Behind the Scenes at Ellis Hospital

Bottles are sterilized and filled with baby formula in Ellis Hospital's formula room, 1955. Photograph from Ellis Hospital Collection. 

When we think of people who work in hospitals, many of us think of the doctors, nurses, and other medical support staff that we see when we are in a hospital as a patient or visitor. When we see historic photographs of hospitals, the images that we see also tend to show us the doctors and nurses that operated on patients, tended to them, and made them well. But in addition to the medical personnel that are integral to the operation of hospitals, many people also work behind the scenes to keep the hospital running smoothly -- people who clean floors, prepare meals, do laundry, wash dishes, collect garbage, answer telephones, tend to the hospital grounds, type, sew uniforms, repair machinery, receive deliveries . . . the list goes on and on. From a recently-received collection of historical photographs and documents from Ellis Hospital, here are just a few images of people at work behind the scenes at Ellis Hospital, from the mid-1950s to the early 1980s.

Ellis Hospital employee Ronald Staler operates a forklift in the hospital's stockroom. Photograph from Ellis Hospital Collection.  

Two workers, E. Reali and J. Pella, fold sheets in the Ellis Hospital laundry, ca. 1955. Photograph from Ellis Hospital Collection. 

At work in an office at Ellis Hospital in 1977. Left to right: Ellen Mulyca, clerk typist; Russell Dunn, manager of patient and family services; Betty Lou Mikenas, secretary. Photograph from Ellis Hospital Collection. 

Dishwashers at work in the food service section of Ellis Hospital, ca. 1955. Photograph from Ellis Hospital Collection.  

At work in the sewing room at Ellis Hospital in 1956. Photograph from Ellis Hospital Collection. 

In this 1980 photograph, maintenance supervisor Domenic Adams waters plants he is growing to be planted on the Ellis Hospital grounds. Photograph from Ellis Hospital Collection. 

Telephone operators at work at the switchboard, ca. 1950s. Photograph from Ellis Hospital Collection. 

Pressing uniforms in the Ellis Hospital laundry, ca. 1950s. Photograph from Ellis Hospital Collection. 

Harry Hallam (left) and Lugene Kettner, employees from the maintenance department at Ellis Hospital, at work in 1975. Photograph from Ellis Hospital Collection. 

Food service workers prepare meals to be delivered to patients, ca. 1960s. Photograph from Ellis Hospital Collection.  

Schenectady's Horse-Drawn Trolleys, 1887-1891

Schenectady Street Railway Company horsecar on Washington Avenue in Schenectady. This photo is said to have been taken on the last day of horsecar service, July 2, 1891. Photograph from Grems-Doolittle Library Photograph Collection. 

During this week in the year 1887, the Schenectady Street Railway Company first began offering trolley services to the public. The company started its service with 30 horses, 5 trolley cars, and 4 sleighs. The single track route for the trolley line ran about 2 miles, from the Schenectady side of the Scotia bridge at the foot of Washington Avenue, up State Street, and ending at the company's stables, car barn, and office at Brandywine Avenue and State Street. The trolley service opened on July 16, 1887, and began with a dedication at Crescent Park. The inaugural trolley was painted a bright red and yellow, and was pulled by a pair of white horses. Fourth ward alderman J. Ezra McCue was said to be the first man to board the trolley in Schenectady and pay the 5-cent fare, ushering in the era of trolley transportation that would continue in Schenectady through the mid-1940s.

A horse-drawn trolley travels along State Street, ca. 1890. Photograph from Grems-Doolittle Library Photograph Collection. 

The trolleys were an improvement over the stagecoach -- horses could haul more people more easily over rails than they could over cobblestone or rutted roads. Like in any new venture, unforeseen problems did crop up. One initial problem was that the horses were not used to pulling a trolley car; some pulled the cars off of the track and onto the cobblestone streets. This was quickly resolved as both horses and drivers became accustomed to the vehicles. Another concern was how to manage crossing the railroad tracks on State Street; the tracks had not yet been elevated and were at street level. The city government first ordered that the trolley stop at the tracks, all passengers exit and cross the tracks on foot, then board a second trolley waiting on the other side. Public protest soon quashed this measure, and the wave of the flagman then allowed streetcars to cross.

A lone horse works hard to pull a trolley car along in this early photo. Photograph from Larry Hart Collection. 

Horsecars came late to Schenectady, having been used in other American cities since the 1830s. By the mid-1880s, there were over 400 trolley companies in operation nationwide. By the time horse-drawn streetcar service came to Schenectady, the Edison Machine Works (later the General Electric Company) had already been established, and the city was standing on the threshold of its rapid development as the "Electric City." Larry Hart, in a 1960 Schenectady Union-Star column, noted that "the horsecar was doomed to early replacement here by an offspring of the wonder of the age -- electricity." After only four short years, the route was electrified and electric trolley service began on July 2, 1891. Being at least twice as fast as the horse-drawn trolleys, the electric trolley helped the city to expand in the coming years. By 1927, the Schenectady Railway Company operated 140 miles of track, employed over 500 people, owned over 200 cars -- certainly a far cry from the streetcar's beginnings in Schenectady 40 years before.

Even after the use of horses was discontinued for trolley service, the Schenectady Railway Company continued to use horses for its bright red tower wagon, an apparatus used to work on breaks on overhead trolley wires, repair gas lights above streets, and hang banners. Photograph from Larry Hart Collection.

"Calling All Boys from 11 to 15!": Schenectady's Soap Box Derby

Competitors in Schenectady's Soap Box Derby in the late 1940s on Fehr Avenue near Central Park. Winners of the local Soap Box Derby then went on the compete at the All-American Soap Box Derby at Derby headquarters in Akron, Ohio. Photo from Larry Hart Collection. 

"All boys of Schenectady and its immediate vicinity who like excitement, adventure, racing - front and center," read the opening sentence of a Schenectady Gazette article encouraging local boys to sign up for Schenectady's first-ever Soap Box Derby in 1937. Sign up they did; the late 1930s, late 1940s, and early 1950s saw scores of local boys compete annually.

13-year-old Richard Vandercar constructs his soap box racer in the basement of his Elbert Street home in this June 25, 1946 Schenectady Gazette photo. Image obtained via www.fultonhistory.com. 

America's first official Soap Box Derby was held only three years before the first Derby in Schenectady. The idea for the national Derby had come from reporter Myron Scott of Dayton, Ohio, who conceived of a competition after he saw some boys racing in homemade vehicles in 1933. Chevrolet soon stepped up as corporate sponsor for the event, and the first All-American Soap Box Derby was held in Dayton in 1934. The national race moved to Akron, Ohio, the following year and has remained there ever since. The competition was open to boys from ages 11-15. Boys had to make their racer without adult assistance, and their racer had to be equipped with steering wheels and brakes. Local youths used discarded scraps, wooden crates, and other found materials to construct their cars.  The winners of local races in approximately 120 American cities would travel on to Akron to compete in the All-American Soap Box Derby.

Racers line up as spectators gather on Fehr Avenue. 87 boys competed in this 1947 race. Photo from Larry Hart Collection. 

The first Soap Box Derby in Schenectady was held on July 24, 1937, on Fehr Avenue off of State Street. The Derby was preceded by a parade of the entrants and Derby officials. In total, 175 local boys entered the race, which was sponsored an promoted by the Schenectady Gazette and local Chevrolet dealerships. Boys competed in two classes - one class for 11- and 12-year-olds and one class for 13-to-15-year-olds. The winner, 15-year-old Waldron Stemm of Scotia, was sent to represent Schenectady in the national competition and earned a gold medal, a trophy, and additional prizes from local businesses. Additionally, prizes were awarded for the best designed car,the best upholstered car, the best designed set of brakes, and the first boy to construct his racer. Each entrant was given a regulation steel racing helmet, and a number of local businesses and organizations, such as the Apex Store, Barney's, Carl Company, Reinhard's Cycle Shop, Goldstock's, White Studios, and the YMCA offered prizes. Schenectady's civic leaders called the Derby a resounding success. "Despite the fact that Saturday's derby was the first of that nature ever conducted in this section," wrote the Schenectady Gazette, "many fine miniature cars were constructed. Next year the youngsters will be familiar enough with the derby idea to iron out many of the construction wrinkles with the result that competition should be on a much higher plane." Soap Box Derbies continued in Schenectady through 1940. The competition was suspended from 1941 through 1945 (the national competition was also halted for the years 1942-1945); it was resumed in 1946.

Nancy Adams presents the first-prize trophy to 1946 Schenectady Soap Box Derby winner Paul Supley. All participants in the race received a racing helmet and a Schenectady Gazette Soap Box Derby t-shirt. Photo from August 5, 1946 Schenectady Gazette; image obtained via www.fultonhistory.com. 

When the competition resumed in 1946, it came back with a bang. WRGB televised the races, which were also featured on local radio. 1946 was also the only year that the competition was held on Gerling Street, between Lenox Road and Golf Avenue, rather than on Fehr Avenue. Advertisements in the Schenectady Gazette featured sponsorships of specific racers by local businesses -- in 1948, the Town Tavern endorsed "JoJo" Niedhammer, while the Sealtest General Ice Cream Corp. championed Robert Bayer and Richard Kelly and the Sears store on Erie Boulevard expressed confidence that either Sid Della Ratta or Albert Madonna would take home the gold. The Derby continued in Schenectady through 1951; the next year, the location of the regional contest was moved to Albany before shutting down in 1954. The Albany Soap Box Derby was resumed in the early 1960s and continued until the early 1970s. The Soap Box Derby also had a brief revival in Schenectady, holding races at Mohawk Mall for a few years before returning to the Fehr Avenue site in 1976. 1976 was the last year of the Soap Box Derby in Schenectady; the race that year was also won by a girl, 12-year-old Christine DuBrey of Schenectady. Girls were allowed to compete at the national level beginning in 1971. Today, the region's races now occur under the auspices of the Capital District Soap Box Derby, with annual races being held on Madison Avenue in Albany.

Spectators look on as racers prepare to compete in the 1947 Schenectady Soap Box Derby. Photo from Larry Hart Collection.  

This advertisement for the 1940 Schenectady Soap Box Derby appeared in the Schenectady Gazette on June 18, 1940. Image obtained via www.fultonhistory.com. 

Celebrate the Erie Canal in July

This postcard image of Dock Street along the Erie Canal in Schenectady, ca. 1910, illustrates the canal as a site of commerce and industry, as well as pleasure. Image from Grems-Doolittle Library Postcard collection. 

On July 4, 1817, construction began on the original Erie Canal at Rome, New York. The construction of the canal was an extraordinary feat of engineering as well as state-sponsored economic development, and it had a great impact on trade, transportation, and the development of cities and rural communities that ran along its route from Albany to Buffalo. The Grems-Doolittle Library has recently compiled a guide to sources about the Erie Canal in our Library that includes books, photographs, oral histories, original documents, and other materials. The research guide can be found by clicking this link. Come in and visit us to find out more! We've also included a few Erie Canal-related tidbits below for you to enjoy.

Erie Canal enthusiasts might also want to check out a new exhibit at our Mabee Farm Historic Site in Rotterdam Junction, in the Nilsen Dutch Barn. The exhibit, The Erie Impact: Changing Agriculture in the Mohawk River Valley, highlights the changes that occurred on farms along the Mohawk after the construction of the canal. The Mabees and their neighbors shifted from cash crops like corn and wheat to specialized products like dairy, orchard fruits, and vegetables. This is a chance to see some of the wonderful agricultural and cooking tools found in the Mabee Farm collection.

The history of the Erie Canal also comes alive on July 20, 2013 at the Mabee Farm Historic Site with a program "After Erie: The Impact of the Erie Canal on Mohawk Valley Agriculture." This family-friendly event will feature hands-on activities and exhibits highlighting the changes the Mabee Farm and its neighbors along the Mohawk River underwent because of the construction of the Erie Canal. Focusing in on broomcorn, hops, the orchard, and the vegetable garden, visitors will have the chance to see if they have the skills to be an 18th Century farmer, brewer, broom maker, or cook.

If you have any questions about this upcoming event or the exhibit, please contact our Assistant Curator / Educator, Jenna Peterson, at educator@schenectadyhistorical.org or by phone at 518-887-5073, ext. 104.

Ice-skaters enjoy the frozen Erie Canal in Schenectady, just south of State Street, circa 1910.  Photograph from Grems-Doolittle Library Photograph Collection. 

Erie Canal weigh master's bill dated June 20, 1879. It was issued by Thomas Riley, weigh master at the West Troy weigh lock, for the boat John W. Hall of Whitehall. At that time, boats on the canal were weighed and a toll charged according to their weight. From Grems-Doolittle Library Documents Collection. 

Picture postcard of the Erie Canal through Rotterdam. From Grems-Doolittle Library Postcard Collection. 

The enlargement of the Erie Canal was necessary to accommodate canal traffic, but not everyone was happy with the process. This note from the Mabee Family Papers (M-LM-43) estimates damage to the property of Simon and Sarah Mabee in Rotterdam Junction due to the enlargement of the canal at $150.00. The damage to the property is identified as damage due to riding over the soil and the destruction of fences. 

Travelers on board the Kittie West, an excursion boat that transported passengers between Schenectady, Rexford, and Vischer Ferry. Photograph from Grems-Doolittle Library. 

No Place Like Home: Schenectady County Residential Postcards

Postcard of Crane Street in the Mont Pleasant neighborhood in Schenectady. From the Larry Hart Collection. 

There are a number of categories in our postcard collection, from local organizations and schools, to images of fires and floods, to aerial and scenic views. Many times when we think of postcards of our local area, the first images that come to mind are bustling downtown scenes, public buildings and institutions, and perhaps views of the homes of locally significant people. We don't always think of a view of the neighborhoods of everyday people, but there are dozens of postcards in our collections that show just that. These postcards give a sense of neighborhoods and communities of times gone by, and many are fairly bursting with civic pride. Here are just a few of them to enjoy.

Panoramic postcard of Lincoln Heights municipal housing. From Larry Hart Collection. 

View of Quaker Street / Delanson areas. From Grems-Doolittle Library Postcard Collection. 

Photo postcard of the corner of McClellan Street and Eastern Parkway. From Larry Hart Collection. 

A house peeks through the trees in this view of Lenox and Avon Roads in Schenectady. From  Larry Hart Collection. 

Photo postcard of Putman Street in Rotterdam Junction. From Larry Hart Collection. 

Four houses face out onto Hattie Place as four ladies stroll by. From Grems-Doolittle Library Postcard Collection. 

The trolley tracks are quiet on upper State Street near Linden Street in Schenectady. From Larry Hart Collection. 

Aerial view of Schonowee Village public housing in Schenectady. From Larry Hart Collection. 

Corner of Ruby Road and Stratford Road in the GE Realty Plot. From Grems-Doolittle Library Postcard Collection. 

This view of Nott Terrace places the viewer on the sidewalk, taking a pleasant stroll along the street. From  Grems-Doolittle Library Postcard Collection. 

"The De Luxe Dining Car of the Mohawk Valley:" Schenectady's Silver Diner

Advertisement in the 1936 city directory for the Silver Diner. The image in the directory shows the diner as it existed in its earliest days, before its 1937 expansion. From Grems-Doolittle Library Collections. 

Diners first operated in Schenectady in the late 1880s as night-time, mobile lunch wagons that descended upon downtown Schenectady and served G.E. and American Locomotive Company workers, mostly from the hours of 6:00 p.m. to 6:00 a.m. These night-time, mobile diners petered out during the years following World War I, as the use of automobiles grew and the city passed ordinances restricting the operation of lunch wagons. Displaced lunch wagons or railroad dining cars could be purchased and converted into stationary diners. In the late 1920s, restaurants with the word "Diner" in the business name began to emerge; the earliest in Schenectady were the Palace Diner, Gaylord Diner, and Belleview Diner.

Intersection of State and Erie, ca. 1940. Part of the Silver Diner is barely visible past the large building at left. The G.E. plant, visible at the end of Erie, was a major part of the diner's customer base throughout the history of the business. Photograph from Larry Hart Collection. 

Early in 1936 (not on Election Day, as many past newspaper articles have claimed), Dominick and James Cecilian opened the Silver Diner at 167 Erie Boulevard. The diner soon became a fixture in the city, drawing in G.E. and ALCO workers, downtown shoppers, and night-time theatergoers. The diner was made from a converted 1918 Pullman railroad car that the brothers had purchased from the Delaware and Hudson Railroad for $100.00. According to a letter to the editor written by James' son (also named James Cecilian) in the January 22, 2001 Schenectady Gazette, the brothers "had it hauled to a lot on upper State Street, where it was converted into the diner. My dad did most of the work himself. Meanwhile, a basement was prepared on Erie Boulevard. When the diner was completed it was moved to the present site." In 1937, the diner underwent a stainless steel Art Deco renovation and expansion of the original railroad car. "Another railroad car was bought for parts and parked in the back yard of our family home in Rotterdam," James Cecilian remembered. "The basement was extended and a new floor built. The building was split in half, the front wall moved forward and the roof joined together, during all this renovation the diner never closed, customers continued to be served 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Dominick bought all the waitresses and counter help sunglasses. Fortunately, it never rained."

1937 newspaper advertisement for the Silver Diner. Image obtained  via www.fultonhistory.com. 

The dining are was on the ground level, and food was prepared in the basement. The diner featured a water-controlled dumbwaiter; a faucet went on and off to move the dumbwaiter between levels. Billed as "The De Luxe Dining Car of the Mohawk Valley," the Cecilian family put forward this pledge in many of their advertisements: "Our Constant Endeavor is to Serve the Best Food We Can, as Clean as We Can and as Cheap as We Can." "The food was good, the service friendly," Phyllis Von Linden remembered of the Silver Diner in the 1930s and 1940s. "The menu was ample and entrees such as roast ham or liver and bacon cost 35 cents." Von Linden remembered the Cecilian brothers as "smiling, soft-spoken men who must have been sometimes tired and frustrated, but never showed it." Joseph Dubinett recalled that the diner's short-order cook in the 1950s was "one of the best in the area. He could take care of 10 dinners at one time on the grill." The Cecilian family continued to operate the business until 1975.

The Silver Diner is visible at left in this 1964 photograph looking north up Erie Boulevard toward State Street. Photograph from Larry Hart Collection. 

The family sold the diner to Ruben Michelson, who took over the business in February 1975 and renamed the business Ruby's Diner. Michelson had long run Ruby's Luncheonette at 10 Erie Boulevard, in the Ellis Building, before the building was razed. "For six weeks, I walked the streets unemployed before I happened to become connected to this place," Michelson remembered. Michelson continued the tradition of good, inexpensive fare in a homey atmosphere. "It's like going home for lunch," said customer Sal Constantino. "You can get anything you want." Schenectady Gazette reporter Barbara Mitsch visited the diner in 1986 and remarked, "stools with green seats line the front of the counter. Peach-colored curtains frame the mahogany thumb-latch windows on the opposite wall, where the original mahogany booths are. On one end, scene from the Pine Grove Farm in Duanesburg adorn the wall." An article a few years later remarked, "the home-style cooking and the friendliness that pervades the space are reminders of an earlier generation." Donald Kaplan and Alan Bellink featured the diner in their book Diners of the Northeast, and proclaimed that the diner was "home of some of the best potato salad we ever had on the road." Bernie Witkowski liked the atmosphere at Ruby's and the variety of people who came in to get a bite. "You see some people come in suits. Some are working class, maybe people on a tight budget." As the years turned, the reduction of the G.E. Schenectady workforce impacted the volume of business in the diner. Ruby's Diner scaled their hours of operation back from a 24-hour schedule, opening at 5:30 a.m. and closing mid-afternoon. Ruben Michelson's son, Bob, saw each round of layoffs mark fewer customers coming in. "Business is not like it used to be. We're hanging on, " Michelson said in 1995.

Ruben Michelson inside Ruby's Diner in 1980. Copy from clipping file, Grems-Doolittle Library. 

The business changed hands soon after, in late 1996, when George Hutton bought Ruby's and renovated it with a $20,000 loan from the city. He renamed the business the Silver Diner and promoted it as a classic greasy spoon. "We serve all the food that's bad for you," Hutton quipped in a 1997 interview. "Caffeine, sugar, butter and salt. Those are our four food groups. All the food the surgeon general has warned us against." The Silver Diner soon folded for good a year later. Hutton cited his own inexperience and a lack of afternoon customers. "I just couldn't produce," Hutton said in 2000.

Ruby's Diner, ca. 1980s. Photograph from Larry Hart Collection.

With the closure of the Silver Diner in 1998, another piece of Schenectady's history was laid to rest, and the Silver Diner joined a long list of lost diners of Schenectady, including the Belleview, Coons Brothers, Cross-Town, Everready Dining Car, Flite Dining Car, Ladd's, MacDonald's, Miss Schenectady, Modern, Oven and Griddle, Palace, State, Van Curler, and Victory Dining Car. In October 2009, the Silver Diner was demolished. The diner had closed its doors for good in 1998, and had been vacant since then. The city took possession of the property in 2000 following a foreclosure. Over the last years of the building's existence, various ideas and plans were promoted to salvage the building -- from restoring its use as a diner, to converting it to an office space or retail store, to moving it to become an exhibit for the Schenectady Museum. In the end, the Silver Diner was not saved. The city performed an emergency demolition of the building, saying it feared the long-vacant structure could collapse "at any time." Thus, the history of one of the few remaining converted railroad car diners in the United States was brought to a close.

Schenectady in 1892: Photos from the Album of Edward Winslow Paige

Photograph of southwest corner of Union Street and Ferry Street, taken August 9, 1892. From 1892 Stockade Album of Edward Winslow Paige, p. 44. 

In the collections of the Grems-Doolittle Library is a remarkable album containing nearly 300 photographs of Schenectady, all taken in a single year -- 1892. The photographs in the album were taken and described by Edward Winslow Paige (1844-1918). Paige was born in Schenectady to Alonzo C. Paige and Harriet Bowers Mumford Paige. He worked in Schenectady as a lawyer and served as Deputy Attorney General of New York for several years before moving to New York City and practicing law there until his death in 1918. Although Paige left Schenectady during the 1880s, he continued to maintain a home on Washington Avenue. From the dates of the photographs provided in the album, it appears that Paige continued to visit Schenectady frequently in the years after he moved to New York City.

Paige meticulously photographed the area that we now call the Stockade neighborhood, as well as parts of Schenectady's downtown. For each image, he made a series of brief notes about the streets, homes, and businesses depicted and about the people living in the houses he photographed. Paige's album captures the neighborhood and community life of the period. A few images from this notable resource are included below.

Northeast corner of Washington Avenue and State Street. Notice the streetlamp over the intersection. From 1892 Stockade Album of Edward Winslow Paige, p. 68. 

Winter view of the Erie Canal from the State Street canal bridge.  From 1892 Stockade Album of Edward Winslow Paige, p. 49.

Hetty Yates with her father Austin Yates and the family's dog in front of Austin Yates' home on Washington Avenue. The bridge across the Mohawk River to Scotia can be seen in the background, at left. From 1892 Stockade Album of Edward Winslow Paige, p. 22. 

Trolley traveling on Washington Avenue toward State Street. From 1892 Stockade Album of Edward Winslow Paige, p. 58. 

Paige meets John Palmer and an unidentified girl on Church Street. This view looks north , toward Front Street. From 1892 Stockade Album of Edward Winslow Paige, p. 71. 

The north side of State Street just east of Ferry Street. Suits are hung in front of Holtzmann's clothing store to attract customers. From 1892 Stockade Album of Edward Winslow Paige, p. 33. 

Children pull friends on a sled down Union Street between Church Street and Washington Avenue (this photo shows the south side of the street). From 1892 Stockade Album of Edward Winslow Paige, p. 4. 

View of State street looking west from the railroad tracks toward the canal. The Edison Hotel  can be seen at right. From 1892 Stockade Album of Edward Winslow Paige, p. 53. 

North side of Union Street from Ferry Street, looking east. From 1892 Stockade Album of Edward Winslow Paige, p. 31.