  During the administration of Supervisor William M. McBride the Town Board ordered a referendum on the establishment of a recreation field in that area and the voters approved the plan.  Supervisor McBride urged the Board to proceed with the plan but nothing came of it.  Last October Supervisor Harold W. Davis announced that the playground would be built as a W. P. A. project with joint Town and Park Commission sponsorship.  The announcement turned out to be premature however although much work was done on the project before the order ending W. P. A. work for the war was issued.

Shaw then took the matter up directly and soon brought about the agreement under which the work has been carried out.  The Town is supplying $1,200 toward the cost of demolition of the building and the land on which the disposal plant was located.  The County is giving a lease of the entire playfield area and the School Board is grading the field, building the grandstand and laying out the baseball diamond, track, football fields, etc.  It will also police the area.  The School Board has authorized not more than $1,200 for the project."

Source:  DEMOLITION OF TOWN DISPOSAL PLANT COMPLETED -- Westchester County Park Commission Requests a Deed to Property; Engineer James Says Work Has Progressed Sufficiently to Grant It, The Pelham Sun, Aug. 14, 1942, p. 7, col. 3.

"Grading And Bleachers Complete, New Playground At Colonial Ave. Effects Improvement Of Large Area
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Marsh Land Which Formerly Surrounded Disposal Plant of Sanitary Drainage System Demolished; Site Graded and Cleared So That It Discloses Large Area Made Available by Improvement.
-----

Grading work on the new play-fields site at Colonial avenue and Hutchinson River parkway has been completed and the erection of bleachers to accommodate spectators at the football games is about complete.  The large area which will be available is now becoming visible as the football field stakes and the setout for the baseball field came into vision.  An application of top soil and the sowing of grass seed will finish the work.

The bleachers have been erected on the westerly side of the field and it is planned to have a running track encircling the area so that any kind of field events can be staged with plenty of opportunity for the spectators to view the contests.

On Saturday morning workmen were busy erecting the wooden bleachers which are set on solid concrete footings, the work being supervised by School Trustee William B. Shaw.  There was an element of worry present caused by the high tides of Friday night and Saturday.  There were signs of the bank giving way where the swing of the ebb and flow of water disclosed the need for rip-rap protection or some stone banking.

The cost of demolishing the old disposal works and the filling in of the site together with the erection of the 100 feet of bleachers will cost in the neighborhood of $4,000 of which the Town Board has assumed part of the cost and the Board of Education part of the remainder.  Money is needed for the erection of a shelter house and dressing rooms but unless some generously disposed citizen steps forward with a donation of $2,500 the work cannot be carried out.  Trustee Shaw has no plans for raising such funds other than by public support as he has reached the limit of expenditures from school board and town funds.

'One of my greatest hopes,' said Trustee Shaw to a Sun reporter 'is to install a good obstacle tract here, something where men can train themselves in running, climbing and vaulting so that if occasions arise they will be in good shape to meet them.  A sound healthy body means a good contribution toward victory for both men and boys.'

To reach the grounds, a cinder pathway will be built from Colonial avenue to the new fields. Parking space will be accomplished with due regard for the one-way conditions existing on the parkway, and it is our guess that a large number of spectators will drive up Carol Place to Murray street and park on the grass plot bordering the parkway on its easterly side.

Trustee Shaw is optimistic about the appearance of the playground.  'In two or three years this football field and baseball diamond should be so level and so thick with grass that it will look and feel like a velvety carpet,' he said.

When complete the new development will have transformed a large area of low-lying marshy land into a huge playfield.  It will have demolished an unused sewage disposal plant, which was an eyesore architecturally and an unhealthful nuisance to the neighborhood.

School Trustee William B. Shaw who has had charge of the work, has been personally supervising it and is receiving much praise from those who are watching his efforts reach fruition."

Source:  Grading And Bleachers Complete, New Playground At Colonial Ave. Effects Improvement Of Large Area -- Marsh Land Which Formerly Surrounded Disposal Plant of Sanitary Drainage System Demolished; Site Graded and Cleared So That It Discloses Large Area Made Available by Improvement, The Pelham Sun, Aug. 28, 1942, p. 9, cols. 1-2.  

"HIGH GRIDDERS RUN OFF PLAYS IN FIRST DRILL
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With three lettermen and two additions from out of town, a 200 pound Texan who played varsity center for Lamar High School Houston, Texas, and a varsity lineman from Kimball Union High, New Hampshire to bolster an otherwise green squad, Pelham High School went through its first outdoor football drill yesterday under the watchful eye of Coach Carl Schilling.

Asst. Coach Dennis Neely put the boys through calisthenics, after which a light drill was held as the squad was divided into four teams and ran through some of the routine plays.

It was the first practice held at the New Colonial athletic field, and though the actual playing ground was not used, the grass at the side furnished a good practice field. . . ."

Source:  HIGH GRIDDERS RUN OFF PLAYS IN FIRST DRILL, The Pelham Sun, Sep. 11, 1942, p. 5, col. 1.

"PHYSICAL FITNESS PROGRAM OFFERED BY WAR COUNCIL
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William B. Shaw Will be Chairman of Training Program Which Will Include Special Army Obstacle Course.  
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In line with the national policy of the Office of Civilian Defense, the War Council of the Pelhams is contemplating offering a training course in physical fitness for men and women over 18 years of age.

A circular letter is being distributed this week to determine the response to such a course.  'In view of the fact that so many doctors and nurses have been and will be called into active service,' the circular states, 'it is thought necessary to take some action to maintain the public health and fortify ourselves against the epidemics which occurred during the last World War.'

The contemplated courses include calisthenics, handball, badminton, volley ball, basketball, and indoor games.  Outdoor exercises would include setting-up exercises, track, baseball, football, military drill and an army obstacle course which has been built on the new Colonial Athletic field.

The circular contains a questionnaire by which the committee can determine just how many are interested in the course, before securing trained instructors.  William B. Shaw, a member of the Board of Education will be chairman of the project."

Source:  PHYSICAL FITNESS PROGRAM OFFERED BY WAR COUNCIL -- William B. Shaw Will be Chairman of Training Program Which Will Include Special Army Obstacle Course, The Pelham Sun, Sep. 18, 1942, p. 11, col. 3.  

"Democrat 'Horns In' On G.O.P. And Wants To Cut His Own Salary! . . .

The Board of Education appointed William Gray a trustee to fill the vacancy left by the death of Stacy Wood of North Pelham.  The trustees also approved $2,500 for improvement of the Colonial Avenue playfield which has been completed and includes a track, baseball diamond, football gridiron, and commando obstacle course. . . ."

Source:  Democrat 'Horns In' On G.O.P. And Wants To Cut His Own Salary!, The Daily Argus [Mount Vernon, NY], Dec. 31, 1942, p. 8, cols. 2-4.  

"SUPERVISOR FENLON'S REPORT TO THE TOWNSHIP OF PELHAM. . . . 

Old Disposal Plant

The plan which the former supervisor announced, as concluded in October 1941 to remove the old and unused sewage disposal plant as a jointly sponsored town and county park commission project under the Works Progress Administration failed of W. P. A. approval and ultimately died with the W. P. A.

In June 1942 with the active aid and earnest efforts of the Pelham School Board and the co-operation of the county authorities, the old disposal plant was demolished nevertheless.  The town's share of the cost was the same as that budgeted and for one dollar the town deeded the land on which the old plant had stood to the County Park Commission.  It was further arranged that the county would let to the town and town to the school for a similar rental of one dollar a year an area much larger than but including the disposal plant site.  On this area the School Board is constuct[ing] a new athletic field. . . ."

Source:  SUPERVISOR FENLON'S REPORT TO THE TOWNSHIP OF PELHAM, The Pelham Sun, Jan. 29, 1943, p. 10, cols. 2-7, esp. 7.  

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