The Chronicle, published by the Bronxville Historical Conservancy
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INSIDE The Best and the Brightest at the 8th Annual Brendan Gill Lecture. Rave Reviews! for the third volume of The Bronxville Journal. Gates Keeper. Dale Hanson Walker and Roland N. Britch, Jr. share their impressions of the artistic brothers Gates. Revving up Bronxville. The Conservancy adds some zoom to Bronxville’s Memorial Day Parade. Read all about it! Some ink on the long-lost Press! Can you say Schladermundt? Art historian Jayne Warman says it all about this early Bronxville artist. PLUS... New Conservancy Projects Well-Deserved Recognition Upcoming Events! SPRING 2006 Bronxville, New York A Defining Moment. I t was a Pulitzer-perfect evening. The Reisinger auditorium at Sarah Lawrence College was buzzing on March 24th -- standing-room-only for this 8th Brendan Gill Lecture generated energy and excitement. Conservancy co-chair Donald Gray warmly greeted the crowd, and introduced the new conversational format for this year’s presentation facilitated by Sarah Lawrence College President Dr. Michele Myers. Carlo Vittorini, whose work with PARADE magazine lead to a friend- ship with its contributing editor David Halberstam, introduced the Pulitzer-prize winning author. And other than a few audio glitches (that were fixed for the delayed cable- cast of the program on VBC 74), the event was a major success. “Defining Moments in History” was the umbrella for questions posed by Dr. Myers to the noted author, whose best-sellers provided meaty material for a discussion on American post-World War II social and political developments and the challenges faced in this era by our country’s leaders. Halberstam’s classic book, “The Best and the Brightest,” explaining how and why we went to war with Vietnam, provided a comparative backdrop for the current situation in Iraq. Though all may not have shared Halberstam’s political stance, all did agree that he was an extremely informative speaker, and sincerely appreciated the opportunity to hear his remarks. A Publication of The Bronxville Historical Conservancy The Chronicle
Transcript
INSIDE
The Best and the Brightestat the 8th Annual
Brendan Gill Lecture.
Rave Reviews!for the third volume of The Bronxville Journal.
Gates Keeper.Dale Hanson Walker and
Roland N. Britch, Jr. share theirimpressions of the artistic
brothers Gates.
Revving up Bronxville.The Conservancy adds some
zoom to Bronxville’s Memorial Day Parade.
Read all about it!Some ink on the long-lost Press!
Can you say Schladermundt?Art historian Jayne Warmansays it all about this early
It was a Pulitzer-perfect evening. The Reisinger auditorium at SarahLawrence College was buzzing on March 24th -- standing-room-only for this 8thBrendan Gill Lecture generated energy and excitement. Conservancy co-chairDonald Gray warmly greeted the crowd, and introduced the new conversational format for this year’s presentation facilitated by Sarah Lawrence College President Dr. Michele Myers. Carlo Vittorini, whose work with PARADE magazine lead to a friend-ship with its contributing editor David Halberstam, introduced the Pulitzer-prize winningauthor. And other than a few audio glitches (that were fixed for the delayed cable-cast of the program on VBC 74), the event was a major success.
“Defining Moments in History” was the umbrella for questions posed by Dr. Myers to the noted author, whose best-sellers provided meaty material for a discussion on American post-World War II social and political developments and thechallenges faced in this era by our country’s leaders. Halberstam’s classic book, “TheBest and the Brightest,” explaining how and why we went to war with Vietnam, provided a comparative backdrop for the current situation in Iraq. Though all may nothave shared Halberstam’s political stance, all did agree that he was an extremelyinformative speaker, and sincerely appreciated the opportunity to hear his remarks.
A Publication of
The Bronxville Historical Conservancy
The Chronicle
Brendan Gill Lecturer David Halberstam withConservancy Co-Chair Marilynn Wood Hill
Carol Godfrey and Kathy Gray
Keith Martin& Eloise Morgan
Liz and Biff Folberth
Sarah Lawrence College Presidentand Moderator Dr. Michele Myers
Rory MillsonRichard Thaler
Some of Bronxville’sbest and brightest
at the 8th Annual BrendanGill Lecture
Joe Godfrey
Bronxville JudgeGeorge McKinnis
Carlo Vittorini
Name?
BY MARILYNN WOOD HILL
Front cover: Detail from Mary Fairchild Low,Children’s Regatta at Bronxville Lake, 1924
Congratulations to one & all for another superb edition of The Bronxville Journal. Your efforts have a verypositive influence in strengthening the sense of community that has always existed among village residents. Theoverall quality of the publication, with its well written and interesting articles, reflects the high standards theBHC brings to its many endeavors.- Bob Wein
Family ties and fabulous inheritances blended beautifully to paint a memorable impression of the Gates
brothers’ art at the recent exhibition and lecture sponsoredby the Bronxville Historical Conservancy.
It was standing room only on Sunday afternoon, April 30, inthe Yeager Room at the Bronxville Public Library. The reason- a rare exhibit by two early 20th century Bronxville artists,brothers Francis and Richard Gates, presented by theBronxville Historical Conservancy and made possible throughthe generosity of the collection’s owner, Roland Britch, ofNewport, Vermont, an heir of Richard Gates’ daughterFrances.
The two-day exhibit of 37 paintings, several of which werelandscapes painted along the Bronx River in Bronxville,
opened on Saturday and a special introduction to the artistswas presented Sunday afternoon by Dale Hanson Walker, a
great grand-daughter of Edward Morange who, with FrankGates, established the scenic design firm of Gates and Morange
in 1894. Mrs. Walker’s talk included a brief history of the firm’sachievements in theater scenic design, including their work with pro-
ducers such as Florence Ziegfeld, Arthur Hammerstein, Harrison GreyFiske and the Schuberts, as well as the background of the artists and their
connection to Bronxville. Morange followed Frank Gates to Bronxville shortlyafter the turn of the century and the two became partners with others in the devel-
opment of Sagamore Park, where each built five houses located on Park Avenue, Leonard Road, Avon Road, PlateauCircle West and Sagamore Road. Their houses often included art studios on the second floor.
In preparing her remarks, Mrs. Walker interviewed Richard Gate’s granddaughter, June Kirby, and used primary sourcesfrom the firm held by her family. A letter written five years before his death by Frank to Ed, and Ed’s response, highlightedthe strong bond of friendship and respect for each other’s talents felt by the two gentlemen.
Over 100 people visited the exhibition, many commenting on the beautiful colors and fascinating brush work of theImpressionist influenced works. Scenes included landscapes from Bronxville, Westchester County, Cold Springs (NY), andEurope, as well as a stunning portrait of a young woman. One of the paintings, Split Rock (San Francisco), had beenshown in the 1915 Exhibition of Bronxville Artists held at the Gramatan Hotel. While largely undated, the paintings were like-ly executed between 1910 and 1950. Frank Gates died in 1952; his brother Richard died in 1964.
A reception hosted by the Conservancy followed the lecture.
Gates Keeper.
“Their styles combine a sense of realism
tinged with AmericanImpressionism, using
brush strokes and lightto invite the viewer
into their landscapes.”Dale Walker
Roland N. Britch, Dale Hanson Walker, the great grand-daughter of Edward Morange, (for whose son Leonard Morange Square in Bronxville is named)
and Conservancy Co-Chair Marilynn Wood Hill.
Roland N. Britch, Jr.
Lost and Found! You can now read all about the news of the 20s and 30s as recorded by The Bronxville Press, thanks to the generosity of former villager, Barbara Safford.
The Bronxville Press, an old Bronxville newspaper pub-lished in the 1920s and ’30s, is now available on microfilm atthe Bronxville Library, courtesy of a generous gift from a for-mer Bronxville resident, Barbara Burch Safford.
Published once or twice a week from 1925 through early1937, the Press competed, and eventually merged with theVillage’s oldest newspaper, the Bronxville Review. Copies ofthe Press were long thought to be lost, but about threeyears ago the Gannett Companypublishing chain discovered boundvolumes containing 10 years of thepaper at its New Rochelle office anddonated them to the Bronxville LocalHistory Room.
Mrs. Safford, now a Connecticutresident, learned of the need tomicrofilm the old issues of the Presswhen she returned to Bronxville in2005 to do research for the 50th reunion of the BronxvilleHigh School Class of 1955. As an avid, long-time genealo-gist, she appreciated the importance to researchers ofeasy access to old newspapers. “Obviously there was aneed here,” she said.
The gift permitted three microfilm copies of the Press to
be produced, one for use at the Bronxville Library, one tobe held in the Bronxville Local History Room archives, and athird to be donated to the New York State Library in Albany.
These old volumes were extremely fragile and difficult tohandle. Mrs. Safford’s generosity in underwriting the micro-filming project means that the information in the papers isnow readily available to researchers who visit the BronxvilleLibrary or the New York State library. Only the issues from
1931 and 1933 remain unaccountedfor.
This is Mrs. Safford’s second gift tothe Bronxville Library, which sheremembers fondly from her childhoodwhen she would walk across thestreet from the School to spend timein the children’s room at the Library.“The librarians upstairs in the chil-dren’s department were very spe-
cial,” she remembers, and she developed an early love oflibraries and history. Last year she underwrote the cost ofduplicating for the Library numerous microfilm reels of theBronxville Review housed in the Local History Room. “I feelvery fortunate to be in a position to give something back tothe Bronxville Library. It has been a warm, caring placestaffed by wonderful librarians for many, many years.”
READ ALL ABOUT IT!BY ELOISE L. MORGAN
Revving up Memorial Day
Old lyme...here we
come!
DO YOU HAVE ANY PROJECT IDEAS?
In keeping with its mission offostering an awareness of thevillage’s architectural, artistic
Above: Nancy Vittorini, host and producerof “The Heart of Bronxville,” a VBC-74 cableprogram that focuses on villagers who givetheir time, their talents and their treasures to
make a positive impact in people’s lives.
Below: Mayor Mary Marvin “on location” tointerview Village Hall construction
project manager, Ken Sands, for her new television programthat focuses on village
public affairs, “ONE SQUARE MILE.”These two series will be among the many
village-produced cable programs theConservancy will preserve for the
Local History Room.
Digital decisions.
Local access cable TV came toBronxville in the early 90s, and overthe years hundreds of videotapes ofmeetings of the Village Board ofTrustees and the Planning Board,along with videotapes of news andfeature programs such as MarciaLee’s Living History of Bronxville,Dateline Bronxville, Bronxville 10708and The Heart of Bronxville, havepiled up in the basement of VillageHall.
A project to convert these deteriorating tapes into longer-last-ing and more compact DVDs willbegin soon with a grant from theBronxville Historical Conservancy.The resulting DVD library will eventu-ally be available to researchers atthe Bronxville Local History Room.
The Bronxville Local History Roomholds more than a century ofBronxville newspapers – on microfilmor hard copy or both. But how doyou find what you want in thesethousands of pages? Other thanobituaries, which have beenindexed up through 1980, it takes a page-by-page review.
A new Bronxville HistoricalConservancy project may somedayresult in an easier way to accessthese rich historical records. TheConservancy has made a $6,000grant to the Local History Room tofund a pilot indexing project thissummer.
An intern, working with VillageHistorian Eloise Morgan and theBronxville Library’s Head ReferenceLibrarian, Pat Root, will develop aform of computerized index and willindex at least one year of theBronxville Review to test the model.A recent Sarah Lawrence Collegegraduate, Nicole Desharnais, willbegin work on the project in earlyJune.
BY ELOISE L. MORGAN
CHANGING FORMATS.
CREATING SEARCH ENGINES.
Bob Riggs and Marilyn Wood Hillinvite you to join us on
another grand adventure!
rava to Conservancy Board members Jayne Warman and Mary Huber! Both have been recognized this
spring for their commitment to increasing the appreciation of ourpast and preserving it for the future.
On May 6th, the Rotary Club of Bronxville presented theCommunity Service Award to Jayne Warman, citing among hermany accomplishments the work she has done on behalf of theBronxville Historical Conservancy. This includes her long-term chair-manship of the Art Acquisitions and Art Research committee -- adedicated group very active in scouting out paintings by Bronxvilleartists from the 19th/20th century for the Conservancy to purchasefor exhibition in the newly renovated Village Hall. And she’s head-ing up the Conservancy effort to re-frame the photographs of ourvillage mayors -- also for hanging on Village Hall walls.
At the 3rd Annual Benefit Historic Dinner of the Society of theNational Shrine of the Bill of Rights on May 16th, former village historian and Conservancy Board member Mary Huber was recog-nized for her work in researching and sharing the early history ofWestchester County. Included in the tribute: a letter written byBronxville Mayor Mary Marvin noting Mary’s service as VillageHistorian which she conducted “...with great skill and dedicationfrom 1987 to 1999... Her concern for preserving Bronxville’s pastfocused the attention of the community to the necessity of valuingour rich history.”
The Bronxville Library was the site of an exhibition in May of oilsketches, watercolors and drawings by Bronxville artist Hermann T.Schladermundt (1863-1937). The works of art were assembled byDean Lombardo, owner of Objects & Images gallery, from hisown stock and from private collectors, and shown in the YeagerCommunity Room and Little Gallery. The Library sponsored theevent in celebration of the Centennial of its charter.
Conservancy Board member, Jayne Warman, gave a slidelecture on the artist on Saturday, May 13, at the Library, afterwhich guests were given the opportunity to tour the house at 8Park Avenue where Schladermundt lived with his wife and chil-dren from 1898 until his death. The current owners, Josh and
Christine Collins, had recently discovered some ofSchladermundt’s painted decorative panels hidden for many
years behind a dropped ceiling in the living room of the house.Four of the artist’s grandchildren attended the event and were
thrilled to learn about the grandfather they never knew.
Schladermundt was an architectural decorator, who was one of theearliest artists to live in Lawrence Park. He had a long and fruitful relation-ship with the renowned architectural firm Carrère and Hastings, for whichhe designed murals, stained glass and mosaics in public buildings and pri-vate houses. He received private commissions as well, notably for the 1893World’s Columbian Exposition in Chicago, the Library of Congress (JeffersonBuilding), and Missouri’s State Capitol.
Hermann and Anna GardnerSchladermundt at their Bronxville home.
(Photograph Courtesy Bronxville Local History Room)
Society of the NationalShrine of the Bill of Rights
For all you do, this hug’s for you!
Editor’s note: Other Conservancy Board members who have received the CommunityService award from the Rotary Club of Bronxvilleinclude Marilynn Hill, Mary Huber, Eloise Morgan,Nancy Vittorini and Nancy Hand.
Designed & Edited by Nancy VittoriniSubmissions welcome!
The Bronxville Historical Conservancy was founded in 1998 to further the understanding andappreciation of the history and current life of the
Village of Bronxville, New York. The Conservancy furthers its mission through the
presentation of programs, publications, lectures andspecial events that foster an awareness of the
village’s architectural, artistic and cultural heritageand lends its support for projects designed to
strengthen and preserve those legacies.
The BronxvilleHistorical Conservancy
P. O. Box 989Bronxville, NY 10708
Save the Date!Sunday, September 24th
BOAT TRIP TO OLD LYME, CONNECTICUT
Rocky Gray changed the hands of time when he convinced landlord J. Gordon to get the TICK TOCK back in the vintage clock above
Botticelli’s in Bronxville. We thank all involved for preserving this little bit of Bronxville and putting the treasured timepiece back in business.
Legendary magazine editor,villager and ConservancymemberJohn Mack Carterr
Caught on tape before the big cover-up -- the marks of what seemto be bullet holes in the basement of Village Hall.
Who was this HOLE IN THE WALL GANG? This room used to serve as the practice range for
village police hoping to perfect their aim. It will soon be covered with wall board and be part of a new set of
offices for policemen and women, sans the shooting gallery.
Burgeoning filmmaker and former villager Dore Hammond Normile hits the film festival circuit this spring with the debut of PLUCK. The documentary film features John Mack Carter among the dozen or so spirited celebrities whose reminiscing becomes history in this fabulous new work about the people who gaveManhattan a creative edge in the fifties and early sixties.
Also on the scene in a rare tv clip: Lawrence Ferlinghetti, the beat poet and adopted son of Anna Lawrence Bisland.
