Archives for Local History

Forward & Out

Forward & Out

Forward & Out is composed of 49 episodes, was made for the LGBTQ+ community, and was produced by the White Plains Cable station. The show was produced from 1993 through 1996, and was broadcast from January 1994 through January 1997. At its peak, Forward & Out was broadcast via cable and over-the-air to 1.2 million households in primarily the NY/NJ/CT area and as far away as Philadelphia. The show’s mission was to stimulate pride and raise self-esteem within the LGBTQ+ community by promoting a positive image, and to encourage greater tolerance and acceptance of LGBTQ+ people. Forward & Out hosted
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May 20, 2024 2:23 pm | by | No Comments
Categories: Featured, Homepage, and Local History.
Tags: Forward & Out, Katharine Andriotis, LGBTQ+ history, and local history.

People & Stories Oral History Project: Isabel Villar

People & Stories Oral History Project: Isabel Villar

Isabel Villar, 1948-2023 Isabel Villar, the founding Executive Director of El Centro Hispano in White Plains, died July 12 from ovarian cancer. In 2015, she participated in our library’s People and Stories oral history project. The link to her story is below. Isabel Villar is the Executive Director of El Centro Hispano, an organization that supports the Hispanic Community in White Plains. She is also a longtime resident of White Plains, arriving from Cuba in the late-1960s. In this oral history, Villar describes the experience of being a Hispanic immigrant in White Plains. She tells stories about her first educational
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July 30, 2023 10:30 am | by | No Comments
Categories: Library News, Local History, and Oral History.
Tags: Cuban-American History, El Centro Hispano, Hispanic-American History, Immigration, Isabel Villar, local history, oral history, People & Stories, and white plains history.

Local History: Ina Sugihara Jones

Local History: Ina Sugihara Jones

Ina Sugihara Jones was a Japanese American activist and multi-coalition builder who lived in White Plains from 1977 to her death in 2004. She was born in Las Animas, Colorado in 1919, and moved with her family to Long Beach, California in the 1930s. Educated at Long Beach Community College and the University of California, Berkeley, she was able to “voluntarily” migrate to the East Coast in 1942 and avoid internment in the War Relocation Authority Camps set up after the attack on Pearl Harbor. She was a founding member of the New York branch of the Congress of Racial
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May 12, 2023 11:40 am | by | No Comments
Categories: Library News and Local History.
Tags: Asian American Native Hawaiian Pacific Islander Month, Ina Sugihara Jones, Japanese American Citizens League, and local history.

Edward Steinberg Photo

Edward Steinberg Photo

Edward C. Steinberg (1942-2018) worked for White Plains from 1970 to the mid-1990s in the Urban Renewal Agency and later as Commissioner of Planning. He helped build the Galleria, the Transportation Center, the Public Safety Building, the Westchester Mall, and the Federal Courthouse. He was also a photographer, and recently his widow donated three of his photographs to our local history collection. One is of the Transportation Center, one shows workers pouring cement, and the other the demolition of a building.  Part of the pouring cement photo is shown below (it doesn’t say what building it was for, unfortunately). Feel
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January 24, 2023 10:59 am | by | 2 Comments
Categories: Featured, Homepage, and Local History.
Tags: local history and white plains collection.

2022 Staff Favorites

2022 Staff Favorites

The White Plains Library Staff have assembled their picks for the year, featuring mystery, audiobooks, fantasy, and more. It's a wonderfully wide-ranging list, full of lots of surprises, and should help with your holiday shopping or just some entertainment for yourself. Enjoy! Below you'll find a list with links to the catalog or resource where they're available as well as a blurb on why staff enjoyed it. Fiction Murder at the Savoy by Maj Sjowall and Per Wahloo. Library Catalog This is the sixth novel in the Martin Beck series, Beck being the go-to detective in Sweden's National Homicide Squad
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December 14, 2022 10:00 am | by | 6 Comments
Categories: Authors & Books, Featured, Homepage, and Local History.
Tags: staff favorites, staff picks, and staff recommendations.

Daughters of America: Digest of the Day

Daughters of America: Digest of the Day

Recently a member of the local Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR) chapter viewed the Local History Room’s file on the DAR.  She noted that the last item in the file belonged to the Daughters of America, not the DAR, and was curious what that group was. The item in question is a 36-page booklet called Digest of the Day, published in 1930 by the Daughters of America’s Martha Washington Council No. 8 in White Plains. According to The International Encyclopedia of Secret Societies and Fraternal Orders, the Daughters of America was “a female auxiliary to the Junior Order of
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November 12, 2022 9:48 am | by | No Comments
Categories: Featured, Homepage, and Local History.
Tags: Daughters of America, local history, white plains collection, and white plains history.

DeVillo’s New Battle of White Plains Book

DeVillo’s New Battle of White Plains Book

A new book about the Battle of White Plains has come out: The Battle of White Plains: Washington and Howe in Westchester by Stephen Paul DeVillo. He is a local historian who has written books on the Bowery and the Bronx River. “I thought the Battle of White Plains deserves a much closer look,” he said in a telephone interview. “So often it’s given short shrift. It was not just a pit stop between the Fall of New York City and the Battle of Trenton.” The conventional view is that the British won the battle since they drove General George
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July 26, 2022 5:40 pm | by | 3 Comments
Categories: Authors & Books, Featured, Library News, and Local History.
Tags: Revolutionary War, The Battle of White Plains, white plains, and white plains history.

Photos wanted: Winbrook, WP malls

Photos wanted: Winbrook, WP malls

Two of the original five buildings in the Winbrook apartments (now officially called Brookfield Commons) have been razed and replaced. The three still in use will eventually meet the same fate. The White Plains Mall will be leveled and replaced by a large residential and retail development called Hamilton Green. And the Galleria Mall, which lost its anchor stores when Sears and Macy’s closed, may be demolished whole or in part for a redevelopment that would dramatically change its appearance. As these buildings which were once fixtures in downtown White Plains disappear, we would like to keep a visual record
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May 3, 2022 5:11 pm | by | 1 Comment
Categories: Featured, Homepage, Library News, and Local History.
Tags: history of White Plains, local history, White Plains Galleria, White Plains local history, White Plains mall, white plains new york, and winbrook.

Remembering Jesse Murry

Remembering Jesse Murry

Jesse Murry was a Black, gay art critic, curator and painter. He was born in 1948 in North Carolina and later moved to nearby Greenburgh to live with an aunt. As a youth he spent a lot of time reading at the White Plains Public Library and became friends with the director, Isabel Duncan Clark, who ended up becoming his legal guardian. He studied at Sarah Lawrence College and lived in a White Plains apartment in the 1970s before moving to New York City in 1979. In the last 14 years of his life he wrote for Arts Magazine, taught
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December 8, 2021 11:18 am | by | No Comments
Categories: Authors & Books, Featured, Homepage, Library News, and Local History.
Tags: Jesse Murry, library history, local history, and White Plains Public Library.

Battle of White Plains, the Movie

Battle of White Plains, the Movie

In anticipation of our country’s 250th birthday in 2026, we have uploaded “The Battle of White Plains,” the movie, to our YouTube Channel. The 25-minute black and white film, which re-enacts the battle, was made over two weekends in the fall of 1977 near Silver Lake. It debuted at the White Plains Public Library on June 1, 1978. According to Joe Ryan, founder and president of the Living History Education Foundation, who played a Continental soldier in the movie, “The film was created on a limited budget with a lot of local volunteer help. It provided valuable experience for those
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March 8, 2021 3:04 pm | by | 3 Comments
Categories: Featured, Homepage, Library News, and Local History.
Tags: film, local history, Observances and Celebrations, revolutionary history, The Battle of White Plains, U.S. History, white plains, and white plains history.

100 Years of Suffrage: Slide Show

100 Years of Suffrage: Slide Show

On August 18, 1920, a twenty-three year old representative in the Tennessee state legislature cast the deciding vote to ratify the 19th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, which states “The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any state on account of sex.” Tennessee became the 25th state to ratify the amendment, giving it the three-fourths of the states needed to become the law of the land. This was the culmination of over 70 years of work by thousands of women in the U.S. to win
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August 18, 2020 1:55 pm | by | No Comments
Categories: Featured, Homepage, Library News, and Local History.
Tags: local history, slide show, video, and Women's Suffrage.

Meet the Authors: Himmelfarb & Massena

Meet the Authors: Himmelfarb & Massena

This post has expired and the events have already occurred. Copies of the book that is mentioned can be purchased at the Everyday Healthy Cafe on the first floor of the Library. White Plains in the 20th Century (Arcadia Publishing) is a 130-page compendium of photographs of White Plains throughout the 1900s compiled by former White Plains librarian Ben Himmelfarb and current city archivist Elaine Massena. They gathered 200 photographs largely from the collections of artist/photographer John Rosch (1854-1949) and longtime White Plains city historian Renoda Brown Hoffman (1909-2005) to show how a village-turned-city (in 1916) evolved over 100 years.
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November 12, 2019 9:52 am | by | 8 Comments
Categories: Authors & Books, Director's Corner, eNewsletter, Library News, and Local History.
Tags: adults, author event, Ben Himmelfarb, books, Elaine Massena, local history, white plains collection, and white plains history.

People & Stories Oral History Project: Alexis Cole

People & Stories Oral History Project: Alexis Cole

We are thrilled to continue our partnership with ArtsWestchester, The City of White Plains, and the White Plains Business Improvement District on White Plains Jazz Fest 2018! Below is an interview with Alexis Cole from the People & Stories Oral History Project, Jazz Fest edition. Each of the clips we post between now and Jazz Fest will include stories and music from musicians who local roots or connections, but have performed all over the world. Check out the Jazz Fest 2018 webpage for tickets and more information about all the great music happening September 12-16, 2018.   “Award-winning jazz vocalist
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September 10, 2018 6:00 am | by | No Comments
Categories: Oral History.
Tags: alexis cole, ArtsWestchester, jazz, Jazz Fest, local-history, music, oral history, People & Stories, white plains collection, white plains history, and White Plains Jazz Fest.

People & Stories Oral History Project: Albert Rivera

People & Stories Oral History Project: Albert Rivera

We are thrilled to continue our partnership with ArtsWestchester, The City of White Plains, and the White Plains Business Improvement District on White Plains Jazz Fest 2018! Below is an interview with Albert Rivera from the People & Stories Oral History Project, Jazz Fest edition. Each of the clips we post between now and Jazz Fest will include stories and music from musicians who have local roots or connections, but have performed all over the world. Check out the Jazz Fest 2018 webpage for tickets and more information about all the great music happening September 12-16, 2018.   Albert Rivera’s musical
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September 7, 2018 6:00 am | by | No Comments
Categories: Oral History.
Tags: albert rivera, jazz, Jazz Fest, local-history, mediterraneo, music, oral history, People & Stories, white plains collection, white plains history, and White Plains Jazz Fest.

People & Stories Oral History Project: Brian Carter

People & Stories Oral History Project: Brian Carter

We are thrilled to continue our partnership with ArtsWestchester, The City of White Plains, and the White Plains Business Improvement District on White Plains Jazz Fest 2018! Below is an interview with Brian Carter from the People & Stories Oral History Project, Jazz Fest edition. Each of the clips we post between now and Jazz Fest will include stories and music from musicians who have local roots or connections, but have performed all over the world. Check out the Jazz Fest 2018 webpage for tickets and more information about all the great music happening September 12-16, 2018.   International professional
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September 4, 2018 6:00 am | by | No Comments
Categories: Oral History.
Tags: brian carter, jazz, Jazz Fest, local-history, music, new rochelle jazz fest, oral history, People & Stories, white plains collection, white plains history, and White Plains Jazz Fest.

Black History Matters Roundtable

Black History Matters Roundtable

Join us Wednesday, February 21 at 7:00 p.m. for a panel discussion about significant black leaders and stories from Westchester's past. We will hear from contemporary leaders and members of families with multi-generational roots in White Plains. Items from the White Plains Collection, including local newspapers, photographs, and genealogical resources will be available to attendees. We will also open the floor for discussion and storytelling. The White Plains History Roundtable is an educational, participatory, and social event where attendees hear a presentation on a historical topic, examine materials from the White Plains Collection, and engage in discussion with each other.
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February 14, 2018 4:30 pm | by | No Comments
Categories: Events and Local History.

Introducing the New Local History Room!

Introducing the New Local History Room!

The White Plains Public Library has a Local History Room again! We now have a dedicated space for people interested in local history and genealogy to explore the White Plains Collection. We are having an opening event on Thursday, December 7th, from 6:30 PM to 8:30 PM. We will open up the new space and highlight two local amateur historians. An exhibit created by Colleen Fay that documents the suffrage movement in Westchester will be on display and we will hear a presentation from Nate Levin about the historical narratives that compete to define the movement. We will have refreshments,
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December 4, 2017 5:55 pm | by | No Comments
Categories: Homepage and Local History.
Tags: archives, city directories, local history, local history programming, oral history, People & Stories, suffrage, white plains collection, white plains history, and White Plains History Roundtable.

Local History: Addicts & Addiction Pt. 3

Local History: Addicts & Addiction Pt. 3

As earlier blog posts showed, public discourse about drugs and addiction changed from focusing on morality and personal responsibility during the 19th century to a focus on culture and racial identity during the early 20th century.  When drugs and addiction are discussed today, we often hear that criminal justice reform and electoral politics are the central issues influencing the course of addiction and the treatment of addicts in our society. The White Plains Collection has many resources you can use to discover what happened during the 1960s as the modern era of “drug culture” developed and what people were thinking
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November 17, 2017 10:47 am | by | No Comments
Categories: Local History.
Tags: addiction, addiction treatment, addicts, alcoholics, alcoholism, cocaine, heroin, local history, mental health, mental illness, narcotics, rockefeller laws, westchester committee on alcoholism, white plains collection, white plains history, and white plains youth bureau.

Local History: Addicts & Addiction Pt. 2

Local History: Addicts & Addiction Pt. 2

Most people are by now familiar with the “Reefer Madness” era of drug policy in the United States. Exemplified by the 1936 propaganda film of the same name and personified by Henry J. Anslinger (who set the tone for most domestic drug policy during his 32 years as head of the Federal Bureau of Narcotics), the “Reefer Madness” era is best known for its racism and over-the-top representations of drug users and addicts. The articles below show that “Reefer Madness” came to White Plains!   Reefer Madness According to the paper, over 100 people were questioned or arrested during raids
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November 6, 2017 5:00 am | by | No Comments
Categories: Local History.
Tags: addiction, addicts, alcoholics, alcoholism, bloomingdale, bloomingdale asylum, henry j anslinger, local history, mental health, mental illness, reefer madness, westchester committee on alcoholism, white plains collection, and white plains history.

Local History: Addicts & Addiction Pt. 1

Local History: Addicts & Addiction Pt. 1

The past few years, drugs and addiction have been in the headlines. Stories about opiates, the legalization of marijuana, and criminal justice reform have all made drug use and addiction the subject of a national conversation. Just as the civil rights and women's rights movements had historical roots in time periods when those issues were not the focus of public debate, American society has been dealing with addicts and addiction since the 18th century. Here's a look at some resources in the White Plains Collection that you can consult to see how people used to think about these issues. You
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October 30, 2017 11:24 am | by | No Comments
Categories: Local History.
Tags: addiction, addicts, alcoholics, alcoholism, bloomingdale, bloomingdale asylum, keeley institute, local-history, mental health, mental illness, nellie bly, new york presbyterian, white plains collection, and white plains history.