In the Good Old Wintertime

As we move closer to the midpoint of winter and snowflakes flutter to the ground, it seems to be a good time to reflect on the ways Schenectadians have embraced the winter and its attendant outdoor joys. Whether you love or hate winter, we hope you'll enjoy these photos of winters gone by in Schenectady, from the library's photograph collections.




Ice skaters frolic at Central Park, ca. 1916. Photograph from Grems-Doolittle Library Photograph Collection.



This seven-foot-tall Schenectady "snow lady" was formed following a 17-inch snowfall in February 1952. Photograph from Larry Hart Collection.

Local boys maneuver rafts of ice in Central Park, , ca. 1920. Photograph from Grems-Doolittle Library Photograph Collection.



The blizzard of 1888 dumped three feet of snow on Schenectady. Here, you can see mounds of snow piled nearly twice as  high as the men standing at left. Photograph from Grems-Doolittle Library Photograph Collection.



Strolling through Crescent Park, near the turn of the twentieth century. Photograph from Grems-Doolittle Library Photograph Collection.




Horse racing on the Erie Canal near the locomotive plant. Photograph from Grems-Doolittle Library Photograph Collection.



Young men playing hockey, ca, 1926. Photograph from Walter S. Kokernak Collection.

"Not a mass of servile blackness:" Area African-American soldiers in the Civil War

26th Regiment, U.S. Colored Troops Regimental Color. It features a gold embroidered oak wreath encircling the words "U.S. Colored Troops". The motto reads "God and Liberty." Image via New York State Military Museum website (http://dmna.ny.gov). 

"Not a school of boisterous apes, as they will tell you who deny the negro human attributes; not a mass of servile blackness that meets you with bended knee and eyes downcast, but nearly two thousand intelligent athletes - living bronze statues of Hercules, who have had the fortitude to flee oppression or possess the courage to battle against it . . . you expected to behold a great unwieldy collection of Jim Crows and Robert Ridleys, grinning unmeaningly out of the Government blue, but your scarecrow proves to be a living, thinking man -- your effigy gives palpable proof of being something human."
- New York Times reporter's impressions upon seeing the 26th Regiment, United States Colored Troops, in training - 28 Feb 1864

The United States Colored Troops (U.S.C.T.) were regiments of the United States Army during the Civil War comprised of African-American soldiers. African-Americans were first authorized to be employed as combat soldiers in the issuance of the Emancipation Proclamation on January 1, 1863, and the formation of African-American soldiers into regiments under state designations was officially begun later that year. By the end of the Civil War, the United States Colored Troops' 175 regiments supplied about one-tenth of the Union Army's manpower.

A recruiting poster directed at African-American men during the Civil War. It refers to efforts by the Lincoln administration to provide equal pay for black soldiers and equal protection for black POWs. The original poster is located in the National Archives, Records of the Adjutant General's Office, 1780's–1917, Record Group 94.

In addition to the dangers that all soldiers faced during the Civil War, African-American soldiers also faced mistreatment and discrimination based on their race. African-American units were not used in combat as extensively as they might have been; African-American troops were often assigned the jobs of cleaning latrines, constructing fortifications, digging trenches, and loading and unloading wagons and ships. The camps of African-American regiments were at times plundered by white Union troops. African-American soldiers were paid $10 per month from which $3 was automatically deducted for clothing, resulting in a net pay of $7. Meanwhile, white soldiers received $13 per month from which no clothing allowance was drawn. In June 1864, after protest from both whites and blacks, Congress granted equal pay to the soldiers of the U.S.C.T. and paid the soldiers retroactively.

New York State was credited with 4,125 men in the U.S.C.T., and many African-American men who enlisted in New York joined the 20th, 26th, and 31st regiments of the U.S.C.T. In terms of numbers, New York contributed about 2% of the U.S.C.T. soldiers; over half of the soldiers who served in the United States Colored Troops were from the Confederacy-led south.

Among New York's contributions to the United States Colored Troops are two men buried at Vale Cemetery: William Childers and Jared Jackson.

William Childers was born in Tennessee. In the early 1860s, he was living in Ballston and working as a waiter. He enlisted on December 19, 1863 and served as a private in Company F of the 26th Regiment, U.S. Colored Infantry. Notes in his service record indicate that he served in the action of July 1964 at Bloody Bridge, St. John's Island, South Carolina. After the war, he moved to Schenectady, where he worked as a coachman and a hostler until his death in 1890 at the age of 49. He is buried at Vale Cemetery. His name is included on the African American Civil War Memorial in Washington, D.C.

Mil 545 - Certification that William Childers, "a colored recruit," mustered into the Union army and was credited to the 5th Ward of the city of Schenectady.

Jared A. Jackson grew up in a farming family in Bethlehem, New York. He enlisted on December 14, 1863 and served in Company H of the 26th Regiment, U.S. Colored Infantry. He entered service as a private and was appointed as a corporal in August 1864. Soon after the war, Jackson moved to Schenectady. He and his wife, Hannah, lived in Schenectady, where Jackson was employed as a laborer. He died in 1888 from tuberculosis and chronic liver disease and was buried in Vale Cemetery. His name is also included on the African American Civil War Memorial.

You can learn more about the role of African-American troops in the Civil War this Saturday, January 26, when Dr. Allen Ballard, a Professor of History and Africana Studies at the University at Albany, will give a talk entitled "African-American Troops in the Civil War" at the Franchere Education Center at the Mabee Farm. Details are below -- we hope to see you there!

Lecture: "African-American Troops in the Civil War"

Speaker: Dr. Allen Ballard

Date: Saturday, January 26, 2013

Time: 2:00 p.m.

Location: Franchere Education Center, Mabee Farm Historic Site, 1080 Main Street, Rotterdam Junction, NY 12150

Cost: $5.00 admission – Free for SCHS members              

Description:
Dr. Allen Ballard will trace the role of African-American troops during the Civil War. As part of his presentation, he will read a selection from his historical novel, Where I'm Bound, which fictionalizes the experiences of an African-American regiment in the Union Army.  Ballard is a Professor of History and Africana Studies at the University at Albany. He is the author of two non-fiction books, The Education of Black Folk and One More Day's Journey: The Story of a Family and a People, two novels, Where I'm Bound and Carried By Six, and, most recently, a memoir entitled Breaching Jericho's Walls: A Twentieth-Century African American Life. Ballard's articles have appeared in scholarly and popular journals, including the New York Times Magazine.

"A Magazine Offering Comment on Schenectady's Sophisticated Side": The Schenectadian

Campaigners march down State Street on the cover of the November 1933 Schenectadian, drawn by Walter Reagles. Notice the Nicolaus Restaurant's parrot in the background. From the collections of the Grems-Doolittle Library.  

There are many interesting local periodicals that have been published over the years. One of the most interesting -- and certainly the most cosmopolitan -- is The Schenectadian, a very New Yorker-esque magazine published from 1933 to 1935. From burlesque show reviews, commentary on wrestling, and a narrative of sailing down the Klondike Ramp in a wagon to analysis of local politics, discussion of up-to-the-minute fashions for women and men, and modern poetry, The Schenectadian captured the "high" and the "low" of culture in Schenectady during the era, and did so with humor and style.

An eye-catching subscription notice in an early issue of The Schenectadian by an uncredited artist. "You may prefer to see her in a grass skirt or a full beard, but those things take time and money. Just remember that she is doing her best and so are we." From the collections of the Grems-Doolittle Library.  

Walter Reagles remembered that he, along with Milton Enzer, the director of Union College's news bureau, and GE employees Kenneth Patrick and Ross Lindblom, "felt the need of a local magazine which contained a metropolitan point of view" and set out to create a magazine that "imitate[d] the style of the New Yorker." Reagles was at that time the art director at General Electric. The team published the first issue of The Schenectadian in October 1933. The Schenectady Gazette described it as "a magazine offering comment on Schenectady's sophisticated side." The magazine continued to be published monthly through at least May 1935.

Illustration by James Gisondi from The Schenectadian. From the collections of the Grems-Doolittle Library.  

Illustration by Mary Sauter from The Schenectadian. From the collections of the Grems-Doolittle Library.

The Schenectadian presented a clever, urbane look at local politics, local history and personalities, theatre, community events and social news, movies, radio, and concerts. Other pieces in the magazine explored the worlds of the city's bars and burlesque shows (under the heading of "Sin and Sociology"), and an ongoing series of articles traced the effects of the Depression and New Deal efforts locally. The magazine also included fiction and poetry, and offered reviews of the fashions available for purchase at local clothiers such as the Lady Lee Shop, the Evelyn Shop, Gelber's, and the Vanity Fair Shop, as well as department stores such as Barney's, the Wallace Company, and the Carl Company. Readers were encouraged to send in reminiscences for a "Do You Remember?" column, and the "Dorplets" column provided a tongue-in-cheek look at all aspects of life in Schenectady. Walter Reagles' "Vignette" series highlighted local people from William "Buck" Ewing, catcher for the Mohawk Colored Giants baseball team, to Monsignor John Reilly, to police officer Thomas William Walsh. Another semi-regular feature, "Business Women," written by Frances Travis, profiled women in local business and government. In ubiquitous sprinklings throughout the magazine, The Schenectadian also poked fun at ill-worded headlines from local papers such as the Schenectady Gazette and the Schenectady Union-Star.

Sketch of a burlesque dancer by Dora Abrahams from The Schenectadian. Abrahams (later De Vries, then Mathieu) moved to New York City and had success as an illustrator. Her work was published in the New Yorker, Life, Vogue,  and Glamour. A Schenectady native, she credited Walter Reagles with "discovering" her and encouraging her as an artist. From the collections of the Grems-Doolittle Library.

Like the New Yorker, The Schenectadian also provided a showcase for talented cartoonists and illustrators. Artists such as Dora Abrahams, James Gisondi, Edwin Sauter, Mary Sauter, Walter Reagles, Bradley Wilson, Howard Blanchfield, and James Barstow were regularly featured in the magazine. Many of the artists whose work was featured in The Schenectadian worked in the General Electric Company's art department.

The cover of the June 1934 issue of The Schenectadian, by Edwin Sauter, is a satirical sign of the times during the Depression; new graduates go from diploma to shovel to work on Civil Works Administration (CWA) projects. From the collections of the Grems-Doolittle Library.

Illustration by Bradley L. Wilson from The Schenectadian. From the collections of the Grems-Doolittle Library.

This sketch of Mohawk Giants catcher William "Buck" Ewing, drawn by Walter Reagles, accompanied  a vignette written about Ewing. It appeared in the November 1933 issue of The Schenectadian. From the collections of the Grems-Doolittle Library.

The Grems-Doolittle Library has several issues of The Schenectadian available for researchers to view. A complete listing of issues in our holdings is provided below. Please contact Librarian Melissa Tacke (librarian@schenectadyhistorical.org; 518-374-0263, option 3) if you have issues of The Schenectadian not listed that you are willing to donate.

The Schenectadian
Vol. 1, No. 1 - October 1933
Vol. 1, No. 2 - November 1933
Vol. 1, No. 3 - December 1933 / January 1934
Vol. 1, No. 4 - February 1934
Vol. 1, No. 5 - March 1934
Vol. 1, No. 6 - April 1934
Vol. 2, No. 1 - May 1934
Vol. 2, No. 2 - June 1934
Vol. 3, No. 1 - November 1934
Vol. 3, No. 2 - December 1934 / January 1935
Vol. 3, No. 3 - February 1935
Vol. 3, No. 4 - March 1935
Vol. 3, No. 5 - April / May 1935

Shifting Definitions of Race and Citizenship: The Case of Shankar Gokhale

"I am neither an American citizen nor a British subject, but a man without a country, an outlaw of the world, having been punished in this way for my unpardonable crime of pledging my allegiance to the only flag which at one time had offered to treat me as a 'free white person.' But . . . the Supreme Court of the United States, the bureau of naturalization and the Department of State decided otherwise."
- Shankar Gokhale, speaking to Schenectady's Hindustan Club in 1926 about his citizenship fight

Shankar Gokhale was a resident of Schenectady for over fifty years. Schenectady County made Gokhale a citizen in 1920; only a few short years later, the United States Supreme Court declared his citizenship invalid. The story of Gokhale's personal struggle illustrates the changes surrounding ideas of race and immigration in the 1920s.

Shankar Laxman Gokhale was born in 1869 in Wai, India. He earned two master's degrees from the University of Calcutta in physics and chemistry, and was awarded prizes for having the highest overall academic average as well the highest average in physics. In India, he served as a professor and as President at Holkar College. He was dismissed from his position under suspicion of engaging in seditious activity, although no evidence of seditious activity was discovered by the police. He came to the United States in 1911 and almost immediately moved to Schenectady, where he worked for General Electric as a magnetic engineer, working with Charles Steinmetz, L.T. Robinson, and others. His wife Uma and older children joined him in Schenectady in 1922; the couple had three more children born in the United States. Gokhale would continue to work for GE until his retirement in 1933.

Gokhale was also active in political and religious life in Schenectady. He was a founding member of the Sociology Club (also known as the Economic Club) and the Schenectady Free Thought Society. He frequently spoke publicly about unemployment, comparative religion, and Indian customs, culture and history. Although he worked closely with many Socialists in the Sociology Club, he did not consider himself to be a Socialist and sought to debate Socialists at any opportunity, publishing letters to the editor seeking public debates in the Schenectady Gazette as well as in The New York Call, a Socialist newspaper published in New York City. He also spoke several times about the life and teachings of Jesus; although he had not converted to Christianity, he was interested in the study and discussion of religion and taught a Bible class at the First Congregational Church. He and his wife were also members of the First Methodist Church's Golden Age Fellowship. He died in Schenectady in 1962.

In 1969, Gokhale's son, Madhu, a 1927 graduate of Union College, established the annual Shankar Gokhale Prize at Union College.  The prize is, according to the college's website, is awarded to a "senior in engineering, preferably in the five-year program with the second major in economics, judged to have the greatest potential for community service in the area of mathematical approaches to economic problems." A Shankar Gokhale Prize was also established the same year at Indore University in India.

The story of Gokhale's struggle for citizenship begins with the story of how the United States has defined which foreign-born residents could become citizens. The Naturalization Act of 1790 restricted naturalization to "free white persons" of "good moral character," thus excluding Native Americans, indentured servants, slaves, and free African-Americans. Nearly a century later, the law expanded to grant citizenship to African-Americans. Asians were excluded from becoming naturalized citizens.

Although Asians were excluded from naturalization, South Asians from India were not always considered to be Asian and were considered to be Caucasian or white under the law. In 1913, Akhay Kumar Mozumdar became the first Indian-born person to earn U.S. citizenship; his case established a legal precedent that people from India were technically "Caucasian" and thus should be considered white and eligible for naturalization.

Gokhale became a naturalized citizen in Schenectady County in 1920. "The question was raised whether or not it was advisable to admit him, as his wife and two children are still in India and his wife cannot speak English," reported the Schenectady Gazette on Gokhale's case. Gokhale reiterated his intention to make the United States his home and assured the examiners that his wife would soon begin study of English and would not join him in the United States before she had some command of the language. He was then naturalized. Further, the definition of Gokhale as Caucasian, and thus white, seemed to be reflected in his racial identification by New York State and Federal Censuses workers; Shankar Gokhale was defined as being "white" in the 1915 NYS Census and 1920 Federal Census. Interestingly, following the changing immigration and naturalization laws, Gokhale and his family were defined as "black" in the 1925 NYS Census, and thereafter defined in Federal Censuses as "Hindu," which was used as a racial term rather than a religious one.

This shift came in part from a landmark 1923 Supreme Court ruling in the case of Bhagat Singh Thind, an Indian Sikh and veteran of World War I. The court found that, despite being anthropologically Caucasian, Indians were not white and would be considered Asian. This ruling stripped all previously-naturalized Indian-born people -- including Shankar Gokhale -- of their U.S. citizenship, as prosecutors argued that Indian-born immigrants had secured their citizenship illegally.

Following United States v. Thind, the Immigration Act of 1924 (Johnson–Reed Act) further codified the exclusion of members of certain racial and ethnic groups from immigrating to the United States. It was passed amid an atmosphere of xenophobia and fear of the changing face of American demographics; the Office of the Historian of the U.S. State Department has described the law as an attempt to "preserve the ideal of American homogeneity." The law severely restricted the immigration of Southern and Eastern Europeans and completely prohibited the immigration of Asians. South Asians were finally explicitly permitted to become naturalized citizens under the Luce–Celler Act in 1946. Racial distinctions were not completely eliminated in naturalization and citizenship law until 1952, under the Immigration and Nationality Act (also known as the McCarran-Walter Act).

Gokhale fought hard for his citizenship following the Thind case. In 1926, Senator David Reed of Pennsylvania introduced a resolution that would confirm the naturalizations of Indian-born persons prior to the Thind decision. The resolution would affect about 70 Indian-Americans. Reed arranged for a hearing before the Senate Committee on Immigration at which a number of Indian-Americans were called to demonstrate "the high character and intellectual achievement of most of the Hindus who have become naturalized citizens." Gokhale gave his testimony, answering questions about his work, family, and his political involvement. In the end, Reed's resolution was tabled. In United States v. Gokhale, the Circuit Court of Appeals found that Gokhale "was not in fact eligible for naturalization . . . for he is concededly a Hindu, and under that case a Hindu is not a white person as the statute defines that phrase." In 1928, the Supreme Court moved to have the appeal of Gokhale vacated with the understanding that he would be permitted to regain his citizenship.

As Gokhale fought the United States government in the courts for his right to citizenship, he contrasted his treatment by the government with his treatment by people in Schenectady. "Justice Sutherland of the United States Supreme Court has now declared that the people of this country do not want any Hindus here, as they are instinctively opposed to the assimilation of Hindus," said Gokhale as he spoke to the Hindustan Club at the Hotel Van Curler. "My personal experience during the last 15 years is just the reverse. I have received the heartiest welcome from all my American friends and acquaintances." In another instance, a newspaper story dispatched from Washington, D.C. following the Senate hearing quoted Gokhale as speaking in broken English. One of Gokhale's Schenectady friends, Ben Levy, quickly wrote a letter to the Schenectady Gazette in Gokhale's defense. Levy explained that he had known Gokhale for over a decade and had heard him as a public speaker many times. "It is true, Mr. Gokhale lacks the characteristic pronunciation of English as used by the American born," wrote Levy, "but his exceptionally able command of English has been the source of favorable comment on more than one occasion. I truly wish that my English could be compared favorably to that of Mr. Gokhale. I am asking you to publish this as a matter of simple justice to a very exceptional man."

History in Pen and Ink: Prints of Drawings from the H.S. Barney Collection

The H.S. Barney Company, also known as Barney's department store, was an institution in the downtown Schenectady shopping area for nearly 140 years. In addition to conducting business, the store also helped to tell the story of Schenectady's history through a series of attractive and interesting prints. The prints are roughly chronological, and depict different aspects of the city's history from 1833 through 1929.

There is a bit of mystery surrounding the origin of the prints. Some of the prints were reproduced in local newspapers in advertisements for the Barney's department store. The earliest such advertisement we were able to find was in a 1955 advertisement in a special 100-year anniversary edition of the Schenectady Union-Star. There appears to be a total of 10 drawings in the collection, each bearing the notation "From the H.S. Barney Collection of Original Pen Drawings." The first two are not signed, but all appear to have been drawn by the same artist, and the drawings numbered 3 through 10 are signed with the initials "F. B. R." We have been unable to determine who the artist is, exactly when the prints were made, how many were made, or how they were distributed. Anyone who has additional information about these prints is encouraged to contact Librarian Melissa Tacke by phone at 518-374-0263, option 3, or send an email to librarian@schenectadyhistorical.org.

Below are images of some of these compelling prints.

This is the first drawing in the series. A 1955 Barney's advertisement in the Union-Star describes this drawing as depicting "H.S. Barney's arrival by mulecart in Schenectady in 1833." In this scene looking east up State Street, viewers can see the Erie Canal, the railroad, and the area that is now Veterans' Park. Image from Grems-Doolittle Library Collections.

The local fraternal organization Mystic Order of the True Blues was a short-lived organization, being in existence roughly from 1867 to 1870. Joel Henry Monroe in his book Schenectady Ancient and Modern describes platform of the True Blues as being "to awaken Schenectady by carnivals and burlesque shows and characterizations of certain institutions and incidents." According to newspaper reports of the time, upwards of 30,000 out-of-towners visited Schenectady for the 1870 carnival and parade organized by the True Blues. Image from Grems-Doolittle Library Collections.



A street scene in front of the H.S. Barney Company on State Street around the turn of the twentieth century. The H.S. Barney Company, later known as Barney's, was a fixture in downtown Schenectady until the store closed its doors in 1973.  Image from Grems-Doolittle Library Collections.

This drawing seems to have been inspired by Schenectady's 1914 flood, described as the worst flood in the city's history. The Mohawk River's level was raised by 25 feet. The flooding forced hundreds of people from their homes, and many people had to be evacuated from their homes in boats. Notice the rats who have commandeered a plank of wood as a raft. Image from Grems-Doolittle Library Collections.

Although Schenectady was no Chicago in the 1920s, the effect of crime during Prohibition was present in the city. This depiction of Prohibition-era crime may have been been influenced by a story on file in the city police department which was also shared by Larry Hart in his book Schenectady's Golden Era, 1880-1930. A bootlegger transporting liquor smuggled from Canada was traveling near Amsterdam on November 7, 1924 when "a high-powered car pulled alongside and another man jumped onto the running board, held a revolver against the driver's heart and ordered him to stop. They took over his cargo, valued at about $3,000, and drove him to the Rotterdam hills and told him to 'start walking.'" The car was later found abandoned near the intersection of State Street and Ferry Street in Schenectady. Image from Grems-Doolittle Library Collections.

The last in the series of drawings shows a local connection to the stock market crash in 1929 that led to the Great Depression. Two concerned men are shown inside the office of the Edward B. Smith & Co. stocks and investment securities company at 212 State Street in Schenectady. The two men might be the men listed in the 1929 city directory as proprietor and manager -- Edward Smith and Theodore Lydgate. Image from Grems-Doolittle Library Collections.

"The Best Santa Claus in the World": Schenectady's Frank Mauro

Frank Mauro acts the part of Santa Claus at the Carl Company department store in 1951. From Larry Hart Collection. 

When the Carl Company closed its doors in Schenectady, one sentiment written in a memory book made available to the store's customers in the weeks before the store's closing read, "The Carl Company had the best Santa Claus in the world!" This sentiment could likely have referred to Frank Mauro, who acted as Santa for the Carl Company for three decades.

The interior of the Carl Company department store during the holiday shopping season, ca. 1950. From Larry Hart Collection. 

Frank Mauro was born in Italy and moved with his parents, Louis and Antonetta, to the United States in 1910. By 1919, the family had moved to Schenectady. Mauro's first publicity as an artist came in 1921, when he was mentioned in a Schenectady Gazette article about a kite-making contest in Pleasant Valley Park: "Frank Mauro, a young contestant, has been amusing a large crowd with his comic cartoons. Every day a different cartoon appears on the bulletin board and it pays to read them over, as they often are scenes happening in the park." He was then only 15 years old. He began his working life at G.E., where he worked until he established his used car dealership, Mauro Auto Sales, in 1936. He married Rose Furlano that year, and the couple went on to have two children. Mauro would continue to work as an auto dealer until his retirement in 1984.

Mauro's commitment to art and entertainment ran through his entire life, and he often drew in public to entertain others. A 1932 Gazette article described Mauro's efforts in drawing crowds to the Carl Company during a sale of fur coats: "at 11 o'clock a young man in painter's smock stepped into the window, adjusted a big easel and went to work drawing quickly on the big sheet of paper. The crowds soon gathered. He drew and there appeared an amusing fat boy and his little dog. Quickly lettering a message at the top of the paper the artist, Frank F. Mauro, introduced his cartoon boy, Dick Doolittle Dunn and dog. After that the sheets were filled with pictures of Dick in different amusing poses always saying something about the Carl fur sale . . . All the time the artist, Mr. Mauro, was drawing quickly and cleverly so that the succeeding scenes seemed like a moving picture. It amused the crowds greatly and many of the women and girls stopped in to see the bargains in coats which the store was offering." Mauro copyrighted his images of newspaper-boy Dick Doolittle Dunn and his dog Fido that year, and continued to draw them for years. Historian Larry Hart notes that the duo appeared in local publications, but in searching newspapers and other documents in our library, I have not yet come across any of Mauro's work.

This photo of Mauro in his later life appeared with his obituary in the March 13, 1987 Schenectady Gazette. Below his photo and name, it read "Was a Carl Co. Santa." Image obtained via Google News Archives.  

During World War II, Mauro painted shop windows and billboards to promote the sale of war bonds to Schenectadians. In 1942, in preparation for "Tank Week," a week-long drive to sell war stamps and bonds to fund the purchase of an ALCO-made M-3 tank for General MacArthur, the Schenectady Gazette highlighted Mauro's artwork: "Some of the stores in the city began to take on a tank week atmosphere yesterday when Frank Mauro, local artist, started decorating windows with a water color outline of one of the big tanks. Thus far he has been engaged to decorate 35 windows and hopes to do more if time will permit. He is doing this work without charge as his contribution to the campaign." Gazette editorial column writer "Van" wrote that Mauro also made sketches of Dick Doolittle Dunn in support of the war bond effort in Crescent Park over the course of several months. Van also added that in addition to his talents as an artist, Mauro was "an A-1 yarn spinner and is seldom seen without a cigar in his mouth."

Mauro was especially engaged with sharing his love of cartooning with local children. He began teaching cartoon classes for children and regularly giving cartooning demonstrations during the 1930s and headed a local Cartoon Club. During the summer of 1949, he gave free cartooning classes to children nearly every day of the week at 13 of the city's parks and playgrounds, reaching nearly 500 local kids. He often was featured as an entertainer at the Schenectady Hobby Show and Central Park Play Day and other local festivals and holiday celebrations. During the 1950s, he brought cheer to children in Sunnyview Hospital through his sketches and cartoons. Cartooning even followed him to his place of business; a 1950 Schenectady Gazette article noted that between 35 and 40 youngsters gathered every day after school to receive a quick sketch from Mauro or have him look at their drawings. Mauro said he enjoyed having the children visit and that it wasn't a hindrance to conducting business -- if a customer came in, the children would wait.

"I Was Present at Some Warm Work, It's True": Schenectady's William Duane Witnesses France's July Revolution

This painting, Liberty Leading the People by Eugène Delacroix (1830) commemorates the July Revolution in France. The  original painting is part of the collections of the Louvre.

In the General Letters in the collections of the Grems-Doolittle Library is a gem of a letter written by William N. Duane to his sister, Maria Bowers (Duane) Jones that gives his eyewitness description of the July Revolution, a three-day revolt in France that overthrew King Charles X  in 1830 and gave rise to what would become known as the July Monarchy. In 1832, Parisians again revolted in an uprising known as the June Rebellion, which has been immortalized in Victor Hugo's Les Misérables. The July Monarchy remained unpopular and was ultimately overthrown in 1848. A tip of the hat is due to researcher John Gearing, who recently came across this letter while researching another subject.

Page of letter from William N. Duane to his sister Maria Jones describing events during the July Revolution in France (Gen L 131). 

William N. Duane (1804-1871) was the son of James Chatham Duane and Mary Ann Bowers. Born and raised in Schenectady, he graduated from Union College in the class of 1824. He married Frances Eliza Prince Walton in 1835; the couple had one son. William Duane became a physician and worked from his home on Union Street, where he lived until his death in 1871.

Image of Dr. William N. Duane, ca. 1860.
From Duane surname file. 

From sources in the library, it is not clear why Duane was in France in 1830. The letter offers a number of interesting details recorded by Duane in November 1830, a few months after the July Revolution. He discusses that a rumor was spread that he had died during the uprising, and admits that while he did no fighting, he did help to build barricades and took some gilt paper crowns that had once decorated King Charles X's table from the ransacked palace. He also comments on the role of women in the uprising as combatants and nurses, noting that "no one was more active than they were in forming the barricades." A full transcription of this fascinating letter has been included below. The original spelling, punctuation, and line breaks have been preserved.


To: Mrs. Samuel W. Jones
Schenectady
New York
United States America

From W.N. Duane 16th Nov 1830

Paris November Nov 16
Rue d'arrjon au Marian
Boulevart de Tample

on the twelfth of this month my Dear Maria
I received my first and as yet, my only
letter from Home. its date was September
the fourth and written by our Dear Father on his
arrival from his wonderful jaunt through the Northern
Country. I happened by accident to extend my visit one
morning who was anxious to call on an American
who had been residing fr some years at Paris on am
leaving him he desired an address after looking at
my Card he told me he was certain he had a letter
for that name and some papers which had been
in his possession for six weeks. they were left at his
House. he gave them to an American who promised
to find me if in Paris but after keeping them a
fortnight he returned them with the report that
I was killed during the late glorious string gleanor (?)
of course all further enquiring ceased. three different
families sent during the revolution to my Hotel to
see if the report was true. I was present at some
warm work its true by was merely a spectator as
relates fighting although I did lend a hand
in making the barricades. I has since the late
struggle been a little frightened I must confess
when I reflect upon some of the risks that I ran
I saw many a poor fellow bite the dust on both
sides and heard the whiz of a stray bullet
occasionally but I now no more wish than
many a one of your sex for the streets waere
Herranged with them during the midst of the
warmest engagements and no one was more active
than they were in forming the barricades they brought
out old trunks and barrels and in short every thing
they could lay their hands upon. there were several
killed during the second day in the opposite corner
but on the same side of the street I saw one poor
woman shot. she was exciting the people to
make them stand to their barrier while a body of
the royal guards were coming down a little
street immediately opposite to it. at the first fire
she was among the victims. there was also another
killed by a cannon shot fired from the arch (by the)
palace she was setting in her room nearby a
quarter of a mile from the Palace the ball
entered the window and struck exactly in
the middle. but the most affecting sight that
I saw was the young woman as soon as poor
fellow dropped three or four would sally out
regardless of the fire and carry him in and
dress his wounds and minister to his comfort
and before any door you might see them
making bandages lint ti ti at as number of
the barricades the stood behind to load the
guns as soon as fellow would drop they would
run and get his gun and ammunition and
load and hand to the men. and many a swiss
was shot from the windows by woman
the swiss were the poor fellows who sufferd the most
they were the kings guards and of course detested
by the people and received no quarters. just at the
termination of the last engagement we went up
to the Tuilleries and on our way we heard a sharp
firing in a little street very near our route we were upon
as it was not far to follow the people who were hurrying in wards
when we arrived we found that a body of the royal guards
in [illegible] about 20 had been firing from an hotel all
day upon the people. who had just succeeded in forcing
the doors they rushed in and pushed the guards with
they bayonetts to the windows and the people below
were shooting them ina few moments they killed
the whole and threw their clothes guns et to the people
below, them then sacked the Hotel reds pictures [hole in paper]
tables and in short every thing that was movable
at the [hole in paper] bishops palace they made a bon fire
it was [hole in paper] they burned and destroyed for him
300,000 francs the whole of his library they threw
in the river not an article was touched by the people
but the Kings palace was lawful plunder and
what they could not carry off they broke to pieces
in the duchess deBerry appartments they had a fine
haul. I got three little gilt paper crowns that were made
to ornament his majesties dinner table. but the englishman
that was with me filled his pockets with preserves & liqueur
at Present as you will see by the papers which
I shall send to Father that we are all very quiet at
present. the exaministen are not to be tryed until the
last of January two of them at present are very ill but
from the state of the public feeling at present it will impossible
to save them foreign powers are making [illegible] in their favor
It is said in the papers that Gen Lafayette has recv'ed
the Embassy for America I saw the General yesterday
tell Father he desired particularly when I wrote to
be remembered to him. He gives a soiree this evening
and our minister on Wednesday. Mr. Hamper our
ambassador from Md has resigned his office on account of ill
health and gone to Winter in Italy. I saw M____ [?]ieves on Sat
and from his talk I should judge that is to be suspended or expects him
to resign as he talkes of going to study farming in England I sent
by the Packet of the first some seeds a letter and my miniature
directed to T.H. Fumiss give my respects to all our Friends
the McC____, Mumfords, Waltons, Kanes [illegible] kiss all. the children
give my love Father Mrs Jones and Elvira R_____ and kiss the
little Rec'd for your affectionate Brother William