Archives for 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
Read More

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
Read More

May 12, 2023 11:40 am | by | 2 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.

Local History: Police Spying

Local History: Police Spying

Local and State Police Spying in the 1960s and 70s Thursday, May 4th, at 7:00 p.m. Zoom Click here to register. This program will address the hidden history of how state and local police contributed to the climate of political repression and surveillance during the Vietnam era. While it mainly focuses on state police surveillance of college activists and suspected “subversives,” it also details how local police in New Rochelle, Yonkers, and Mt. Vernon monitored social movements during the 1960s and 70s. Importantly, it also talks about how civil liberties groups and concerned citizens joined together to end political investigations
Read More

May 1, 2023 9:00 am | by | No Comments
Categories: Library News.
Tags: local history, Police spying, and Seth Kershner.

The Construction of the Kensico Dam

The Construction of the Kensico Dam

Tuesday, January 17th 2:00–4:00 p.m. Community Room Click here to register. James Maxwell, Historian at the Town of Mount Pleasant, will give a PowerPoint presentation on the building of the Kensico Dam. He will start with the original dam built in 1885, continue on to construction of the current one in the early 20th century, and end in the 1970s. The presentation's photos and postcards are from the Mount Pleasant Historical Society's collection as well as New York City's archives.
Read More

January 6, 2023 10:00 am | by | No Comments
Categories: Library News.
Tags: Kensico Dam, local history, and westchester history.

Genealogy: Leaving a Legacy

Genealogy: Leaving a Legacy

Genealogy: Leaving a Legacy: Telling your Ancestors So Your Family Will Listen Thursday, December 8th 7:00–8:00 p.m. Click here to register for this Zoom program. You have invested countless hours documenting your family tree. Now learn different techniques and methods to tell your ancestors’ stories so they will be passed down and enjoyed by future generations. Presented by Genealogist Sarah Gutmann.
Read More

November 22, 2022 1:30 pm | by | No Comments
Categories: Library News.
Tags: genealogical research, genealogy, genealogy workshop, genealogy workshops in westchester, genealogy workshops in White Plains, local history, and Sarah Gutmann.

Biography of a House

Biography of a House

“Who's Been Sleeping in My Bed?” Researching the Biography of a House Thursday, October 27th 7:00-8:00 p.m. Click here to register for this Zoom event. In this presentation, house historian Beth Potter will talk about ways to flesh out the “biography” of a house-not the history of the building per se, but the stories of the people who lived there. Who celebrated birthdays in the living room, what special recipes were created in the kitchen, were any residents in the military – those are just some of the questions that can be answered using newspaper records, church records, etc.
Read More

October 25, 2022 4:29 pm | by | No Comments
Categories: Library News.
Tags: biography of a house, local history, local history events, and research.

The Westchester County Jail Riots of 1981

The Westchester County Jail Riots of 1981

Thursday, July 8th 7:00–8:00 p.m. Click here to register. Jails and prisons that offer little in the way of rehabilitation. Drug laws that unfairly target people of color. These conditions plague today’s criminal justice system. Forty years ago, they were also the focus of complaints by Westchester County Jail inmates, leading them to stage an unprecedented uprising. Seth Kershner, a researcher at the University of Massachusetts, discusses the July 1981 uprising at Westchester County Jail–three riots in three days that caused one million dollars in damage. Although inmates hoped to amplify complaints about racism in the county’s criminal justice system,
Read More

June 29, 2021 12:13 pm | by | 1 Comment
Categories: Library News.
Tags: criminal justice, local history, local history programming, prison system, and Westchester County Jail Riot of 1981.

Genealogy Workshop: African Americans in Records

Genealogy Workshop: African Americans in Records

African Americans in Public Records Prior to 1870 Monday, June 14th 7:00–8:00 p.m. For information on attending, click here. In this presentation, genealogist Cynthia Maharrey covers: Things to consider before and during your research General information about African American genealogical records An abbreviated case study Examples of records from Reconstruction to the 1840s that hold genealogically significant information concerning free and enslaved African Americans
Read More

June 10, 2021 9:00 am | by | No Comments
Categories: Library News.
Tags: african american genealogy, Black History, genealogy, local history, and records.

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.
Read More

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.

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,
Read More

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
Read More

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
Read More

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: Rosa Kittrell

Local History: Rosa Kittrell

October 10 has been designated World Mental Health Day by the World Health Organization. In honor of it, here is a story about a White Plains resident whose activism on behalf of people with mental illness had a national impact. Rosa Kittrell worked hard to redefine the way we view and treat the most vulnerable members of society. Through her tireless activism, personal struggles with mental illness, and belief in the power of education, Kittrell developed a motto: “Others, Lord, others.” Like so many black women in America, Kittrell was intersectional in her activism before anyone ever heard of that
Read More

October 10, 2017 11:53 am | by | 1 Comment
Categories: Local History.
Tags: activism, African-American History, Black History, clifford beers, day care, feminism, local history, mental health reform, mental hygiene, mental illness, rosa kittrell, social justice, thomas p brennan, white plains collection, white plains history, and world mental health day.

People & Stories Oral History Project: Jazz Fest 2017 Pt. 4

People & Stories Oral History Project: Jazz Fest 2017 Pt. 4

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 2017! Below is a clip from the People & Stories Oral History Project, Jazz Fest edition. Each of the clips we post between now and September will include stories and music from musicians who live locally, but have performed all over the world. Tom Van Buren, of ArtsWestchester, co-produced the interviews. Check out the Jazz Fest 2017 webpage for tickets and more information about all the great music happening September 13-17, 2017.   Pete
Read More

September 5, 2017 9:56 am | by | No Comments
Categories: Oral History.
Tags: ArtsWestchester, jazz, Jazz Fest, Jazz Fest 2017, local history, oral history, People & Stories, Pete Malinverni, westchester history, white plains collection, white plains history, White Plains Jazz Fest, and WPBID.

People & Stories Oral History Project: Jazz Fest 2017 Pt. 3

People & Stories Oral History Project: Jazz Fest 2017 Pt. 3

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 2017! Below is a clip from the People & Stories Oral History Project, Jazz Fest edition. Each of the clips we post between now and September will include stories and music from musicians who live locally, but have performed all over the world. Tom Van Buren, of ArtsWestchester, co-produced the interviews. Check out the Jazz Fest 2017 webpage for tickets and more information about all the great music happening September 13-17, 2017.   Ray
Read More

August 29, 2017 5:00 am | by | No Comments
Categories: Oral History.
Tags: ArtsWestchester, jazz, Jazz Fest, Jazz Fest 2017, local history, oral history, People & Stories, Ray Blue, westchester history, white plains collection, white plains history, White Plains Jazz Fest, and WPBID.

Local History: School’s Out, Pt. 2

Local History: School’s Out, Pt. 2

The late 1960s was a time of increasing consciousness about racial issues in the United States. The mainstream civil rights movement won victories in 1964 and 1965 with large pieces of Federal legislation like the Civil Rights Act and the Voting Rights Act. By 1968, however, because of issues like Vietnam, economic injustice, the conditions of urban life, and the nature of black identity some people questioned how much progress had really been made. The civil rights movement itself was fractured. Some advocated equality and integration within the framework of American society. Others, generally younger activists, promoted black power or
Read More

July 28, 2017 4:59 am | by | No Comments
Categories: Local History.
Tags: African-American History, Black History, boycotts, civil rights, local history, race relations, racial balance plan, Reporter Dispatch, school, strikes, students, white plains collection, White Plains High School, and white plains history.

Local History: The Hudson River

Local History: The Hudson River

The Hudson River shapes nearly every area of our lives in some way: from topography, patterns of human settlement, and military decisions to energy production, human health, commerce, and culture. This summer, impress your fellow travelers with some knowledge about the Hudson Valley and the Hudson River gained from the White Plains Collection. Below is a bibliography of historical and contemporary titles from many different genres and eras.   Histories: Narrative, Revolutionary, and Social The Hudson from the Wilderness to the Sea by Benson J. Lossing (1866): A wonderful, illustration-rich vintage title donated by former White Plains librarian Clara F.
Read More

June 22, 2017 5:00 am | by | No Comments
Categories: Local History.
Tags: american history, architecture, art history, ecology, environmentalism, historic houses, historic sites, hudson river, hudson river valley, hudson valley, local history, nature, recreation, Revolutionary War, rivers, tourism, travel writing, white plains collection, and white plains history.

Local History: WWII & the OPA

Local History: WWII & the OPA

On April 11, 1941, FDR signed an executive order creating the Office of Price Administration.The Reporter Dispatch wrote that the purpose of the OPA was the “protection of the consumer” and to make supplies available to the public “after military needs are met.” Many goods were rationed during World War II, including sugar, meat, coffee, building materials, and gasoline. The OPA issued ration books to individuals a number of times during the war. Below are two examples of ration coupons for heating oil that were donated to the White Plains Collection by Library Trustee Paul Schwarz. They show the address
Read More

May 27, 2017 9:00 am | by | No Comments
Categories: Local History.
Tags: air raids, american history, blackouts, brendan gill, chauncey griffen, edward schirmer, local history, office of price administration, opa, ration board, the new yorker, thomas holden, white plains collection, white plains history, and world war ii.

Local History: WPA in White Plains

Local History: WPA in White Plains

On April 8, 1935, President Roosevelt signed a law creating the Works Progress Administration, or WPA. The WPA was created to create employment opportunities for millions of unemployed Americans and material benefit to communities throughout the country. White Plains and Westchester were no exception, with significant public works projects and make-work efforts, where jobs in local agencies were supported by federal funds. The White Plains Collection contains some examples of the works created through the WPA and a few records that describe projects the federal government supported in Westchester County. In 1939, the National Muncipal League's Consultant Service completed field
Read More

May 12, 2017 5:00 am | by | 1 Comment
Categories: Local History.
Tags: 1930s, common council, great depression, local history, welfare, white plains collection, white plains history, works progress administration, and WPA.